Boxing: Ustinov stops Gavern, fails to impress

By Jason Kim: Undefeated heavyweight contender Alexander Ustinov (27-0, 21 KO’s) defeated American journeyman Jason Gavern (21-1-4, 10 KO’s) by an ugly clinch-filled 7th round TKO win on Thursday night to capture the vacant International Boxing Organization Inter-Continental heavyweight title at the Sports Palace in Kharkov, Ukraine. The 35-year-old Ustinov knocked Garvern down four times in the 7th before the fight was finally halted. However, the fight was pretty ugly with all the clinching that was initiated by both fighters. It seemed to be a mutual thing where they would come together and just grab each other after one or shots thrown. Ustinov, who looked slower than usual at a chunky looking 308 pounds, had a bad habit of pushing down on the back of Gavern’s neck to try and force him down. Ustinov did this almost every time he could clinch with Gavern, and it’s sad that the referee waited until the 5th round to finally warn Ustinov about this. In the 7th round, landed a short right hand to knock Gavern down for the first time in the round. After Gavern got back up, Ustinov gave him a hard shove and landed two right hands to put him down for a 2nd time in the round. Gavern wasn’t happy about the knockdown because he was hit in the back of the head by Ustinov’s right hand. However, it was his own fault, as he was ducking low when Ustinov came down with a hard chopping right hand that connected to the back of the head. After the action resumed, Ustinov gave Gavern another hard shove and then knocked him down again with another right hand. The final knockdown came from a left to the body. This time Gavern didn’t get back up. The remainder of the was mostly clinching and short punches thrown on the inside. Ustinov looked slow compared to the 35-year-old Gavern, who himself isn’t what I would consider a fast heavyweight. In the 1st round, Gavern bloodied Ustinov’s nose with a hard left hook that caught Ustinov right when he was rushing in for one of his usual clinches. The shot caught him off guard and it snapped Ustinov’s head around. It’s too bad Gavern wasn’t able to do more of that in the fight, because maybe he would have kept Ustinov from clinching so much. It was like watching one of Wladimir Klitschko’s fights with his constant clinching, except that Ustinov didn’t have Wladimir’s great jab, left hook or right hand. He just looked like a big, slow, overweight heavyweight facing a 2nd tier fighter. Ustinov landed a couple of good right hands in the 2nd round. Most of the round was spent with both fighters clinching and throwing short punches with little power at one another. Ustinov looked too slow to try and initiate action on the outside. The 3rd round had next no real action, just a bunch of clinching. Ustinov was doing a good job of mauling Gavern by grabbing and leaning on him. It was real ugly to watch. No real technique, just a bunch of grabbing and holding. Early in the 4th round, Ustinov flurried on Gavern with a series of 1-2 combinations. It looked good, but then Ustinov went back into the clinch mode and grappled for the remainder of the round. Gavern landed a nice right hand in the 5th. That was the real excitement in the round unfortunately. Ustinov was finally warned for his habit of pushing down on the back of Gavern’s neck. The 6th round was nothing but clinching. Ustinov looked exhausted. All in all, I thought both fighters looked terrible to the extreme. I can’t believe Ustinov is ranked #3 WBA, #5 WBO, #12 IBF. I don’t see him beating anyone good, least of all any of the champions. He seems to be slowing down from his form of two years ago, which is understandable given that he’ll be turning 36 in December. He looks old for his age.