The official representative office of the WBC in Ukraine held the first ever bout for the WBC UKRAINE title. The match took place in Kyiv on October 7, 2023 as part of a charitable event of boxing in honor of the legendary Ukrainian trainer, member of the WBC board, President of the National Professional Boxing League of Ukraine - Mykhailo Zavyalov. The event was organized by “SpartaBox Promotion” at the “ACCO International” arena.

The  WBC UKRAINE title was at stake in a bout together with the title of the Champion of Ukraine of the National Professional Boxing League of Ukraine between two contenders, an experienced boxer from the city of Kremenchuk - Serhiy Radchenko (10-7, 5 KOs) and a promising prospect from Kyiv, Dmytro Serguta (8-3, 8 KO) in cruiserweightdivision.

According to the regulations of WBC, the bout was contracted for 10 rounds, but Serhiy Radchenko finished the bout by KO in the 8-th. Tension was rising with every passing minute as both contenders were determined to win.According to the results of the judges' scorecards after the 7-th round, the winner of the bout Serhiy Radchenko dominated in terms of points (69-64; 70-63; 69-64).

“I’m pleased I was able to fulfil the plan of my trainer and my team prepaired for this bout. This was the first time I fought in a manner very different from which I usually work. As for our plan, I was working as a counterpuncher. My opponent is tough and has very powerful punches, as you can see by his impressive record, with all the victories by a knockout. Sure, the plan was to let the other party deplete himself, and come up with a finish, just like I did. Both of us were incredibly motivated, since the prestigious WBC UKRAINE title never won by anyone before – was on the line. I am extremely pleased and happy, and I intend to move to the WBC bridgerweight to fight the current champion of thisdivision Łukasz Różański, and win the WBC World Champion belt”, said Radchenko.

Serhiy is the silver medalist of the European Students’ Boxing Championship (2009) in the category to 91 kg, and on multiple occasions was the sparring partner of Volodymyr Klitschko. Serhiy has many professional bouts under his belt, namely against top cruiserweight boxers like Artur Szpilka, the WBC Youth Silver Heavyweight Champion, who attempted to get the WBC bridgerweight title, but lost to Łukasz Różański. In 2020, Serhii knocked down Artur Szpilka twice in their bout, yet the Polish athlete came out on top according to the judges’ score cards, what enraged the fansof boxing. Another opponent of Serhii’s was Krzysztof Głowacki, the WBO World Champion.
 

Serhiy voiced his intention to compete for the WBC UKRAINE title prior to the russian full-scale invasion in Ukraine, when the WBC Ukraine team visited the opening ceremony of Radchenko’s Rocky Boxing Club in Kremenchuk (Poltava district), the hometown of Serhiy, where he resides to this day. It’s worth saying that the city has been often subjected to severe shelling and missile strikes with multiple casualties and substantial infrastructural damages, therefore Serhiy is heavily involved in humanitarian work to assist the locals and displaced persons from other regions of the country inside the framework of the WBC CARES programme for Ukraine.

President of WBC Ukraine Mykola Kovalchuk said the following in regard to the occasion:

“Our team has been working tirelessly for more then two years, since the very beginning, despite the war raging in our home country. We are extremely pleased that in spite of the frequent air raid sirens and missile strikes, we managed to have this fantastic WBC UKRAINE title bout happen, which not only is a prestigious title to have, but it’s another symbol of Ukrainian resilience. We would like to thank everyone, especially the WBC family and Mauricio Sulaiman, the President of the World Boxing Council, for supporting us and believing in us throughout this whole challenging period.”

To everyone’s surprise, the ring was entered by a military veteran Oleksandr, who lost both of his left limbs (a hand and a leg) in this war. He used to box, and led an active lifestyle before. He addressed the crowd, “I never gave up, so you should never give up either!”, and showcased his skills of boxing background. For his inspirational appearance in the ring, the tournament’s organizers presented Oleksandr with boxing gloves signed by the WBC Eternal Champion Vitalii Klitschko.

During the tournament, a charity auction was held, with all the funds allocated to the defenders of Ukraine. Most of the ringside seats were for the military servicemen and -women, wounded veterans, who are the reason we can wake up every morning being alive and have events like this take place.

On top of the male bouts, the audience had a chance to enjoy the precision and grace of professional female boxers, who put a stop to the bout in the very first round by KO.

Mykhailo Zavyalov, in whose honor the event was held, was very much impressed by the scale of the occasion:

“I am just speechless! I really enjoyed the tournament, and I could not even expect such a wonderful show! The atmosphere was great, I wish you could hear the crowd cheering for the competitors! The fight the guys put on display was excellent. The tournament was a definite success. I wish to thank the organizers, and I pray to God boxing events like this keep happening, despite the hardships our country is dealing with nowadays.”