Maxim Dadashev

At the age of 28, Maxim is a two-year pro. A rising contender at 140 pounds, he was an amateur standout in Russia before his debut.

He is a stablemate of superstar three-division world champion Vasiliy Lomachenko, who was voted the Boxing Writers Association of America’s “2017 Fighter of the Year,” WBC light heavyweight world champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk, welterweight contender Egidijus Kavaliauskas, and welterweight prospect Alexander Besputin – all are managed by Egis Klimas, the Boxing Writers Association of America’s “Manager of the Year” in 2016 and 2017, and promoted by Top Rank.

Maxim stayed active with five fights in 2016, four in 2017, and three in 2018.

In his last fight on October 20 in Las Vegas, he won a 12-round unanimous decision against former WBC lightweight world champion Antonio DeMarco. It was Maxim’s second win in a row against a former world champion.

The Ring’s Francisco Salazar reported [excerpts]: Junior welterweight contender Maxim Dadashev scored his most impressive win as a pro thus far, winning a 10-round unanimous decision over Antonio DeMarco in the co-feature to Ryota Murata–Rob Brant in Las Vegas.

The southpaw DeMarco, who held the WBC lightweight title in 2012, was game, but was not able to keep up with the younger and stronger Dadashev. DeMarco attempted to walk Dadashev down and connected with a few combinations, but mostly found himself on the defensive as Dadashev, who landed the sharper combinations to DeMarco’s head.

Any rally DeMarco attempted to mount during the fight was met with two- or three-punch combinations from Dadashev, usually ending with a left hook or right cross to the head.

Scores were 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94 for Dadashev, which were much closer than the fight reflected. [End Salazar item]

In his post-fight interview, Maxim said, “This was a great learning experience for me. DeMarco is a true champion, and he fought with great heart and determination.”

In earlier interviews, Maxim said through an interpreter, “I like California a lot – who doesn’t? The most important thing is the weather. It’s very good for training. You can go up in the mountains where there’s snow, and you can go down where there are beaches and the ocean. It’s like living in paradise!

“The biggest difference in training here in California, compared to Russia, is the quality of sparring partners. There are many more sparring partners here, and they are at a higher level. In Russia, there’s more amateur boxing and here in Oxnard there are more professionals.

“I’m a versatile boxer who has a lot of styles. I can be aggressive and I can box and move.

“I know I’m going to fight for a world title one day and that pushes me, day after day, to train hard and keep improving.”

Regarding his nickname, he said “After going to the gym for two or three weeks, the guys there just started calling me ‘Mad Max.’ ”

In an earlier interview, manager Egis Klimas said, “Maxim is an aggressive fighter and his timing is very good. I heard his name all over in Russia, that he was a great prospect. He won a lot of tournaments as an amateur. Another one of my Russian prospects, Alexander Besputin, recommended that I sign him.”

AMATEUR HIGHLIGHTS: Maxim said through an interpreter, “I was born in Leningrad, Russia. I have one older brother. My parents are both retired. They still live in Russia, but I talk to them on the phone every day. I’m the only boxer in my family. My father was a wrestler when he was younger.

“I was 10 years old when I started boxing. My brother was practicing boxing at the time, and my father took me to the gym to watch him. My brother quit, but I tried it and really liked it, so I kept going to the gym.

“I had around 300 amateur fights. My record was 281-20.

“I’m naturally right-handed. I’m married, and my wife’s name is Elizabeth. We have a son, Daniel, who was born on November 7, 2016. They live here in Oxnard with me.”…

2015 EUROPEAN GAMES – Baku, Azerbaijan, 141 pounds: in his first fight on 6-17-15 he won a 3-0 decision against Kazimierz Łęgowski of Poland; in his second fight on 6-21-15 he lost a 2-1 decision against Dean Walsh of Ireland…

2014 GOVERNOR CUP – St. Petersburg, Russia, 141 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 11-11-14 he won a 3-0 decision against Royal Alyrzayev of Russia; in the semifinals on 11-13-14 he won a 2-1 decision against Theo Krechlok of Germany; in the finals on 11-14-14 he won a 3-0 decision against Alexey Mazur of Russia…

