ATLANTIC CITY — It might be a dying town, but AC has some life this weekend, even with the always-frigid November ocean breeze freezing those roaming the Boardwalk. The main event of the HBO broadcast is, naturally, the big attraction right now. The truly compelling bout between light heavyweights Bernard Hopkins and Sergey Kovalev is still many, many hours away.
But the undercard got started at 5:30 p.m. The highlights of the non-broadcast card include appearances from heavyweight Vyacheslav Glazkov and a would-be opponent for the victor of Hopkins-Kovalev, Nadjib Mohammedi. We’ll hit those fight results here in chronological order, as well as the penultimate pre-broadcast bout featuring Vyacehslav Shabransky, also a light heavyweight. We’ll write about Sadam Ali vs. Luis Carlos Abregu elsewhere. For some other undercard bouts, check out the work of our friend David P. Greisman.
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Vyacheslav Glazkov pounded Darnell Wilson into a stoppage, of the variety where Wilson was in no particular immediate damage but where he wouldn’t go away, either. The ref waved it off after the 7th round.
Wilson, appearing every ounce the blown up cruiserweight, could muster retreat and/or the occasional leaping left or right, and even cut Glazkov over the right eye in the 5th round. Glazkov systematically jabbed him in the 1st, setting up straight 1-2s, looping rights and a left hook. Even when he seemed to have Wilson in some trouble, such as when he trapped him in the corner in the 4th, Wilson wheeled away.
This had the feel of an in-between bout for Glazkov, accustomed as he is to fights atop NBC Sports cards. Apparently he’s been recovering from a hand injury. He may not be the most inspiring fighter, but he’s not a bad one. It would be nice to see him in with a fellow top 10 heavyweight next.
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Nadjib Mohammedi had no trouble with Demetrius Walker, which was probably by design. Walker had a 7-7-1 record coming in, not the kind of thing you’d expect to pose a threat to anyone who is about to get a shot at the strap currently held by Hopkins. It seems this was about Mohammedi staying in the ring but not risking upsetting a title chance.
And so Mohammedi took a single round to dispense with Walker, dropping him first with a body shot after nearly knocking him over the top rope, then put Walker down for good with an awkward right to the head. Walker looked the part, with an imposing physique, but he could do and did nothing.
You figure the winner of Hopkins-Kovalev has better things to do with his time than face Mohammedi, an unknown fighter in a division with some earning potential amongst prospective opponents. Thanks to the sanctioning gangs, somebody will have to fight Mohammedi or drop their belt, thus bequeathing it to him.
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The opponent of Vyacheslav Shabransky decided he didn’t want anymore after two rounds, and called it a night. The crowd, oddly bloodthirsty at just before 10 p.m., booed lustily from nearly the moment the fight began, for reasons that were not totally clear. To be sure, Emil Gonzalez wasn’t doing much of anything, but Shabransky was forcing action.
Basically Shabransky bulled Gonzalez to the ropes repeatedly — very loose ropes, it needs to be said — and hammered him with slowish, two fisted combos to the head and body. At the end of the 2nd, Gonzalez went down from no punch in particular, perhaps just toppled by an accumulation of shots.
