By Jim Dower: #9 WBC super middleweight contender Avni Yildirim (17-1, 11 KOs) got back on the winning track in stopping 40-year-old Hungarian journeyman Attila Korda (13-7, 10 KOs) the 1st round of a scheduled 8 round fight last Saturday night at the Messehalle, in Bayern, Germany.
It was the 26-year-old Yildirim’s first fight since being knocked out by Chris Eubank Jr. in a disastrous showing in the World Boxing Super Series tournament last October, he blew out Korda in 1 round. Yildirim dropped the 40-year-old Korda on 3 separate occasions in the 1st round before the fight was finally halted by referee Ingo Barrabas. The official time of the stoppage was at 1:36 of round 1.
This was not a good opponent for Yildirim to redeem himself in any way for his last fight against Eubank Jr. It’s going to take a while for Yildirim to make the boxing public forget about how bad he looked in losing to Eubank Jr. If all Yildirim is going to fight is 2nd and 3rd tier opposition, he’s going to be waiting for a long time for the boxing fans to forget about his loss in the WBSS.
Yildirim will be back inside the ring in 3 months from now against 38-year-old journeyman Derek Edwards (27-7-1, 14 KOs) on March 3. Edwards has a 4-fight losing streak, and he’s beaten 5 out of his last 6 fights. If Yildirim loses to Edwards, then he might as well pack it in and go in another direction in terms of careers. Edwards’ last win was 3 years ago in stopping Badou Jack in the 1st round in 2014. That was a lucky win for Edwards, as he got Jack with a big shot in the 1st round and continued to pour it on until getting the stoppage. Edwards knocked Jack down 2 times in the round. As hurt as Jack was, there was little chance he was going to survive the round unless Edwards stopped punching altogether.
Yildirim’s biggest win to date is a 12 round decision over Marco Antonio Periban earlier this year in May. Periban has never beaten anyone that can be considered a solid fighter. His best win was against journeyman Darnell Boone.
Yildirim showed good power in his fight with Eubank Jr., and he has excellent size for the 168-lb. division. What hurt Yildirim’s chances of being competitive against Eubank Jr. was his lack of hand speed and his poor defensive skills. Yildirim looked slow in that fight, and he was getting hit with everything that Eubank Jr. threw at him. Yildirim wasn’t adapting by taking away Eubank Jr’s uppercuts that he kept hitting him with.