Mikhael Ostroumov defeated Nikita Basin in an all-Jewish exhibition match at Dizengoff Center in Tel Aviv, Israel tonight. The bout was a four-rounder.
Southpaw Ostroumov, 24 years old, outboxed the 35 year old Basin. Basin relentlessly pressed forward with his hands up, but as soon as he began to fire, Ostroumov initiated quick counters. Ostroumov injured his left shoulder during the fight and relied mostly on movement and his jab. He occasionally showed the left but couldn't muster much power with those punches.
In a comical- though not funny- moment after the fight, referee Shlomo Niazov raised Ostroumov's left hand in victory. Everything was normal at first, but something quickly changed. Ostroumov began howling in pain. Unfortunately, his yell sounded exactly like one gives after they win, an elated, "Ahhhh!" Though the fight was an exhibition, Mikhael had just recovered from an ACL injury, so that level of excitement wouldn't have been out of place. Niazov must have assumed the yell was a happy one and didn't immediately release Ostroumov's arm. After breaking free, Mikhael was able to celebrate with his team shortly after and no additional damage was done.
An electric atmosphere burst inside the Dizengoff Center for the event, promoted by former bantamweight world champion Hagar Finer. This was a far cry from boxing events in Tel Aviv about ten-fifteen years ago when polite claps occasionally interrupted the awkward silence.
For Ostroumov, who goes by "Mikhael" on Instagram and "Mikhail" on his trunks, it was surely a bittersweet fight. His knee held up, but his shoulder gave out. Since it was an exhibition, Ostroumov remains 3-0-1 with one KO and Basin is still 4-2 with 4 KOs.
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| courtesy of Tomer Ben Shalom's IG story |
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