Silyagin claims UD win over Gongora
Super-middleweight contender Pavel Silyagin extended his unbeaten record with a dominant eight round unanimous decision victory over Carlos Gongora on the IBA Pro 5 showpiece event in Brest, Belarus.
Making his first appearance of 2025, Silyagin (16-0-1, 7 KOs) would produce a solid display against the Ecuadorian veteran, utilising his size and reach advantage to good effect to pile up the points from range and book an impressive win.
At 35 years of age, Gongora (23-4, 17 KOs) has undoubtedly seen better days, but Silyagin’s performance was still an impressive one. The Novosibirsk-native controlled the tempo of proceedings from first bell to last, peppering the timid Gongora with straight shots through his southpaw guard throughout the contest.
Indeed, the difference in athleticism was evident as early as the opening round, with Silyagin’s snappy left jab serving in stark contrast to the more laboured, forced work of Gongora.
A short left-hook from Silyagin threatened to momentarily open up the defences of Gongora in the second, but the experienced left-hander managed to ride out the follow-up storm.
Now coming on for five years since the shock win over Ali Akhmedov that catapulted his career, the shopworn-looking Gongora had only brief moments of success throughout the fight, struggling with Silyagin’s jab and control of distance. The third did, however, see Gongora’s straight left-hand land for the first time, but it did little to stem the return fire from the Russian.
The middle rounds of the contest would follow a similar pattern; with Silyagin continuing to dictate the pace from the middle of the ring, pushing Gongora back with flurries of straight shots and safely navigating the increasingly-fleeting responses in return.
A solid straight right hand towards the end of the sixth saw Gongora just start to unravel somewhat, however, Silyagin was unable to capitalise. Indeed, when he watches the fight back, the 31-year-old may feel he neglected the body of the older man and was guilty, at times, of being slightly one-paced with his attacks.
Nevertheless, Silyagin saw the rest of the bout out with minimal fuss; arguably winning the seventh and eighth more clearly than he had done the previous six.
There was to be no grandstand finish for either man, with Silyagin a clear and worthy winner at the final bell. Though in hindsight, he may feel he could have scored a stoppage had the match-up been slated for ten — or if he had targeted the body. Under the guidance of IBA Pro General Director, Al Siesta, it will be an interesting to see where Silyagin goes next.
Gongora’s evident relief at hearing the final bell, however, speaks volumes about where he now sits in the food chain at 168lbs. A man who was not so long ago considered a dark horse at super-middleweight, looks like he’s ran his last race.
