Jazza Dickens On A Real Run Of Form, Shocks Albert Batyrgaziev To Claim WBA Interim Belt At 130 Pounds
Yesterday evening in Istanbul, Turkey, British veteran Jazza Dickens of Liverpool pulled off quite the upset as he stopped former Olympian, the unbeaten and highly touted 130 pound puncher Albert Batyrgaziev. Dickens, his real first name James, stunned everyone as he proved to be the bigger puncher of the two. Dropping the unbeaten Russian two times in the fourth round, the second knockdown seeing Batyrgazuev almost go through the ropes, 34 year old Dickens got the TKO win when the Russian’s corner decided they had seen enough after the second knockdown.
Dickens, who seems to have been around forever, is now 36-5(15) and last night’s win sees his great recent run of form continue; southpaw Jazza now having won his last four fights. Batyrgaziev, also a southpaw, is now 12-1(8) and the 27 year old faces a rebuild, this after having been a pro for five years.
Dickens, perhaps spurred on by the likes of Tyson Fury and Conor Benn who were in Istanbul to catch the action, fought brilliantly, and aggressively. And soon the large crowd was pretty much silenced. Make no mistake, Dickens was not supposed to win this fight.
From the get-go, Dickens controlled the action, with him seizing the middle of the ring. By round two, the younger man was going backwards almost all the time, though Batyrgaziev was pumping out some shots. Round four saw Dickens explode into attack mode. A big overhand left dazed Batyrgaziev, with him staggering and then falling to the mat. Beating the count fast, too fast, the Russian was under more fire and, at the end of a salvo of shots from Dickens, another left hand sent Batyrgaziev down again.
This time his team had seen more than enough and it was over. Dickens may well get a mention when this year’s Upsets of the Year are tallied.
Now the WBA interim champ at super-feather, Dickens could go on and get an even bigger fight next time out.
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