By Jim Dower: Unbeaten heavyweight contender Denis Boytsov (26-0, 21 KO’s) looked bad in beating journeyman Jason Gavern (18-6-3, 8 KO’s) in a 7th round stoppage on Saturday night at the Stadthalle, Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. Boytsov, 23, knocked the 32-year-old Gavern down four times in the fight, along with a couple of standing eight counts before the bout was stopped by referee Juergen Langos at 2:08 of the 7th round.

After Boytsov knocked Gavern down in the 7th, Gavern stayed down for a long time before getting back up again to resume fighting, but he looked finished by then. Boytsov then went after him and corned Gavern up against the ropes where Boytsov landed a series of chopping shots that had Gavern ducking and bending over looking as if he was going to go down again. The referee then stopped the action to give a standing eight count but decided to stop the fight at that point.

This was the type of fight where even through Boytsov dominating the action in every round, Gavern still was able to make him look bad by sticking around for so long and hitting Boytsov with desperate looking shots. When you’re ranked as high as Boytsov, it doesn’t look good for him to be having a limited fighter like Gavern stick around for seven rounds, trying to spoil and make Boytsov look bad by clowning around.

Boytsov still succeeded in knocking Gavern down in the 1st, 2nd, and 6th and 7th rounds with power shots. However, Gavern proved to have a great chin and good recuperative powers as he was able to get back up each time and continue to pot shot Boytsov.

Boytsov, ranked #5 WBA, #6 WBO, #8 IBF and #10 WBC, flattened Gavern with a right hand in the 1st round. He controlled the round with his right hands, but Gavern, who did all kinds of clowning around in the ring, was still able to land an occasional big looping shot to the head of Boytsov and make him look bad in the process. Boytsov made the mistake of fighting too much at a measured pace and not unloading on Gavern with a flurry of shots that would have in all likelihood ended matters early on in the fight.

After awhile, the fight became almost like a comical sparring session with Gavern interacting with the crowd constantly, raising his hands for cheers from the fans and making loud whooping sounds when Boytsov would hit him especially hard. Boytsov seemed to get into himself for period, teasing Gavern back with taunts. It looked like Boytsov was carrying Gavern awhile, letting him stick around because he didn’t want to hurt the guy.

In the 2nd round, Boytsov dropped Gavern with a hard left hook to the head at the start of the round. Gavern immediately got up and shouted to the crowd as if he was energized with getting knocked down. Gavern immediately landed a hard looping right hand to the head of Boytsov, surprising the crowd and probably Boytsov.

However, Boytsov immediately hurt Gavern again with a big right hand, causing Gavern to cover up. The referee then gave Gavern a standing eight count. Afterwards, Gavern fought well for the remainder of the round, landing nice right hands that might have hurt a fighter with a less sturdy chin than Boytsov. In the 3rd round, Boytsov staggered Gavern late in the round with a hard right hand to the head. Gavern immediately waived to the crowd to let them know that he was alright.

In the 4th round, Gavern fought well in the first half of the round landing a lot of right hands and doing well to get his shots through the defense of Boytsov. However, in the last minute of action, Boytsov landed several hard right hand that got Gavern’s attention. Gavern then tried a Chris Byrd move by pawing with his left hand over and over again in front of him as if he was scratching at Boytsov.

It didn’t mess up Boytsov’s timing at all, as he fired off a left hook around Gavern’s pawing right hand and nailed him in the head hard. That was the last time in the fight that Gavern tried the pawing move. In the 5th round, Boytsov, in a playful mood now, spun completely around at one point like a dancer. It got a rise out of the crowd and a smile from Gavern. The round was completely one-sided with Boytsov landing all the punches.

Gavern was starting to look tired and beaten up around the face by this point in the fight. In the 6th round, Boytsov dropped Gavern with a hard left hook in the first minute of action in the round. Gavern was now taking a lot of punishment, especially to the head. In the last part of the round, Gavern opted to move around the ring to avoid getting hit so much.

However, Boytsov still was able to catch up to him and hit him with some powerful rights. In the 7th round, Boytsov looked different as he came out for the start of the round, putting much more power on his shots and looking as if he was out to end matters in this round.

Sure enough, in the first minute of action, Boytsov knocked Gavern down with a hard left-right combination to the head. Gavern got up and Boytsov, now no longer calm and methodical, ran him quickly down and hammered him with chopping shots in the corner, causing the referee to step in and first give Gavern a standing eight count. After taking a good look at Gavern’s condition, which was bad, the referee decided to stop the bout at 2:08 of the round.