Zak- a 25 year old from Ashdod, Israel- dominated his pro debut earlier this month when he stopped Darshan Singh in the first round on May 3. Zak is a boxer-puncher with a distinguished amateur pedigree. He's in tough in his second fight against a 17-year pro.
Rajapbaev is a 37 year old from Tashkent, Uzbekistan with a record of 12-15-1 (8 KOs). He has been stopped 12 times. Rajapbeav has basically had two careers. He fought as a middleweight and super middleweight with a clean face and a hair carved in the shape of a horse shoe before the covid pandemic. During this stage, he had a winning record. His best win came in 2012 against Konstyantyn Rovenskyy, who was 17-0-2 when they faced. Rajpbaev scored knockdowns in the third and seventh rounds, catching the towel from Rovenskyy's corner while finishing the second one. A disputed draw against Maksym Bursak in 2018 represented another strong performance. Bursak constantly held as Rajapbaev marked up the left side of his face with overhand rights.
The second part of Rajapbaev's career has taken place after covid. He gained 25 pounds and has fought as an undersized cruiserweight and heavyweight. Sporting a clean-shaved head, bushy beard, and a dad bod, the Uzbek hasn't won a fight at the heavier weights. In fact, his last win came back in 2018, a first round KO of Bobur Alimov after Rajapbaev had been rocked early.
Rajapbaev, who has fought in front of Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, starts each fight loading up on looping power shots around the opponent's guard. He shows the left to land the overhand right, which has true power behind it. He used that right against Yedil Kozhamberdiyev in 2020, putting down his Kazakh foe early in the fight. Rajapbaev controlled the first three rounds, and deserved another knockdown in the third that was ruled a slip, but Kozhamberdiev came back in the forth to pound the fight out of the Uzbek.
A month ago, Rajapbaev lost by way of "Russian Retirement," a phenomenon in Russia where the B-side wins a round and then promptly quits during the rest period with a mysterious injury. After quitting following a successful first round against the enormous Takhir Mamedov on April 24, Rajapbaev raced to the middle of the ring and shadowboxed for a few moments.
Zak will need to be carful in the early moments against Rajapbaev. He needs to be wary of the right and not fall for the decoy left. Zak has a good jab, which is effective against Rajapbaev. The native of Uzbekistan is a rough guy who has been known to land rabbit punches. He walks forward and throws from awkward angles but leaves himself square, which opens him up for counters. He also goes to body.
It will a good test early in Zak's pro career. This fight is scheduled for six rounds.
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