Artur Akavov (born 14 December 1985) is a Russian professional boxer who has challenged twice for the WBO middleweight title in 2016 and 2019.[1]

Artur Akavov
Born
Artur Akavov

(1985-12-14) 14 December 1985 (age 38)
NationalityRussian
Other namesWolverine
Statistics
Weight(s)Middleweight
Height1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
StanceSouthpaw
Boxing record
Total fights24
Wins20
Wins by KO9
Losses4

Professional career

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Akavov boxed at various European national championships as an amateur before turning professional. In May 2014, Akavov won the minor WBO European title and went on to defend it three times.

Akavov vs. Saunders

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Akavov had a record of 16-1 by 2016 and obtained a top ten ranking by the WBO, which eventually led to his opportunity to fight for a world title. The WBO middleweight champion Billy Joe Saunders was under pressure to make the first defence of the title he'd won by defeating Andy Lee almost a year previously. A hand injury to Saunders and two cancelled defences earlier in the year lead to Akavov being offered the fight, with the fight originally scheduled to take place on 22 October at the Motorpoint Arena in Cardiff. A muscle injury to Saunders then meant the fight was rescheduled for 26 November, before visa issues for Akavov caused the fight to be put back a further week to 3 December and the venue changed to the Paisley Lagoon Centre near Glasgow, Scotland.[2]

The fight was fairly close for the first six rounds, with Saunders coming on strong for the next four rounds which seemed to tire him somewhat for the last two. Saunders claimed a unanimous decision after the full twelve rounds to retain his title, with the three judges scoring it 116-112, 116-113 and 115-113 in his favour. After the fight Saunders apologised to his fans, describing his performance as "flat" and "terrible".[3] Many observers felt the decision could have gone either way, with the CompuBox final punch stats stating that Saunders landed 82/579 of punches to Akavov's 81/624, with both fighters outlanding the other in six rounds each.[4]

Akavov vs. Andrade

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On 18 January, 2019, Akavov challenged for the WBO middleweight title for the second time in his career, this time against Demetrius Andrade. Andrade outboxed Akavov through most of the fight. Early in the final round, the referee decided to wave the fight off and award Andrade the TKO victory.[5]

Akavov vs. Falcao

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On 20 February, 2021, Akavov fought Esquiva Falcao. Falcao was ranked #5 by the WBO and the IBF and #8 by the WBC at middleweight. Falcao beat Akavov by technical knockout in the 4th round.[6]

Professional boxing record

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24 fights 20 wins 4 losses
By knockout 9 2
By decision 11 2
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
24 Loss 20–4 Esquiva Falcão RTD 4 (10), 3:00 Feb 20, 2021 MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
23 Win 20–3 Sergei Melis TKO 5 (8), 1:56 Oct 18, 2019 Olymp Maardu-Kalev, Maardu, Estonia
22 Loss 19–3 Demetrius Andrade TKO 12 (12), 2:36 Jan 18, 2019 Hulu Theater, New York City, New York, U.S. For WBO middleweight title
21 Win 19–2 Gonzalo Gaston Coria UD 10 May 12, 2018 Arena Riga, Riga, Latvia Won vacant WBO International middleweight title
20 Win 18–2 Jean Carlos Prada KO 1 (8), 0:55 Mar 24, 2018 Sport Hall Energia, Narva, Estonia
19 Win 17–2 Josue Obando SD 8 Apr 22, 2017 Celebrity Theater, Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
18 Loss 16–2 Billy Joe Saunders UD 12 Dec 3, 2016 Lagoon Leisure Centre, Paisley, Scotland For WBO middleweight title
17 Win 16–1 Todd Manuel TKO 6 (8), 0:37 Mar 30, 2016 BB King Blues Club & Grill, New York, U.S.
16 Win 15–1 Freddy Lopez TKO 2 (8), 2:04 Nov 20, 2015 Aviator Sports Complex, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
15 Win 14–1 Michel Mothmora UD 12 Jun 12, 2015 A Le Coq Sports Palace, Tartu, Estonia Won vacant WBF World middleweight title
14 Win 13–1 David Makaradze TKO 7 (12), 0:20 Mar 21, 2015 Tondiraba Ice Hall, Tallinn, Estonia Retained WBO European middleweight title
13 Win 12–1 Sebastian Skrzypczynski TKO 4 (12), 0:22 Feb 13, 2015 Ice Palace, Pskov, Russia Retained WBO European middleweight title
12 Win 11–1 Sandor Micsko KO 4 (12), 2:47 Oct 31, 2014 SuperClub, Pskov, Russia Retained WBO European middleweight title
11 Win 10–1 Ivan Jukic KO 2 (12), 1:23 May 15, 2014 SuperClub, Pskov, Russia Won vacant WBO European middleweight title
10 Win 9–1 Marat Khuzeev KO 1 (8), 1:15 Nov 30, 2013 SuperClub, Pskov, Russia
9 Win 8–1 Bekzod Yunusov UD 10 Apr 27, 2013 Gigant Hall Parakhod, Pskov, Russia
8 Win 7–1 Evgeny Meshkov UD 6 Nov 24, 2012 SuperClub, Pskov, Russia
7 Win 6–1 Dmitry Pankratov UD 6 Jul 14, 2012 Gigant Hall Parakhod, Pskov, Russia
6 Loss 5–1 Oleg Liseev UD 8 Apr 4, 2012 Crocus City Hall, Krasnogorsk, Russia
5 Win 5–0 Sergey Sergeev UD 6 Oct 8, 2011 Typhoon Club, Saint Petersburg, Russia
4 Win 4–0 Andrey Tylilyuk UD 6 Jul 26, 2011 Circus, Sochi, Russia
3 Win 3–0 Gevorg Akopyan UD 4 May 27, 2011 Typhoon Club, Saint Petersburg, Russia
2 Win 2–0 Sherkhomil Rakhimov UD 4 Apr 16, 2011 Typhoon Club, Saint Petersburg, Russia
1 Win 1–0 Andrey Korzhenevsky UD 4 Mar 4, 2011 Typhoon Club, Saint Petersburg, Russia

References

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  1. ^ "BoxRec: Artur Akavov". boxrec.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  2. ^ "Billy Joe Saunders vs Artur Akavov delayed until December 3". Sky Sports. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  3. ^ "Saunders 'embarrassed' by win over Akavov". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  4. ^ "Billy Joe Saunders vs. Artur Akavov - CompuBox Punch Stats - Boxing News". www.boxingscene.com. 3 December 2016. Retrieved 2017-10-24.
  5. ^ "Andrade vs Akavov - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
  6. ^ "Falcao vs Akavov - News, Tape, Ringwalk, TV, Streaming & Tickets". Box.Live. Retrieved 2022-09-01.
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Boxing record for Artur Akavov from BoxRec (registration required)

Artur Akavov - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings at Box.Live