Puello vs Akhmedov FULL FIGHT: August 20, 2022 | PBC on Showtime

In an all-action affair, Alberto Puello and Batyr Akhmedov produced one of the better and compelling fights of 2022, but it was Puello who made history for his country, becoming the first Dominican fighter to ever win a title at 140 pounds by claiming the vacant WBA Super Lightweight World Championship in the co-main event by split decision.

The judges Benoit Roussel and Mark Streisand both scored the bout 117-111 for Puello, while Lisa Giampa awarded Akhmedov’s aggression with a scorecard of 115-113.

Puello (21-0, 10 KOs) was able to handle the constant pressure of Akhmedov, who came up short for the second title fight of his career after he lost a decision to Mario Barrios in 2019. Puello was able to fight well off the ropes and answer the advances of Akhmedov (9-2, 8 KOs) with stinging combinations. Puello joined his countrymen Hector Garcia, who dethroned Roger Gutierrez for a 130-pound championship earlier in the evening, to produce arguably the greatest day in the history of Dominican boxing with two title winners. The two are good friends, both sharing the hometown of San Juan de la Maguana in the Dominican Republic.

Puello was the busier fighter, out-throwing his opponent by a margin of 825 to 764, but Akhmedov out-landed him 207-191 and had a 198-168 edge in power punches landed.

“This was the hardest fight of my life, but the one I prepared the most for,” Puello said in the ring. “I do feel a lot of emotions, and two Dominicans were crowned champions on the same night. This win means a lot to me. This is a big thing for us Dominicans because my friend Hector Garcia and I are bringing two titles back home. My hometown, San Juan de la Maguana, has already started the party and they are waiting for Garcia and I to come back and join them.”

With the word “shark” stitched onto his shorts, Akhmedov marched forward round after round, attacking Puello’s body and raining down punches. Puello, for his part, was content to counter with uppercuts and winging shots as the two fell into a frenetic rhythm for 12 punishing rounds. Akhmedov had Puello retreating in the sixth as he dug body shots, but Puello landed perhaps his signature punch of the night, a bruising uppercut in the eighth that snapped Akhmedov’s head back as Puello seemed to sit down more on his punches in the second half of the fight. Fittingly, the bout ended with both fighters standing toe-to-toe, exchanging violent combinations as the bell ended the entertaining slugfest.

“I mixed it up, sometimes counterpunching and some other times coming forward,” Puello said. “What I studied from the gym and from the videos, I knew he would apply pressure. But I was actually surprised with the amount of pressure he started with and in the end I was able to figure him out. I knew it was a close fight, and I just kept the distance and kept the pressure on the jab tonight and that helped me get the victory.”

#AlbertoPuello #BatryAkhmedov #PuelloAkhmedov


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[juliewilver]

Best boxing I've seen in a long time.

[jefferyschirm]

Ain’t no way, he was backed up all night, just a give away !! Just good for promotion!!!

[FedericoDejesus-zb]

Tremenda.pelea de 12.raun.y no se vió.ni un solo golpe.contundente

[nowhereman]

I don't know either fighter, so I saw Akmed winning the fight. Pollo is an excellent boxer, though. It's too bad he doesn't have power in his punches.

[wario]

It is a robbery, Batyr earned this belt, what the judges were wathing. Exeptional work, mr Akhmedov, true warrior, true champ, true man

[inchlorIentztJiIu]

Puello is super talented and dangerous.

[joshua_lazar]

A lot of Akhmedov punches were smothered and blocked. P had the cleaner shots even tho he was on the back foot most of the fight.

[alsimmonshellspawn]

Puello got the most significant punches and he connected more

[BlackCodeBoxing]

This fight was so close, both men are winners. I do feel that the score card was a bit wide.

[Akhrormuralimov]

specific sued What kind of boxes are you killing boxing😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮😮

[kiowhatta]

Should be candidate for FOTY.
How either guy didn’t hit the canvas is amazing.
I thought Ahkmedov edged it by at least two rounds, after round 6 he took over the fight.
Definitely rematch

[canodiaz]

Matias is still the best in this division 🥊🇵🇷

[leudys]

Puello conecto los golpes mas claros y precisos

[m-dc]

Punches more beat head is Puello as a winner, this battle a great show 💪👌

[CasterShellz]

I had this fight 115-113 Puello.

Akhmedov and boxers similar to him always give up too many early rounds. I had him losing 5 of the first 6 rounds but winning 4 rounds in the 2nd half of the fight.

111-117 is a horrendous score though.

And this is really a battle of philosophy. Puello landed the cleaner, more effective and more eye-catching shots. But Akhmedov, although he was getting hit a lot and a good portion of his punches were getting blocked or evaded, put out the larger volume of punches.

[gregorylewis]

that was a good fight akhmedov was just to strong i scored 7 to 5 akhmedov

[AlterAvatar_]

Increíble!!!! 😳 Que sigan sucediendo estas cosas en el boxeo. ☹️🤦‍♂️

[ralphramos]

Great fight! I had it 115-113 Akhmedov but I think it could have gone either way...a Hard to score fight

[AquilitoEncarnación]

El mundo entero siempre está en contra de los dominicanos pero tenemos al mejor tenemos a Dios de nuestro lado que viva Dios, que viva la República Dominicana, y que viva los dominicanos de corazón 🇩🇴🙏❤️🇩🇴🇩🇴🇩🇴

[CasterShellz]

Boxing really moves so fast.

Puello derailed his career with a positive banned substance test after the biggest win of his career and is declared champion in recess, his would-be opponent Rolly wins the title in controversial fashion, and now Rolly claims he's injured because he doesn't want to fight his mandatory challenger Ohara Davies en route to a possible big-money fight with Ryan Garcia.