Ekaterinburg, Russia - Fighting once a year doesn't help Sergey Lubkovich much in improving his skills. The Russian welterweight prospect, who previously fought in December 2021 and also had year-long spans in his career in 2019 and 2020, was too one-dimensional and relied excessively upon his slugging ability against durable and equally aggressive Kazakhstani Sagadat Rakhmankul (8-4, 6 KOs). Lubkovich exited with a split decision win but raised more questions regarding his future development.

Both fighters rumbled willfully, the Kazakhstani being the one who put pressure on his opponent. It wasn't enough to really endanger Lubkovich but Rakhmankul was able to deliver some heat to the Russian. Lubkovich (15-0, 10 KOs) showcased his power and physical advantage as well as finesse in critical moments to earn more than his opponent. BoxingScene had it 77-75 for Lubkovich. 

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Lightweight Vildan Minasov (9-1, 5 KOs) added the soundest name as of yet to his resume by beating former WBA lightweight beltholder Paulus Moses (40-7, 25 KOs) over eight one-sided rounds with a unanimous decision. 

Moses, 44, was fighting for the first time in three years and was obviously rusty and out of shape. Unlike usual cases of youth vs. age encounters, the Namibian's rustiness resulted not in a loss of reflexes or specific shakiness of a shot fighter but in a very short well of stamina. Moses was showing skills and sometimes even brisk power against youthful Minasov, who on the other hand wasn't particularly skillful or powerful. 

Minasov nevertheless was able to put Moses down in the fourth round on a combination of punches. The Namibian veteran, who held the black belt from 2009 to 2010, rallied after that and even connected with some clean shots to the Russian boxer but never really evened the fight. Minasov gradually beat the Namibian down but failed to stop him despite a mid-round success. BoxingScene saw it 79-72 for Vildan Minasov. 

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Middleweight Vadim Tukov (9-0, 4 KOs) capped off a busy year with a solid takeover of once-defeated compatriot Alexander Elizarov (now 9-2, 3 KOs). Tukov looked fundamental in his steady yet cautious approach. Elizarov looked a bit nervous, couldn't find his rhythm, and was too wide with his punches. His opponent slowly increased tempo and beat Elizarov to the punch, specifically in rounds four and five, before the bout was stopped at 1:16 of the fifth.

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Hard-punching super middleweight Nikita Zon' (5-0-1, 4 KOs) showcased his body-snatching ability when he dropped usually durable Armenian Manuk Dilanyan (12-10-2, 5 KOs) three times en route to a forced stoppage at 1:14 of the third round.

Zon' was vulnerable to strong right hooks of Dilanyan in one-on-one exchanges and wilted a bit under the Armenian's power in the first round. But he was able to find a soft spot in Dilanyan's defense, and that was Manuk's lower body's right side. Zon' landed a major left hook to the liver to drop Dilanyan hard at the end of the second. Dilanyan got over it but was unable to fully recover after the shot. He was dropped twice with the same shot in round three, the last time for the count. 

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Young 24-year-old cruiserweight Denis Savitskiy (6-0-1, 4 KOs) delivered a continuous beating to aging and faded veteran Denis Tsaryuk (13-7, 10 KOs), dropping him twice - once in the third and once in the fourth round - before referee Roman Petrov mercifully got it stopped at 0:57 of the fourth round. Tsaryuk didn't belong to the same ring with Savitskiy and looked utterly shot. He is just 1-7 since 2015 with six of his seven losses have come by the way of knockout.

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Former ice hockey tough guy Demid Luchnikov found that boxing is a completely different activity from any other sport, and he found out in a painful way. Luchnikov (3-1, 1 KO) was stopped in the sixth and final round of his fight versus unheralded Uzbek import Hasanboy Mirzakhamraev (now 2-3, 1 KO), suffering his first career setback. 

Mirzakhamraev, who has been fighting exclusively in Russia since the start of his career, gave fits to Luchnikov from the opening round. Still, the Russian was a bit better in ring generalship. However, he got fatigued by the end of the fourth and fought on his spirit alone since then. Mirzakhamraev rallied in the sixth and landed a smashing overhand right dropping Luchnikov hard in the midst of the round. The Russian got up but was too wobbly to go on. The bout was stopped at 1:36 of the 6th.