Khabir Suleymanov extended his undefeated record, but it sure as hell wasn't easy.
In his fight last night against Javier Gallo at the Glendale Civic Auditorium in Glendale, California, the two went to war for nine rounds before Suleymanov decked Gallo with a hard right hand counterpunch that floored the valiant Mexican, who couldn't recover.
It was as true a heartbreak as it gets, as the Gallo was game from the opening bell, taking it to Suleymanov and acting as the aggressor the majority of the fight while Suleymanov struggled to match his counter-punching abilities with Gallo's pace. The fifth round brought cuts above the eye to both fighters, but through seven rounds it was Gallo's fight. The tide turned in the eight though, when Gallo looked noticeably exhausted and his work output dropped significantly. Suleymanov seemed to get wind of this and focused on the body of his opponent for the most of the round. In the ninth, Gallo simply got caught. Suleymanov tagged him with a counter right that sent Gallo to the canvas, dazed and looking unsure of where he was. He managed to hobble to his feet by the ten count but the referee wisely stopped the fight as the brave Mexican soon stumbled to the ropes and was in no condition to continue. Had Gallo lasted until the final bell he would have had a great chance of winning on the cards.
Suleymanov extends his unbeaten record to 11-0 (5KO) as he picks up the vacant WBO NABO title along the way and furthers his case to be considered among the elite at bantamweight. Or did he? I had Suleymanov down six rounds to two going into the ninth round, and "The Crazy Russian" seemed to have a tough time dealing with the swarming aggression from his opponent, in both getting in enough shots and avoiding getting tagged himself. Gallo is certainly no pushover but is still nowhere near the talent of the four included in Showtime's bantamweight tourney. He's still fairly new to the pro scene, so hopefully Suleymanov learns from this and can better handle effective aggression from his opponents in the future.