Ukrainian-Armenian boxer Artem Dalakian retains WBA belt

PanARMENIAN.Net - World Boxing Association (WBA) flyweight world champion Artem Dalakian (17-0, 12 KOs) knocked out Sirichai Thaiyen (50-4, 35 KOs) of Thailand in the eight round, Boxing Scene reports.

A Ukrainian boxer of Armenian descent, Dalakian's power was on full display, as he had Thaiyen down in rounds five, six and eight - and the referee had seen enough and finally waved off the contest.

This was the first defense for Dalakian after securing his biggest career win.

Back in February, as part of the HBO televised Superfly 2 event in Los Angeles, Dalakian won a lopsided twelve round unanimous decision over veteran and former world champion Brian Viloria to capture the vacant WBA world title.

As far as Thaiyen, this was his first defeat since 2014 - when he was stopped in five rounds by then WBA flyweight world champion Juan Carlos Reveco.

After that defeat, he built up a 16 fight win streak - and 15 of those wins were by knockout. His two remaining defeats came very early in his career. Also on the card, Ihor Magurin (10-0) won a ten round unanimous decision over Daniel Limone (16-7) in a super featherweight contest.