Ostroumov Off Today's Moscow Card

Southpaw super middleweight Mikhael Ostroumov was originally scheduled to fight tonight against veteran journeyman Konstantin Piternov at USC Soviet Wings in Moscow, Russia.  While the card will go on, neither Ostroumov nor Piternov is scheduled to take part according to BoxRec.

Two weeks ago, Ostroumov won every round against Evgenii Tershukov. But an accidental clash of heads caused the fight to be stopped in the fifth round. Ostroumov won a technical unanimous decision to go 3-0-1 with one KO. Ostroumov, who turned 23 years old that same night, could be seen around Moscow sporting a bruised right eye from the bout.

Ostroumov turned pro on June 27. His lone draw came on September 4 against Ravshan Ergashev, who was 5-0 at the time. The JBB scored the fight for the Israeli-born fighter. Piternov would have represented an interesting challenge. The 37 year old from Russia sports a 22-25 record with 10 KOs. He started his career 12-0 before becoming an opponent for fighters on the way up. He is a fast starter, but often curiously bows out of fights due to injury.

Mikhael has shown an ability to box and also to apply pressure in his young career. He is an adept body puncher and has the look of a good prospect.

Three Jewish Boxers Win

Igor Lazarev rebounded from a second round stoppage loss in September- his first career setback- with a first round knockout of Hakan Ozdemir on a body shot. After his win in Istanbul, Lazarev is now 7-1 with 3 KOs. Ozdemir is now 0-2. 

Sagiv Ismailov, who fought on the same card as Lazarev, won his second pro fight by technical knockout. He scored three knockdowns in defeating Merdan Hudaykulyyev and is now 2-0 with 2 KOs. Ismailov landed two lefts from the southpaw stance to get the first knockdown. He landed a left hook from a right-handed stance to get the second knockdown.Hudaykulyyev was overwhelmed by Sagiv's hard blows when he fell a third and final time. Hudaykulyyev, who is listed on Boxrec, as a 20 year old resident of Turkey who was born in Turkmenistan, is now 1-2 with one KO.

Mikhael Ostroumov defeated Evgenii Tershukov in Vladikavkaz, Russia. The fight was stopped a minute and 23 seconds into the fifth round due to a cut caused from a head clash. Ostroumov won each of the five rounds on all three judges' cards to take a technical decision. He is now 3-0-1 with one KO. Tershukov falls to 0-11. 

Three Jewish Fighters in Action Tomorrow

Mikhael Ostroumov, Igor Lazarev, and Sagiv Ismailov are all scheduled to fight tomorrow, December 10. Lazarev and Ismailov will battle in separate bouts in Istanbul, Turkey. Ostroumov will fight in Vladikavkaz, Russia.

Super Middleweight Ostroumov is scheduled to face Evgenii Tershukov in  a stay-busy fight. Tershukov is a 5' 11 and a half inch 26 year old from Verhnya Pyshma, Russia. He is a ten-fight veteran, but all ten of those contests were losses. He has been stopped four times. He has only fought two opponents with more than three fights of experience. Ostroumov (2-0-1 one KO) has been in tough in his early career. His debut was against a 46-fight veteran while his second one was against a 5-0 prospect. The latter was scored a draw, but Ostroumov deserved to win. He is also scheduled to fight Konstantin Piternov, a 46-fight veteran, on December 24.

Lightweight Igor Lazarev is slated to fight Hakan Ozdermir, a 27-year old from Turkey. Ozdermir weighed 123 pounds when he got knocked out last February in his only career pro fight. Lazarev is coming off of his lone career loss, a second round stoppage at the hands of Binali Shakhmandarov in September. The 34 year old is 6-1 with two KOs.

Super Middleweight Sagiv Ismailov is penciled in to fight Merdan Khudaykuliyev, a native of Turkmenistan. Khudaykuliyev isn't yet listed on BoxRec, so it's possible this is his pro debut. A fighter by that name made it to the semis of the 2017 Turkmenistan Junior National Championships at a much lower weight. A Merdan Khudaykuliyev can be found on social media showing off his impressive biceps and is listed as 25 years old. But who knows? For his part, Ismailov, an 18 year old from Bnei Ayish, Israel, scored a second round TKO victory in his debut in September.

The two fights in Turkey are scheduled for four rounds while Ostroumov's bout is for six.

Yuri Foreman Wins Comeback Fight

Rabbi Yuri Foreman defeated Jeremy Ramos at the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage in Louisville tonight. The former world champion last fought nearly four years ago and earned his first win in four and a half years.

Foreman, who is 40 years old, showed impressive speed and quickness. He landed overhand rights from the outside and leaping left hooks throughout the fight. Ramos, who is seven years younger than Yuri, wanted to counter, but he couldn't catch Foreman. He soon changed tactics and tried to rush in with combinations every once in a while. Ramos, a Colorado resident, was lucky to merely miss; most of Jeremy's charges resulted in Foreman counters which were the Brooklyn resident's hardest punches of the contest.

The first round was as slow as you would expect when a mover and a counterpuncher meet. It served as the textbook definition of a feel-out round. Yuri found his timing and distance in the second. He feinted effectively and used his foot and hand speed to land a couple of eye-catching left hooks and overhand rights. He disguised his punches well. One punch looked like a left hook until it became something in between a hook and an uppercut before snapping back Ramos's head.

Yuri put on a boxing clinic in the third and fourth rounds. Ramos was unsure of what to do. He couldn't catch Foreman, so he bounced and swirled his hands defensively in center ring waiting to be hit.

The fifth and sixth were slower rounds. Ramos landed a left hook and a right in the fifth for two of his rare connects. He briefly switched to southpaw in the sixth which served to halt Foreman's offense.  While Yuri's punch output decreased in the sixth, Ramos continued to improve his activity. He caught Yuri on the ropes and landed a right in the stanza. Both rounds were close.

Foreman took the fight back in the seventh. He landed a nice counter right and a right from the outside in the round. Foreman took the eighth with his jab. His movement was crisp throughout the fight, forcing Ramos to miss until the end. Even at the end he looked fresh, and if his skills have eroded, you couldn't tell it in this fight.

Foreman won the eight-round affair by split decision. The judges' cards were 77-75 twice for Yuri while one judge had it 77-75 for Ramos. The Jewish Boxing Blog scored the fight 78-74 for Foreman. Simply put, the card for Ramos did not reflect the fight. The first, fifth, and sixth were close and those three rounds were the only ones that could conceivably go to Ramos. Ramos did try to steal some rounds in the waning seconds, but only a novice judge should have been convinced by the effort. Raashaan Myers and Haven Harrington, the announcers of the fight, scored it 79-73 for Foreman.

Foreman's record improves to 35-3 with 10 KOs. Ramos is now 11-10 with 4 KOs.