By Alexey Sukachev

Every road has its final point. Some points are placed farther, others within a visible distance. One road seems to come to its end or at least to the terminal vicinity of it even though some tiny steps can still be done even forward, not back. Sadly enough, it is a road of a champion in former IBF featherweight titlist Evgeny Gradovich, who struggled mightily in his first fight at home against ordinary Nicaraguan slugger Eusebio Osejo.

Gradovich, still only 30, has toughed out a very close split decision in a fight, that was indeed even and that saw him going down in round two. His career is undeniably getting to its bottom, as the Russian was just merely a shell of his former self.

Gradovich, a native of the Siberian city of Igrim, enjoyed his lifetime achievement when he was 26, getting a well-earned nod against a favorite in Billy Dib to upset odds and to get his major title. The Russian Mexican (El Ruso Mexicano), as he is usually named, defended it four times (against Mauricio Javier Munoz, Billy DIb in a rematch, Alex Miskirtchian and Jayson Velez) before losing it in a one-sided bout to Lee Selby the last May.

Signs of a downfall were clearly seen even in his draw against Velez, were confirmed in a Selby fight, and since that Evgueny has never been his former self. He barely squeeked past 19-8 Aldimar Silva Santos on a disputed SD the last fall, then managed just an MD against 13-8-1 Jesus Galicia before being beaten badly by up-and-coming Oscar Valdez in April. It's not that Osejo was on his way up. Oppositely, the Nicaraguan, also 30, has lost three of his last four but earned an upset draw against former IBF champion Kiko Martinez in July 2016.

Against Osejo, Gradovich was as aggressive as usual but his timing was partially lost, and his actions were clearly seen and read by the opponent. Still, Gradovich did his best to get the opening round. In the second, however, he suffered his bitterest setback, being dropped by a hard left hand by Osejo. Gradovich signalized it was a push rather than a punch but in fact it was a clear knockdown, as was shown by the rest of the round.

In the third, Osejo continued to do some better work in the ring, then Gradovich evened things up in the fourth. After that it was a see-saw fight, where both combatants exchanged hard, power punches but none was really hurt. Gradovich showed better offensive arsenal, while Osejo's blows were more resonant. The Nicaraguan had some success in rounds seven and eight, and both fighters gave their all in the tenth and final round.

While the local crowd at the Traktor Ice Palace has vocally supported its favorite son, Gradovich had hardly pleased anyone in his present shape. Final scores were: 96-93 and 95-94 - for Gradovich, and 94-95 - for Osejo. BoxingScene had also scored it 95-94 - for the Russian, who improves to 22-2-1, 9 KOs. Osejo is going down to 28-18-3, 8 KOs. Gradovich is on a three-fight contract with German Titov, and that was his first fighter under that contract. 

Comebacking Kazakh super featherweight Mirzhan Zhaksylykov acquired a vacant WBC Asian Boxing Council Silver super featherweight title in its inaugural match-up, beating previously undefeated Filipino Rimar Metuda on points over ten hard-fought rounds.

Fighting for the second time in six years (and straight after his close loss to Shavkat Rakhimov), Zhaksylykov, now 31, controlled the distance, used his jabs and body punches coupled with straight right hands to beat Metuda to the punch. The Filipino was durable, tough and resilient but it wasn't enough to get him through on a winning side. Metuda landed some heavy punches at times but his offensive outbursts were sporadic and degraded as the time went by. Final scores were: 99-91, 99-91 and 98-92 - all for the Russia-based Kazakh fighter who improves to 10-1, 4 KOs. Metuda, 22, has now almost an equal record of 10-1, 5 KOs.

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Young Tajik gun Shavkat Rakhimov (6-0, 4 KOs) continued to impress with the second-round TKO of relatively durable Uzbek import Farhod Oripov (11-13-1, 5 KOs). The 21-year old prodigy hurt Oripov in the first round with a combination of hard punches but the Uzbek survived till the bell. Not for long though as Rakhimov continued to punish him in the second round, finally dropping him with an assortment of hard body blows. Oripov got up but was too dazed to be allowed to fight more. Rakhimov debuted as a pro in December 2015 and had a win over 9-0 Mirzhan Zhaksylykov among others.