Itay Gershon began his professional boxing career in impressive fashion. In Ashdod, Israel today with the crowd chanting his name, Gershon stopped Armi Kovaci in the second round of a scheduled four-round super middleweight affair.
Both men began the fight as southpaws. Gershon, the shorter man, jabbed effectively to the body. He also threw combinations, landing the overhand left off the jab. Kovaci spent much of the round trying to measure distance with his tentative jab. Gershon landing the much harder blows.
In the second round, Gershon came out firing, but Kovaci exhibited quality defense. But when the Albanian threw a slow jab, Gershon countered. He then connected with an overhand left, right uppercut combination.
Kovaci finally opened up, which proved to be his undoing. Gershon clobbered Armi with a massive overhand left, and Kovaci hit the canvas hard. When he arose, Gershon switched to the orthodox stance and smashed the groggy Kovaci with an overhand right. Kovaci fell back to the ropes and the fight was stopped. Gershon is now 1-0 with one. KO while Kovaci is 1-7 with one KO.
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| Gershon prepares to counter Kovaci's jab |
Sagiv Ismailov defeated Nikita Basin by unanimous decision in their four-round light heavyweight contest. The 20 year old Ismailov boxed in the first and his superior hand-speed allowed him to take control of the fight. At the end of the round, Sagiv found himself on the ropes with Basin charging ferociously. Ismailov unleashed a right hand that hurt Basin, who fell into the ropes and then went down.
Ismailov spent much of the second round loading up with overhand rights and left hooks that often missed. Basin retaliated with short rights to the body. The heavy attempts and the sustained body attack wore down Ismailov. Sagiv started the third jabbing effectively but soon went back to loading up on overhand rights. His speed diminished, and Basin finished strong although not enough to take the round.
While Basin's chin can be vulnerable, his heart cannot be questioned. He pressed forward the entire time and continued to throw punches. Ismailov tired further in the fourth. He held a lot and found himself trapped on the ropes at other points. But he landed a big counter early in the round and connected with a combination featuring a left hook and a right hand at the end.
Two judges scored the bout 40-35 and the other had it 40-36. Perhaps Basin deserved the fourth round. Ismailov is now 3-0 with two KOs. Basin is 4-3 with 4 KOs.
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| Ismailov wins by decision against Basin |
Aki Mishaev stopped Eugeniu Bat in the second round. It looked dicey for Mishaev in the first when he was basically knocked down. Aki came out of the gate firing wildly with wide shots while Bat stayed contained and tried to counter. Mishaev's best punch was a counter left hook, a tight missile that landed over a Bat jab. Bat landed his own counter right on the chin midway through the opening round that caused Mishaev's knees to buckle. His right glove grabbed the ropes to keep himself up. It was not scored an official knockdown, but probably should've been.
Upon getting tagged, Mishaev immediately let his hands go. He soon landed another strong counter left hook. At the end of the round, he had Bat trapped in the corner. Mishaev started the second round with wide shots, exposing his chin, but he bullied Bat into a corner. Bat ducked and covered, but without any attack coming back, Mishaev was free to wail away. He caught Bat with a left hook to the body and Bat collapsed. He rose in time to beat the count, but didn't put his gloves up at the referee's request and the fight was stopped.
Mishaev moves his record to 2-0 with two KOs. Bat is now 1-2.
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| Mishaev lands against Bat |
Also on the card, Ahmad Shtewe was explosive in scoring a first round stoppage over Nicolae Galben.
Many Jewish boxing luminaries- including Shlomo Niazov, Tony Milch, Igor Lazarev, and Mor Oknin among others- attended the the event promoted by Evgheni Boico's Arena Boxing - Israel. David Berlin, the former executive director of the New York State Athletic Commission, was also in attendance.
(Photos courtesy of Boico)
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