Saturday night at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, WBA-NABA light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (10-0, 10 KOs), the late starter from Montreal by way of Khasavyurt, Russia, TKO’d Ezequiel Osvaldo Maderna (23-3, 15 KOs), the veteran from La Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina, at 56 seconds of round four.
Beterbiev dropped Maderna twice in round three and twice more in the fourth.
The champ established his superiority at the opening bell. Using his jab as both rangefinder and weapon, Beteriev uncorked his lethal right toward the end of round three to knock Maderna to the canvas. The Argentinean got his feet and another right hand dropped him.
“After the first round, I saw that there were a lot of openings in his defense,” said Beterbiev after the fight. “I read his movements, worked my jab and found an easy path for my right hand.”
Maderna had never been stopped before. After the final knockdown in round four, he sat on the canvas and looked to his corner to throw in the towel. The referee Marlon Wright saved them the trouble and waved it off at the 56-second mark.
It had been a year since Beterbiev fought and he has been missed. He had shoulder surgery in October but looks better than ever.
“My shoulder had been bothering me for two years, but now after the surgery, I felt 100 percent,” he said. “I felt like I had increased speed and increased punching power, and my shoulder felt stronger than ever.”
Muhammad Ali died a day before Saturday’s fight in Montreal and Beterbiev wanted to pay tribute in his own way.
“Muhammad Ali is my favorite boxer,” said Beterbiev, “and I do think that he was the greatest of all time. I tried not to think about it, but I felt very sad when I heard about his death last night. I tried to focus on my fight, but I did try to honor him at the same time.”
The three judges for the bout were Pasquale Procopio, Benoit Roussel, and Jack Woodburn.
WBA supervisor was George Martinez.
This article was penned by the author who is not related to the WBA and the statements, expressions or opinions referenced herein are that of the author alone and not the WBA.