2014 RUSSIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Rostov-on-Don, Russia, 141 pounds: in his first fight on 8-24-14 he won a 3-0 decision against Dmitriy Yun; in his second fight on 8-25-14 he won a 3-0 decision against Artem Zaytsev; in the quarterfinals on 8-27-14 he lost a 3-0 decision against Armen Zakaryan…

2014 WORLD SERIES OF BOXING – 140 pounds: on 2-1-14 in Almaty, Kazakhstan, he lost a 5 round split decision against Ashkat Ualikhanov of Kazakhstan; on 2-22-14 in Quba, Azerbaijan, he won a 5 round unanimous decision against Gaybatulla Hajialiyev of Azerbaijan; on 4-24-14 in Moscow, Russia, he lost a 5 round unanimous decision against Yasnier Toledo Lopez of Cuba…

2013 RUSSIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Khabarovsk, Russia, 141 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in his first fight on 11-22-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Maksim Akopov; in his second fight on 11-25-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Vyacheslav Svishchev; in the quarterfinals on 11-28-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Artem Zaytsev; in the semifinals on 11-29-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Farid Aleshkin; in the finals on 11-30-13 he lost a 3-0 decision against Vitaliy Dunaytsev…

2013 SPORTACCORD WORLD COMBAT GAMES – St. Petersburg, Russia, 141 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in the semifinals (his first fight) on 10-22-13 he lost a 2-1 decision against Joedison Teixeira of Brazil…

2013 GIRALDO CORDOVA CARDIN TOURNAMENT – Havana, Cuba, 141 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 6-6-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Luis Oliva of Cuba; in the quarterfinals on 6-7-13 he won a 3-0 decision against Alberto Palmeta of Argentina; in the semifinals on 6-8-13 he lost a 2-1 decision against Livan Navarro of Cuba…

2013 ST. PETERSBURG BOXING FEDERATION AWARDS TOURNAMENT – St. Petersburg, Russia, 141 pounds: in his first fight on 2-6-13 he won by walkover against Mikhail Matveyev of Russia; in his second fight on 2-7-13 he won an 11-5 decision against Alexandr Nechayev of Russia; in the quarterfinals on 2-8-13 he lost by walkover against Avak Uzlyan of Russia…

2012 RUSSIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Syktyvkar, Russia, 141 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 11-12-12 he won a 12-3 decision against Vladimir Magzumov; in his second fight on 11-14-12 he won a 16-8 decision against Dmitriy Zinovev; in the quarterfinals on 11-17-12 he won a 19-12 decision against Petros Ananyan; in the semifinals on 11-19-12 he lost a 17-8 decision against Armen Zakaryan…

2012 RUSSIAN UNDER-22 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Novosibirsk, Russia, 141 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 7-26-12 he won a 13-6 decision against Dorzho Dakhayev; in his second fight on 7-27-12 he won a 15-9 decision against Avak Uzlyan; in the quarterfinals on 7-29-12 he won a 19-3 decision against Vadim Semin; in the semifinals on 7-31-12 he lost by walkover against Radzhab Butayev…

2012 WORLD SERIES OF BOXING – Algiers, Algeria, 140 pounds: on 1-13-12 he won a 5 round unanimous decision against Mohamed Ouadahi of Algeria…

2011 WORLD SERIES OF BOXING – St. Petersburg, Russia, 140 pounds: on 12-9-11 he won a 5 round unanimous decision against Ronan Sanchez of Argentina…

2011 WORLD CUP OF PETROLEUM COUNTRIES – Surgut, Russia, 132 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 11-24-11 he won an 18-9 decision against Nurlan Mammadov of Azerbaijan; in the semifinals on 11-26-11 he won a 27-9 decision against Alexey Klimtsev of Russia; in the finals on 11-27-11 he won an 11-10 decision against Ruslan Kamilov of Russia…

2011 GOVERNOR CUP – St. Petersburg, Russia, 132 pounds: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 7-14-11 he won a 7-4 decision against Mihai Orlov of Moldova; in the semifinals on 7-15-11 he lost a 4-3 decision against Roy Kharmats of Israel…

