Dmitry Mikhaylenko dominates Karim Mayfield for unanimous decision victory

— -- MONTREAL -- Welterweight Dmitry Mikhaylenko cruised to a near-shutout, 10-round decision win against late replacement Karim Mayfield but did little to impress in what was meant to be a showcase fight in his HBO debut.

Fighting on the undercard of unified light heavyweight titleholder Sergey Kovalev's rematch with Jean Pascal on Saturday night at the Bell Centre, Mikhaylenko was hoping to thrust himself into the deep welterweight picture. But he did not, despite winning 100-90, 100-90 and 99-91 on the judges' scorecards. ESPN.com also had Mikhaylenko winning, 99-91.

Mayfield took the fight on two weeks' notice when Philadelphia's Ray Robinson suffered a back injury in a car accident on his way home from a training session. Mayfield, however, had been training for another fight in mid-February and was already close to weight. He is also a fighter who stays in shape year round.

Mikhaylenko (21-0, 9 KOs), 29, of Russia, was happy that Mayfield took the fight, allowing him to remain on the HBO broadcast, even though he had been preparing to face a southpaw; Mayfield (19-3-1, 11 KOs) is right-handed.

In the end, the change of styles posed no difficulties for Mikhaylenko, whose jab kept Mayfield off balance in a clear victory but one that was not all that impressive.

Mayfield, 35, of San Francisco, who was fighting for the first time in 14 months, charged out of his corner at the first bell and rushed to Mikhaylenko, trying to catch him cold. He caught him with a hard right and a left that rocked Mikhaylenko, but he quickly got his footing and took over the fight. He went at Mayfield, who landed a few decent shots but also clinched often.

"It was a lot of hard work in the ring," Mikhaylenko said. "Mayfield was tougher than I thought he was going to be. He hung on me too much but I was able to throw more punches. I am happy with my performance."

According to CompuBox punch statistics, Mikhaylenko landed 220 of 756 punches (29 percent) while Mayfield connected only 104 of 487 (21 percent).

"He is tough, very durable," Mayfield said. "He was able to absorb my punches. He took some good shots from me but he was able to recover very well. Really tough guy. Future champ. You need more time to prepare for a guy with Mikahaylenko's style. I would like a rematch and have the proper time to prepare."

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