by James Slater – This coming Saturday in Germany, on the under-card of the WBC Female featherweight title defence by Ina Menzer against Esther Schouten, unbeaten heavyweight prospect/contender Denis Boystov continues his progress up the ladder of his weight class as he faces durable Floridian Jason Gavern over a scheduled ten-rounds..
The 23-year-old Russian who lives in Hamburg, Germany is currently 25-0(20) as a pro, and the learned and experienced amateur (well over a hundred amateur bouts) has been making a good impression of himself thus far. A pro since September of 2004, the well conditioned and aggressive Boytsov has yet to fight outside of either Germany or Austria, but he has fought a couple of decent American heavies who have travelled over to test him.
Tough guy Vinny Maddalone, for example, took on Boytsov in his home country last November, and the New Yorker came home feeling mightily impressed with the man who out-pointed him over eight fan-friendly rounds. Boytsov is fairly quick, has fast hands and is fun to watch. Not a monstrous puncher, the 6’1″ 220-pounder has nevertheless stopped his last two opponents; Israel Garcia falling inside two-rounds back in February, and Ukrainian big man Taras Bidenko, who entered the ring having won his last 12 fights, being TKO’d in the 6th-round back in June.
The Bidenko win earned Boystov the vacant WBO European title, and the 23-year-old’s win was somewhat eye-catching. Now, against 32-year-old Gavin, the Russian will be looking to become the first fighter to stop the man who is 18-5-3(8).
Gavin has been in with some notable fighters in his time, holding Travis Walker to a draw, out-pointing Raphael Butler and Cisse Salif and being outscored by Oleg Platov and Teke Oruh. A proven high quality trial horse, Gavin will not want to lose by stoppage for the first time. A winner in his last three outings, the 32-year-old will have around ten pounds in weight over Boytsov, and he is around an inch taller.
Big things are expected of the exciting Boytsov, and a stoppage win over Gavin would be a very good statement to back up the claims some have made of him being a future champion. Having benefited greatly from being trained by the knowledgeable Fritz Sdunek – who, of course, has worked with both Klitschko brothers – the up-and-comer has done everything asked of him so far. Nobody is demanding he stop Gavern on Saturday, but a win is vital. A KO would be great for the 23-year-old. He just might get it, too.