Khariton Agrba (left) defeats Jose Sanson Rosa (right) in Russia – Photo courtesy of IBA
Undefeated junior welterweight contender Khariton Agrba took another step towards a title shot when he defeated Argentina’s Jose “Sanson” Rosa on Monday in Samara, Russia.
In a clash of undefeated young guns with a mandatory shot at the WBA belt on the line, it was Georgba-born Agrba who stayed on top of the action from the first bell.
In his first trip abroad, the 24-year-old Rosa, although much more experienced than a pro, was outboxed by the 29-year-old Agrba, who has a large CV as an amateur. A cut to Rosa’s nose was a decisive factor in the visitors’ performance, and Agrba capitalized on it to keep Rosa on the defensive. Rosa found his rhythm in rounds 3 and 4, but once Agrba stepped up his attack, the Argentine fighter had no response for his volume and accuracy.
The scorecards were 99-91 (twice) and 98-92 for Agrba.
The loss dropped Rosa (son of a Dominican boxer who relocated to the Argentine province of La Rioja) to 27-1 (20 knockouts) while Agrba improved to 18-0 (9 KO).
Earlier in the evening, England’s Michael King defeated Vahkid Abbasov (Russia) on points in an eight-rounder in the welterweight division, and local credit Jambulat Bizhamov defeated Venezuela’s Keiber González (Venezuela) in another eight- rounder in the middleweight division.
Khariton Agrba (left) trades punches with Jose Sanson Rosa (right) in Russia – Photo courtesy of IBA
Diego M. Morilla has written for The Ring since 2013. He has also 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 a voter for the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He has won two first-place awards in the BWAA’s annual writing contest, and he is the moderator of The Ring’s Women’s Rating Panel. He served as copy editor for the second era of The Ring en Español (2018-2020) and is currently a writer and editor for RingTV.com.
