It didn’t take long for Murojon Akhmedaev to prove his superiority over Ricardo Espinosa tonight in Monte Carlo, with a couple of heavy left hands in the third round getting the job done , and ultimately ended their super lightweight fight.
The southpaw Akhmedaliyev was in control from the start and appeared to be setting himself up for Espinoza’s left crosses in the first two rounds. He then found his range and hit his mark in the third round, knocking down Espinoza for the first time in the fight. Espinosa bravely defeated the Count, only to find himself suffocated by Akhmedaliyev’s pressure and soon fell into survival mode. He almost succeeded, too, at least by the end of the round, but Akhmedaliyev caught him again with seconds left, and this time the Mexican was stopped by the referee from trying to beat the count, having clearly seen enough .
With this victory, former IBF champion Akhmedaliyev from Uzbekistan secured the interim WBA title and reaffirmed his mandatory status to Naoya Inoue. He also improved his record to 13-1 (9 wins), while Espinoza fell to 30-5 (25 wins) in defeat.
The European lightweight contest between Britain’s Cheavon Clarke and France’s Leonardo Mosquea was certainly expected, but few would have thought the pair would go head-to-head. Play 12 rounds. That scenario seemed even more unlikely as Clark, the pre-fight favorite, was seriously injured by a left hook in the first round and went down for the first time in his 11-fight career.
Almost as surprising as the two going all the way was Mosquia, the underdog who left Monte Carlo with the vacant EBU title after completing 12 rounds. But that’s exactly what happened, with the three judges ultimately split, but two of them felt Mosquia had done enough (scores: 117-113 Clark, 116-112 Mosquia, 115-112 Mo Squire).
To Clark’s credit, he responded well to the crisis in the first round, but he still struggled to avoid a lot of what Mosquia threw at him, and in the end it was these moments, the more dramatic ones, that seemed to sway the judges.
The defeat was Clark’s first, with the Briton now sitting at 10-1 (7) as a pro, while Mosquia remains undefeated and now stands at 16-0 (9).
It was fair to say that Rossington lightweight Maxi Hughes was a true technician on the night, using every ounce of his in-ring smarts and experience to overwhelm the 10-rounder. Ireland’s Gary Cully.
The 34-year-old Hughes struggled in a big fight against William Zepeda in Las Vegas at the beginning of the new year, but tonight he proved at 135 pounds that he still has a lot left to offer. He was calm and composed, leading Cali in a happy dance every second of every round. After ten games, the three judges on the sidelines gave the Jeonnam boxing match the same score: 100-90. With the win, Hughes improved to 28-7-2 (6), while Cali suffered a serious injury above his right eye, dropping his record to 18-2 (10).
In the only world title fight of the night, Brazil’s Beatriz Ferreira defeated France’s Beatriz Ferreira by unanimous decision after 10 rounds Won by decision and successfully defended the IBF women’s lightweight gold belt.
Focused and aggressive, Ferreira dominated from the start and was never in danger of losing a round, let alone a fight. This advantage is then reflected on the scorecards, with each card scoring 100-90 in her favor.
Now, with a 6-0(2) record, Ferreira is quickly turning pro and could end up fighting Britain’s Caroline Dubois, who fights for the WBC lightweight title in January level gold belt, has previously expressed interest in participating in this game.
