WBO Inter-Continental cruiserweight boxing champion Alexander Alexeev (12-0, 11 KOs) stopped Darrin Humphrey (24-6, 11 KOs) in the 4th round on Saturday night at the Stadthalle, Rostock, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Humphrey, 33, an American, was dropped three times by the powerful Russian born Alexeev, who made it seem like target practice as he pelted him with sharp hooks to the head and body before the bout was ultimately stopped in the 3rd round after Humphrey’s corner threw in the white towel o signal surrender.
Alexeev, a highly skilled former amateur star from Russia – now living in Germany – was simply a class or two above Humphrey, something that was plainly obvious seconds into the bout as Alexeev skillfully bombed Humprey with hooks and uppercuts while calmly ducking all return fire coming his way. It was like watching a skilled musician playing alongside a novice, as Alexeev was a far superior fighter in every possible way. As such, Humphrey spent most of the first round eating punch after punch from Alexeev, who looked to be having an enjoyable time at the American’s expense. By the end of the round, Humphrey’s face looked as if a car had ran over it, as it was beet red and beginning to bruise up.
In the second round, Humphrey came out throwing jabs and moving from side to side, trying to keep Alexeev from opening up further with his dangerous shots. It was only partially successful, however, as Alexeev was still able to pick off Humphrey’s from the outside with pinpoint hooks to the sides and head, mixing the punches up each time. With close to 30 seconds to go in the round, Alexeev clipped Humphrey with a left uppercut, sending him falling backwards towards the floor. Before he could hit the canvas, Alexeev landed a perfect right hook to the head which hastened Humphrey’s downward fall. However, Humphrey was able to get up, only to be met by a half dozen punches thrown by Alexeev before the round ended, thus saving Humphrey from being knocked out.
In the 3rd round, Humphrey looked both tired and hurt, as he moved around the ring, twisting his right hand repeatedly, showing to the audience that he had injured his hand somehow during the action. It’s unclear how he how hurt his hand, but whatever the case, he rarely threw any punches during the round. In fact, he only threw five punches during the round, and four of them were jabs. It looked bleak for him. Alexeev, how without anything coming his way, landed hooks, uppercuts and viscous combinations at intervals, and turning Humprey into a punching bag. Nea rht end of the round, Alexeev landed five brutal shots to the head, sending Humphrey to the canvas for the second time in the fight. Again, Humphrey lucked out because the knockdown occurred just before the round ended.
In the fourth round, Humphrey was unable to throw any punches whatsoever, as Alexeev tore into him with devastating left hooks and right uppercuts to the head. Moments after the round started, Alexeev landed two lefts – a hook and an uppercut – to the head of Humphrey, sending him to the canvas for the final time. After getting up, Humphrey’s corner threw in the towel and the bout was stopped at 1:45 of the 4th round.