Akhmedov stops Hernandez inside a round

The first of 3 Central Asian fighters in action at Madison Square Garden today was the unbeaten Kazakh prospect Ali Akhmedov (16-0, 12) [Али Ахмедов] who successfully defended his WBC International Silver Super Middleweight title, with an incredibly quick win against the usually durable Andrew Hernandez (20-8-2, 9).

The aggressive and popular Kazakh dropped Hernandez after around 30 seconds, with a hard right hand around the back of the ear and although Hernandez got to his feet the bout was quickly waved off by the referee as Hernandez did seem to stumble.

Whilst Hernandez did take the bout on short notice, around 2 weeks notice, we had expected a bit more of a work out for Akhmedov, who really didn't break a sweat here. Sadly not getting much of a chance to show what he can do or answering any questions about his ability or potential.

It's unclear what the immediate plan is for Akhmedov, but there's no real reason for him to not fit in one more fight before the end of 2019, following this very quick win.