by Pavel Yakovlev – (Hollywood, Florida, 8/24/10) Timur Ibragimov successfully defended his NABA heavyweight title tonight by stopping Gurcharan Singh in the tenth round. Referee Frank Santore, Jr. waived the fight off at 1:45 as Singh wobbled defenselessly after taking a right to the head. Moments earlier, Ibragimov floored Singh with a pair of rights, one to the body and another to the head. Although Singh arose, he was quickly overwhelmed by the onrushing Ibragimov.
Ibragimov nearly ended the fight in the ninth, when the battered Singh was saved by the bell after arising from a knockdown. Late in the round, Ibragimov hurt Singh with a thudding right to the midsection, followed by a hard right to the head. As Singh staggered into the ropes, Ibragimov pounced on him with a series of right hands. A final right knocked Singh onto his back, but he somehow managed to regain his feet.. The referee probably would have been justified in stopping the fight at that point, as Singh was glassy-eyed and on unsteady legs.
Over the first eight rounds, Singh put on an admirable albeit losing effort against his more experienced foe. Despite being outboxed by the fleet-footed Ibragimov in most rounds, Singh rarely stopped pressing his attack. The 32-year-old Indian withstood many stiff rights to the head, and fired many long, sweeping left-hooks and rights in return. Although Ibragimov dodged most of these punches, he was compelled to fight cautiously against his tall, hard-hitting opponent.
Singh’s best moments came in the second round. After being rocked by a stiff right to the head, Singh began firing long, sweeping left hooks and rights. The Indian’s punches were delivered with speed and power, always from an upright boxing stance. Ibragimov defended himself well, but seemed to be thrown off stride by Singh’s firepower. Several of Singh’s punches did in fact connect; near the end of the round, Ibragimov’s head was snapped back by a quick, looping left hook.
Nonetheless, Ibragimov built-up a comfortable lead on the scorecards by relying on shifty, circling footwork, pesky left jabs and occasional looping rights. The first five rounds featured much clinching and mauling, interspersed with stretches of cautious boxing from long range. During the sixth and seventh rounds, the bout changed character as Ibragimov and Singh engaged in spirited exchanges, trading hard rights to the head. Although Singh connected with solid blows several times, Ibragimov always responded with hard rights of his own; thus, the mid-fight slugging tended to favor the Uzbekistani.
It is possible that the heavy exchanges of the sixth and seventh rounds drained Singh’s strength. In the eighth, for the first time, Ibragimov unloaded his punches without facing significant return fire from Singh. Although unhurt, Singh did show signs of fatigue as Ibragimov peppered him with left jabs and occasional power punches to the head and body.
Early in the ninth, Ibragimov stunned Singh with a big right hand, and the brave but outgunned Indian’s resistance quickly deteriorated thereafter.
The victory improves Ibragimov’s record to 29-2-1 (15 KO’s). Although Ibragimov did not look as sharp or dominant tonight as he did recently in beating Oliver McCall, the upside is that he demonstrated “killer instinct.” In the ninth and tenth rounds – once Singh was hurt – Ibragimov’s fight-ending offensive was ruthless and intense. Ibragimov, 35-years-old, weighed 225 ½ lbs for this bout. He is currently rated 12th worldwide by the WBA.
Singh’s record falls to 20-1 (11 KO’s) as a result of tonight’s loss. He weighed 221 lbs for this fight. Singh is a former two-time Olympian (he represented India in the 1996 and 2000 games) who distinguished himself as a noteworthy up-and-coming professional before leaving boxing in 2004. Since resuming his career in 2007, Singh has campaigned chiefly in Europe.
In the co-feature main event, Brad Solomon won the WBA International and WBC Latino welterweight titles with a brilliant sixth round TKO over Wilfredo Negron. Solomon, 145 ½ lbs, completely dominated Negron with a lightning-quick hand and foot speed, extraordinary athleticism and agility, boxing skill, and combination punching. Although Negron, 144 ¼ lbs, exhibited an aggressive left-hooking style, he was battered for every moment of the fight. The referee waived the match off at 2:56 of round six as Negron was raked mercilessly by Solomon’s combinations to the head and body. The win moves Solomon’s record to 13-0 (five KO’s). Negron falls to 26-15-1 (19 KO’s).
Boxing media at tonight’s fight card were highly impressed with Solomon. Some experienced writers, in fact, compared him to Roy Jones and Floyd Mayweather. This writer was struck by Solomon’s intense mental focus and laser-like punching precision. Solomon can throw any punch in the book with consummate ease, and his hand speed is so fast it is sometimes difficult to track the combinations he throws. His footwork, balance, and coordination – based on tonight’s performance – are almost as good as that of any fighter boxing today. How far Solomon advances as a professional will be revealed in future bouts against world-rated opposition. So far, Solomon’s litmus looks exceptionally strong.
Cuban heavyweight Luis Ortiz improved his record to 3-0 (two KO’s) by winning a unanimous eight round decision over Kendrick Releford (22-14-2; ten KO’s). The scores were 80-72, 79-72, and 79-72. Ortiz, 6’4”, 233 ¼ lbs, displayed a combination of size, strength, power, speed, and fluidity rarely seen in large heavyweights. A southpaw, Ortiz displayed a quick right jab, hurtful left cross, and the capacity throw punches effortlessly from any angle. He dominated the tough, experienced Releford in almost every round by controlling the distance and scoring with combinations of looping hooks and uppercuts from both hands. Ortiz knocked Releford down in the second with a heavy left cross to the jaw. Releford, 220 ½ lbs, mounted an offensive in the last two rounds, but was held at bay until the final bell by the bigger, quicker Ortiz.
In a four round heavyweight bout, James Bryant suffered an upset loss, dropping a split decision to Jayce Monroe. The scores were 38-37 for Bryant, and 39-37, 38-37 for Monroe. Bryant, 261 ¼ lbs, demonstrated exceptional handspeed and athletic ability, but he was constantly off balance and his punching lacked accuracy. Bryant suffered a flash knockdown in the first when he recklessly rushed Monroe, only to be dropped to one knee by a counter right hand. By the third round, Bryant was exhausted, and Monroe assumed the upper-hand by using superior poise, patience, and occasional well-placed jabs. Monroe improves to 2-0 (one KO), while Bryant falls to 3-1 (three KO’s).
Cruiserweights Pedro Rodriguez (3-0; three KO’s) and Abdullah Dobey (4-1; four KO’s) engaged in a torrid brawl, with Rodriguez emerging as the winner via sixth round TKO. Each fighter had the other on the verge of a knockout several times before Rodriguez finally prevailed at 1:37 of the final round. Rodriguez weighed 178 ¼ lbs to Dobey’s 176 ¾ lbs. In a junior middleweight match, Inocente Fiz (3-0; two KO’s) won a unanimous six round decision over Reynaldo Cepeda (4-1; three KO’s). Fiz weighed 152 ½ lbs; Cepeda weighed 152 lbs. At cruiserweight, Emmanuel Agustama (2-0-1; one KO), 206 ½ lbs, drew with Robert Turner (3-2-1; two KO’s), 196 ½ lbs, over four rounds. In a heavyweight match, Watson Pierre (1-0; one KO), 238 lbs., stopped Ray Tillman (0-1), 316 lbs., in two rounds.
The card was promoted by The Heavyweight Factory, headed by Kris Lawrence and Henry Rivalta, and held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. The matchmaking was handled by Johnny Bos. The quality and competitiveness of tonight’s bouts were among the best this author has seen in several years of covering promotions in New England, New York, and Florida.