Serhii Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) looked powerful and defeated Ishmael Davis (13-2, 6 KOs) by sixth-round TKO in their WBC Junior Middleweight title eliminator last Saturday night in Riyadh.
Bohachuk’s Power Display
The fight was stopped after the sixth round by referee Hector Afu after Davis’ corner decided to stop the contest. With Bohachuk hitting him hard in the fifth and sixth rounds, Davis would not make it through the seventh without a knockout. The official cutoff time was 3:00 in the sixth round.
Through four rounds, the fight was competitive at times, with Ishmael having brief moments but mostly getting royally pounded by Bohachuk. In the fifth and sixth, it was one-sided with Ukraine’s Bohachuk dropping Davies at middle and close range.
Bohachuk vs. Davis Punch Stats
– Ishmael Davis: 65 of 223 shooting for 29.1%
– Serhii Bohachuk: 135 of 414 for 32.6%
Most of Bohachuk’s punches in the fight were hard punches, which explains why he quickly wore down Davis only to be stopped in the sixth round. Bohachuk connected 108 punches and landed 27 of the 414 punches he threw in the fight. He had excellent accuracy on his power shots, hitting 41.1% of them. That’s a big number for a fighter with Bohachuk’s kind of power.
Davis Outmatched
Surprisingly, Davies thought he could fight Serhi on the inside. What a mistake. Bohhachuk’s short punches resembled those thrown by light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev. They don’t look like they’re powerful, but they do deal damage. It was interesting that Davis didn’t try to adjust by moving away, but it probably wouldn’t have mattered.
Davis’ promoter, Eddie Hearn, looked grim in the crowd after watching Bohachuk drop him with a left hook in the second round. Ishmael, 29, fought well in the first round, landing a right hand that momentarily backed up former WBC 154lb interim champion Bohachuk.
Davis landed a nice right hand on Bohachuk in the fourth round, but it wasn’t enough to put him away. Sergio pressed him, hitting him hard and not letting him rest between attacks.
Davis’ movement wasn’t nearly enough to stop Bohachuk from cutting off the ring and continuing to beat him by chopping with GGG’s power punches. The punches weren’t thrown at a high rate, but man, they wore Ismail.
Bohachuk is now mandatory for WBC champion Sebastian ‘The Towering Inferno’ Fundor at 154lb. Unfortunately, he won’t be getting a title shot anytime soon. Fundora will next defend against Errol Spence, and he may choose to fight someone else in a money fight after that, such as Terence Crawford.
An interesting fight that I would love to see Bohachuk against Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. However, given Boots’ decision to stay at welterweight to try and unify the division, he would likely turn down a dangerous fight against Bohachuk, no matter how much money Turki Alalshikh offered him. It would be fun to see how Ennis trades power shots against Bohachuk.
With Jaron’s porous defense, Bohachuk would have a field day against him, landing at will and having an easier time than he did against Davis. Boots promotes Hearn. He would probably balk at the idea of Ennis taking on Bohachuk, knowing it wouldn’t end well for him.
