Kudukhov's torment with experienced Jones and Datsik's victory over the T-34: what did the boxing evening in Moscow remember

Honored Veteran's Visit

Pop-fighting has recently become an integral part of combat sports, despite the negative attitude of many fans towards them.

One way or another, fights with the participation of popular bloggers, actors or representatives of other species sometimes arouse no less interest than "serious" confrontations.

So in Russia, promoters began to actively organize such evenings.

One of them took place in Moscow on Friday.

The composition of the participants turned out to be quite representative.

Former American football player and owner of the largest biceps in Russia Denis Vildanov met with the strongman Boris Khlebnikov, who in his youth became famous for moving planes, buses, etc.

In the 90s, he was even called the strongest boy in the country.

Now Boris decided to try his hand at boxing.

In a major event, two MMA fighters came together.

An athlete with a criminal past, Vyacheslav Datsik, nicknamed Red Tarzan, opposed Daniyala "T-34" Elbaeva.

And the famous blogger Artyom Tarasov challenged Tyson Dijon, who twice in 2021 managed to yield to Datsik.

Finally, the main fight had nothing to do with pop boxing.

31-year-old Vitaly Kudukhov in the heavy weight category opposed 49-year-old ex-world champion Guillermo Jones.

In particular, the guest's asset was a sensational victory over Denis Lebedev in 2013.

For the native of North Ossetia, whose professional career began only last year, it was a great opportunity to beat the veteran and extend his winning streak to five fights.

Another defeat for Tarasov

The first fight was interesting because of the serious difference in size between the opponents.

Massive Vildanov on the eve of entering the ring showed 185 kg on the scales, while Khlebnikov - 103.

Boris, who made his boxing debut, had no choice but to run away from a tough opponent.

Moreover, it was always necessary to hold out for three rounds of two minutes.

In general, the strongman succeeded.

Vildanov several times pinched the opponent in the corner of the ring, but he avoided a knockout under a hail of blows.

It was difficult to determine the winner, since Khlebnikov hit more often visually, but Big Dad's attempts looked much more dangerous.

As a result, the judges counted a draw.

With no less interest, the fans were waiting for another exhibition fight between Dijon and Tarasov.

The Cameroonian, who is the champion of his country in boxing, was considered the clear favorite, while the profile form of the Russian is sambo.

In addition, the African was simply harder.

As a result, the forecasts came true.

For most of the fight, Artyom acted somewhat chaotically, trying to get the opponent with sweeping blows.

Tyson, for the time being, behaved calmly, waiting for the moment.

In the final round, the blogger already openly survived in the ring and often went to clinch.

And after hitting the hull, he almost fell to the floor.

However, Tarasov still managed to wait for the final bell on his feet.

Nevertheless, he had no chance of winning - the referee gave it to Dijon.

However, Artyom, it seemed, was not very upset, although he suffered a second defeat in a row in boxing.

In February, he also lost by unanimous decision to strongman Eduard Koklyaev.

But the duel between Datsik and Elbaev turned out to be much more uncompromising.

Unlike their colleagues, they did not sit out in defense, but immediately went into a cruel exchange.

Considering the high weight of the boxers, it looked very dangerous.

At first, Vyacheslav looked more active, then Daniyal.

It was possible to stop his pressure with the help of a forbidden blow to the groin.

In the second round, the T-34 was already much less proactive.

Considering that he weighs 12 kg more (135 versus 123), and he ran out of strength earlier.

In addition, 41-year-old Tarzan Red was just taking experience.

In the last three minutes, both had a hard time.

Nevertheless, Datsik hit more often and had more opportunities to knock out his opponent.

He survived, although in the end he literally hung on the ropes.

The referees, too, no doubt took the side of Vyacheslav.

Thus, he won his third boxing victory.

Having received the cup, the athlete hastened to retire for a very good reason.

"It was fun.

It's good that the wife did not give birth on the air.

We are expecting a child, so you can congratulate us, "REN TV quotes Datsik.

Kudukhov's fifth victory in a row 

Finally, Kudukhov and Jones were the last to enter the ring.

Considering the age difference between opponents at 18 years old, many expected that Vitaly would quickly cope with the ex-world champion, despite his experience and rich track record.

In fact, the Russian had to work hard, but he did not manage to knock out his counterpart in eight rounds.

From the first segments, the owner actively went forward with the support of the audience, mainly working with a left jab at a short distance.

The much taller Panamanian unexpectedly deftly struck the "floors", knocking the opponent off the pace.

However, as expected, the 49-year-old athlete did not have enough strength for long.

Quickly enough, he began to act as the second number.

Jones did not allow the favorite to work in series, and skillfully knitted his hands, striking his torso.

Sometimes Kudukhov still had dangerous deuces, and at these moments the guest had a hard time.

The fight continued at a low pace, although Vitaly clearly won it according to the judges' estimates.

But there was no need to think about early completion.

On the whole, Jones, through experience, calmly took dangerous shots on himself or at the last moment managed to remove his chin.

In the sixth round, Vitaly seemed to shake him with the side, but the gong sounded at the wrong time.

And in the penultimate Guillermo, with his last strength, he went ahead and scored a number of good hits, including on the body.

But it was obvious that he could not get the fight out.

In the final three minutes, the boxers were in no hurry, knowing full well what decision the judges would make.

There was no sensation.

The Russian was credited with a unanimous victory, which became for him the fifth in a row in the professionals.

Vitaly managed to take advantage of the success in the confrontation with the former world champion, which, for sure, will somewhat increase his shares.

But the Panamanian suffered his first defeat since 2005.

On the one hand, a native of North Ossetia has the right to be upset that he did not finish the fight ahead of schedule.

On the other hand, the ex-world champion lost for the first and only time by knockout in 1997, when his opponent from Russia was just eight years old.