By Jim Dower: Unbeaten Russian middleweight prospect Matt Korobov (5-0, 5 KOs) kept his perfect knockout string intact with an impressive 2nd round TKO over journeyman Anthony Bartinelli (20-13-2, 13 KOs) on Saturday night on the undercard of Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Korobov, 26, a two time World amateur champion in 2005 and 2007 for Russia, knocked Bartinelli down in the 2nd round with a left to the head.

A short while later, Korobov cornered the over-matched Bartinelli and was pummeling him in the corner with huge shots when referee Robert Byrd moved in and stopped the bout at 2:15 of the 2nd.

Korobov, a southpaw, looked nothing short of sensational against his limited opponent, showing speed, power and good movement as he dominated the short two rounds of the fight. Korobov was almost over Bartinelli in the 1st round, landing a lot of jabs in the first minute of the round. The jabs were quite powerful as Korobov would step into them, driving his jab with even more power.

In the 2nd minute of the opening round, Korobov began to land straight left hands behind his jab, the punches snapping the head back of Bartinelli. In the last minute of the round, Korobov began to open up with combinations as he battered Bartinelli against the ropes with huge head shots and double hooks. For his part, Bartinelli was throwing nothing back and just taking a ton of punishment without trying to fire back anything.

In the 2nd round, Korobov started well, landing two big lefts to the midsection of Bartinelli. Korobov then backed Bartinelli up to the ropes where Korobov landed a heat seeking left hand that dropped Bartinelli in the corner. Bartinelli got up and was met with two big lefts to the midsection.

From there, Korobov followed Bartinelli around the ring hammering him with jabs, lefts to the head and big right hands. Finally, Korobov caught Bartinelli against the ropes and nailed him with seven unanswered shots, prompting for referee Robert Byrd to step in and stop the bout at 2:15 of the round.

I’ve seen Korobov fight on a couple of occasions, and was only mildly impressed. However, he looks like he’s improved a lot, especially his jab and his hand speed. Both are much better than they were several fights ago. Korobov looked good enough to give WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik all kinds of problems if the two were to meet.

At this rate, it won’t be long before Korobov is cutting his teeth against top level opposition. Hopefully, Pavlik is still champion by then and we can see how he’d do against the powerful Russian.