By Corey Quincy
Alexander Povetkin (25-0, 17 KOs) notched another win in his EPIX televised bout against American veteran Hasim "The Rock” Rahman (50-8-2, 41 KOs) on Saturday night at the Sporthalle in Alsterdorf, Hamburg, Germany. He barely broke a sweat in his third WBA title defense as he stunned an out of shape Rahman in the first round with the first big punch he landed. In the second round, Rahman absorbed one too many shots until the referee finally intervened and called a halt to the bout at 1:46.
Rahman's career at least at the world class is completely over. As was evidenced in this bout, his reflexes and endurance are completely depleted. On the other hand, Povetkin put on one of his career best performances in destroying an experienced veteran like Rahman. He is now likely as ready as he’ll ever be for one of the Klitschko brothers.
In the co-feature bout of the evening, top contender Kubrat Pulev (17-0, 9 KOs) of Bulgaria completely dominated Russia-based Belarus giant Alexander Ustinov (27-1, 21 KOs) over 11 rounds. It was the first loss of Ustinov’s career.
Ustinov was beaten to the punch throughout the bout by the faster and younger Pulev. After getting bloodied and battered, he finally took a knee and gave up in round 11.
HBO Boxing After Dark Results
On the HBO Boxing After Dark tripleheader main event from the Foxwood Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut, Dominican-American super middleweight Edwin "La Bomba" Rodriguez (22-0, 15 KOs) went bombs away in his win over the hard-hitting Puerto Rican Jason Escalera (13-1-1, 12 KOs). It was the first loss of Escalera’s career.
From the opening bell Rodriguez applied relentless pressure consistently making Escalera look like a heavy bag. Rodriguez looked great. He threw combinations from many different angles with solid leverage. Escalera got bullied for seven straight rounds until referee Steve Smoger stopped the beating at 0:12 of round 8.
Post-fight Rodriguez and his promoter Lou Dibella said he is ready for the big time. Kelly Pavlik was one of the names Rodriguez called out.
In the co-feature, Armenian-Australian veteran Vic “The Raging Bull" Darchinyan (38-5-1, 27 KOs) turned back the clock at age 36 by schooling previously undefeated Puerto Rican prospect Luis “Orlandito” Del Valle (16-1, 11 KOs) over the course of 10 rounds. Darchinyan needed a big win to keep himself relevant after suffering back-to-back decision losses to titleholders Anselmo Moreno and Shinsuke Yamanaka. The former 112-115 lb champion made a great prospect in Del Valle look like an amateur catching him at every single opening. Aside from the ninth round when Del Valle temporarily stunned Darchinyan, the bout was extremely one-sided.
Canadian Antonin Decarie (27-1, 8 KOs) made a huge impression in his United States-HBO Boxing debut by dominating previously unbeaten Alex Perez (16-1, 9 KOs) via sixth round TKO. Decarie proved to be too fast and powerful for the American prospect.
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