Denis Shafikov (34-1-1, 19 KOs) scored a ninth-round technical knockout victory over Rustam Nugaev (27-7-1, 17 KOs) at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California.
The scheduled 12-round fight, which was for a shot at the IBF Lightweight title, was the main event of a card presented by Gary Shaw Promotions and ESPN2.
Shafikov and Nugaev were both as tough as they come going into tonight’s fights, but Shafikov’s footwork and ring generalship allowed him to outland Nugaev in every round.
Nugaev’s only game plan was to apparently walk forward head-first into several punches before landing some of his own.
Shafikov, however, had other plans for Nugaev, landing his shots but moving around before landing more.
In the sixth round, Shafikov landed a powerful flurry that had been the result of outworking and outboxing Nugaev in the previous five rounds.
In rounds seven and eight, Shafikov landed more flurries as Nugaev’s left eye grew more and more swollen.
Referee Jack Reiss finally stopped the fight in the ninth round, telling Nugaev, “I’ve seen enough!”
Shafikov, a 29-year-old native of Miass, Russia, will now face the winner of the September 13 fight between IBF champion Miguel Vasquez and Mickey Bey.
In the co-main event, Jose Pedraza (18-0, 12 KOs) scored a sixth-round technical knockout victory over Juan Carlos Martinez (20-14-1, 7 KOs) after an overworked Martinez could not continue into the seventh round.
Pedraza, a 25-year-old native of Caguas, Puerto Rico, worked from a long jab to land combinations in every round to outwork and outhustle Martinez.
Martinez, on the other hand, had taken the fight on 10 days’ notice, an indication of the kind of shape he was in.
Indeed, his lack of preparation, coupled with six hard-fought rounds, forced the 32-year-old native of San Luis Potosí, Mexico to quit on his stool at the end of the sixth round.
