Dimitri Kirilov vs Jose Navarro

One glove brushing the canvas in the third round proved the difference between victory and a majority draw after 12 closely contested rounds at Moscow’s Khodynka Ice Palace. That brief knockdown enabled Dimitri Kirilov to defeat Jose Navarro by unanimous decision and take the vacant International Boxing Federation super-flyweight championship on October 13, 2007.

The championship contest supported Sultan Ibragimov’s heavyweight title defence against Evander Holyfield and presented two experienced challengers with another opportunity to win a world crown. Kirilov entered with a record of 28 victories and three defeats. His previous championship attempt had ended in a narrow split-decision loss to Luis Alberto Perez in May 2006. Navarro, a member of the United States team at the 2000 Olympic Games, brought a record of 26 victories and two defeats. Both losses had come in WBC title contests in Japan, against Katsushige Kawashima and Masamori Tokuyama.

Navarro, a southpaw, attempted to control the early exchanges with his right jab and movement, while the orthodox Kirilov sought to shorten the distance and land straighter, firmer punches. There was little waste in the work of either man. The opening rounds were fought carefully, each boxer trying to draw a lead and answer it rather than taking unnecessary chances. Navarro’s greater mobility allowed him to work from changing positions, but Kirilov remained composed and continued to bring his feet into range before punching.

The important incident came in the third round. Kirilov met Navarro with a counter right, and the American’s glove touched the floor as he tried to regain his balance. Referee Samuel Viruet correctly administered a count. It was a light knockdown rather than a damaging one, and Navarro recovered immediately. There was some confusion after the count because Viruet was slow to separate the fighters, allowing Kirilov to continue punching as the action resumed, but no deduction was made.

Navarro did not permit the setback to alter his method. He continued to box at a brisk pace, moving to his right and trying to score before Kirilov could set himself. Kirilov, encouraged by the knockdown and by the Moscow crowd, maintained his advance without becoming reckless. His most useful punches were the straight right and the left delivered behind it, while Navarro answered with quick combinations and generally tried to avoid remaining directly in front of him. Neither man established sufficient command to turn the match into a one-sided affair, and several rounds depended upon whether the judges preferred Navarro’s activity or Kirilov’s cleaner single blows.

The second half followed much the same pattern. Navarro frequently initiated the exchanges and showed the faster hands, but Kirilov’s balance and accuracy allowed him to reply effectively. The Russian was seldom hurried into throwing from beyond his proper distance. Navarro, aware that another close decision on foreign ground might go against him, increased his work whenever the action slowed, yet he could not produce a sustained attack strong enough to erase the deficit created in the third round. There were no further knockdowns, and neither boxer appeared near a stoppage.

Kirilov finished the contest steadily and was awarded a unanimous decision. Two judges scored the fight 114-113, while the third returned a wider card of 116-112. The pair of 114-113 scores showed the exact value of the third-round knockdown. Without it, those cards would have been level. Navarro had again travelled abroad for a championship contest and had again fallen narrowly short, although the decision in Moscow was supported by Kirilov’s cleaner punching and the only knockdown of the fight.

The victory made Kirilov the IBF super-flyweight champion at his second attempt and improved his record to 29 wins and three defeats. It was a measured success rather than a commanding one, gained through patience, sound positioning and one timely counter. Navarro left with his third defeat in as many world-title challenges, having contributed fully to a close contest in which one small mistake carried the weight of an entire championship.

I thought Kirilov deserved the decision, though there was precious little in it. Navarro, a former Olympian making his third world-title attempt, was quicker and busier, but Kirilov remained balanced, held his ground and landed the cleaner straight punches.

The third-round knockdown settled it. Kirilov timed Navarro with a counter right, forcing his glove onto the canvas. Without that moment, two scorecards would have been level. Navarro continued moving and throwing combinations, but too much of his work lacked authority.

Kirilov was never spectacular, yet he understood distance and remained composed. In a technical, closely fought contest, that was enough to win the vacant IBF title.