Russian welterweight prospect Denis Shafikov, 21, successfully passed his toughest test in career, totally outboxing Dominican KO artist Christian Frias, 30, over eight rounds last Friday in Helsinki, Finland. Shafikov used his awkward southpaw stance to control his foe with the stiff right jab and punishing left hook throughout the whole fight, cruising towards a unanimous decision: 80-72, 80-72, and 80-73. Russian is now 11-0 with 5 KOs, while Frias drops down to 20-2-2, 16 KOs, loosing two of three during the European part of his career.
