Akhmadaliev retained his WBA Super Championship before his home crowd

WBA Press

The night could not have been better for Murodjon Akhmadaliev. The World Boxing Association (WBA) Super Bantamweight Super Champion demolished his challenger, Japanese Ryosuke Iwasa, this Saturday to win by TKO in the fifth round.

Several elements made this fight special for “MJ”. His presentation at the Humo Arena in Tashkent was his first professional fight in Uzbekistan and, also, it was the first defense of his WBA and IBF belts after a period of more than a year of inactivity due to the pandemic.

The southpaw showed his power against an opponent with a good record like the Japanese and the time without fighting was not a factor against him. In fact, he looked very active in the fight, quite sharp and very fast to give a great exhibition in front of the 10 thousand people at the venue.

Akhmadaliev carried the attack at all times and was superior. His way of cutting off the ring and following Iwasa was decisive to be comfortable throughout the fight and by the fifth round he was hurting him very easily, so the referee stopped the actions.

In just 9 professional fights, Akhamaladiev has already proven to be one of the best in the division and has won 7 times by KO. On the other hand, the veteran Iwasa now has a record of 27 wins, 4 losses, and 17 KOs.