Kamshybek Kunkabayev picked up his first belt in only his third professional fight as Server Emurlaev retired on his stool at the end of the sixth of their cruiserweight ten-rounder on the MTK Global show in Almaty, Kazakhstan. 

Big things are expected of Kunkabayev, 29, who twice won a silver medal at super-heavyweight at the World Amateur Championships. Emurlaev, from Russia, had mixed in high class, albeit at a much lower weight, having boxed for the interim WBA super-middleweight title in 2012, losing a split points decision to Stanislav Kashtanov in Ukraine. More than eight years on and more than 30 pounds heavier, the 35-year-old Russian’s ambition seems to have left him. 

In the main, Emurlaev moved away and covered up while Kunkabayev was happy to keep him on the end of the jab. Finally, midway through the sixth round, Kunkabayev began to unload, rocking the Russian down to his boots with a right hook. Kunkabayev kept the pressure on and landed a combination on the bell, including one that was a split second late. That was enough for Emurlaev, who had a damaged nose, as he declined to continue. 

The belt Kunkabayev won, for what it is worth, was the WBO Asia Pacific one, which, unsurprisingly, was vacant. 

Nurtas Azhbenov claimed a unanimous points points decision over Evgeny Smirnov in their lightweight ten-rounder to advance to 11-0 as a professional. 

There were some brilliant moments from Azhbenov, who boxed and moved well in the early rounds to build a commanding lead. But Smirnov brought plenty of pressure and earned his successes in the second half of the fight, when he often had the last answer in the exchanges, 

Despite that, two judges gave him no credit for his work, one, remarkably giving the Kazakh every round and one only giving the Russian one. The final judge gave it a more realistic 96-94 to Azhbenov. 

Talgat Shayken looks like a boxer going places and added the name of hardened Russian Evgeny Pavko to his record in only his fourth professional fight, recording a wide unanimous points decision over eight rounds at welterweight. At just 20, Shayken is being pushed hard, but he showed patience to dominate Pavko, winning every round on two of the three cards. 

Abay Tolesh uncorked a huge left hook in the fifth round to bring an end to the resistance of Vasily Shtyk in their middleweight eight-rounder. For the first four rounds, Tolesh struggled to subdue Shtyk, although he was bossing the fight. 

But midway through the fifth, he landed a big left that dropped Sktyk on his back. He was up quickly, but Tolesh was on him straight away and landed several more heavy shots as Shtyk stumbled around the ring. Eventually another heavy left hook dropped Shtyk heavily prompting a belated stoppage by the referee at 1:56. 

Bagdat Uaydayev won every round against Sagyndyk Moldashev on all three judges’ cards, although that scarcely tells the story of their featherweight six-rounder. Moldashev piled pressure on Uaydayev throughout and while Uaydayev had a strong final round, it was a far closer fight than the cards showed. 

Torgynbek Amirov remains unbeaten but was given a serious test before securing a majority points decision over Aidyn Sikhymbaev in a competitive eight-rounder at lightweight. 

Nurbol Sultanbay lost his unbeaten record in his fifth fight as he was outworked by Nurzhan Makashbayev who claimed a unanimous decision in their welterweight six-rounder. 

Another welterweight prospect Rakhat Seitzhan put the pressure on overmatched debutant Zhanat Zhaksylyk from the opening bell and forced the stoppage 2:06 into the third round. 

Heavy-handed super-lightweight Nurdos Tolebay made short work of Zhandos Yerezhepov, flooring him with a left hook early in the third and then stopping him at 2:54 of the round to record his fifth professional win. 

Aidos Medet, a solid looking southpaw, extended his unbeaten record to five fights with a unanimous six-round decision over debutant Bekbossyn Yerkinuly at featherweight, all three judges scoring 60-54. 

In the female flyweight show-opener, teenager Zhansaya Rakhymberdi recorded a third professional win as she claimed a majority decision over debutant Aiym Zhumabay over six-rounds. 

Ron Lewis is a senior writer for BoxingScene. He was Boxing Correspondent for The Times, where he worked from 2001-2019 - covering four Olympic Games and numerous world title fights across the globe. He has written about boxing for a wide variety of publications worldwide since the 1980s.