Richard Riakporhe stopped Jeamie “TKV” Tshikeva in five rounds to win the British heavyweight title at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Riakporhe was dominant, regularly busting Tshikeva’s face up with his long left hand, before landing his hard right.
He had Tshikeva down and hurt badly from one of his stinging right hands in the fifth. Following another one-sided fifth round, the referee Lee Every called a halt to the contest after two minutes and 12 seconds.
Riakporhe, 36, started brightly, planting his long left hand into the face of Tshikeva inside the opening minute. He then clipped Tshikeva with a right uppercut before bundling him to the floor along. The two heavyweights climbed to their feet, but Tshikeva, 32, looked a little shaken up from the shot.
Riakporhe continued to prioritise his sharp jab in the second, smashing it through Tshikeva’s guard and bloodying his face. Tshikeva was struggling with the power of Riakporhe and was holding on to his towering foe every chance he got. Riakporke cracked Tshikeva with a right hand that again forced him to grab hold, and Tshikeva was warned for his conduct.
Tshikeva started the fourth brightly, firing in body shots to his challenger. Tshikeva then came in to fire another shot to Riakporhe’s midsection but cracked him with his head instead, and was deducted a point for the infringement.
Riakporhe made his first real dent in round five when a right hand landed on the side of Tshikeva’s head and sent him to his knees. Tshikeva climbed up but was badly hurt and Riakporhe knew it too. Riakporhe continued to throw his monstrous right hand at Tshikeva as he lay on the ropes. Tshikeva was covering up, but taking shots, and the referee Every jumped in to save him from further harm. Tshikeva, who fell to 9-3 (5 KOs) with the loss, was displeased with the stoppage.
“I’ve got my eye on Fabio Wardley versus Daniel Dubois [on May 9],” Riakporhe, 20-0 (16 KOs), told Netflix post-fight. “If I can’t get that I want Johnny Fisher.”
