Yan Zak KOs Peter Msyoka

Undefeated cruiserweight prospect Yan Zak battered Peter Msyoka on his way to a fourth round knockout victory at the Meydan Hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates today. Despite being knocked down three times, Msyoka proved trickier than expected.

A 32 year old from Tanzania, Msyoka began the fight attempting to win. Zak, a 26 year old Israeli, remained patient, applying front-foot pressure. Msyoka used his jab effectively, but when he let go of a right to the body, he received a hard counter left for his trouble. it wouldn't be the last time for that particular sequence of events. As a result, Msyoka held, something he would do often throughout the fight.

Towards the end of the opening round, Msyoka fired a wild right on the break. It missed, but he was sternly admonished for the infraction. The rest of the round was a battle of feints.

Zak felt comfortable by the second round. He boxed with his hands down, feinting and probing the guard. A lightning right to the temple forced Msyoka to bend down and he took a punch to the back of the head while on his way down. That punch was legal because Msyoka fell into the path of the punch. For the rest of the round, the Tanzanian held Zak tighter than Julius Nyerere to the concept of Ujamaa. Zak zipped some popping counters, but he was a bit wild gunning for the knockout at times.

Yan was perhaps too anxious to land the perfect punch in the third. He tried to set up a pull counter but couldn't quite time it. Msyoka's hands were active, but Zak proved adept at catching his shots. Both men showed good upper body movement, which played a role in slowing down the amount of effective offense from the other.

In the fourth, Msyoka landed two punches to the body but took a hard right to the temple. Another right to the body resulted in another Zak counter right, which put Mysoka down. A bit later, a clubbing right forced Msyoka to stumble around the ring as the end crept closer. A stunning straight right-left combination flush to Msyoka's face, snapped back his head. He quickly took a knee, shook his head, and remained down for the count of ten with nine seconds remaining in the round. 

Zak improves to 9-0 with 7 KOs. Msyoka is now 15-3 (15 KOs). It was the third time he's been stopped. After the fight, the promotion ambushed Zak a little bit by bringing another 9-0 cruiserweight, Tamba Merlin, into the ring and goading them to fight in the near future. Zak didn't take the bait and handled to encounter with class.