Azerbaijan can celebrate a new world boxing champion, as Fariz Mammadov won the vacant World Boxing Federation (WBF) World Super Welterweight title on Saturday February 6 in the country´s capital Baku, defeating former African champion Badru Lusambya.
Mammadov, a southpaw and born and raised in Baku, had the measure of Lusambya from early on, and he was clearly the most effective of the two at close quarters and from a distance. His jab worked well, and his body-shots had a clear effect on the man from Kampala.
In the seventh, Mammadov landed a hard and well-placed shot to the liver that send Lusambya down for a count of eight. He made it through the round, but when Mammadov came out aggressive to finish matters in the eight, referee Zbigniev Lagosz stopped the fight as Lasumbya went down again. Time of stoppage was 1:00.
With a large and vocal crowd cheering him on, the new WBF World Champion improved his fine professional record to 19-2-1 (13), while Lasumbua, also a southpaw, loses for the first time since 2010 and travels back to Uganda at 24-3-2 (22).
The show was promoted by Nezir Agayev and Yashar Milnits.
