Photos: Immanuwel Aleem Blasts Out Ievgen Khytrov in Stunner

By Thomas Gerbasi

Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York - In a fight that is a good omen for the 2017 boxing season, unheralded middleweight prospect

Aleem nearly pulled off the upset in the opening round, drilling Khytrov with a right hand and following it up with several more that had the Ukrainian reeling and on the ropes. He appeared to get his legs back after surviving the barrage, but late in the round, he was staggered and punished once more, referee Eddie Claudio opting the let the fight continue.

In the second, Khytrov showed signs of life, and despite taking more hard shots from Aleem, when he caught his foe on the ropes, he was able to score with a steady stream of blows, getting himself right back in the fight. But with a little over a minute left in the third, Aleem drilled Khytrov with a left hook, putting him on the deck hard. Again, it looked like the fight was about to be over, but after receiving a generous amount of time from Claudio to recover, Khytrov responded by hurting Aleem, nearly putting his stamp on the fight in emphatic fashion.

The back and forth slugging continued in the fourth and fifth frames, Khytrov remarkably appearing to be the fresher of the two as he marched forward, throwing punches every step of the way. Yet after another strong start to the sixth for Khytrov, Aleem erupted suddenly, apparently playing possum as he fired off two right hands that dropped Khytrov a second time. This time, the follow-up barrage was enough, as Claudio stepped in and stopped the fight at 1:20 of round six.

With the win, Virginia's Aleem moves to 17-0-1 with 10 KOs and picks up the vacant WBC silver middleweight belt. Khytrov falls to 14-1 with 12 stops.

Former world title challenger Thomas Dulorme had an easy night of work against gutsy but outgunned Brian Jones, stopping the Texan in the sixth round of an eight-round welterweight bout.

From the start, Delorme was free to fire at will against Jones, who provided little offense to hold off the Puerto Rican favorite, with Delorme nearly scoring a stoppage early on after the ringside physician checked Jones out after the third round.

Jones was given the green light to continue, but kept getting punished by legal and illegal means, with Dulorme losing a point for a low blow in the fifth round. It ultimately didn't matter, as referee Shada Murdaugh opted to stop the bout at the 1:49 mark of round six.

Dulorme moves to 24-2 with 16 KOs; Jones falls to 13-7 with 7 KOs.