By Daniel Etchells

Austria's Marcos Nader, the number one seed, was knocked out by Kenya's Rayton Nduku Okwiri ©AIBA Pro BoxingKenyan welterweight Rayton Nduku Okwiri registered a surprise knockout victory against Austria's Marcos Nader as the pre-ranking phase of the International Boxing Association (AIBA) Pro Boxing competition continued at the Sarhadchi Complex in Baku.

An outsider against European Boxing Union champion and number one seed Nader, whose professional record stood at 18-1-1 before the bout, Okwiri caught his opponent with a devastating right hook in the second round and massively boosted his chances of representing his country at Rio 2016.

The second contest of the night saw Turkey's Onur Sipal go up against Lithuania's Eimantas Stanionis as the former claimed a unanimous points victory.

Sipal, a bronze medallist at the 2013 Summer Universiade in Kazan, who had competed at Beijing 2008, showed his experience and strength to control the fight against the young Lithuanian, who entered the APB after winning two National Championships.

Ukraine's Denys Lazarev marked his first APB encounter with a comfortable points victory against Hungarian veteran and two-time Olympian Gyula Kate.

The 24-year-old dominated the fight as Kate failed to land the one-punch knockout he was looking for throughout the contest.

Turkey's Onur Sipal competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games ©Getty ImagesTurkey's Onur Sipal competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games ©Getty Images








In the final bout, local favourite Fariz Mammadov, the current World Boxing Organisation European welterweight champion, suffered a points defeat to Russia's Andrey Zamkovoy.

The first four rounds were highly competitive but Zamkovoy, a bronze medallist at London 2012, soon took control and landed a heavy right hook on Mammadov's nose in the fifth.

Mammadov fought hard in the final round but Zamkovoy's superiority was recognised by the judges.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
October 2014: 
Big hitters out in force across Europe as AIBA Pro Boxing launched