Have news relating to Jewish boxers? Email the editor here!

Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Lazarev Stopped, Ismailov Wins Debut

Lightweight Igor Lazarev suffered his first professional defeat in a bout against Binali Shakhmandarov in Tirana, Albania this past Sunday. After a close first round, Igor was stopped in the second.

Each judge scored the first round differently. One gave it to Lazarev, the other to Shakhmandarov, and the third scored it even. Just before the bell to end the round, Shakhmandarov landed a right which sent Lazarev down. The referee Marsel Dhima- who, incidentally, was clad in blue jeans- seemed to rule it a slip, but the damage was done.

Lazarev suffered the worst of his 31 professional rounds in the second. After a right cross stunned Igor, Shakhmandarov soon followed up with a flush right uppercut on the chin that led to an official knockdown. Lazarev rose, but a few punches later, he was down again. His corner then threw in the towel; Igor tried to kick it out in disgust before referee Dhima saw it, but it was too late and the casually-dressed ref called a halt to the contest a minute and 17 seconds into the second round. The 34 year old Lazarev is now 6-1 with two KOs. Shakhmandarov, a 21 year old Ukrainian-born resident of Istanbul is 1-0-1.

Sagiv Ismailov debuted impressively on the same card in Tirana, Albania on Sunday. He stopped a 17 year old Albanian debutant named Flori Hoxhallari earning a TKO victory. Sagiv showed is he an aggressive fighter while Hoxhallari spent most of the bout either retreating or switching stances. Coincidentally, Ismailov's fight was stopped at one minute and 17 seconds of the second round, the same second as Lazarev's fight completed.

Ismailov is an 18 year old super middleweight who worked in Tony Milch's Gloves and Doves program. According to Milch, Ismailov is from Bnei Ayish, Israel. The town is mostly made of Jews from Yemen and the former Soviet Union. Though Ismailov just turned 18 last month, Milch notes he is "good enough skill wise and now mature enough to box professionally."  Milch describes Ismailov as "very strong" for his age, but someone his team will build up slowly.

No comments:

Post a Comment