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The Russian “Hawk”, Khabib Allakhverdiev (18-0-0 8 KO’s) made his biggest statement yet last night at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, FL. He defeated heavy-hitting Dominican star and former three weight world champion Joan Guzman (33-1-1 20 KO’s) over eight rounds at light welter with a technical decision, handing Guzman his first career blemish.
Guzman started the exhilarating contest well, staggering the Russian in round one, but his recklessness didn’t get him far as the rejuvenated Allakhverdiev used his youth and power to put down Guzman in round three, steadily tipping the fight in his direction as in the following rounds Guzman managed to fight hard but got competitively outfought throughout.
In round seven, most ringside observers had the contest leaning in favor of the visiting Allakhverdiev, but the 36 year old Guzman really chugged on and began to plot a comeback, even after having his nose busted up and a nasty cut formed on his eye.
But the fight’s pattern continued as Guzman’s luck failed him as in the following round, a slip caused him to twist and injure his right knee, prompting the referee to call off the battle after originally allowing a defenseless Guzman to continue.
According to Florida state rules, the scorecards were consulted for the final verdict, a quite close but relatively clear one in the eyes of most. SaddoBoxing’s Corey Quincy scored it 77-74 Allakhverdiev as you must include the uncompleted round of stoppage, while the ringside officially scored it a Split Decision by controversial 76-75, 76-75 and 75-76 margins in favor of Allakhverdiev, who retains the IBO crown while adding the WBA belt.
But, at least the right man got the nod and a rematch might be in store.
Neither man particularly disappointed this night. Allakhverdiev showed he was a real force to be reckoned with in one of boxing’s strongest weight classes featuring the likes of Danny Garcia, Lucas Matthysse, Brandon Rios, Mike Alvarado, Zab Judah, Amir Khan and many more.
Guzman showed that, despite aging, he is a tough enough man to still put on excellent fights with the very best in the world. Those who tuned in on The Pursuit Channel and Bounce TV in the USA or maybe even Russia TV 2 in Russia got a treat.
To follow up on the careers of world class fighters such as Guzman and Allakhverdiev keep up with the Saddoboxing.com team.
Corey Quincy is a freelance boxing writer for various sites including Saddoboxing.com, his personal blog Blboxing.com and others. Like his big Facebook page at Boxing Legends and follow him on Twitter at Quincyboxingfan.
