Explosive knockout artist Dmitriy Kudryashov was forced to go the distance for the first time in his career.

 It was also the first time he had to rely on the judges to deliver a win that many will argue he did not deserve.

 The WBC #7 ranked cruiserweight contender from Volgodonsk was awarded a questionable split decision win over Vaclav Pejsar in their 10-round affair Saturday evening at Ivan Yarygin Sports Palace in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. 

 One judge had the bout ruled in favor of Czechoslovakia’s Pejsar by 97-92, overruled by disputed scores of 95-94 and 97-92 for Kudryashov. BoxingScene.com scored the contest 96-93 for Pejsar, who produced the best performance in his journeyman career.

 After two complete rounds, no one believed the bout would end at the tenth-round mark as scheduled. Kudryashov, coming off the loss to Ilunga Makabu in June, was at the ropes taking horrible punishment by the fists of Pejsar.

 The third was even but in the fourth Pejsar’s heavy dominance continued. Yet during the third minute, the Russian Hammer rocked Pejsar a couple times with hard straight right hands. The Czech went in and then went down after a huge right counter by Kudryashov.

 The midst got more even, maybe even for the favorite but Pejsar was calm despite being hit more. Kudryashov was doing solid job with his long haymakers, but Pejsar was better on the inside exploiting Dmitry’s defensive blemish for the uppercut.

 In later rounds the both combatants fought in spurts, but Pejsar landed cleaner and more consistent combinations. Both fighters had their faces marked but Pejsar was also cut. The final round was in Czech’s favor, which should have secured the upset win.

 Two of the three judges felt otherwise, as Kudryashov advances to 24-3 (23 KO). Pejsar falls to 14-9 (12 KOs).

 Regardless of the final verdict, going life-and-death with opponents of this sort means problems for Kudryashov that should be worked over in the gym. The question is whether or not they still can.

 The bout came in support of the return of former cruiserweight titleholder Denis Lebedev, Moscow, versus South Africa’s Thabiso Mchunu.