Vitalie Matei champion of KOK 54 in Riga!!!

 

Dzavadovs pressured forward throughout the start of the fight, as the two felt each other out. Dzavadovs cut off the ring, allowing him to work Chafi against the ropes. A hard right hand forced Chafi to bounce back against the ropes, and the referee gave him a standing eight count in the last minute of the first. Dzavadovs landed a couple of more hard shots before the bell.

Dzavadovs got back onto the attack in the second, working over Chafi near a corner of the ring throughout the first half of the round. Dzavadovs clearly won the round, winning the fight through two with several combinations and a hard right hook. Chafi came out a little more aggressive in the third, but a quick, hard left hook late in the round forced Chafi down — though there was no count from the referee.

Dzavadovs earned the unanimous decision.

KOK 54 saw a triple-main event of sorts, as the card also featured the finals of the KOK Middleweight Grand Prix. Raimonds Aukstikalnis won the championship with a win over Mike Sprangh.

The two showed it would be a clash of styles in the opening round. Sprangh was the slower fighter, attempting to pull Aukstikalnis into him before landing a shot or two. Aukstikalnis, meanwhile, seemed to be the busier fighter, throwing several combinations throughout the round.

Aukstikalnis came out firing with leg kicks at the start of the second round. While Sprangh did a good job of covering up, he fired a kick or punch at a time, with the exception of a couple of late combinations. Sprangh started to come onto the attack, forcing his opponent backward, in the third round. The two exchanged tit-for-tat throughout, with each taking turns of playing offense and defense.

The bout went to the judges, who scored the bout a split draw and forced the bout to go an extra round, meaning Sprangh has gone to an extra round in every one of his tournament bouts. In the extra round, Sprangh stuck to his gameplan with covering up and combinations with an uppercut, plus the occasional kick. Both fighters turned it up in the final 30 seconds, with Aukstikalnis noticeably landing a hard kick to Sprangh’s body.

The judges gave the bout, and the tournament title, to Aukstikalnis on a split decision.

The card also saw a four-man lightweight tournament, won by Vitalie Matei. Matei faced Kamil Pawlak in the final bout, as Matei defeated Youssef Chaikh in one semifinal by decision, and Pawlak defeated Vjaceslavs Tevnis via second-round TKO due to kicks in the other. Matei won the final bout and tournament via unanimous decision.

KOK 54 Results:

Non-Title Welterweight Bout: (c.) Zaurs Dzavadovs def. Moucine Chafi via unanimous decision

Lightweight Tournament Final: Vitalie Matei def. Kamil Pawlak via unanimous decision

Middleweight Grand Prix Tournament Final: Raimonds Aukstikalnis def. Mike Sprangh via extra-round split decision

Superfight: Jurijs Orlovs def. Beni Osmanowski via majority decision

Lightweight Tournament Semifinal: Vitalie Matei def. Youssef Chaikh via unanimous decision

Lightweight Tournament Semifinal: Kamil Pawlak def. Vjaceslavs Tevnis via TKO (Rd. 2, 0:52)