By Ken Hissner: Sultan Zaurbek and Tursynbay Kulakhmet Win in Kazakhstan! At the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Saturday over ESPN+ MTK Global Kazakhstan – Askar Salikbayev, featured in the Main Event Sultan Zaurbek of KAZ defeating Ronnie Clark of Scotland for the vacant WBO European Super Featherweight title. In the co-feature, Tursynbay Kulakhmet of KAZ stopped Aleksei “Rocky” Evchenko of Russia in the tenth and final round.
In the Main Event, southpaw Sultan Zaurbek, 11-0 (7), #129 ¾, of Shymkent, KAZ, defeated southpaw Ronnie “The Shark” Clark, 21-5-2 (10), #128 ¾, of Dundee, Scotland, UK, over 10 rounds, for the vacant WBO Euro Super Feather title.
In the third round, Zaurbek had Clark bleeding from the mouth. In the seventh round, Clark’s left eye was near closing. In the tenth and final round’s final minute, Zaurbek hurt Clark with a body shot and kept hitting him to the body until the final seconds having the gutsy Clark out on his feet.
Scores were 100-90, 99-91, and 100-90, as did this writer have it.
In the co-feature Super Welter southpaw Tursynbay Kulakhmet, 4-0 (3), #153 ½, of Kyzylorda, KAZ, stopped southpaw Aleksei “Rocky” Evchenko, 19-15-2 (8), #153, of Chelyabinsk, RUS, at 1:57 of the tenth and final round.
In the tenth and final round southpaw, Kulakhmet landed a lead left followed by a right hook on the chin, dropping Evchenko for an 8-count from referee Baurzahn Iskakov. Kulakhmet jumped all over Evchenko before the referee finally stopped the brutal beating. Kulakhmet won every round until the stoppage.
Welter Talgat Shayken, 5-0 (3), #146 ½, of Koksetau, KAZ, stopped Alexander Sharonov, 12-6-2 (6), #145 ¾, of Balashikha, RUS, at 1:53 of the seventh round of a scheduled 8 rounds.
In the second round, Shayken bloodied the nose of Sharonov. In the fourth round, Sharonov was pushed to the canvas and got up mad, finally showing some offense to take the round. Shayken was warned about continued pushing. In the seventh round, Shayken hurt Sharonov, possibly breaking his jaw. The corner stopped it when the referee should have.
Lightweight southpaw Nurtas Azhbenov, 11-1 (4), #134 ¾, of Kandyagash, KAZ, was knocked out by Isa Chaniev, 15-3 (7), #134 ¼, of Nazran, RUS, at 0:45 of the third round of a scheduled 10 rounds.
In the first round, with seconds to go, a counter left from Azhbenov on the chin dropped Chaniev. Referee Paul Tuzinde gave me a “long count” of 12 seconds until the bell rang.
In the third round, a counter right from Chaniev on the chin and down went Azhbenov and out as the referee waved it off without a count.
Flyweight Kanagat Manatuly, 6-1 (4), #111 ½, of Aktobe, KAZ, defeated Bekzhan Abubakir, 2-3 (1), #111 ¼, of Karaganda, KAZ, over 10 rounds.
Scores were 96-94, 98-92, and 97-93.
Heavyweight 6’09” Ivan Dychko, 10-0 (10), #236 ¼, of KAZ and Kissimmee, FL, impressed knocked out Denis “Darh Vader” Bakhtov, 39-19 (26), #237 ½, of KAZ and St. Petersburg, RUS, at 1:00 of the first round of a scheduled 8.
In the first round, Dychko landed a powerful right off a jab on the chin of Bakhtov, and down he went for the count. The 41-year-old Bakhtov should consider retirement.
Super Middle southpaw Dauren Yeleussinov, 9-1-1 (8), #167 ¾, of KAZ and Brooklyn, NY, stopped southpaw Arman Rysbek, 7-2 (6), #167 ½, of KAZ and Kissimmee, FL, after 5 rounds of a scheduled 8 rounds.
After splitting the first four rounds, Yeleussinov used an effective jab while Rysbek was going with power punches. In the fifth round, at the halfway point, Yeleussinov landed a right uppercut rocking Rysbek, whose left eye was swelling shut. In between rounds, the Rysbek corner stopped the fight.