On Wednesday night May 22nd, in the ProBox TV featured bout of the night, Batyrzhan Jukembayev stopped Ivan Redkach (24-7-1, 19 KOs) in the fifth round and won the WBA Continental North America super lightweight title.
The main event showcased two fighters who are currently traveling in opposite directions. Jukembayev is moving up the rankings and working his way towards being a title contender, while Redkach is stuck between retirement or continuing his career as a gatekeeper.
In the battle of the southpaws, Jukembayev started the opening round by changing levels with the jab and landing the right hook. Jukembayev continued to look sharp as he connected with a left to the body followed by a left hand shot to the head early in the second round.
Jukembayev was extremely accurate with his punches, as he ended the second round by landing a sharp combination. Redkach was taking a lot of shots, but for some reason he wasn’t able to return the fire.
It was target practice for Jukembayev in the third round as he landed the right hook and the straight left hand on multiple occasions. With 43 seconds left to go in the third round, Jukembayev hurt Redkach when he connected with a vicious shot to the body.
At the end of the third round, Redkach’s trainer told Redkach to show him something or he was going to stop the fight. In the 4th round Redkach continued to show nothing while Jukembayev continued to land at will.
Once the fourth round ended, Redkach’s trainer wanted to stop the fight, but Redkach talked him into giving him one more round. In the fifth round, Jukembayev was punishing Redkach with hard power punches, and with 48 seconds left to go in the fifth, the referee stepped in and put a halt to the contest.
The ProBox TV main event was the equivalent of a glorified sparring session, but Batyrzhan Jukembayev did get a chance to showcase his skills. While his actual sparring partner Terence “Bud” Crawford was sitting ringside, Jukembayev demonstrated ring generalship and excellent punch placement.
Batyrzhan Jukembayev (23-1, 17 KOs) won the WBA Continental North America 140-pound title and as a result, he may experience a slight rise in the rankings. However, Jukembayev will probably find trouble securing matches against the top contenders due to the fact that he is considered a high risk, low reward type of opponent.
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