Tobias sees sunshine in Meroro

Namibia’s Vikapita Meroro may have been knocked out by Russian demolition man Dmitri Kudryashov on Friday, but he remains a capable boxer, according to his trainer and promoter Nestor ‘Sunshine’ Tobias.

The unbeaten cruiserweight KO specialist Kudryashov (18-0, 18 KOs) stopped Meroro (28-5, 14 KOs) in the sixth round of their WBA International title contest at the Luzhniki Arena in Moscow.

All of the hard-hitting Russian’s victories so far have come early as the 29-year-old continues his rise up the rankings, while his challenger contemplates his future in the sport.

“We take away great lessons from this fight because in our definition a loss does not mean failure but an opportunity to do it differently and better next time. We understand that in boxing you sometimes win and sometimes lose and that’s what makes boxing so exciting,” said Tobias in a statement on Monday.

“We emerge stronger and better from this experience and will go back to the drawing board. We therefore hold our heads high from this valuable experience and we are more confident than before and therefore not mourning this loss but celebrating the experience,” Tobias added.

Meroro frustrated Kudryashov early in the fight. However Kudryashov came on and dropped Meroro in round six with a flurry of head shots. He then finished off Meroro later in the round with a body shot.

“Beastmaster fought a very technical and smart fight against a tough and undefeated knockout specialist from Russia,” Tobias explained.

“Going into the fight, we had a great plan to outbox and to frustrate Dmitry by clutching him and to make him miss. Our plan worked very well but in round six Meroro became relaxed and was caught by a sucker punch for the mandatory eight count,” Tobias recalled.

“We are very happy for our champion as he fought very well and he made a name for himself. He is the best cruiser weight around and MTC Sunshine Productions will continue to support him.”

Tobias believes the 30-year-old Meroro, who suffered a first career KO on Friday, has enough ability to bounce back from his latest setback, just as he had done previously when written off by critics following high profile defeats.

“He showed the difference between a world class fighter and average fighter. He is a class fighter and he is one of top athletes in the world. We know people will keep on talking about this fight world wide but we are going to the gym as we want to maintain our (reputable) status,” Tobias said.

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