Muhamad Vera (3-5), who lost his last four, was knocked to the canvas after a right hand by the Russian.

The second round was a draw as the two fighters traded strikes in the center ring. Vera had an early burst of speed, then he was out gunned when the bout moved to the outside.

Andrey Vasiliev (18-5) fell to the ground in the second after suffering a shot to the knee.

The loss snapped the unbeaten Russian’s undefeated record at 33-0.

In the co-feature, Mamed Khalidov (13-5), a former Soviet national champion, knocked out Joventi Artychov (18-11).

Khalidov made his pro debut with a knock-out victory over Andrei Kolesnikov in September 2013 at the Dnipro Arena in Moscow.

Artychov was due to take on Nikolay Alekseev (11-13-4) in the light heavyweight title bout, but the action is expected to end as a no contest.

The action also took place in the main event after Ivan Fonov (23-14), a former world boxing federation champion, held off a challenge from Russian prospects Yegor Prischenko and Ruslan Khabibulin

Fonov defeated Prischenko for his first pro fight earlier this year, and the prospect, meanwhile, defeated Khabibulin in November following two first-round stoppages in his pro debut.

Dmitry Morozov (32-10). “I don’t want to be called ‘Ace’ or ‘King’ of the Russian heavyweight division,” Morozov told ESPN.com.

“I’m just a fighter who is willing to fight and earn my money by the end of a match.”

Andrey Pivovarov (20-4) was awarded with a draw after referee Viktor Raderkova stopped the fight after an illegal punch to the head to the ribs in the first.

In the middleweight title fight, Sergeyy Khodorkovsky (29-1-1), who lives in Sochi, Russia, retained against Dmitry Kudryavtsev (22-5-2), who fights out of the southern city of Sochi.

Khodorkovsky suffered a knockout loss to Vitaly Minakov at the