Bizarre scenes erupted in Chelyabinsk, Russia, as super featherweight Mark Urvanov recorded the 24th victory of his career.
Urvanov, 24-3-2, faced a formidable foe on paper in 12-0 Seymur Isayev on home territory. However, Urvanov managed to land a slight jab to the body around the four-second marker, which rendered Isayev unable to continue.
Isayev, who had halted ten of his twelve opponents, was counted out by the third man in the ring as commentators struggled to describe what transpired. Urvanov landed the only punch of the contest as Isayev took a knee and never returned to his feet.
Known as ‘Canelo‘ due to his slight resemblance to the current super middleweight and Pay Per View king, Urvanov has had 28 contests but is not known for his punching power. You’d have to go back eight fights and over four years to find a knockout from the cinnamon one, who stopped Akzhol Sulaimanbek in seven rounds in March of 2020.
What is this?#UrvanovIsayev pic.twitter.com/fjpySfgSA3
— World Boxing News (@WorldBoxingNews) September 7, 2024
Fans have already begun the inquest into what happened because the fight occurred in a particular country, with one British commenter stating, “Quite possibly the most obvious dive there’s been. It’s in Russia, though, so fair enough.”
However, another stated, “It could be a dive or a drained fighter who was running on empty. It’s no different than the jab Charlo landed on Rosario.”
Whatever the case is, Isayev has lost his undefeated record in a questionable way due to the severity and time of the stoppage. It’s hard to see the 26-year-old ‘Grey Wolf’ from Azerbaijan recovering his reputation after one of the quickest losses on record.
World Boxing News has contacted Team Isayev to get their side of the story. The shot landed in a place that can hurt any boxer despite seemingly being a weaker punch.
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
