Canelo Alvarez’s former opponent crushes rival with body shot in bizarre KO: ‘Doesn’t look real’

Avni Yildirim continued his new winning streak as he stopped Richard Egowa in strange circumstances.

Yildirim has fought the likes of Canelo Alvarez and Chris Eubank Jr in the past in super-middleweight clashes, but he has since moved up in weight.

The 34-year-old is now campaigning at 175lbs and is hoping to launch a new push towards the fringes of world level in the coming months.

And in his latest bout, the Turkish native was looking to pick up his fourth consecutive victory against unbeaten Egowa.

Egowa was untested against operators in the top 20 of the light-heavyweight division, having been brutally beaten by Alvarez

Avni Yildirim’s bizarre KO of Richard Egowa

Yildirim of course was the favourite but the method in which he got the job done was far from vintage.

Egowa was extremely limited and his undefeated resume has yet to see him leave Nigeria to fight on foreign soil.

And so it proved with the Lagos operator very much out of his depth from the opening bell.

In the second period with twenty seconds left, Yildirim unloaded and let his hands go with little conviction.

But it was a left hook to the body, which clipped the target and sent Egowa bizarrely flat on his back.

He looked winded from the shot, which didn’t appear to carry full power, before rising to his feet and entering survival mode.

Then he covered up and received another body shot in the exact same spot as Yildirim looked to get the show closed.

DAZN

Egowa then strangely hobbles before a clipping shot to the head was partially blocked by his guard.

He then collapses to his knees before then being laid out flat on his back.

Despite attempting to beat the count, the referee decided he’d seen enough and waved off the bout, handing Yildirim a surprisingly underwhelming win.

Fans’ reaction to Yildirim’s KO victory

Despite the seemingly impressive early stoppage, fans were far from convinced by Yildirim’s performance.

One reacted: “What on earth have I seen?”

Another wrote: “This doesn’t even look real.

Getty

A fan added: “Surely a fake fight, Yildirim didn’t get out of second gear.”

While a final viewer concluded: “A rematch with Canelo? There’s no chance.”