Denis Shafikov earned a 2nd world title shot as he stopped Rustam Nugaev in round nine of their scheduled 12-round Lightweight title elimination bout at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California.
Early it was Shafikov’s hand speed that was giving Nugaev issues. The two continued to trade heard shots in close in round four. Nugaev started to get through with some combination’s on the ropes in the 5th. Both guys were cut, Shafikov started to leak in round six from around the right eye while Nugaev started to cut up in the 3rd round. Later in the round, Shafikov unloaded a hard combination that hurt Nugaev.
In round eight, Shafikov stepped on the gas and landed some body punches and a head punch on the ropes and the bout was stopped at 1:16 of round nine.
Shafikov, 135 lbs of Russia will now await the winner of the September 13 bout between Miguel Vazquez and Mickey Bey Jr. and now has a record of 34-1-1 with 18 knockouts. Nugaev, 134 1/4 lbs of Russia is now 27-7-1.
“Tonight Shafikov was the better man,” said Nugaev. “I couldn’t get into a good rhythm with my game plane and it showed. I still feel I have a lot of fight left in me and I promise I’ll be back to fight another day. I want to thank Gary Shaw for all that he’s done for me. I’m very disappointed I didn’t perform to my best ability tonight, but like I said…I’ll be back.”
Jose Pedraza remained undefeated by scoring a stoppage over Juan Carlos Martinez in a scheduled 10-round Jr. Lightweight bout.
Pedraza had some swelling around his right eye in round two as Martinez got in some early offense. Pedraza started getting into the bout and was the boss over the last four rounds and Martinez retired in his corner after the 6th frame.
Pedraza, 132 lbs of Puerto Rico is now 18-0 with 12 knockouts. Martinez, 129 lbs of Mexico is now 19-15-1.
“I knew Martinez was a very tough fighter coming in, but I wanted to make a statement and let the boxing world know that I’m for real,” said Pedraza. “I feel I’m ready to fight any of the champions in my weight class. I’m going to let my promoter Gary Shaw put everything together. I know I have the talent to bring a world title back home to my people of Puerto Rico. I’ll be back in the gym as soon as I return home.”
