Khariton Agrba (left) defeats Jose Sanson Rosa (right) in Russia – Photo courtesy of IBA
Khariton Agrba, who claimed the junior welterweight title, took another step towards the top when he defeated Jose “Sanson” Rosa of Argentina in Samara, Russia, on Monday.
In an unbeaten bantamweight event with a mandatory shot at the WBA belt on the line, it was Georgia native Agrba who was on top of the match from the opening bell.
In his first trip abroad, the 24-year-old Rosa, despite his extensive experience as a professional, was outclassed by the 29-year-old Agrba, who owns a large CV as a novice. The cut on Rosa’s nose was the deciding factor in the visitor’s performance, and Agrba used that to keep Rosa on the defensive. Rosa found his rhythm in the 3rd and 4th rounds, but as soon as Agrba stepped up his attack the Argentine fighter had no answer for his volume and accuracy.
The scorecards were 99-91 (twice) and 98-92 for Agrba.
With the loss, Rosa (the son of a Dominican boxer who resettled in the Argentine state of La Rioja) dropped to 27-1 (20 knockouts) and Agrba improved to 18-0 (9 KO).
Earlier in the night, Michael King from England defeated Vahkid Abbasov (Russia) by points in eight rounds in the welterweight division, while Jambulat Bizhamov defeated Keiber González (Venezuela) from Venezuela, in another eight rounds in the middleweight division.
Khariton Agrba (left) trades punches with Jose Sanson Rosa (right) in Russia – Photo courtesy of IBA
Diego M. Morilla has been writing for The Ring since 2013. He has written for HBO.com, ESPN.com and many other magazines, websites, newspapers and outlets since 1993. He is a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. and an International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee. She has won two first place awards in the BWAA’s annual writing contest, and is the moderator of The Ring’s Women’s Ratings Panel. He worked as a copy editor for the second season of The Ring en Español (2018-2020) and is currently a writer and editor for RingTV.com.
