Venezuelan Angel Rodriguez won by split decision over Mark Urvanov on Saturday at the RCC Boxing Academy in Yekaterinburg, Russia, in his WBA super featherweight eliminator bout.
Rodriguez showed off all his boxing tools and after 12 rounds, he took cards of 116-112, 113-115 and 115-113 in a tough bout against the home fighter.
The fight was an unknown because of the styles and careers of both fighters. Both had good records and Urvanov, besides being in his country, came with better rhythm than the visitor, who had not fought since 2020 for various reasons.
From the beginning of the fight, the South American began to use his jab to keep Urvanov at a distance and in the second round he connected a straight right that made the Russian look bad. It was the first warning of Rodriguez, who continued to impose his style in the early part of the fight.
By the middle of the fight, Urvanov was growing thanks to his body shots and right rights that made Rodriguez slow down. However, for the final part of the fight, the visitor took a breath of fresh air and put Urvanov back on his heels in the eighth round with a left hook to take the lead in the final part of the fight.
The cards were in his favor in a difficult contest and he is positioned as the next challenger for the world title. The 34-year-old now has 20 wins, 1 loss and 10 knockouts, while Urvanov dropped to 20 wins, 3 setbacks, 1 draw and 10 wins before the cut.
