By Igor Grishin
Kirill Relikh (under 63.5kg) has defeated Georgian Mikhail Avakyan in the fight for the CIS championship title. It took time for the Belarusian boxer to break his rival’s defence and attack efficiently but, in the fourth round, the Georgian took a powerful side blow to the head. He managed to stay upright until the end of the round but eventually succumbed to a series of painful strokes and a decisive knock-out. The title of CIS champion is the first in Relikh’s career.
Current ENU European Champion Sergey Rabchenko (under 69.9kg) endured an eight round battle against Georgian Gari Abadzhan. Rabchenko immediately seized the initiative, preventing the experienced Georgian from being able to attack. Sergey’s precise blows finally resulted in a technical knock-out, despite Abadzhan trying hard to fight back in the third round.
Rabchenko has enjoyed 24 professional victories (18 by knock-out), 0 draws and 0 losses. In May, he topped the light middle-weight boxing ratings (under 69.9kg) according to the famous World Boxing Council. On March 30th, he defended his title of European champion and his WBC Silver belt (EBU) in his weight category. He is now preparing to meet a new contender for the title — perhaps in October.
The international professional boxing tournament in Minsk featured boxers from Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Serbia and Ukraine.
