(or rather, Siarhei Khamitski as rendered with a transliteration from his native Belarusian instead of the more commonly used Russian variant) He's co-headlining in a 4-rounder at home in Minsk, Belarus - the only pro boxing card being staged anywhere in the world today. His opponent is 3-5 (2) countryman Pavel Hryshkavets. The main event is undefeated (but green) Kazakh heavyweight prospect Жан Сергеевич Кособуцкий (Zhan Sergeevich Kossobutskiy who boasts a win in the amateurs over Magomedrasul Yusub Oğlu Medzhidov, the Azerbaijani three-time world champion and Olympic bronze medalist) taking a minor step up in a 6-rounder. This event will almost surely not be televised anywhere, nor is anybody outside the paying customers at the Crazy Horse Club in Minsk (and maybe an odd BoxRec editor bored and burdened with too much free time) keen to know what happens. So what is noteworthy (or thread-worthy) about this news? Well, just last Thursday, the Ghost turned 44 years old...and in 4½ months it will have been precisely two decades since his professional debut. Khomitsky has walked a hard road for the dozen years since he took his first step up in class (and suffered his first defeat) against Khoren Gevor, his first time venturing beyond former USSR territories. In that span, despite officially going 14-16-2, he carved out a respectable name for himself as the sort of grizzled, road-warrior underdog that die-hard boxing fans love - who never lays down, can make the favorite in the opposite corner work their ass off to secure every competitive frame, and hardly ever gets "dominated" even in clear, wide points losses or the ultra-rare stoppage (including at the hands of a young Golovkin, a criminally underrated bright spot on the early resume of GGG as noted here: https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...he-record-straight-on-several-matters.532505/). He did also spring the very occasional upset - with his only three notable victories ever coming against Brits on British soil (knocking out unbeaten Adam Etches & Frank Buglioni over an 11-month period in 2014 & 15, and forcing then world-ranked Jaime Moore to retire on his stool under a barrage of body shots in 2010; not to mention a couple of near misses, drawing with Nick Blackwell and coming bitterly close in a UD loss to John Ryder where he inflicted an early cut that never quite worsened enough to merit a stoppage). Until very recently, he was acquitting himself well and never finishing a fight without having marked up the other guy a bit and bagged some rounds off him. He was holding Stas Kashtanov to a MD last July, and fought Dmitri Chudinov in February, getting off the canvas and coming on strong late, still looking decent. Then in May he fought another Russian, young unknown Vladimir Igorevich Shishkin. It...wasn't pretty. (RBR here: https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...uhanân-vs-ziyoyidin-toxirov-rbr.608517/page-4) I hope this is just a "ride into the sunset on a high note" against Hryshkavets...and not a "get back in the W column so I can get some momentum going and justify getting in with the young guns of the Euro super middleweight scene again..." - because as much fun as he used to be to watch, I'd rather not see this Ghost haunting any more rings.
Just past 9pm in Minsk, so we ought to know soon if Khomitsky added one last notch to his KO belt, or had to settle for a 40-36. Any other result (especially an L! ) would have to bring the "please retire" sentiment to a screeching boil.
If he can stage a bit of momentum I'd like to see him and Mock go at it next year. Lean heavy towards Mock but I think Khamitski still has his own and is cagey throughout and bags a few rounds .
Lolenga probably kayos this version. (and we know for damn sure that we're not going to see the opposite; it takes a hell of a lot more than what did in Moore/Etches/Buglioni to halt Mock) Would've been fantastic a few years ago, though.
