Nursultan Amanzholov, who is helping Oleksandr Usyk prepare for his rematch with Anthony Joshua, took part in a bizarre exhibition bout on Sunday night, knocking out his mismatched opponent.
Amanzholov, 29, made his professional debut in 2019 and has won his first four bouts in the paid ranks, but took a diversion to fight on the undercard of Iranian Hulk's super-heavyweight clash with Kazakh Titan. He dropped debutant Shapi Mushota twice in the second time and again in the third before the fight was waved off.
Amanzholov, who has also sparred with Joshua, trained with Usyk before he dethroned the Brit in London last September. And he has been part of the Ukrainian's training camp for next month's sequel, but took a break to appear on the Wicked N' Bad card in the desert.
The Kazakh was always in control against his flabby and overweight opponent but was reluctant to unleash his full arsenal given the discrepancy in ability. But he turned up the dial in the second round, dropping Mushota with a body shot with the MMA fighter taking his time to get to his feet. He was able to do so, however, and did so again when he was dropped in the dying seconds of the session.
But when Amanzholov dropped his opponent for a third time in the penultimate round, the referee took the sensible decision to wave off the bout, despite the beaten man's corner calling on their fighter to continue.
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Amanzholov was announced as having taken his record to 5-0 but the victory will not be added to his professional slate. Instead he will presumably return to camp with Usyk as the heavyweight champion makes his final preparations for his clash with Joshua in Saudi Arabia on August 20.
Amanzholov is yet to face a boxer with a winning record in his short career in the paid ranks, but he did take part in the World Series of Boxing, an amateur-professional hybrid competition. He was part of the Astana Arlans Kazakhstan side which beat the British Lionhearts in 2018, although he lost his own bout.
