Ringside Report Takes a Closer Look at Boxer Dmitry Kudryashov

By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

You know the thing you do when you get just that little bit older and you walk into a room with purpose, stop, stand for a moment and wonder why the hell you went into that room? Or is it only me?

No matter, I came across Dmitry Kudryashov, 24-5, 23 KOs, and cannot remember where or why he appealed to me as a subject. Here is hoping that, by the end of this, with your help, I have remembered…

The “Russian Hammer” is a bit of an anomaly as he does actually come from Russia, whereas there are a massive number of boxers who have emerged from the former Soviet Union – what we used to conveniently call Russia – who now box for their actual countries – Ukraine, Uzbekistan etc. Kudryashov is a cruiserweight who is also noted as a bridgerweight – the new category from the WBC designed to give small heavyweights something to aim for as they think the smaller guys are unable to compete with the giants of the likes of Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua – ironically unless you hail from Ukraine and box like Oleksandr Usyk…

Kudryashov has been a world titlist and in his 29 professional fights he has only 5 defeats though his progress from young pup to serious contender was not without its own twists and turns.
He began in combat sports as a young child before he progressed to boxing when he was 13. Drafted into the army he won the amateur Spartak Cup in 2011 and his entire amateur career was apparently fought over 150 contests, only 12 of them being losses.

On the 30th of July 2011 he made his professional debut knocking out a Ukrainian, Oleksandr Okhrei by knockout in the 3rd round after being put on the canvas himself in round 1.

A year later he stopped Isroiljon Kurbanov for the WBC CIS and Slovak Boxing Bureau (CISBB) cruiserweight title in the 5th round. After successfully defending that title against Levan Jomardashvi in March of 2013, the Universal Boxing Organization cruiserweight title followed alter in 2013 when he stopped Prince George Akrong in the 5th round. In October 2013, the Global Boxing Union cruiserweight title followed when he knocked our Shawn Cox in only the second round.

For the rest of the world such victories were being hidden by the fact they were in the east of Europe rather than on prime time DAZN or ESPN. But they were being noticed.
The CISBB title was once again defended in 2014 when he stopped Lubos Suda in the 2nd round in the wonderfully named, Wonderland in Novorossiysk! Then again a 7th round knockout of Ivica Bacurin kept control of his CISBB belt and surely there has to be mention of a world level title somewhere, somehow?

The WBA international belt against Juan Carlos Gomez then comes up and in Moscow, on the 28th of November 2014, sees the former WBC junior heavyweight champion Gomez out before the 1st round. Will this be the route to follow? Perhaps but in a round about manner as next he faces Olanrewaju Durodola for the WBC silver belt. And he loses.

He does not take long to rebuild and by the 10th of April, 2015, in Moscow, Francisco Palacios steps in and the WBC international strap is on offer. Palacios did not last 1 round!Then in 2016, the WBC silver title is back on the agenda. Now vacant he faces Santander Silgado, once more in Moscow, where he knocks him out on the 3rd of December 2016 in 1 round. A date with destiny follows on the 3rd of June and the man who beat him, Olanrewaju Durodola is in Rostov-na-Don to take it back. Kudryashov wins by 5th round stoppage. What else does he need to do?

Prepare for a WBC shot at the title? In 2017, on the 23rd of September 2017, in San Antonio, against Yuniel Dorticos, he gest his chance. For the WBA version. A man whose time has come? Surely. Dorticos knocks him out in the 2nd round!

And then I remember when I had seen his name! In 2019 he was back fighting for the WBC silver title. Once again trying to rebuild back up to a world level fighter he went in against the man who has a half-brother in heavyweight Martin Bakole, who trains in Scotland AND who fought Tony Bellew and lost in Bellew’s hometown of Liverpool. It was an unforgettable night for British boxing but made even more so because Ilunga Junior Makabu is such an immense fighter…

In Ekaterinburg on the 16th of June 2019, he stopped Kudryashov in the 5th to prove that fact. The WBC silver belt was now his.

Rebuilding is now underway BUT it has not gone well. His last fight was a defeat to the cruiserweight contender, Evgeniy Tishchenko, a 2016 Olympic Gold medalist, in an all-Russian affair which was a points loss over 10 rounds in Ekaterinberg.

I am glad that I finally worked out where his name came from and importantly, that I got the chance to find him and his record. Oftentimes we neglect those fighters who have flirted around the outside of the world title level. They get a chance, they have the right promoter, pay the sanctioning bodies their dues and then are left languishing because boxing politics does not see them as the star or main attraction. Kudryashov’s last two fights have been losses but his next two could catapult him again into that fringe level contention place which would bring his name back to our lips.

All I need now to do is remember why I went into the kitchen…

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