By Jeff Zimmerman at ringside

In a WBA junior middleweight eliminator, the former amateur sensation out of Uzbekistan, Israil “The Dream” Madrimov (5-0, 5 KOs) unleashed an array of punches from the opening bell, to confuse veteran Charlie Navarro (29-10, 22 KOs) out of Panama City, Panama. By the 2nd round, Madrimov opened up his arsenal and was landing big to the head and body of Navarro who had no answers to stop the attack. Most fighters would have succumbed to the pressure by now, but Navarro showed his grit and did his best to counter.

But in the 6th round of the scheduled 10, Madrimov finally hit pay dirt and dropped Navarro with a straight left to the gut that sent Navarro to the canvas. Navarro was visibly hurt, but got to his feet, only to be dropped again by multiple left hooks. This time, Navarro did not get up and referee Rafael Ramos waived it off at 2:24 for a TKO for Madrimov who remained undefeated and kept his knockout streak alive at 5 to start his career.

There are high hopes for Madrimov who showed amazing footwork and angles, speed and power. Madrimov’s trainer Joel Diaz told Fightnews.com® during fight week that he reminded him of hall of famer Naseem Hamed who was one of the most electric fighters of the 1990’s. Diaz also predicted Madrimov will be a world champion by the end of the year. He is well on his way after winning impressively in this WBA title eliminator.

The fight took place Saturday night at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.