Nuzhnenko–Garcia in tech draw!
By Alexey Sukachev / Anton Gorunov - www.fightnews.com
Photo by AP

April 19, 2008 - In the first ever title fight in Ukrainian boxing history, which ended moments ago at Kiev Sports Palace, local hero Yuri Nuzhnenko (27-0-1, 13 KOs) failed to live up to expectations, barely retaining his WBA interim welterweight belt via a technical draw with Puerto Rican import Irving Garcia (16-3-2, 8 KOs).

WBA #15 Garcia, a late sub for Mexican Cosme Rivera, applied a wise tactical approach by fighting Nuzhnenko behind the jab and scoring well in defensive mode. His neglecting skills were however equalized by Yuri’s constant pressure and effective aggressiveness. The Ukrainian boxer suffered a nasty cut over his left eye in round two which was getting worse round by round. The fistic action was finally stopped after the tenth round when Nuzhnenko was no longer able to continue the bout. Two judges and Fightnews representative had the fight dead even at 95-95 while the third one scored it in favor of the home pugilist 96-95.