Yerevan, Armenia – Pavel Sosulin provided an impressive performance at IBA Champions’ Night, successfully defending his WBA Asia Middleweight title with a third round knockout in Yerevan.

He faced Carlo Bacaro of the Philippines, who was competing outside of his home country professionally for the first time, and over 10 rounds, but the contest concluded long before the 30 minutes of action had been completed.

Sosulin, who won his fifth IBA Champions’ Night fight, was on top of his opponent from the bell and delivered strong quality boxing throughout. In the second round, a right uppercut combined with a left hand to the body forced a knockdown, which Bacaro survived. While he made the bell, he would not complete the third round – again facing a torrent of attacks and going down, overwhelmed by the work of the Russian boxer.

Davit Chaloyan was the biggest Armenian winner of the evening, defeating Vitaly Kudukhov in the 92+kg weight division. The taller home favorite used his longer reach to his advantage against the Russian, sitting off the pressure and responding to Kudukhov with much success.

Kudukhov provided a spirited performance and worked hard throughout, but Chaloyan’s footwork and ability to keep his opponent at a distance helped the Armenian win by unanimous decision.

A popular win went the way of Narek Manasyan, who surpassed Nigeria’s Austine Nnamdi at the 92kg weight limit, giving the Armenian his first IBA Champions’ Night triumph. Both boxers contributed to a fantastic six-round bout, peppered with moments of true drama, with difficulty shown throughout. Nnamdi pulled off moments of brilliance that would have brought a lesser athlete into a spin, but Manasyan was able to stand firm. His own highlights led to a win that caused cheers around the arena.

Khuseyn Baysangurov ended the undefeated streak of Venezuela’s Leonardo Sanchez in their 10-round contest. Sanchez was victorious in 16 professional matches with one draw, while Baysangurov was aiming for his 25th victory, holding just one professional defeat.

Gurgen Madoyan came back from an early shake to defeat Kudratillo Abdukakorov of Uzbekistan by a unanimous decision in the 71kg weight category.

Anis Chilaev representing Tajikistan was victorious against Armenia’s Karen Tonakanyan in the 63.5kg contest.

Alexandru Paraschiv silenced the home crowd after beating Ararat Harutyunyan in the 67kg division.

In the opening contest of the night, Artur Bazeyan was the victor by a unanimous decision in a lively bout with Albania’s Ardit Murja in the 60kg division.