Last night we saw 2016 Olympic gold medal winner Fazliddin Gaibnazarov (7-1, 4) [Фазлиддин Ғоибназаров] suffer his first loss as a professional, coming up short against awkward American Mykal Fox (20-1, 5) in a 10 round bout at the Convention Center in Tucson.
The Uzbek, who was facing his biggest opponent to date, seemed to have real problems with the reach and size of Fox, who is a freakish fighter in and around the Light Welterweight division, especially in the later stages.
Despite the size issues Gaibnazarov did start well, having success in the early going and rocked Fox in round 2. He continued to press the action in the early rounds and although he never managed to hurt Fox again he looked in the ascendancy, getting inside and working away. That all came to screeching halt in round 4, when he began to get frustrated at being unable to shake his opponent for a second time, and in round 6 he was deducted a point for holding. The following round another point was taken for the same thing as referee Tony Zaino was on his case for everything.
That referee's actions had a major impact on both men. It boosted Fox's confidence and also further destroyed the rhythm of the Uzbek who looked unable to get much going in the later rounds.
The point deductions and surge from Fox proved to be too much, with Gaibnazarov losing 96-92, twice, and 95-93.
This is a massive setback for the Olympic champion whilst Fox bounces back from his first defeat, a loss to Gaibnazarov's fellow Uzbek Shohjahon Ergashev.
