Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood, Florida, USA. The vacant WBA super lightweight belt (up to 63.5 kg) was contested by Alberto Puello (21-0, 10 KOs) from the Dominican Republic and boxing (this time for Uzbekistan?) ex-representative of Ukraine, Russia and Turkey Botirjon Akhmedov (9- 2, 8 KO). A disputed victory was given to Puello.
The favorite started the fight slowly, allowed Puello to record the starting rounds in his asset – he mostly failed and countered, and also worked ahead of the curve.
.@AlbertoPuello13 establishes his dominance early.#PuelloAkhmedov pic.twitter.com/cjRtefsVxp
— Premier Boxing Champions (@premierboxing) August 21, 2022
Around the 4th round, Akhmedov’s pressure began to bear fruit: he increasingly pinched the opponent at the ropes, more and more often delivered blows to the target. Puello still acted more precisely, but he lacked the power to throw off the aggressor. In the last seconds of the 6th round, the Dominican barely survived – he came under a powerful bombardment of the corps.
Akhmedov was relentless to the body in round 6 #PuelloAkhmedov #FigueroaLipinets pic.twitter.com/uLEBaza4bC
— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) August 21, 2022
Puello was forced to return blows for blows, to put all his strength into splashes. In the 8th three-minute period, he scored the brightest uppercut – the favorite survived. Akhmedov reworked his opponent in most rounds, but was inferior in effectiveness to Puello’s accurate counterattacking answers.
A very cool, competitive duel went the whole distance. Who will be given the victory?
115-113 Akhmedov, 117-111 Puello (wow!) and 117-111 Puello. That’s it!
Puello SD 12.
Akhmedov has two controversial defeats in title fights. First in combat Mario Barrios.
And the Dominican Republic has two new world champions today.