In the main event of huge boxing tournament billed as “Champions’ Summer” which was held in Odessa by K2 East Promotions, Avtandil Khurtsidze (19-1-2, 12 KOs) successfully defended WBA Inter-Continental middleweight belt in the title bout against 29-year-old Jamel “The Elegant” Bahki (19-3-2, 5 ??s) from Belgium.
Khurtsidze started in his usual aggressive manner pressing his opponent on every square inch of the ring. Much taller Bahki, however, could not establish his jab and absorbed quite a lot of punches helplessly trying to counterpunch. In round 3 Khurtsidze intensified his ferocious attacks using a lot of combinations which landed more and more often on both head and body of the Belgian. At the end of round 3 Avtandil sent Bahki to the canvas but did not manage to stop him since the bell saved the Belgian.
Persistent pressure from Ukrainian based Georgian in round 4 quickly wore down Bahki who in round 5 absorbed punches for about a minute without any attempt of counteroffensive.
Finally Bahki and his corner decided that he had had enough and the Belgian quitted on his stool after round 5.