Russian boxer Roman Karmazin failed to defend his IBF middleweight title, losing American Cory Spinks on points. Two judges gave the victory to Spinks with a score of 115: 113, and the third recorded a draw - 114: 114.
For Karmazin, the fight was even more important than last year's title fight with Kassim Ouma. The novel did not hide that Spinks is a very uncomfortable opponent for him, but a victory over the American will make him the objectively strongest boxer in the first middleweight. Most experts both in America and in Russia preferred the Russian. The reason for this was the last fight of Spinks in February last year: then the American lost to Zaba Judah and went into the shadows, giving reason to think that his career was over. However, that defeat was easily explained: before the fight, Spinks had to drive more than 10 kg of weight, and this could not but affect his shape. Soon, the American moved into a heavier weight category and returned to the ring. He was preparing for a duel with Karmazin as the most important thing in his life. In addition, Don King, who is the promoter of both boxers, made a good present for his compatriot by choosing his native St. Louis as the battlefield.
To win in such conditions on points Karmazin was very difficult. The only chance of success could be a knockout. But for this, the Russian had to be in great shape. Roman, however, didn’t manage to get the best conditions - for a whole year, King could not organize a title defense for our boxer, forcing him to keep fit only in sparring. This became noticeable already from the first minutes of the battle, when Spinks began to score points, attacking from a long distance, constantly moving around the ring and preventing Roman from answering quickly. With this tactic, there was only one chance to stop the American: to carry out more attacks on the body. However, for the whole battle Karmazin ran to them a few times, making it clear: a year without fights did not pass without a trace for him.
The last chance to put an opponent in the Russian appeared at the end of the tenth round. In the hope of a knockout, Karmazin went all-in and was able to deliver several accurate and powerful punches. A few Russian fans at that moment even managed to shout out to the local public, but Spinks escaped defeat, having managed to maintain a point advantage until the final bell.
“Spinks cunningly conducted this fight: he scored points in the first rounds, and the rest of the fight ran away from me in the ring,” said Karmazin, disappointed after the fight. “Moreover, it is difficult to win with such an arbitration: the referee did not let me work at close range. I asked him to give me the opportunity to get out of the clinches myself, but he did not listen. " The defeat of Karmazin has already led to numerous conversations that the 33-year-old boxer’s upward career has ended and that he won’t see another fight at this level. However, people who are well aware of the unyielding nature of Roman have no doubt: this failure will only make him stronger.