Alexander Vladimirovich "Рыжий64 (Ginger64)" Devyatov

This kid first popped on my radar in April, battering the midsection of Eldorbek Zaynobidin Ogli Sayidov of Uzbekistan (late sub for Yoni Yoel "El Tren de Puerto Cabello" Blanco Pacheco from Venezuela) to force a retirement after 2 rounds. The young Saratovian's record was 10-0 with nine stoppages after that victory, and he since has added two more to reach a 12-0 (11) mark.

Keeping a knockout percentage in the nineties after you hit double-digits in your # of pro bouts is always cause to stand up and take notice, regardless of level of competition. As it happens, that is steadily improving. Last week on the Silyagin vs. Chilemba undercard on Матч Боец!, he blitzed Tanzanian southpaw Adam Yusuph Lazaro in under 90 seconds to claim the WBA's lightweight Asian title. Leaving aside the absurdity of somebody from east Africa competing for the "Asian" belt, this is remarkable as Lazaro came in 10-2 (9) and had never been down.

I was remined of him by someone bumping a cringey Teófimo López thread.

This is him from almost two years ago, still green but already showing promise with his body attack:

Devyatov vs. Saidov:

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Devyatov vs. Rofhiwa Maemu a month after Saidov, in May:

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Devyatov vs. Lazaro the other day:

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I'm not sure how smooth or complete a fighter he'll ever be or if he will evolve much beyond where he is now - but he for damn sure is one for whom you want to bust out the popcorn. His spot on the undercard oughtn't ever be your poop break.

 

I've seen conflicting ages listed for him - BoxRec says he's 23 but Tapology has a DOB of 1/6/97 (meaning he'll be celebrating his 25th birthday in a little over 5 weeks). Either way, young enough to either improve or at the very least give us plenty of entertainment before his somewhat reckless style does him in.