Double early payment: how Papin and Goncharov won their battles in Vologda

The Vologda Sports Palace hosted duels as part of the REN TV Fight Club tournament. The main event of the evening was the confrontation between Russian heavyweight Alexei Papin and Cameroonian representative Rolly Lambert. In the co-main event, former ACE champion Evgeny Goncharov met with former UFC fighter Greg Hardy. Both fights, which looked as competitive as possible on paper, ended earlier than expected. For more information, see the Izvestia article.

Goncharov's debut

Evgeny Goncharov started performing in MMA in 2012 and since then has managed to win championship titles in the WFCA and ACA promotions. In August 2024, he won one of the most significant victories — he became the winner of the ACA Heavyweight Grand Prix, defeating Adam Bogatyrev by unanimous decision. The fight against Hardy was the Russian's professional boxing debut.

His opponent Greg Hardy is a 37—year-old athlete from the USA, widely known not only in MMA, but also in American football, where he was a prominent figure in the past. Hardy joined the fighting sport relatively recently, but he has already fought 10 fights in the UFC. After leaving the promotion, he has been actively developing in boxing: he has won three fights in four, two of them ahead of schedule.

However, Hardy failed to impose serious competition on Goncharov. The fight lasted only three rounds out of the planned four. The Russian athlete, led by the famous boxer Dmitry Kudryashov, went forward, attacked and did everything to end the fight ahead of schedule. During the break, after the third three minutes, Hardy felt sick: he got down on all fours and could not get up.

After a couple of minutes of agony, the American refused to continue the fight. As it turned out, Greg couldn't stand it because of an asthma attack. He usually takes an inhaler with him, which happened even in the UFC, but this time he forgot it. So Goncharov's boxing debut turned out to be blurry, but still successful.

Former world boxing champion Nikolai Valuev, commenting on the tournament, noted that it was impossible for Greg to continue the fight in this state.

"The American showed himself in all his glory for two rounds, but the third was for Goncharov," Valuev emphasized to Izvestia.

—Hardy has been losing quite often lately," said ASA Vice President Aslanbek Badayev in an interview with Izvestia. — Although he knocked Rapin down. Hardy is basically a good opponent [in terms of recognition and career in general] — well-known in the media, a hyped athlete, an ex-UFC fighter, played in American football. But initially, I saw him as easy prey for Goncharov. That's how it turned out in the end.

Papin vs. Lambert

38-year-old Alexey Papin has long secured the status of one of the leading Russian boxers in the first heavyweight division. He started his sports career in kickboxing, where he became the undisputed world champion, the WAKO world title holder and won the European Championship three times. This solid experience became the foundation of his successful transition to professional boxing. Papin is famous for his striking power and the experience of meeting strong opponents such as Isaac Chilemba and Soslan Asbarov.

His opponent, 36-year-old Cameroonian boxer Rolly Lambert Fogum, also has an impressive resume. He became the African champion in the UBO and WBO versions, won awards in Asia in the WBA and WBC, and also owned the IBF intercontinental belt. Exactly one year ago, on November 28, 2024, Lambert knocked out Nigerian Obinna Joseph Matthew at a tournament in Bangkok and became the WBF world heavyweight champion.

The experts gave about equal chances of success, but unfortunately, the fight didn't last long either. Moreover, it ended after the third round, just like Goncharov's. But the coincidences don't end there.: Like Hardy, Lambert refused to continue the fight. The reasons, however, are not identical: the Cameroonian injured his shoulder. Alexey could have ended the fight ahead of schedule, but his opponent decided to withdraw. Maybe he looked at Hardy and thought it was better to just admit defeat than to fight a few more rounds against a hard-hitting opponent. Now Papin has 20 wins (18 by knockout) and one defeat. The 36-year-old Cameroonian has 18 wins (14 by knockout), five defeats and one draw.

"Thank you to Vologda for such a warm welcome,— Papin told Izvestia. — It's great to box with such support from my compatriots. We studied the opponent well and I tried to use all the best practices. I am glad that we managed to win and please everyone gathered in the hall and at the TV screens. I can't wait for the new REN TV Fight Club tournament.

In another fight at the REN TV Fight Club, Russian boxer Evgeny Schmidt defeated Cuban Victor Manuel Perez Arias. The 24-year-old Russian has scored 22 victories and suffered 18 defeats in his career. The 23-year-old Cuban now has two defeats in two matches.