A hungry Wolf keeps it short and sweet
Decorated amateur Biyarslanov wins his belated pro debut swiftly and decisively
The right hook to the head was gratuitous.
By the time former amateur boxing star Arthur Biyarslanov landed it, Ernesto Cardona Sanchez was already crumbling, thanks to the left hand Biyarslanov had just dug to his rib cage.
Sanchez sunk to his knees and Biyarslanov, a three-time national amateur champion known as The Chechen Wolf, strolled to the neutral corner while referee Donovan Boucher began counting.
Boucher waved the fight off before reaching 10 and Biyarslanov trotted to his corner, where his brother greeted him with a high five and a tight embrace.
The 23-year-old Biyarslanov is the most decorated Canadian amateur fighter of his generation, but endured several false starts before finally embarking on his pro career. And on Saturday night, a pro debut that took nearly a year to finalize required just two minutes, 34 seconds to complete.
Biyarslanov, who hasn’t signed with a promoter, said he has no timeline for his next bout, but left the ring injury-free and ready to fight again.
“In the professionals, in the beginning, it’s going to be easy, and get harder as you move up,” Biyarslanov said. “This fight was pretty easy to me. The guy never touched me. I felt great.”
Cardona Sanchez, a 28-year-old from Rosarito, Mexico, was a veteran of eight previous professional bouts, but Biyarslanov likely entered the bout with more high-level experience. Biyarslanov accrued an 85-13 record as an amateur and competed in the world championships in 2015 and 2017.
But turning pro means building a resumé against journeymen such as Cardona Sanchez, who seemed to sense the skill disparity early and launched several wild rights as Biyarslanov advanced.
Biyarslanov, who weighed in at a chiseled 142 pounds, kept shrinking the ring with his footwork and accurate punching. When Cardona Sanchez held his hands high, Biyarslanov used his right hand to yank to pry his opponent’s guard open, then smacked him with a roundhouse left.
And when Cardona Sanchez stepped forward to mount an attack, Biyarslanov landed a sharp right hook to the face.
Next came the flurry that ended the fight.
“Once I seen the body shot open, I went right for it,” Biyarslanov said. “I landed a nice clean shot and that was it.”
Later on Saturday’s card Toronto-based contender Steve Rolls won the USBA middleweight title with a unanimous decision over veteran Keandre Leatherwood. The win improves Rolls’ pro record to 19-0.
Mississauga’s Sam Vargas was scheduled to headline against Argentine Gabriel Adrian Pereiro.
Biyarslanov’s introduction prompted loud cheers from fans at the Coca Cola Coliseum, many of whom remembered him as a veteran of local gyms and the national team.
The past two decades have seen diminishing returns for Canada’s men’s amateur boxing program on the world stage. But earlier this decade, Biyarslanov emerged as the strongest Canadian medal contender of his generation. In the months leading up to the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto, Biyarslanov often slept at his gym — it gave him a head-start on three-a-day training sessions.
The dedication paid off. He upset Cuban veteran Yasniel Toledo to win Pan Am gold, and then became the only Canadian boxer to qualify for the Rio Olympics. Biyarslanov ultimately lost in the round of 16 to eventual bronze medallist Artem Harutyunyan.
Biyarslanov targeted the 2020 Games but instead wound up in a conflict with Boxing Canada. It wanted national team fighters to move to Montreal and work full-time with Boxing Canada coaches, and ruled to withhold monthly stipends from national teamers who didn’t opt in. Biyarslanov argued his Toronto-based coaches had made him an Olympian.
Biyarslanov left the national team program last November to focus on turning pro, and finally moved to Montreal. He was to appear on an August card at Budweiser Stage, but that event was cancelled when the headliners couldn’t secure visas to travel to Canada.