2011 RUSSIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Ufa, Russia, 132 pounds: in his first fight on 4-24-11 he won a 10-4 decision against Ramiru Zhustinu; in the quarterfinals on 4-27-11 he lost a 12-7 decision against Eduard Khusainov…

2011 ZLATKO HRBIC MEMORIAL – Zagreb, Croatia, 132 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 3-3-11 he won a 3-0 decision against Ivan Njegac of Croatia; in the semifinals on 3-4-11 he had a 3-3 draw, but lost the tiebreaker against Alexandros Tsanikidis of Greece…

2010 RUSSIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – St. Petersburg, Russia, 132 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 9-18-10 he won a 10-1 decision against Vasiliy Eremeyev; in his second fight on 9-20-10 he won a 4-1 decision against Musheg Akopyan; in the quarterfinals on 9-22-10 he won a 5-3 decision against Eduard Khusainov; in the semifinals on 9-23-10 he lost a 4-1 decision against Albert Selimov…

2010 RUSSIAN SUMMER UNDER-22 SPARTAKYADA – St. Petersburg, Russia, 132 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 7-12-10 he won a 6-2 decision against Maksim Akopov; in the semifinals on 7-14-10 he won a 7-5 decision against Maskhud Ashakhanov; in the finals on 7-15-10 he won a 4-1 decision against Artem Litvinov…

2008 RUSSIAN JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Anapa, Russia, 125 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in his first fight on 9-10-08 he won a 24-0 decision against Sergey Erbas in the quarterfinals on 9-12-08 he won a 26-10 decision against Nazir Balayev; in the semifinals on 9-13-08 he won a 7-1 decision against Maxim Akopov; in the finals on 9-14-08 he won a 16-2 decision against Ilez Malsagov…

2008 YOUTH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, 125 pounds – SILVER MEDALIST: in his first fight on 10-25-08 he won a 9-6 decision against Ural Karslioglu of Turkey; in his second fight on 10-27-08 he stopped Jose Calzadilla of Venezuela in the 2^nd round; in the quarterfinals on 10-29-08 he won a 14-5 decision against Vitaliy Vorobev of Belarus; in the semifinals on 10-31-08 he won a 6-1 decision against Marin Dragos of Romania; in the finals on 11-1-08 he lost a 12-0 decision against Oscar Valdez of Mexico…

2008 FRANKO BLAGONIC JUNIOR MEMORIAL – Rijeka, Croatia, 125 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 4-11-08 he stopped Adel Rusidi of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1st round; in the semifinals on 4-12-08 he stopped Gaetano Putrone of Italy in the 2^nd round; in the finals on 4-13-08 he stopped Clemens Busse of Germany in the 2^nd round…

2008 INTERNATIONAL JUNIOR TOURNAMENT – Volgograd, Russia, 125 pounds – GOLD MEDALIST: in the quarterfinals (his first fight) on 2-20-08 he won a 27-13 decision against Armen Mhitaryan of Russia; in the semifinals on 2-22-08 he stopped Livan Navarro of Cuba in the 3^rd round; in the finals on 2-23-08 he won a 30-17 decision against Ilez Malsagov of Russia…

2007 RUSSIAN JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – Saratov, Russia, 119 pounds – BRONZE MEDALIST: in his first fight on 5-16-07 he won a 36-13 decision against Ramzan Yakubov; in the quarterfinals on 5-18-07 he stopped Valeriy Tretyakov in the 3^rd round; in the semifinals on 5-19-07 he lost a 28-23 decision against Alexandr Kozhemyakin…

STRENGTHS: Has an aggressive style, good skills and movement…has good punching power…is experienced against good opposition…had a strong amateur background…

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 12 fights…63 total rounds…

AVERAGE LENGTH OF BOUTS: 5.25 rounds…

KNOCKOUT PERCENTAGE: 83 %…

DISTANCE FIGHTS: 10 rounds – 2 (2-0)…8 rounds – 1 (1-0)…