By Erik Schmidt: Big 6’7″ 300 lb heavyweight prospect Alexander Ustinov (11-0, 9 KOs) continued with his forward progress in his boxing career with a brutal two-round destruction of Hans-Joerg Blasko (4-1, 3 KOs) on the undercard of Wladimir Klitschko vs. Tony Thompson IBF/WBO heavyweight title bout on Saturday night at the Color Line Arena, Altona, in Hamburg, Germany. Ustinov, 31, is promoted by K2 East Promotion, the promotional company owned by the Klitschko brothers, and appears to have the size and power to possibly make a mark in the heavyweight division. At 6’7″, Ustinov dwarfed his 6’5″ opponent Blasko, making him look almost tiny in comparison.

After a fairly dull first round in which Ustinov was nailed by some good right hands from Blasko, the action heated up in the second after Blasko nailed Ustinov with a good left jab. The punch seemed to awaken the sleeping giant, who had been mostly toying with Blasko up until then, and he immediately charged after Blasko, 34, hitting him with huge sweeping hooks to the head. One particularly hard right hand from Ustinov spun Blasko around, causing him to turn his back to Ustinov and show his large tattoo on his back.

Seconds later, Ustinov tagged him with a big right hand that staggered Blasko, and then he finished him with a big left hand to the head, sending Blasko to the canvas. He tried to get to his feet but was counted out while on his knees at 2:59 of the 2nd round by referee Rene Netolicky.

Blasko, not small at 6’5″, hit Ustinov with some powerful left hands early in the first round that would have stopped a fighter with a lesser chin than Ustinov. The power in the shots was as good as any top heavyweight in the division, as far as I could tell. Ustinov took the shots well, and came forward firing back with short left hooks and jabs to the head of Blasko. There wasn’t much finesse involved with many of Ustinov’s attacks, as he would come forward with both guns blazing, firing big shots and often bumping into Blasko with his huge frame, knocking him off balance.

In the 2nd round, Blasko landed a couple of big left hands early in the round. This led to an enraged Ustinov coming at him like an angry boar, backing him up and measuring him with his left hand, then teeing off with his right. Once he got him up against the ropes, Ustinov pounded him repeatedly with first his left and then his right hand, hitting him four to five times with each hand consecutively with clubbing-like shots while keeping his free hand braced against Blasko as if holding him in place. It looked rather crude, but it was effective.

Blasko attempted to escape but Ustinov was right on him, hitting him left hands to the body and short right hands to the head. Ustinov showed a good ability to punch in close during this time, as he was getting excellent power on these short punches. Ustinov then landed a big right hand that turned Blasko completely around from the force of the shot, and then before he could turn around again, Ustinov hit him with another big right hand, this one staggering Blasko. Ustinov then finished him off with a big left hand that dropped Blasko to the canvas. He tried to get off the canvas, but had only succeeded in making it his knees at the time that referee Rene Netolicky stopped the fight at 2:59 of the 2nd round.

With his power and size, Ustinov may have the right combinations of attributes to make a mark in the heavyweight division. His boxing skills are quite good, reminding one of a larger, slightly out of shape Vitali Klitschko. He needs to lose a little weight, perhaps 20 lbs or so to get to a weight where his speed will be a little better and give him a better chance once he’s out in with better heavyweights. However, even at his current weight, I’d give him an excellent chance against any heavyweight in the division aside from Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, both of whom would have a clear advantage due to their equal size and better overall strength and speed.

Afterwards, Ustinov said (perhaps jokingly) that he’d like to gain another 20 lbs so that he could get more power on his punches. However, he appears to have been saying this in jest, for he’s been taking weight off slowly in the past year, trimming off a lot of excess weight around his midsection. Since his last fight from two months ago, Ustinov appears to have taken off at least 10 lbs and appears quicker and in much better shape.