Daddy can: how our fighter knocked out former UFC star Hardy
On December 13, the tournament "REN TV Fight Club" took place in Moscow. In the main event of the evening, renowned Russian heavyweight Vitaly Minakov and Kevin Johnson failed to reveal the winner. In the second most important fight WBA Asia champion Alexei Papin confidently defeated former UFC fighter Greg Hardy, although already in the first round was knocked down. More details - in the material "Izvestia".
Papin - Hardy
Alexei Papin is considered one of the strongest representatives of Russia in the heavyweight division. Before the introduction of sanctions, he headed the WBA rating, and today owns the belt WBA Asia. His team is confident that the next achievement will be the WBA Gold title. In the professional ring, Papin has fought 20 fights with 18 victories. The only defeat he suffered in the fight with Ilunga Makabu, and the fight with Soslan Asbarov was not counted.
The last time Alexey stepped into the ring was in August 2024, when he faced Felix Valera. In that fight, he knocked out former opponent Dmitry Bivol in the fifth round.
This time Papin had a very unusual opponent - for Greg Hardy this fight was only the fourth in his professional boxing career. In the previous three Hardy won, but he became widely known thanks to his performances in the UFC. There he went into the octagon against Alexander Volkov, managing to stay with him for all three rounds. In total, Hardy has five wins and seven losses in the UFC.
From left to right: boxer Alexei Papin and fighter Greg Hardy
Now he tried his hand against Papin in the boxing ring. The main and only advantage of the American was considered dimensions: his weight before the fight was 146 kg, while the Russian boxer's weight was 101 kg. Hardy partially realized this advantage by knocking down Papin in the first round. Soon Alexey came to his senses, turned the tide and knocked out his huge opponent in the third round - it was spectacular.
- The guy hits hard, knocking him down with punches, - said Papin after the fight. - The first round, of course, because of the knockdown - it was his round. We had a little dissonance in the corner. I planned to do one thing, the coach said another. And so it was a little hard to adjust after the first round. But later on it went as planned.
Papin was also asked if Hardy is the hardest hitting opponent of his career.
- Just in terms of tonnage, yes, probably the hardest," Papin agreed. - How did the knockdown happen? I yawned, missed a punch, plus he also shook me a little bit, knocked me down due to the tonnage. It's a great feeling when your opponent falls and you realize that he won't get up. I turned away and went, and then I saw him lying there, rolling his eyes.
Minakov vs. Johnson
Famed Russian heavyweight Vitaly Minakov made his debut in the professional boxing ring. His name is well known to MMA fans, as he was Bellator champion and defeated Alexander Volkov in a title fight.
Minakov is deservedly considered one of the key figures in the history of Russian mixed martial arts. In recent years, Vitali hasn't competed very often: his last MMA fight was in 2021, when he lost to Said Souma due to a finger injury.
Despite his willingness to continue the fight, the referee stopped the fight. In August 2024, Vitali took a step into a new area for himself by taking part in a boxing match with small gloves. In a hard fought bout with Oli Thompson, the victory remained for the Russian. Minakov now faces the experienced Kevin Johnson in professional boxing.
From left to right: fighter Vitaly Minakov and boxer Kevin Johnson
Johnson, who recently became a holder of Russian citizenship, has an impressive record. During his career he has fought such legends as Vitali Klitschko, Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, Dereck Chisora and Andy Ruiz. In his last fight, Johnson scored a spectacular knockout victory over Conor McGregor Hall of Famer Sean Turner of Ireland.
From the first round, Johnson's advantage was clear. Kevin delivered punches more often, and in the second segment shook Vitali, although the latter later denied it in an interview. However, with time Johnson began to sag, and by the fourth round his activity in the ring tended to zero. The judges made a controversial decision - most saw the fight as a draw.
- There were two tight punches, there was no shock. In this fight I had my first experience in boxing, - said Minakov after the fight. - I didn't expect them to be so slippery. I couldn't move or do any feints. I was moving away when I was moving, I was trying to keep my balance. And then when Kevin hit just such a heavy punch, I felt it, of course. There was no concussion, but I just started to move apart, I started to catch the floor to steady myself. I guess it looked like a shock. In fact, there was one nasty punch right on the nose and there was a punch to the ear area.
From left to right: fighter Sergey Kuzmin and boxer Solomon Adebayo
Also, our fighter stated that he was trying to conserve his energy.
- Apparently, it's a mistake, I should have started working right away," Minakov said. - Because I saw that he really in the third round breathed. In the third, fourth round, and he started to defend and miss. I should have taken the momentum from the first round and kept it up. I think it would have been more interesting.
In another fight of the main card of the tournament "REN TV Fight Club" Russian boxer Sergey Kuzmin defeated Nigerian Solomon Adebayo. The fight ended with a knockout 2 minutes 54 seconds after the start of the final round.
Russian boxer Vadim Musaev met with Kazakhstan's Ray Seitzhanov. The 31-year-old Russian won by technical knockout in the fifth round - the fight was stopped by the seconds.
