After eight rounds of immense quality, two judges awarded Medzhidov the victory with cards of 78-73 and 78-74, while the third judge scored the fight a draw.

Despite competing in a hostile atmosphere, the two-time world champion looked composed from the outset, knocking down Arjaoui towards the end of the second round with a fierce left hook after a closely-fought first.

Buoyed from the support of his fans, Arjaoui recovered well from the knockdown and began to make his way back into the fight using lateral movement and picking his shots well.

But Medzhidov’s power was clear for all to see, with the force of his shots so strong that his Moroccan opponent did not feel comfortable attacking too often.

Arjaoui took the fifth round on all three scorecards as Medzhidov seemed to tire, but he could not maintain the momentum, and ultimately fell short.

Medzhidov now moves onto Cycle I Round 2, in which he will meet four-time Romanian national champion Mihai Nistor, who defeated Russia’s Magomed Omarov.

The contest was stopped in the fourth round due to a head injury suffered by Nistor, who secured a split decision victory based on the scorecards up to that point.

Elsewhere in Marrakesh, Turkish debutant Ali Eren Demirezen enjoyed a dream APB debut as he stopped France’s Tony Yoka, while Germany’s Ali Kiydin earned a fourth round TKO success over Egypt’s Ahmed Samir.

There was also heavyweight action in Milan, as Italy’s Clemente Russo comprehensively outboxed Ukraine’s Roman Golovashchenko to the delight of the home crowd.

All three judges awarded an 80-72 victory to the two-time AIBA world champion, who will next face Kazakhstan’s Anton Pinchuk in Cycle I Round 2 after the Kazakh boxer defeated Algeria’s Chouaib Bouloudintas.

Pinchuk has a remarkably strong jab, which he used well in Milan to win his contest 78-74 on two scorecards, while the third judge scored the fight a draw.

Elsewhere in the Italian city, London 2012 Olympic bronze medallist Tervel Pulev of Bulgaria outpointed the previously undefeated Croatian Marko Calic, while Germany’s David Graf enjoyed a debut APB victory over Argentina’s Yamil Peralta.


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