As a man with 50 combined MMA and kickboxing bouts to his name, Sergei Kharitonov is no stranger to the ring, and he successfully parlayed that combat sports experience into a winning performance on his professional boxing debut Friday night in Russia.
Forty-year-old Bellator heavyweight Kharitonov took on Danny Williams, who knocked out Mike Tyson in the fourth round back in 2004, in Khimki. On a remarkable night, the big Russian made a grand entrance, then scored a second-round TKO victory after a strange-looking stoppage in their heavyweight contest.
Kharitonov dropped 47-year-old Williams hard in the first round with a clubbing left hook, then finished the British heavyweight in the second round after some heavy shots from close quarters sent Williams staggering backward.
You knew it would be a strange ending. But, this strange? MMA and Kickboxing champion 40yr old Sergey Kharitonov (1-0) scores the TKO-2 victory over Danny Williams (54-29) in their heavyweight bout in Khimki, Russia after having Williams down hard in the first pic.twitter.com/5rh7bj2rVc
— Tim – Boxeo 拳闘 Boxen бокс มวย Boks 拳击 Box (@Hock1717) September 11, 2020
But even more notable than Kharitonov’s victory in the ring was his journey to get to the squared circle as he was accompanied down the ramp by a live bear, prompting the commentators to react in disbelief after initially assuming the trained animal was actually a man in a costume.
A bear, a band, a kick boxing champion fighting his first pro fight at 40 , dancing beefeaters and saucy russian soldiers oh ye….. And Danny Williams only in Russia!! 🥊🥊 pic.twitter.com/p7X9RInKMV
— Donald McCrorie (@grandetoro1949) September 11, 2020
It’s not clear whether the presence of a bear intimidated 82-fight veteran Williams, but Kharitonov’s punch power certainly did enough to stun the Brit as the big Russian claimed a big win on his boxing debut.
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
