Jazza Dickens KOs unbeaten WBA Interim champ Albert Batyrgaziev in Turkey
Liverpool’s Jazza Dickens (36-5, 15 KOs) just upset the home favourite for a second time within five months.
Fresh from his victory over Zelfa Barrett in February, the 34-year-old Brit just stopped undefeated WBA Interim super-featherweight champion Albert Batyrgaziev (12-1, 8 KOs) in round four of their IBA Pro event headliner on Wednesday evening, July 2, live on DAZN.
The former IBO world champion, Jazza Dickens, is now the WBA’s Interim world super-featherweight titleholder after inflicting a career-first defeat for the Russian southpaw and stunning Istanbul into silence, where many expected him to fall short against a younger, fresher Olympic champion.
Dickens produced his quickest stoppage victory in seven years, when Batyrgaziev’s corner sensibly threw in the towel at 2:26 of the fourth round.
Dickens was jabbing with his southpaw lead right hand, knocking on the door of the guard, which opened up just as he launched a swift left cross, which buzzed Batyrgaziev badly. He backed up on wobbly legs, but Dickens finished the job off.
Jazza was the deserving winner right from the opening round, establishing his speedy jab and seizing the centre of the ring early with head coach Albert Ayrapetyan in the corner.
You could see the subtle physical advantages were with the Liverpudlian, shrugging the home favourite off strongly in their close-range exchanges and pressing forward where needed.
Both finished the second stanza with a flurry to finish another competitive segment.
The older man defended combinations well by crouching low, making himself a smaller target and keeping a high guard as the 27-year-old Russian tired himself out with flashy combinations, but was always on the move backwards, draining his energy.
In the fourth, Dickens left him on unsteady legs after connecting with a stunningly fast left cross he didn’t see coming, before the five-year pro staggered backwards and ended upon the canvas. Pride and bravery propped him back up to his feet far too quickly without gathering his bearings again and the end was soon near.
Despite trying to survive, there was little coming back from behind his leaky guard, and Dickens was able to land big shots time and again. Al’Ba went down and got back up again, and referee Gustavo Padilla began counting before his corner mercifully threw the towel in.
“It’s a pleasure to be here, thanks to all my friends and family, management, what a night! Thank you Jesus,” Dickens said as he kept it short and sweet in his post-fight speech.
The WBA super-featherweight champion is Lamont Roach, who is heading into a rematch at lightweight with Gervonta Davis.