Boxing News Boxing News
Well traveled Russian spoiler Leva Kirakosyan pulled off yet another upset on Saturday night by stopping hometown hero Antonio Joao Bento in the third round and annexing the European Super Featherweight title, recently given up by Alex Arthur, as a result.
Kirakosyan came into the bout riding a ten bout win streak and had previously upset such European level stalwarts as Carl Johanneson and Guiseppe Lauri while giving Juan Urango and Michael Gomez all they could handle.
Bento had already contended for the European title, losing a bid to unseat Boris Sinitsin three years ago, and recently had secured several regional titles.
Aware of Kirakosyan’s considerable punching ability, Bento set out to keep the 33 year old Russian at arm’s length and was doing relatively well for the first two sessions.
The third round was a different story however as Kirakosyan delivered a full bore right hand that dropped Bento hard to the canvas.
The Portuguese fighter made it to his feet and beat the count of referee Luigi Muratore but Kirakosyan smelled blood and Bento was unable to adequately defend against the overwhelming follow up assault.
With the victory, Leva Kirakosyan, 25-4 (16), caps off a mercurial career by assuming the European 130 lb title.
