50-year-old former WBA cruiserweight champion First Arslan (48-9-3, 33 KOs) returned to the ring on Saturday night with a third round KO against 43-year-old former world title challenger Gusmyr Perdomo (26-10, 17 KOs) at the Sportschule Firat Arslan in Göppingen, Germany. Perdomo was busier, but Arslan’s harder punches were “moving” Perdomo. A crushing Arslan left hook to the liver in round three collapsed Perdomo and put him down for the count.
Due to Corona regulations, no spectators were allowed to attend the event and there were long delays between fights for “ventilation and cleaning.”
Cruiserweight Huseyin Cinkara (15-0, 12 KOs) scored a third round TKO against Francisco Benitez (16-8, 13 KOs). A right uppercut sent the 40-year-old Benetiz to the canvas. He beat the count but looked distressed and bout was waved off. Four straight KO losses for Benetiz.
Heavyweight Ali Kiydin (13-1, 12 KOs) scored a first round TKO over Pablo Magrini (19-7-1, 15 KOs). Kiydin landed a left hook that floored Magrini. When he got up, he wobbled all over the ring and the bout was stopped. Five straight KO losses for the 42-year-old Magrini.
Glad of this outcome for Arsian, putting an opponent away with a powerful liver shot, at age 50. That is quite impressive. If this is his last fight, at least he can say he went out on his own terms, and doing so understandably meant a great deal to him.
I was never exactly a fan of Arslan’s but hes had a solid career. He’s been in with some really good fighters and even beat a few. He was always in incredible shape. Its a testament to his conditioning that he’s able to still fight at 50.
And he was badly robbed when he fought for the WBO World cruiser title in his first fight against Marco Huck in their first encounter.. But lost the rematch by tko.. Strong fighter though.