Khataev Knocks Out McCrory in 69 Seconds to Retain NABF Title

Imam Khataev needed only 69 seconds to end Padraig McCrory’s return to championship competition, retaining his NABF light heavyweight title with a first-round knockout at the Theatre Capitole in Quebec City. The Belfast challenger was hurt almost immediately and could not recover sufficiently to beat referee Albert Padulo Jr’s count.

A left hook unsettled McCrory before Khataev followed with a hard right to the side of the head. The challenger went down, tried to rise and lost his footing again. At 1 minute 9 seconds, a contest scheduled for ten rounds was over. There was no close decision to discuss and no opportunity for a corner to reorganise its fighter.

Khataev, 32, improves from 12 victories and one defeat to 13 wins, with 12 knockouts. McCrory, 38, falls from 20 wins and two defeats to 20 victories and three losses, with ten knockouts. All three of the Northern Irishman’s defeats have come inside the distance.

Both had made the light heavyweight limit, Khataev weighing 174.6lb and McCrory 175lb. The challenger’s experience and punching reputation offered the possibility of resistance. In practice, Khataev imposed himself before McCrory could establish the distance or rhythm required to make either quality useful.

The Russian took the offensive from the opening bell. McCrory was being pushed backwards while the champion looked to land with authority, and the fight developed at Khataev’s pace. There was scarcely a preliminary exchange before the challenger was dealing with the blows that would settle it.

The decisive sequence demonstrated the value of following an initial success immediately. Khataev’s left hook disturbed McCrory’s balance; the right hand then arrived before he could restore it. The champion did not give his opponent the breathing space in which to steady himself and begin again.

McCrory’s attempt to regain his feet made the seriousness of the damage apparent. Willingness was not enough. His legs would not provide the support he needed, and he returned to the canvas as the count continued. The referee’s conclusion was straightforward.

For Khataev, it was a third successive stoppage victory since his split decision defeat by David Morrell in July 2025. Adam Deines and Mickael Diallo had already been stopped during that recovery. McCrory now joins a sequence of opponents unable to extend the Russian into the later stages.

The Morrell contest remains a more substantial measure of Khataev’s ability against the division’s leading men. He scored a knockdown in that fight but lost the decision, an indication that his power can trouble elite opposition without settling every other requirement. This victory maintains his progress, although its brevity provides limited evidence of improvements over a longer contest.

His amateur credentials include an Olympic bronze medal from Tokyo, where Ben Whittaker defeated him in the semi-final. A professional meeting between them remains an attractive possibility rather than an announced next assignment. Khataev has reinforced his claim to demanding opposition; this performance cannot establish which opponent his handlers will secure.

For McCrory, the circumstances are more uncomfortable. His June appearance at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall, when he stopped Ondrej Budera in the second round, had been presented as a farewell. This unexpected return brought a regional championship opportunity, but also an opponent operating at a markedly different level.

McCrory has earned achievements that deserve to survive a bad evening. He won the IBO light heavyweight championship by stopping Leon Bunn in the sixth round in Frankfurt in October 2022, overturning the advantage of a previously unbeaten home fighter. That was an away victory built on his own considerable punching power.

The subsequent defeats against Edgar Berlanga and Craig Richards exposed the difficulty of carrying that success into stronger assignments. Berlanga stopped him in the sixth round; Richards finished him in the eighth. Khataev ended matters much sooner, making this McCrory’s quickest professional defeat. The contrast with Frankfurt was stark: there McCrory had imposed the damaging exchanges; here he was overwhelmed before he could establish an effective reply.

I thought this was a poor match for McCrory, and Khataev exposed the gap before the Belfast man could establish any useful rhythm. Against that sort of puncher, you need something to interrupt his approach. A firm jab, an angle, a counter he has to respect. McCrory never imposed enough to make him hesitate.

What I liked about Khataev was the immediate follow-up once he had his man hurt. The left hook disturbed McCrory’s balance, and the next attack gave him no room to recover. That’s where good finishing separates itself from wild swinging. You recognise the opening and keep working while the opponent is still trying to organise his defence.

For me, McCrory’s biggest problem was losing control of the distance so quickly. Khataev was getting into punching range on his terms. Once McCrory was hurt, his legs weren’t giving him a chance to escape or steady himself. There was nothing controversial about the ending.

I respect what McCrory has achieved, particularly winning against Leon Bunn away from home. But returning after a farewell bout to face someone this dangerous was a massive ask. This performance gives me no reason to want another assignment at that level for him.

Khataev did his job convincingly. I still wouldn’t use this to claim he has solved everything that troubled him against Morrell. We already knew he could punch. I want to see him against someone who can disrupt his pressure and make him adjust. That will tell us more about his championship prospects.