Bright Russian puncher Dmitry Kudryashov, after a series of defeats in professional boxing, became interested in power extreme sports and gained weight. Some martial arts fans were skeptical about the return of the Russian Kuvalda to the ring, believing that his time had already passed. Indeed, defeating the current champion in mixed martial arts with a powerful blow is not an easy task.

The fight lasted only 45 seconds.

Boxer vs MMA fighter

The main event of the Pravda Old School Boxing tournament, held on June 11 in Moscow, was certainly a heavyweight boxing match between Dmitry Kudryashov and Vagab Vagabov. It’s funny that this rivalry between two eminent people from the world of martial arts was only a qualifying round for a meeting with Vyacheslav Datsik.

Our response to the boxing-fighting confrontation between Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor in the ring was expected to be extremely curious and even much more intriguing than its Western counterpart. Bookmakers gave preference to a native of mixed martial arts (1.62 odds for Vagabov’s victory), assessing the chances of a profile boxer not too high (2.40).

Who is really the favorite here? At first glance, the question is not an easy one. Behind Vagabov 30 fights in MMA, 28 of which ended in victories. At the same time, it was possible to knock out opponents 18 times. In professional boxing, Vagab was no longer a debutant – before meeting with Dmitry, he had three fights and three victories. The reigning champion of AMC Fight Night did not consider a little experience in boxing to be any serious drawback, believing that not every opponent of his Kudryashov corresponded to a high level.

“He is a good boxer, I don’t detract from his merits, he boxed with collections, but he has rivals … Give me these 20 people, I’ll drop them in one day,” Vagabov was quoted by Match TV.

In addition to the absence of defeats in boxing and the status of a favorite with bookmakers, an athlete from Dagestan could oppose his opponent with longer arms – 196 cm versus 191 for Kudryashov. However, as the mentioned fight between McGregor and Mayweather showed, this advantage still needs to be used.

The record of the former WBC Silver and WBA International champion belt holder Kudryashov also hinted at a decent level – 24 wins (23 by knockout) with five defeats. True, recently the concentration of failures has turned out to be quite high, and after the previous fight with Evgeny Tishchenko, which took place in September last year, Dmitry had a protracted downtime. But still, in the ring, it is the boxer who should feel at home.

“I treat him with respect, he has a good record in MMA, but the ring is my territory,” Kudryashov said about his rival in an interview with Match TV.

“Paid for excessive desire”

When two knockout specialists come into play, it’s a little strange to expect a long fight. And then both boxers went beyond their usual mass. The declared weight of Vagabov exceeded 108 kg. Kudryashov, whom the fans are accustomed to seeing in the first heavyweight, overcame the mark of 115 kg. Any blow from such powerful athletes could end the fight.

Expectations were justified – the fight lasted only 45 seconds. For some reason, Vagabov decided that he was able to stun an experienced boxer with his agility and from the first moments of the fight he rushed for a knockout. Dmitry accepted the challenge, but at the same time he acted with a cold head, and therefore his counterattacks were doomed to success. After the first cavalry attack from MMA, Kudryashov knocked down his opponent. Vagab quickly came to his senses and continued the fight, but he immediately caught the left hook and went to a knockout.

– Paid for an excessive desire to win. Departed from the plan for the battle, – Vagabov explained his failure.

But the point, most likely, is not in the plan – such an outcome was largely determined. Kudryashov, despite all the preliminary layouts of the omniscient bookmakers, proved the simple truth that Floyd Mayweather had previously proved. The ring is the territory of boxing. And in this territory, a great boxer should defeat any master of mixed martial arts without options.