Dangerous, unbeaten Russian heavyweight scores vicious first-round knockout on Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou undercard
28/10/2023 20:11
Arslanbek Makhmudov made a statement during his fight on the undercard of Tyson Fury’s crossover bout with Francis Ngannou.
The undefeated Russian needed just 70 seconds to stop 20-4-1 fighter Junior Anthony Wright in Ridyah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday night.
Makhmudov got tagged a couple of times early but his power quickly came through as he landed three consecutive hooks to drop his opponent.
Bravely, Wright got back to his feet and despite being on wobbly legs opted to start trading with a man who was clearly the bigger puncher.
Another right hook caused the American to wobble again before veteran referee Steve Gray stepped in to wave off the fight and stop him from taking any more necessary punishment.
It looked like a great call as Wright sat in his corner looking worse for wear and his rival cracked his neck like he’d barely gotten out of first gear.
Makhmudov is now 18-0 with 17 knockouts during his career.
The 34-year-old has the WBC-NABF heavyweight trinket belt and it seems to be just a matter of time before he is challenging for world honours.
Makhmudov hopped out the ring for an interview with TNT Sport pundit Steve Bunce who asked him who he wanted next after previously beating perennial contenders Carlos Takam, Erkan Teper and Mariusz Wach.
'Lion' didn't give him an answer and instead talked about being an avoided man.
Makhumdov said: “Not everybody wants to fight with me.”
"My team have to make good work for organising fights. We try to do our best, yes.”
