Knockout Boxing Night 18: Convincing Victories for Polish Boxers
In the main event of Knockout Boxing Night 18 in Zakopane, held on October 23, 2021, Fiodor Czerkaszyn (19-0, 12 KOs) comfortably outpointed Gonzalo Coria (18-5, 7 KOs).
The Polish-Ukrainian boxer applied pressure from the opening bell, but did so from the right distance. On the attack, he primarily looked for a hook to the liver. Whenever the Argentine tried to respond, Czerkaszyn stepped back and countered with his right hand. In the second round, he increased the pace and extended his combinations, and Coria was visibly rocked by one of a series of short right hooks. However, he cleverly tied Czerkaszyn up and avoided a knockdown.
Midway through the third round, Andrzej Liczik’s charge landed a powerful left hook. From the fourth round onward, Coria was mainly focused on defense and avoiding further counters. He practically stopped throwing punches, moving backward constantly. The fight became one-sided. The only question was whether Czerkaszyn would finish it inside the distance or win by a wide margin on points.
The Pole looked for openings in his opponent’s tight guard, changed his stance and frequently switched to southpaw. However, he was unable to break the determined Argentine. The bout went the full ten rounds, which could prove valuable experience for Czerkaszyn in the long run. The judges scored it unanimously 100-90.
Mateusz Masternak (46-5, 31 KOs) made an impressive start to the second half-century of his professional career. He stopped Armend Xhoxhaj (12-2, 7 KOs). “Master” controlled the shorter opponent from the outset with his jab. Almost exactly as the bell sounded to end the first round, he countered him in a right-for-right exchange. The Kosovar saved himself with a clinch, but the bell came to his aid.
After the break, Xhoxhaj went on the attack. His punches sliced through the air, however, and the Wrocław native answered with a powerful hook to the body. Later, he drew his opponent onto a right cross three times. Midway through the third round, the Kosovar unexpectedly landed a hard right uppercut, but that only awakened Masternak. In the final seconds of the round, he absorbed several heavy right-hand bombs and returned to his corner with a badly swollen eye.
It was merely a postponement of the inevitable. In the fourth round, Masternak opened up his opponent several times with the jab or body shots. Finally, he fired a left-right combination, landed on the jaw and sent Xhoxhaj to the canvas. The opponent rose at the count of eight, but a towel quickly flew from his corner.
The milestone bout of Kamil Bednarek (10-0, 6 KOs) lasted just 51 seconds, including the count to ten. Uriel Gonzalez (18-9-1, 14 KOs) can box, but this time he did not have a chance to throw a single punch. The Dzierżoniów boxer connected with a left hook to the liver early on. The Mexican clearly felt the shot.
A moment later, Gonzalez tried to attack, but Bednarek took a step back and struck the same spot again. It was over. The Mexican took a long time to get up from the canvas.
Another promising young Polish heavyweight, Damian Knyba (4-0, 2 KOs), also impressed. His opponent was Yuriy Bykhatsov (10-23-3, 5 KOs). The Belarusian’s record and appearance are not particularly impressive, but Bykhatsov has previously caused problems for solid opponents, Robert Helenius among them.
Knyba controlled the shorter opponent with his jab. Whenever Bykhatsov tried to close the distance, the Pole either countered with a long right after leaning back or drew him onto a right uppercut. He also repeatedly hunted for the liver with his left hook. He earned a convincing and relatively comfortable victory.
Earlier, Justyna Walaś (1-0) made a successful professional debut. She won every round against Kateryna Drozd (0-3), with the judges scoring the bout 40-36 three times.
Source: bokser.org
