Aleksei Papin vs. Willbeforce Shihepo & Georgi Chelokhsaev vs. Leonardo Fabio Amitrano RBR.

Shihepo looks ancient. That ring card girl, however, looks damn nubile & fertile...

 

Lex has the left hook dialed in, circumventing the guard & whipping it hard against the grill of Shihepo in triplicate.

Lengthy pauses twice during the same round to fix both men's glove tape, not sure I've seen that before.

edit: n/m, the delay for Shihepo was because of loose tape on his glove. Papin has a cut, the second delay was the ringside physician (happens to be a woman, rather attractive one at that, gives the ring card girls a run for their money) checking him out.

 

Really gnarly cut on Papin, actually. I missed what it was from - headbutt (or some other foul) or clean blow? The blood is at least trickling out the side and not into his vision..

 

Willbeforce battered down halfway into the seventh! Papin selling out before his vision goes red, throwing with bad intentions like a madman! Shihepo gets up and clings to him, showing resiliency & savvy (if little else here). BIG RIGHT HAND FROM PAPIN! Shihepo turned his back and ran, mouth piece falling out (perhaps spat intentionally to buy time). Ref sends Papin to a neutral corner, replacing it. Time in. Another big right by Papin. Shihepo again turns tail and scrambles. Papin comes windmilling in. Shihepo clinches. BIG LEFT HOOK ON THE EARDRUM FROM PAPIN! Shihepo's equilibrium was splattered there for a second, he went stumbling in reverse into a corner. Papin has shot his wad. Shihepo is spending the last half minute of the round getting in Papin's face and ripping him with short looping right upper-hooks!!!!

WHAT A ROUND

 

This isn't the prettiest fight but Papin's raw power and Shihepo's chin are making for some prolonged sequences of pretty insane violence.

 

Third stoppage loss for Shihepo, fastest in a dozen years.

 

Well done, Captain Mal.

 

Who would win - Papin vs Kudryashov?

Obviously Papin is not on Usyk/Gassiev/Briedis level

 

Papin is closer to average in both the chin and power categories whereas Kudryashov is at the polar extremes - bad and good respectively - in both.

So, hard to say.