Konstantin Ponomarev

At the age of 25, Konstantin is a seven-year pro – he made his debut at 17. A rising young contender at 147 pounds, he has stayed active in the ring and made good progress.

Konstantin has fought 20 times in his native Russia, nine times in the United States, and one time each in Mexico, Republic of Georgia, and Montenegro.

He has also fought very good opposition at this stage of his career – in two of his last five fights, he beat two talented, previously undefeated prospects.

On May 1, 2015, in Las Vegas, he won a 10-round unanimous decision against Mikael Zewski, who was 26-0 at the time. Zewski was favored to win, but Konstantin dominated most of the fight and won by decisive scores of 98-92, 97-93, 99-91.

On April 9, 2016, in Las Vegas, Konstantin won a 10-round split decision against Brad Solomon, who was also 26-0 at the time. The bout was Konstantin’s first defense of the NABF welterweight title, and the judges scored 98-92, 96-94 Ponomarev, 96-94 Solomon.

He gave another strong performance in his last fight on May 20 in New York, and won an eight-round unanimous decision against Ed Paredes. The bout was on the undercard of the Terence Crawford vs. Felix Diaz main event at Madison Square Garden.

Fightnews.com reported: Unbeaten welterweight Konstantin Ponomarev scored an eight round unanimous decision over Ed Paredes.

Ponomarev outboxed Paredes and controlled the action throughout the fight.

All three judges scored the bout 78-74. [End Fightnews.com item]

Konstantin’s trainer, Abel Sanchez – the Boxing Writers Association of America’s “2015 Trainer of the Year” – owns The Summit Gym in Big Bear Lake, California, where he also trains WBC-WBA-IBF middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin and IBF cruiserweight world champion Murat Gassiev, among others.

Abel said, “Konstantin is living in Big Bear now – he moved here in mid-February, 2015. His style – he’s a pretty boxer more than anything else. He’s undefeated, so he’s had some good schooling. He was with a very good coach before me – Jesse Reid.

“We’re mainly working on little things like balance and position when punching, and him learning how to deflect the pressure and strength of his opponents, little things like that.

“He’s catching on real quick. He’s catching on what we do up here and how we do it, and the intensity of the workouts here. He’s a hard worker and he listens, so that’s easy for a coach. The environment here is conducive to learning because there’s so many great fighters here.

“It’s very hard for him to get distracted, and easy for him to perform at his best.”