Antoine Douglas vs Avtandil Khurtsidze #WilliamsMatano pic.twitter.com/kcHQc92WQx
— ZombieProphet (@ZProphet_MMA) March 6, 2016
Khurtsidze was supposed to be nothing more than mere fodder for rising middleweight star Antoine Douglas Saturday night on Showtime, from the Sands Casino, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
But his crowding, peek-a-boo, borrowing style took its toll on the 23-year-old Douglas and it produced the first shock in boxing for 2016, when Benji Esteves stepped in and called a halt to the fight at :33 of the 10th and final round.
Using constant pressure, ducking and bobbing, Khurtsidze knocked down Douglas (19-1-1, 13 KOs) in the third and seventh rounds. He applied so much pressure force on Douglas, Esteves was forced to step in and wave it over.
Khurtsidze took the fight on short notice, a late substitute for 42-year-old Sam Soliman, who withdrew two weeks ago from the fight claiming he hurt his knee during training. It didn’t look as if conditioning would be an issue.
Khurtsidze landed 99 more punches than Douglas, connecting on 282-841 (34%) to Douglas’ 183-525 total connects. Khurtsidze relied on power shots. He threw an amazing 813 power shots, connecting on 276 (34%), while Douglas connected on 173-437 (40%) power shots.
Afterward, Douglas was taken to a local hospital complaining about feeling dizzy. Khurtsidze, meanwhile, was ecstatic.
“I gave him a chance in the fourth and fifth rounds, so he could fight me longer,” Khurtsidze said. “It’s been so long that I’ve fought 10 rounds. I wanted to test myself how far I could go. He’s an experience kid, but I knew he was going to get tired. He’s a good kid, but he’s not strong, he’s not powerful. He didn’t hit hard.
“I knew he was going to come hard at me. It was short notice, but I always stay in the gym and I always stay sharp. I was ready. Whoever is out there, I’ll fight anybody. I love fighting. You can just bring them. Whoever will fight me, I will fight anybody.”
Douglas couldn’t keep Khurtsidze away with his jab. He let Khurtsidze get inside and slug to the body and head. In the third round, a cut opened over the right eye of Douglas. In the third, Khurtsidze knocked him through the ropes, but when made the fight so intriguing is that each time Douglas was in trouble, he fought back.
There was give up in him.
He just repeatedly made the same mistake and allowed Khurtsidze to enter his attack zone.
“Many time, yes, people have confused me as a block of granite,” Khurtsidze said, laughing.
Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.