Khariton Daurovich Agrba vs. Brayam Alejandro Rico Pabón & Mikhail Aloyan vs. David Barreto RBR

Yeah, just horrible reactions to everything. Like, did she not ever spar, even?

 

Just checked their programming guide and it would seem that was it for the prelims. We might be facing a twenty minute wait now.

"20:00 Professional boxing. Mikhail Aloyan vs David Barreto. Fight for the WBA Gold title. Khariton Agrba vs Briam Rico. Live broadcast from Moscow."

8pm local time in Moscow is top of the hour...at which point the broadcast will either switch from Боец to Матч! or simulcast on both. The main channel is showing UFC replays until then.

 

Even crappier undercard than usual, virtually all lopsided squash matches. Decent pair of co-features, though. Aloyan and Agrba stylistically both have ample advantages and should get past their South American banger imports comfortably enough, but neither is a total bum or anything.

 

Khariton Daurovich Agrba vs. Brayam Alejandro Rico Pabón, 10 rounds @ super lightweight

 

Round 1

Agrba is knifing out a hard southpaw jab and forcing Rico to skate the perimeter. Agrba drives his way in, body turned out 45° leftward, and loads up on heavy uppercuts once inside, jacking Rico's jaw with a particularly flush one. Rico staying on the ropes, getting speared with lefts on the body while drawing himself up tall and leaning backward at the waist to dodge all of Agrba's long headhunting jabs and 1-2s.

10-9 Agrba

 

Colombian lad for all his vaunted KO% (thirteen stoppages of fifteen wins, all padded up at home) doesn't like to fight backing up.

Who does, right? But some guys...really don't, and obviously he is one.

 

Round 2

Agrba stalking and switching midstride between orthodox and southpaw - either way floating jabs at the face of Rico and plowing straight rear-hand shots into his ribs. Rico doing his best to counter with flurry uppercut pairings off the ropes, keeping his arms glued to his sides to defend against the barn door bombardment that Agrba is making his focus. Agrba just shoving his way inside with his right foream held horizontally and Heisman trophying through Rico's guard, elbowing his gloves down and away to clear a path for more body shots. Agrba just imposing himself, mentally and physically. Rico has no answer.

10-9 Agrba

20-18 Agrba

 

I expect the first knockdown by R4 at the latest at this rate, and stoppage for the Georgian possibly not long thereafter.

 

...right on schedule (actually slightly ahead), the pace is picked up with Agrba smelling blood in the water. Constant deluge of right jabs in Rico's face driving him into the ropes, with Agrba's body language aggressively front-footed and confident, and then left uppercuts clattering into a helpless Rico's sides and up into the bottom of his chin until he is rescued by the ref.

TKO3!

 

Hardly the biggest test of Agrba's nascent pro career - in fact a massive step down from Petrov - but again, Rico was no slouch. He was competitive in his loss to William Zepeda while he lasted and, while his record is mostly fluff padded at home in Colombia, he does have a couple of halfway decent victories domestically in unbeaten prospect Carlos José Suárez Ayazo, and fringe contender Luis Eduardo Flores Suárez (mainly quasi-famous for being the one to pop Miguel Berchelt's cherry). The headline here is more about just how easily and thoroughly Agrba outclassed him, more than (and in proportion to) Rico's quality - which is what you want to see.

 

Since that ended quickly, they're squeezing in a swing bout.

 

Aliaskhab Dzhaparovich Abdulzhaparov vs. Adam Ahmedovich Temarbulatov, 6 rounds @ welterweight

 

Both are making their pro debut here. ADA and AAT are both Russian by nationality, but hail from largely Islamic northern Caucasian enclaves of Dagestan and Chechnya respectively.

ADA is several inches (maybe a whole foot) shorter than AAT but walked out second, so, perhaps is the one that is "expected" to win.

edit: looks that way from early returns in R1, too. He's walking the beanpole down and tattooing him but good.

 

Wild opener, Abdulzhaparov chucking haymakers up at Temarbulatov, rocking him several times, but also down a couple of times himself due to being constantly swung off balance from his own momentum. Temarbulatov able to cut loose countering accurately with some pinpoint jabs and long 1-2s if given range to do so, but his legs aren't quick enough to provide him that opportunity very often.

 

Temarbulatov down but ruled a slip, eh, borderline call, there'd been a punch.

This is really low-level stuff. Temarbulatov is a feather-fist with atrocious footwork (always badly positioned, stiff, and slow) but the more refined technique (better head movement and educated hands). Abdulzhaparov on the other hand is just a spastic little Tazmanian devil lunging in on his toes and getting countered like mad while hurling bombs that mostly haven't got a prayer.

It's like they each constitute half the mold you'd want for a young fighter. One has the mindset, toughness, and hustle but is devoid of skill - and the other has a dearth of those good intangibles but has the ideal physical dimensions and can actually box.