Wlodarczyk defeats Chakhkiev in come from behind victory

By Boxing News - 06/21/2013 - Comments

chakhkiev1By Jim Dower: WBC cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (48-2-1, 34 KO’s) was able to survive a 3rd round knockdown to come back and stop a weary Rakhim Chakhkiev (16-1, 12 KO’s) in the 8th round on Friday night to retain his World Boxing Council title at the Dynamo Palace of Sports in Moscow, Russia. The finishing shot came from a left hook followed by an accidental head-butt that put Chakhkiev down for the second time in the 8th. The first knockdown came from a right hand to the side of the exhausted Chakhkiev’s head.

Wlodarczyk was trailing in the fight going into the 6th and knocked Chakhkiev down late in the round with a big left hand thrown while in close. Chakhkiev looked dog tired like he’d used up all of his energy in setting a blistering pace in the first five rounds.

In the 7th, Wlodarczyk knocked Chakhkiev down with a big left hook to the head. Chakhkiev had been having a good round when he got nailed. In the 8th, Wlodarczyk dropped a tired Chakhkiev two more times before referee Daniel Van de Wiele halted the fight.

Wlodarczyk may have won the fight but he took a lot of punishment from Chakhkiev all through the fight. You could see it on his face afterwards with his cut above his right eye and the bruising and redness all around his face. Chakhkiev was even punishing Wlodarczyk in the 8th round after having been dropped in the 6th and 7th rounds.

Chakhkiev only has himself to blame for the defeat because he came out much too fast and should have been thinking pacing himself. However, the outcome was kind of predictable because Chakhkiev had been matched really softly since turning pro in 2009 and he had stopped a lot of his poor opposition in the early rounds. He hadn’t really ever had a chance to develop his stamina because he always knocking out the poor opposition his promoters had matched him against. In Chakhkiev’s fight last year against Alexander Kotlobay, Chakhkiev started out fast just like he did tonight against Wlodarczyk, but then he ran out of gas in the second half of the fight and had to battle hard to get the victory.

Chakhkiev’s promoters need to start over from scratch with him to get him to learn how to pace himself better and to develop his endurance. They can’t keep feeding him poor opposition and expect him to do well when they suddenly throw him in the ring with a good fighter.

In other action on the card, undefeated cruiserweight prospect Andrey Knyazev (8-0, 3 KO’s) stayed undefeated with a 12 round decision win over Anar Mammadov (6-1).



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