Light heavyweight contender Vyacheslav Shabranskyy (17-1, 14 KOs) was no match for Sullivan Barrera (18-1, 13 KOs) in getting knocked down three times and halted in the 7th round tonight at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California. The 29-year-old Shabranskyy was flattened with a right hand in the 7th. The fight was stopped by the referee after that knockdown. The match was stopped at 2:05 of round five. Shabranskyy was also on the canvas in the 1st and the 5th. Barrera was knocked down in the 2nd.
Photo Credit: Tom Hogan Photos/Golden Boy Promotions
Shabranskyy left himself open in the 1st round was deposited on the canvas after getting hit by a blistering right hand from Barrera. Shabranskyy was walking forward while stranding straight up, and this made it very easy for Barrera to hit him cleanly. Shabranskyy was also failing to use his jab. Everything that he threw was power shots, and this left him wide open for Barrera’s right hands.
The 2nd round was by far Shabranskyy best round of the fight. He hurt Barrera with a left hook to the head. He then put him down with a right hand. Barrera got back to his feet and recovered well in showing no ill effects from the knockdown.
Barrera controlled rounds one through six with his right hands. That’s all he needed to dominate the limited Shabranskyy. In the 5th, Barrera knocked Shabranskyy down with a right hand to the head. It was a good shot that Barrera threw from long range. He telegraphed it, but it still landed because of Shabranskyy inability to pick up the incoming punches from Barrera.
Shabranskyy did a poor job of tracking the punches that was thrown at him all night long. That’s troubling, because Barrera isn’t known for having fast hands. The only thing he was that was unique was he made sure he was always first. Shabranskyy stood around and waited too long to do anything in each round, and this caused him to get hit way too much.
With Barrera’s win, he picks up the vacant WBC United States (USNBC) light heavyweight title. This is the same Barrera who lost to unbeaten Andre Ward in March of this year by a 12 round decision. Barrera looked a lot better against Shabranskyy than he did fighting Ward. The main difference between the two fighters was Ward’s air-tight defense, which made it difficult for Barrera to hit him. He still was able to hit Ward with a lot of right hands though in that fight, but Ward ended up winning a rather one-sided 12 round decision.
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