SAN DIEGO, April 9, 2016 – Working toward the main event of the evening, aspiring boxers did their best to make an impression with fight fans in the non-televised undercard bouts.
By far the most spectacular result, Ukrainian Olek Sander Gyozdyk of Ukraine (9-0, 6 KOs) thrilled the crowd with a spectacular and sudden knockout win over Nadjib Mohammedi of France (39-5, 24 KOs) The straight right to the chin at 2:06 of the second round earned Gvozdyk the North American Boxing Federation title.in the light heavyweight division. Gvozdyk resembles Gennady Golovkin with his ring command and power. He is one to watch in the near future. Sergey Kovalez, who also beat Mohammedi, was ringside getting a good firsthand look at Gyozdyk, which says a lot.
Lithuanian welterweight Egidijus Kavaliauskus went the distance and remained undefeated with a unanimous decision over Deniz Ilbay of Germany (15-1, 8 KOs). “The Mean Machine” pitched boxing’s equivalent of a shutout by winning every round on all three judges’ scorecards. It was only the second decision and by far the longest fight of Kavaliauskus’s career.
An excited group of supporters watched hometown prospect Devin “New Money” Haney (4-0, 2 KOs) of Las Vegas earn a victory on his biggest stage to date over Rafael Vasquez of Puerto Rico (22-5, 0 KOs) by unanimous decision. Trainer by Floyd Maywether Sr., who has high hopes for the 17-year-old super featherweight, Haney showed good speed against an ill equipped though game opponent. Sitting among Haney’s family and friends and watching a boxer on the rise in his early days reminds you what boxing is all about. The nickname tells you where Haney’s supporters think he’s heading.
Also winning on the undercard: Leon Bauer (8-0, 6 KOs) will take a win home to Germany after a decision over Ilshat Khusnulgatin (12-2, 6 KOs) of Russia in their super middleweight bout.
Trained by Abel Sanchez, who also trains Gennady Golovkin, welterweight Konstantin “Talent” Ponomarev, just 23 years old and originally from Russia, remains undefeated (30-0, 13 KOs), putting the first loss on the record of Brad Solomon of Lafayette, Louisiana (26-1, 9 KOs). Ponomarev wins the NABF welterweight title.
Gayle Lynn Falkenthal, APR, is President/Owner of the Falcon Valley Group in San Diego, California. She is also a serious boxing fan covering the Sweet Science for Communities. Read more Ringside Seat in Communities Digital News. Follow Gayle on Facebook and on Twitter @PRProSanDiego.
Please credit “Gayle Falkenthal for Communities Digital News” when quoting from or linking to this story.
Copyright © 2016 by Falcon Valley Group
Click here for reuse options!
Copyright 2016 Communities Digital News
• The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or management of Communities Digital News.
This article is the copyrighted property of the writer and Communities Digital News, LLC. Written permission must be obtained before reprint in online or print media. REPRINTING CONTENT WITHOUT PERMISSION AND/OR PAYMENT IS THEFT AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.
Correspondingly, Communities Digital News, LLC uses its best efforts to operate in accordance with the Fair Use Doctrine under US Copyright Law and always tries to provide proper attribution. If you have reason to believe that any written material or image has been innocently infringed, please bring it to the immediate attention of CDN via the e-mail address or phone number listed on the Contact page so that it can be resolved expeditiously.
