Imam Khataev Stops Adam Deines in Round 3 In Gatineau

Imam Khataev didn’t come back to Quebec to audition for a longer night’s work. On a chilly December evening at Casino Lac-Leamy in Gatineau, the Russian light heavyweight defended his NABF title the way punchers prefer to do it—decisively—stopping Adam Deines in the third round of their scheduled ten.

Deines, the seasoned German who once went deep with Artur Beterbiev in a world-title challenge, began with the familiar look of a man who understands that survival is not the same thing as surrender. He tried to make Khataev reset, tried to slow the exchanges into something more manageable, and he wasn’t shy about taking a moment in close when the distance turned unwelcoming.

But Khataev has a blunt, uncompromising air about him—an Olympic medallist who fights as he’d rather remove doubt than negotiate with it. There was no sense of him easing his way in, no need to borrow confidence from early rounds. He pressed, set his feet when the openings appeared, and asked Deines to make every defensive decision at full speed.

The ending arrived in the third, and it was as final as body shots always are. Officially recorded as a straight right to the body, it folded Deines in the way only a clean shot to the midsection can—no theatrical fall, just the sudden, involuntary understanding that the legs are no longer interested in cooperation. The count became a formality, and with it Khataev had his win, his defence, and a statement that didn’t require a microphone.

For Deines, there’s no shame in being beaten by a committed puncher in full stride, but it is a hard way to lose—because head shots can be argued with and disguised, while the body tells the truth immediately. For Khataev, it was exactly the kind of return a contender wants after a first defeat: short, sharp, and leaving the sense that the climb resumes without detour.