DENIS BOYTSOV TKO6 TARAS BIDENKO

We get an idea how good an unbeaten prospect is by the way he handles himself in his first big test. Heavyweight hope Denis Boytsov handled himself very well indeed in his sixth-round hammering of the more experienced Taras Bidenko on Saturday’s big show in Germany.

I know there were some who doubted Boytsov and saw him as a limited fighter, but for me the 23-year-old Russian fully lived up to expectations.

Watching the fight live, I was impressed by the cool and calm way Boytsov went about his work. There was nothing rushed about his fighting, no hint of anxiety in his biggest test. He fought like a man who knows he can hurt his opponent and doesn’t have too much to worry about in the way of punches coming back at him. The way he was moving in on Bidenko, in command of the situation and very sure of himself — and seeming to hit heavily with every blow that landed — I soon had the sense that Boytsov's victory would be achieved a lot earlier than I had anticipated.

Bidenko tried to get into the fight with jabs and the occasional combination, but Boytsov punched right with him, and his blows were significantly harder than those of the Ukrainian. Bidenko’s punches were the type that score points, Boytsov’s the sort that do damage.

As early as round three a stoppage looked likely when Boytsov knocked Bidenko sideways with three consecutive right hands — only the first one landed cleanly but his punches were moving his opponent.

Boytsov was boxing deliberately, some might say mechanically, but with each round he seemed to take a little more out of Bidenko, and the finish in the sixth was spectacular. When Boytsov had Bidenko wobbly he went after him, battering his opponent all over the ring before dropping him flat on his back with a short left hook-cum-uppercut. Although Bidenko beat the count his legs had gone and referee Terry O’Connor waved the finish as the Ukrainian reeled back into the ropes.

This powerful performance stamps Boytsov as a genuine contender. Bidenko was well respected, and there were those who picked him to win — but Battleship Boytsov blew him out of the water.

There was no wild celebrating by Boytsov afterwards, no jumping up on the ropes or anything like that. He acted like a man who had merely done the sort of job that he had been expecting to do. Bidenko, meanwhile, looked as if he didn’t quite know what had hit him.

In the main event on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights, Carlos Molina showed again what an honest-to-goodness, capable fighter he is when outclassing veteran Danny Perez over 12 rounds to win the NABO junior middle title.

Molina is really just a welterweight and he was coming in at six days’ notice, but he fought at a steady, busy pace for the whole fight as he outboxed, outpunched and outsmarted the naturally bigger man.

Perez had some wear and tear on him at 32, but he had won three in a row in his comeback and seemed somewhat rejuvenated. I had leaned a bit towards Perez continuing his run of good form, but he was never in the fight. Molina fought extremely well, but Perez had nothing. We sometimes hear it said that a veteran can grow old in the ring in just one fight, when, his legs, his reflexes, his timing, all seem to give out on him: Perez seemed to grow old overnight on Friday.