Highly-rated Russian contender Albert Batyrgaziev is no longer the WBC interim super featherweight champion after the fighter suffered a shocking knockout loss to British challenger James Dickens. The two headlined the 7th edition of the IBA’s “IBA Pro” event, held at the Rixios Tersane in Istanbul, Turkey.
Albert Batyrgaziev vs. James Dickens
James “Jazza” Dickens (36-5, 15 KO’s) came into the match in decent form, recording three victories with two knockouts (KO), though his form paled in comparison to Olympic gold medalist Albert Batyrgaziev (12-1, 8 KO’s) who went into the ring as the unbeaten fighter.
With Albert Batyrgaziev’s WBA interim super featherweight (130 lbs) title at stake, the 1st round between the two fighters saw the Russian dictate the fight for the most part as his jabs and activity stayed off attempts from James Dickens to gain a foothold. Both being southpaws, Dickens’ approach was to be impactful on the inside while Batyrgaziev adopted a outbox style that proved effective in only the 1st round.
The 2nd round saw James Dickens gain much more ground as his inside work proved effective. Lacking the power needed to keep Dickens off him, Albert Batyrgaziev’s activity waned slightly as Dickens became more comfortable as he lingered inside the pocket and managed to land several effective shots.
Batyrgaziev workrate exceeded that of Dickens but the British fighter’s power seemed to even things out for the most part. Based on activity, Batyrgaziev seemed only mildly successful in taking the 2nd round.
In the 3rd, Dickens tested Batyrgaziev more within the inside, pressuring him successfully to take Batyrgaziev in uncomfortable territories where he was unable to make use of his jab properly. While the Russian did attempt to jab where able, he was unable to avoid Dickens from approaching him even with his superior level of activity. In the final minute of the round, Dickens seemed to have success, arguably taking the round based off his own effectiveness and ability to prevent Batyrgaziev from outboxing him.
The 4th round proved to be Dickens’ most dominant round. Despite a rocky start for the Brit, with Albert Batyrgaziev finding success in keeping his distance to allow him to loose and land a plethora of good shots, things changed at the half point of the fight as a left hand from a combination wobbled the Russian and allowed Dickens to score a knockdown.
Batyrgaziev beat the count of 10 to continue fighting but was on insecure legs going forward, allowing Dickens to score a knockdown in the closing 30 seconds of the round that culminated in the Russian interim champion falling into the ropes. As Batyrgaziev sought to continue on, his corner threw in the towel and the match ended ― culminating in Dickens being announced the winner by KO in the 4th round.
Dickens’ obliterating win further allowed him to win Batyrgaziev’s WBA 130-pound interim title. With the full world title currently held by Lamont Roach Jr. (25-1-2, 10 KO’s) who is expected to face WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis soon, Dickens will likely not have the opportunity to face the incumbent WBA champion this year.
However, with Roach having recently also expressed interest in moving up to welterweight (147 lbs) or the possibility remaining of Roach staying at lightweight (135 lbs) if he’d win against Davis, James Dickens could potentially be elevated to WBA champion in the near future.
