By Alexey Sukachev

Staying active in light of a possible shot at Shinsuke Yamanaka’s WBC bantamweight crown, European 118lb champion and TBRB #9 Zhanat Zhakiyanov (23-1, 16 KOs) easily stopped undefeated but untested Georgian Gogi Edisherashvili (7-1, 6 KOs) in a bid for a vacant WBC Eurasian Pacific Boxing Council strap.

The event took place in Minsk, Belarus, under Ricky Hatton’s and Philippe Fondu’s co-promotion. Minsk is a long-time Eastern European citadel of both Fondu and Hatton, while Belarus is a homeland of one of their bigger stars – light middleweight contender Sergey Rabchenko.

WBC #2, WBA #7, IBF #8 and WBO #9 Zhakiyanov has stopped his tenth straight opponent (including capable little men Karim Guerfi, Yuri Voronin and Timur Shailezov) since a decision over a bitter Uzbek rival Bahyt Abdurahimov in 2010 (Zhakiyanov is 3-0 against Abdurahimov, all wins coming by way of unanimous decision). Zhakiyanov’s next fight is scheduled for Nov. 12 in Melbourne, Australia, against local hero Fred Mundraby (15-2-1, 7 KOs), which can be his ultimate step toward the title shot against Yamanaka.

In a co-main event, another red hot Belarussian prospect Kirill Relikh made it 2-0 for the favorites against Georgian imports. Light welterweight Relikh (17-0, 15 KOs) easily smoked George Abramishvili (10-5-1, 4 KOs) in two.

Other results:

Yuri Byhovtsev (8-5-2, 5 KOs) PTS 6 Dmitry Adamovich (15-31, 7 KOs)

Dmitry Atrohov (7-0, 3 KOs) TKO 6 Yuri Parkhimchik (0-5-1)

Sonny Upton (4-1, 3 KOs) TKO 6 Vadim Astapiuk (10-22-1, 7 KOs)

Anthony Upton (5-0, 1 KO) PTS 4 Sergey Afonin (1-16-2)