Xolisani “Nomeva” Ndongeni suffered a ninth-round knockout loss to Hovhannes Bachkov for the vacant IBA junior welterweight boxing title in Turkey last night.
The Armenian – a former Olympian – caught a visibly exhausted Ndongeni with a barrage of well-placed shots to the head, and trainer Sean threw in the towel, rescuing his man from taking severe punishment.
Bachkov also retained his WBA Continental belt.
While Bachkov retained his unblemished slate of eight wins with seven knockouts, the vastly experienced former IBO champion suffered his seventh defeat against 33 victories.
Ndongeni’s losses have come at the highest level against the likes of Devin Haney, Raymond Muratalla, Arnold Barboza Jr. and Ernesto “Tito” Mercado.
Ndongeni was a last-minute replacement for the power-punching Uzbek southpaw Shohjahon Ergashev who has 22 knockouts in 25 wins against two losses, who was forced to withdraw from the fight against Bachkov due to a left-hand injury.
Ndongeni, 35, went into the fight last night rejuvenated after causing an upset split decision win against previously unbeaten Nestor Bravo in March for the WBA Intercontinental title in Puerto Rico.
But Bachkov, 32, from Gyumri in Armenia, was uncompromising. He took control from the very first moments of the fight.
Throughout all the rounds, he displayed high activity, accuracy and a wide variety of punches, steadily building his advantage on the scorecards. However, the bout never made it to the judges.
In the ninth round, Bachkov turned up the pressure, cornered his opponent against the ropes, and landed several clean shots to Ndongeni’s head. He went down and showed no desire to continue.
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