|
Towering (6'8'') Russian heavyweight prospect Alexander Ustinov (21-0, 16 KOs) showed some considerable refinement but ultimately failed to impress in his twelve-round unanimous decision over Italian veteran Paolo Vidoz (26-9, 15 KOs) moments ago at Odessa Palace of Sports.
Ustinov took the first couple of rounds with his superior activity, using his heavy jabs and right swings to shake Italian's block but also finding room for some better cleaner punches that tagged Vidoz several times. Ustinov's opponent offered little offence in return but defended himself pretty well. The Russian fighter (representing his adopted hometown of Minsk, Belarus) boxed more that fought in rounds three and four but was considerably better nevertheless. Interestingly though, it was him who had his nose bleeding after the fourth.
Vidoz tried to create some danger to his foe in the middle rounds and landed several notable blows but they failed to get Ustinov's attention; the Russian being just too sturdy and durable to be bothered by Vidoz' attacks. Vidoz also had his nose bleeding after the sixth. Round seven was in favour of pretty active Ustinov but both pugilists were fatigued at the end of that round. The Italian ex-EBU champion caught his second wind to land several jabs and a splendid left hook to get an edge in the eighth but round nine was once again in Ustinov's favour.
From round ten the fight turned into very dirty and boring half-a-clinchfest with Vidoz being by far more of a rude and dirty fighter between the two. He landed several clean low blows but amazingly lost no points at all despite several warnings by the referee. Vidoz tried to rock Ustinov with his trademark left hooks through the huge hole in Russian's defense in the eleventh and in the twelfth but it was too little and surely too late to give him any chances.
All three judges saw it in favour of the K2 Ukraine fighter with surprisingly different scores: 115-113, 119-109 and 120-108. A workmanlike and hardly an impressive performance for the WBA #6 Ustinov, who retained his EBA title in process.
In a co-main event WBA #9 welterweight and EBA reigning champion Victor Plotnikov (now 24-1, 12 KOs) continued his rise to glory (and to a possible shot at Donetsk-based conutryman and WBA champion Vyacheslav Senchenko in another all-Ukrainian showdown) with the tenth-round stoppage of experienced Danish veteran Christian Bladt (35-11-2, 11 KOs).
Alexey Sukachev and Dmitry Mikhalchuk, http://www.boxingscene.com
|
Ustinov decisions Vidoz in Odessa
