By Alexey Sukachev, January, 26, 2007
When two young unbeaten prospects are thrown into the same squared ring to determine the one, who will go further, it’s definitely a show worth watching. The same could be said about two undefeated veterans, facing each other in probably their last crossroad fight in career; the clash, which will put the winner forward on short track to the title with the loser suffering a bitter defeat, perhaps the career-lethal one. The only difference is that there could be no second chance for either participant, what is though bad to them; however, extremely thrilling for the fans.
It’s definitely a case for Ukrainian Yuri Nuzhnenko (24-0, 13 KOs, WBA #9) and Uzbek Farkhad ‘Masa’ Bakirov (24-0-2, 14 KOs, WBA #10), who will collide for Yuri’s WBA intercontinental belt on February, 27, at Sports Palace, Kiev, Ukraine. The show, featuring a good number of young Ukrainian prospects, is arranged by National Box Promotions (Ukraine). The third man in the ring will be Spaniard Jose Martinez, while the three judges are Arthur Ellensohn (Germany), Vencislav Nikolov (Bulgaria) and Jan Teleki (Hungary).
Nuzhnenko, 30, the descendant of Brovary, Ukraine, started his pro career in Poland in 2000 and relocated himself to the Motherland only three years later. He captured his WBA regional title last March with TKO 8 over Ghanaian Laatekwei Hammond. In his recent outing he scored his biggest victory to date while stopping extremely tough Russian veteran Maxim Nesterenko over eight brutal rounds back in September, 2006.
Curiously, Nesterenko is the only common name on both resumes, as he was able to hold Bakirov, 34, to a draw eleven years prior his fight with Nuzhnenko. Uzbek pugilist is undefeated since then, suffering the only other draw from the hands of unbeaten Japanese Hiroshi Yamaguchi. Bakirov had been fighting for four years in Japan since 2002 (total of 14 bouts: 13 wins and the draw), but returned on the native soil a few months ago. The biggest name on his resume is three-time Japanese national champion Tadashi Yuba, whom he barely defeated via technical decision last February.
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