Two veterans enjoyed mixed fortunes last night in Khimki, Russia. WBA gold super-middleweight champ Fedor Chudinov stopped Umar Sadiq in the 12th and final round, while long-faded heavyweight Danny Williams was stopped yet again, this time in two rounds by MMA fighter Sergey Kharitonov, who was making his boxing debut.
32 year old Chudinov, having his first fight this year, looked set for a decision victory before he suddenly turned it on, getting Sadiq out of there early in the final session. Chudinov is now 22-2(15) and he has now won nine on the spin since being stopped by George Groves back in May of 2017 in a failed bid to win the vacant WBA 168 pound title.
Poor Danny Williams, who has been shot for years, was hammered by 40 year old Kharitonov. The 47 year old “Brixton Bomber” was downed in the opening round and the fight was stopped in the second, when Williams looks wobbly and disorientated. Williams is now 54-28(41) and he has been stopped some 15 times. Last night’s fight gave us no clue as to the chances Kharitonov has of being able to make anything of himself as a pro boxer.
Williams should have been retired for at least seven or eight years by now. Unable to walk away, the one-time conqueror of Mike Tyson cannot obtain a license to box in the UK, so he goes overseas, to Russia, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and other countries in Europe and attempts to pick up a decent payday. It’s sad to watch this once very talented, former world title challenger take defeat after defeat. Fans who care anything for Williams simply hope he doesn’t get badly hurt, this the risk he takes each time he steps into the ring.
Williams has been a pro since way back 1995.
Kharitonov is big and strong and he can punch, and the 40 year old had success as a kick-boxer and as an MMA fighter. As a boxer, Kharitonov did compete as an amateur back in the early 2000s, winning a silver medal at the Central Asian Games in 2003. But has Kharitonov left it too late in going pro at age 40?
