Justin Pauldo’s counters on point in KO of Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov

SAN ANTONIO – Prior to their fight here Saturday, Justin Pauldo predicted that the aggressive Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov had a style that would play right into his hands. He couldn’t have been more correct.

Pauldo, a 30-year-old from Houston, turned their lightweight bout into a counterpunching fiesta, walking the former IBF junior lightweight titleholder into punches en route to an eighth-round knockout victory at the Boeing Center at Tech Port. The end came at the 1:53 mark, as a straight right hand from Pauldo knocked Rakhimov’s head back and sent him to the canvas. Rakhimov’s corner threw in the towel before the count could be completed, and the 30-year-old southpaw from Tajikistan remained on the canvas for several minutes afterwards.

The scheduled 10-round fight headlined a ProBox TV card.

The win was sweet vindication for Pauldo, 18-2 (9 KOs), who ended a year of inactivity following his close split decision loss to Miguel Madueno with a win over a former belt holder.

Pauldo set the tempo in the opening moments of the fight, dropping Rakhimov, 17-2-1 (14 KOs), with a left-hook counter in Round 1. The hooks, often doubled to the body and head, worked to cut off the movement of Rakhimov, who found himself standing in front of the bigger man, which opened him up for right hands up the middle. Pauldo switched his focus to the body in Round 2, countering the slower flurries with right uppercuts to the body. One such punch nearly resulted in a second knockdown in Round 3, as a right uppercut to the pit of his stomach nearly doubled Rakhimov over.

Pauldo switched his focus to landing straight rights in the middle rounds, taking advantage of Rakhimov’s lack of head movement. For some reason, Pauldo’s left hooks became more scarce by the middle rounds, giving Rakhimov the opportunity to step to his right and get angles for his own offense. That shift enabled Rakhimov to land shots of his own, including a right hook in the seventh that was his best punch of the fight.

Pauldo finally found the right balance of two-fisted offense when a series of jabs set up two right hands, the first of which rocked Rakhimov and a second that ended the fight.

Rakhimov left the arena on a stretcher, and an update on his condition was unavailable at the time of this story’s publication.

The fight was the first official bout for the Los Angeles-based Rakhimov since he lost his title by split decision to Joe Cordina in April 2023. He returned to the ring in his native Tajikistan in February 2024 for a fight on an IBA pro card, losing by 11th-round stoppage to Eduardo Nunez.

Earlier on the card, Michael Angeletti scored a statement knockout over rugged Filipino Judy Flores, finishing him at 2:21 of the third round with a body shot.

The rangy Angeletti, 13-0 (8 KOs), put Flores down for the count of 10 with a right hand to the ribs that he hid well behind two jabs. Flores, 14-4 (8 KOs), punched the floor in frustration after the count was completed.

The fight was a competitive one for as long as it lasted, as the 5-foot-5 Flores was able to sneak in right hands on the 5-foot-8 Angeletti early on. Angeletti, a 28-year-old from New Orleans, Louisiana, was able to connect with right hands of his own, keeping Flores, a 26-year-old from General Santos City, Philippines, honest.

Angeletti, who won the USA National Championships in 2018, scored his first knockout win since May 2023, following four straight decision wins.

The loss was the first for Flores by knockout.

Figo Ramirez, 9-0 (4 KOs), overcame a respectable challenge from Jose Lopez, 4-4-3, winning a unanimous decision in their six-round junior featherweight bout. Two judges scored the fight 59-55, while the third had it 58-56.

The 21-year-old Ramirez, of Dallas, was a 2021 National Golden Gloves champion as an amateur.

Rianna Rios gave her local fans something to cheer for in her homecoming fight.

Rios, who hails from Alice, Texas, but now lives in Maryland, pummeled the overmatched Nancy Franco, winning a unanimous decision in their six-round bantamweight fight. Two judges scored the fight 60-54, while the third had it 60-53,

The southpaw Rios, 9-0 (1 KO), put her punches together throughout the fight, outpunching the game but technically flawed Franco, 19-22-2 (5 KOs), of Guadalajara, Mexico.

The 30-year-old Rios is a multiple-time US national amateur champion who represented Team USA internationally. Rios turned pro in 2019 but has had all of her previous fights in the Maryland area or California. She is trained by Lamont Roach Snr and had previously been a sergeant in the U.S. Army.

Amador Mendez, 3-0 (2 KOs), scored a brutal third-round stoppage of Edgar Uvalle, 2-6-2 (2 KOs), in a four-round junior welterweight fight. Mendez, 19, of Austin, Texas, landed at will on Uvalle, knocking his head back with uppercuts and overhand rights. The exorbitant punishment was halted at the 1:33 mark when Uvalle’s corner waved the white flag.

Mendez, who recently signed with ProBox TV, represented Guatemala in international competition, including at the 2022 World Youth Championships and 2023 Pan American Championships.

Sylvestre Quinonez, 9-0-1 (3 KOs), barely escaped with his unbeaten record, winning a curious unanimous decision over the rugged Jesus Maldonado, 6-12-1 (4 KOs), in a six-round junior middleweight fight. Two judges had the fight 58-56, while the third had it 59-55, all for the 24-year-old Quinonez, of San Antonio.

Quinonez previously defeated Maldonado by majority decision in a four-round fight in 2023.

Matters looked dire for the hometown fighter as he took a beating in the second round, with the shorter, unconventional Maldonado taking advantage of his taller opponent standing straight up to land overhand rights and body shots. After a slower third, Maldonado picked up the pressure again in Round 4, repeatedly knocking sweat off of Quinonez’s face with overhand rights and left hooks that almost never missed. Quinonez fired back with punches that looked more technically correct but lacked any hint of power. Quinonez had a stronger showing in the fifth, establishing his distance with the jab and walking Quinonez into counter rights and uppercuts.

The sixth was Maldonado’s most dominant round, as he flirted with a knockdown, hurting Quinonez repeatedly with overhands and left hooks that knocked blood from his mouth.

Maldonado, 23, of Laredo, Texas, is winless in his past seven fights but has yet to be stopped.

Ethan Perez, 5-0 (2 KOs), of San Antonio, kicked off the show with a unanimous decision over Steve Garagagarza, 4-9-1 (3 KOs), of Laredo, Texas, in a four-round featherweight fight, winning by scores of 40-36 on two cards and 39-37 on the third.

Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.