By Alexey Sukachev

With just two seconds left in the twelfth and final round referee Giustino di Giovanni jumped in between heavily wobbling Argentinean Guido Nicolas Pitto and his Ukraine-based Russian/Chechen counterpart Zaurbek Baysangurov to put a halt of a brutal contest for a vacant IBO light middleweight title. Unlike the infamous ending of the Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Meldrick Taylor extravaganza, this finish was well justified by the fight itself, but was very unfair for extremely brave Argentinean.

Baysangurov (now 29-1, 21 KOs), and 29, is a former WBO and IBO 154lb titleholder. He was last seen in the ring in October 2012, performing at his best against tough Czech Lukas Konecny. He was then scheduled to debut on American soil against local boy Demetrius Andrade in mid-2013 but that bout was scratched off after Zaurbek suffered an injury to his back. Baysangurov lost both of his titles in 2013. Rumors of him closing unfinished business with the only boxer to ever defeat him (Cornelius K9 Bundrage) have also waned. Pitto, meanwhile, was coming off 1-1 encounter with former amateur star Jack Culcay-Keth, which made him a strong opponent for a return fight of the former champion.

Pitto (18-3, 7 KOs), 26, proved to be a tough customer – specifically in the starting rounds, while Baysangurov was slightly rusty and looked sluggish to a certain degree. The Russian started to get back to his best in the middle rounds, and by the start of the last third of the encounter his advantage was clearly seen and felt. Pitto was taking heavy fire but refused to surrender, even though he was being wobbled all around the ring since the end of the tenth. The Argentinean was on the brink of a stoppage late into the eleventh, and he was very groggy in the twelfth – yet continued to show extreme bravery or even borderline insanity. Finally, Baysangurov landed a heavy series of punches, which sent Pitto down at the ropes. He got up, then stumbled and then was stopped for the first time in his career.

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In the main undercard fight, WBO #4 light heavyweight Vyacheslav Uzelkov (30-4, 19 KOs) was upset again – this time by rugged Serbian journeyman Geard Ajetovic (25-9-1, 12 KOs). Ajetovic was better in every department against the very sluggish and totally disinterested Ukrainian, who showed very little desire to engage.

However, one judge found some (very strange) reasons to award the decision to Uzelkov – 76-77, but he was overruled by more competent colleagues, who saw it 77-75 and 78-74 – for the Serbian. The fact, that Ajetovic lost to 42-year old former middleweight champ Harry Simon just two fights ago adds more confusion to this loss. Uzelkov looked to be a spent bullet in this fight.

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WBA #8 light heavyweight Olexander Cherviak (14-3-1, 4 KOs) came back to a winning column after a disappointing performance against Nadjib Mohammedi with a quality victory over fellow compatriot Artem Redko (20-4-3, 11 KOs) in a rematch of their 2009 encounter. Scores were: 80-73, 79-74 and 79-73 – for Cherviak.

Local Georgian Yago Kiladze (21-1, 14 KOs), who was stopped in his German debut against Youri Kayembre Kalenga in 2013 erased bad memories of that defeat by stopping mismatched Hungarian Attila Palko (17-12, 13 KOs) in two. Palko was down twice in the first round and once in the second.

Finally, another Georgian Mishiko Beselia (6-0, 3 KOs) stopped Ilya Reutskiy (2-2, 2 KOs) in four. Reutskiy was down in the second round, then again in the fourth before a stoppage.

K2 Ukraine promoted this tourney in Brovary, Ukraine.