Daniyar Yeleussinov celebrates victory over Zoltan Szabo during the Super Welterweight bout at York Hall, London. (Photo by Adam Davy/PA Images via Getty Images)
Daniyar Yeleussinov has returned to action after a long layoff and hopes to find success in a new weight class.
Yeleussinov dropped Joe Noynay twice and won by knockout after round five on Saturday night at Almaty Arena in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Yeleussinov improved to 12-0, 7 knockouts.
The southpaw Yeleussinov was sharp from the opening bell. With about 30 seconds left in the first round, a left to the body dropped Noynay to one knee. Noynay was able to beat the count and take it out of the round.
With less than a minute left in round four, a barrage of punches, including left hands to the head and body, dropped Noynay to the canvas. Noynay stayed on both knees, but did beat the count given by referee Martin Pawlak.
Noynay continued to be game but was overtaken by Yeleussinov’s striking accuracy and speed. Yeleussinov was the aggressor and walked Noynay down and assaulted him for most of the fight. After the end of round five, Noynay’s corner made the smart move to prevent Noynay from taking any more punishment and not allow him to answer the bell for round six.
Saturday’s win over Noynay was Yeleussinov’s first fight since a one-sided victory over Juan Hernan Leal in December 2021, which took place in Astana, Kazakhstan. Yeleussinov won a minor world welterweight title belt.
The 33-year-old is originally from Kayindy, Kazakhstan and currently resides in Miami, Florida.
Chris Glover, who has worked with Yeleussinov and his team, said Yeleussinov will likely return to action and will campaign at 154 pounds.
Yeleussinov was an amateur standout and won the 2016 Olympic gold medal. Yeleussinov signed with Matchroom Boxing and made his pro debut in April 2018, fighting a total of 10 times under the Matchroom banner. Yeleussinov would defeat the likes of Reshard Hicks, Alan Sanchez and former unified lightweight titleholder Julius Indongo, all by knockout.
Noynay, who lives in Paranaque City in the Philippines, falls to 23-5-2, 11 KOs. Noynay previously fought on May 16, losing by knockout to once-beaten Jin Sasaki.
The 29-year-old split two fights with junior lightweight contender Liam Wilson and former world junior lightweight titleholder Kenichi Ogawa.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at (email protected)
