Baysangurov Defeats Danut

By Boxing News - 02/23/2008 - Comments

baysangurov342.jpgBy Jim Dower: Light middleweight contender Zaurbek Baysangurov (17-0m 12 KOs) had a much harder than expected victory tonight over Romanian Gheorghe Danut (7-9-5), beating him by tough 10-round unanimous decision to win the vacant EBU (European) light middleweight title at the Sport Palace, in Kiev, Ukraine. The final judges’ scores were 114-113, 114-113 and 115-113, all for Baysangurov. However, I had the 22 year-old Baysangurov winning every round of the fight except for the first, as he landed the cleaner and harder blows throughout the fight, and none of the rounds were particularly close. Danut, however, made it tough by continuously coming at Baysangurov, countering him and landing shots to the body.

Baysangurov, ranked #8 in the WBC and #7 in the IBF, and #11 in the WBA, fought very relaxed in the first round, throwing jabs and hooks to the body. However, he appeared far too relaxed, and as a result he was outworked by Danut who landed a large number of lefts to the head. Danut’s punches, though, had little effect due to his lack of power and size. He seemed much smaller than Baysangurov, and his punches seemed more annoyances than anything else for Baysangurov.

In rounds two and three, Baysangurov began unloading with powerful left hooks to the body, and rights to the head. His power is quite good, and he’s very heavy-handed as well. However, he seemed to fight a bit mechanical in that he would never vary the pace of his attacks, always fighting in a kind of a deliberate, robotic-looking style. Danut, for his part, kept a steady attack throughout, but many of his punches would come up empty, missing their mark due to Baysangurov leaning back or picking off the shots with his gloves. Both fighters went at after the bell ending the 3rd round, but nothing significant landed from either fighter before it was broken up by the referee.

In rounds four and five, Baysangurov began to throw many more combinations, landing to the body quite effectively. His body shots were quite hard, reminding me a little of Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, the young junior middleweight prospect. Baysangurov though is a much busier fighter than than Chavez, and a harder overall puncher. Baysangurov landed a huge right hand near the end of the round that snapped Danut’s head back for a second. It was the type of shot that would have knocked out most fighters, but Danut took it extremely well. Danut cornered Baysangurov against the ropes in the final seconds of the round and landed a quick flurry of shots. It wasn’t enough to win the round on my card due to the tremendous amount of huge shots that Baysangurov had landed in the round, but it looks as if the judges’ scored it in Danut’s favor.

Danut’s nose began to bleed in round six, and he looked tired from having pushed the attack so fiercely for most of the bout against Baysangurov. For his part, Baysangurov looked very relaxed between rounds, hardly breathing at all. It was a strange contrast when looking at the two fighters, because on one hand, Danut was sweating badly, his nose bleeding, and then there was Baysangurov looking as if it was the first round of the fight. As far as action goes, Baysangurov continued to control the action with hard combinations to the head and body.

In rounds seven though nine, Baysangurov began to work more to the body, looking as if he was trying to wear Danut down and force him to quit. It didn’t seem to be working, mostly because Danut kept in constant motion, circling the round to prevent Baysangurov from working him over with shots. Danut would pick his spots when he would want to mix it up. However, he was losing all the rounds because of this because Baysangurov was the aggressor, the one throwing most of the punches.

It was all Baysangurov, as he attacked Danut hard with body shots mixed in with hooks to the head. By this time, Danut looked to be just trying to survive without being stopped. For that, he was successful, but it was no recipe for victory, that much was for sure. As I mentioned previously, the judges’ scores didn’t match the actual fight, because Baysangurov was the one landing the far majority of shots in rounds 2-10.