RCC Boxing Academy, Ekaterinburg - Young light heavyweight gun Vasiliy Voytsekhovsky improved his record to 8-0, with 4 KOs, scoring the best win of his young career - a unanimous decision over 39-year old veteran Denis Grachev over eight rounds.

Grachev, who has seen better days in his past - including wins over previously undefeated Ismayl Syllakh (17-0) and then over also unbeaten two-division beltholder Zsolt Erdei (33-0) - was fighting in his native country for the first time in his professional career. Slow and with slightly diminished reflexes Grachev was still fairly dangerous when he landed his right hook. Those moments were relatively rare as Vasiliy Voytsekhovsky kept his opponent at bay with potent jabs and also threw and landed more power punches. Still, Grachev landed some heavy shots as well, keeping Voytsekhovsky focused for the entire distance. Grachev goes down to 20-15-1, 11 KOs, losing for the fifth straight time. He is just 1-8 since June 2019.

---------------------

Heavyweight Georgiy Yunovidov (3-0, 2 KOs) rallied late in his eight-round fight against Colombian import Julio Cesar Calimeno (4-1, 4 KOs).

Yunovidov was better in a majority of rounds but Calimeno retained his composure and stayed dangerous. As rounds went by, his stamina began to degrade while Yunovidov caught the second wind. Slowly, he was breaking down Calimeno, specifically with his one-two combos. Finally, the Russian got to his opponent in the eighth, landed several hard blows and forced him to take a knee for a full count of ten. Time of stoppage was 1:30 of the eighth round.

---------------------

Formerly ranked cruiserweight Yuri Kashinskiy continued his downslide, losing a close decision to unheralded Ukrainian import Stanislav Kutin (10-2, 8 KOs) in a tactical eight-rounder.

Kashinskiy, 35, was coming off a crushing first-round TKO loss to ex-title challenger Michal Cieslak. He looked too reserved and unconfident in his own abilities early on. His cautious approach to a presumably lesser opponent cost him several points early on. Kashinskiy also suffered a cut at the side of his left eyebrow.

The Russian boxer did everything he should have done but showed no fire and no real steam. He also was a subject of Kutin's sharp jab. The Ukrainian closed the fight at a better pace with an almost unmarked face and looked like a winner at the end. Kashinskiy drops down to 20-3, with 18 KOs, his better days clearly behind him.

---------------------

Fighting fire with fire, middleweight prospect Vadim Tukov (5-0, 2 KOs) survived some rocky moments early on and a nasty cut over his left eye to overwhelm tough Russian Armenian Manuk Dilanyan (12-7-1, 5 KOs) and to stop him in the eighth round.

Dilanyan was very sharp early on, landing more telling punches, fainting and getting out of real trouble. A cut over Tukov's left eye troubled him but due to the usual mastery of iconic cutman Dmitry Luchnikov this problem was diminished and didn't affect the local fighter. Tukov  turned back the tide after the midpoint. Fighting through some facial damage, finding a new approach to the now-familiar opponent, the Russian fighter was able to slow Dilanyan down in the fifth and in the sixth round.

Tukov's pressure got almost unbearable by the end of the seventh. He finally cornered Dilanyan and landed some hard punches, which almost doubled the Armenian down. Dilanyan barely survived but early into the eighth was forced to take a knee after another barrage. His body crumbling, Dilanyan was down again soon, taking punches to the head and body. Referee Victor Panin has seen enough and has waved it off at 1:03.

---------------------

Having missed more than two and a half years off the ring, Zurab Chaniev (5-3-1, 2 KOs) wasn't a real obstacle for rising middleweight Ivan Nikonov (6-1, 2 KOs), being stopped in four rounds. Zurab, an elder brother of former IBF lightweight title challenger Isa Chaniev, looked soft and rusty, and couldn't let his engine go against younger, tougher and more determined Nikonov. He slowly crumbled under Nikonov's smart pressure before retiring in his corner at the very beginning of the fourth.

---------------------

In a battle of opposites, light-hitting but technically sound featherweight Ivan Chirkov clearly outboxed Belarussian import Vyacheslv Borysenok (4-1, 4 KOs) over eight rounds. Chirkov used his pin-point punching accuracy to keep Borysenok checked and also pressed the action. The Belarussian mostly lacked precision and finesse, and couldn't pull a trigger at Chirkov. When he landed his bombs though, Chirkov got very uncomfortable. Borysenok had a big round three, when he wobbled Chirkov several times but the Russian survived this scare and cruised to a unanimous decision in later rounds.

---------------------

Huge local heavyweight Alexander Dorofeev (4-0, 2 KOs) halted both Alexander Zubkov (5-3, 5 KOs) and his five-fight winning streak by stopping Zubkov in the fourth round of a scheduled six. Dorofeev outpunched and outboxed his smaller opponent, beated him to the punch and forced Zubkov's retirement after four complete rounds. There were no knockdowns.

---------------------

Light welterweight Demid Luchnikov (1-0) debuted with a convincing decision over Loikjon Hojiev (0-2) in a four-rounder. Aggressive Luchnikov dropped Hojiev once in the second round and dominated the fight despite eating some leather in the fourth.