Fedor Alekandrovich Chudinov vs. Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna RBR

Round 5
Aliev 10-9 Johnson
Aliev is really picking up the pace to start this round and is more willingly standing in the pocket and exchanging. He’s still pretty effective in his movement though and isn’t allowing Johnson the time to land the big punch that Johnson is seemingly attempting to time. Johnson has barely thrown his jab this round, which seems to be a tactical mistake because his shockingly high work rate seemed to be what was throwing Aliev off the most. Aliev is landing flashy hooks and overhands that would probably stun most fighters, but it takes more than that to hurt the Kingpin.
Aliev 49-46 Johnson

 

Round 6
Aliev 10-9 Johnson
Very low activity to start the round from both fighters, Aliev lands a few hooks but they do nothing. Johnson resumes using the jab that was giving him some success earlier. Johnson is starting to gas from having to put the pressure on Aliev but he’s still throwing and unloads with a hook that Aliev avoids as the round ends
Aliev 59-55 Johnson

 

Round 7
Aliev 10-9 Johnson
Aliev seems to finally stun Johnson with a hook but it doesn’t seem to dissuade Johnson. Johnson is pressing forward with a real sense of urgency and is throwing uppercuts and hooks that are missing. Aliev backs Johnson up and Johnson beckons him forward but Aliev doesn’t oblige. The urgency from the first minute of the round has disappeared and Johnson is back to throwing his jab. Neither man dictating action here but Aliev is landing the better punches. He cracks Johnson again and backs him against the ropes which causes a repeat of the sequence earlier with Johnson shaking it off and beckoning Aliev forward.
Aliev 69-64 Johnson

 

Round 8
Aliev 10-9 Johnson
Johnson was throwing the jab and out working Aliev in the first minute or so, but now he’s just getting picked off by Aliev as he comes forward. Not the most exciting round, very low activity from both men
Aliev 79-73 Johnson

 

Round 9
Aliev 10-9 Johnson
Aliev comes out more aggressively with his jab with Johnson not throwing much until he throws a series of short hooks, with one of them getting through and cracking Aliev. He’s unable to follow up though as Aliev seems unbothered and keeps up his movement. Johnson hasn’t really throw much since that moment and got outworked for the rest of the round by Aliev and his jab. Another sort of dull round
Aliev 89-82 Johnson

 

Round 10
Aliev 10-9 Johnson
Aliev keeping the distance and working behind his jab and Johnson drops his hands and stares at him, unamused by Shigabudin’s deft movement. Shigabudin is the only one really landing anything this round and Johnson is barely throwing anything back. Johnson is absolutely exhausted and seems to be timing Aliev in hopes of throwing one last Hail Mary punch but he never gets the chance as Aliev picks up his work rate to end the round and the two stand and bang to end the round. Best effort I’ve seen from Johnson since the Milas fight.
Aliev 99-91 Johnson

 

Johnson, ever the class act, comes over to Aliev’s corner and compliments him on his work. Tells the corner that he threw great body shots and that Johnson would’ve been done with 5 more. Seems about right, Aliev seemed to hurt Johnson most to the body but went there far too little

 

Aliev wins by UD

 

Roy Jones performing and has a whole gang of backup dancers with him. It feels like my childhood all over again

 

Vyacheslav Ryabov - Bekhzod Rakhmanov - 4 Rounds

 

Ryabov got a huge reception for a debuting boxer. I know he’s fought MMA because I’ve seen him once before but I didn’t know he was this popular lol

 

Round 1
Ryabov 9-10 Rakhmanov
The Uzbek, who is comically short compared to Ryabov, is letting go with wild looping punches that aren’t really missing by much. Both men have no defense but Ryabov is really stiff and stands up very tall. Rakhmanov lands two wild punches and backs Ryabov up against the ropes. Ryabov starts to work behind his jab but I don’t think it was enough to win the round.
Ryabov 9-10 Rakhmanov

 

Round 2
Ryabov 10-9 Rakhmanov
Rakhmanov has Ryabov on his bicycle and is pressing forward and landing with his wild punches. Ryabov using his jab a bit more and starting to feel his way into the contest a bit more. Close round
Ryabov 19-19 Rakhmanov

 

Round 3
Ryabov TKOs Rakhmanov
Ryabov starting to look more confident and throwing more combos. Rakhmanov is still throwing his big looping punches to keep Ryabov honest but they’ve significantly decreased in volume at this point. Ryabov cracks Rakhmanov with a combo as he’s backed into a corner and Rakhmanov goes down. He gets up at 8 but he doesn’t look to have recovered fully. He gets backed against the ropes and his corner throws in the towel before Ryabov can seriously hurt him.
Ryabov wins by TKO3

 

Two debutants, one of those is huge and one is more like a cruiserweight. This fight was a little bit strange.