On Saturday night, something very few believed in took place at the Ivan Yarygin Sports Palace in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

As part of a card by promoted by Patriot Boxing with support from the Russian Boxing Federation, Dmitry “The Russian Hammer” Kudryashov was taken the full distance for the first time in his career, requiring the help of the judges in winning a split decision over unheralded but spirited Czech Vaclav Pejsar in a scheduled ten-rounder.

Even more unexpected was what took place in the aftermath as the two judges who ruled in Kudryashov's favor were issued an 18-month suspension.

Kudryashov, 34, is certainly not the type of a fighter you’ll predict to go the distance. With TNT in both arms, huge voids in his defense and a not-so-granite chin, the Russian slugger is a can’t miss attraction and pure entertainment for fight fans, who will certainly be entitled to an all-out slugfest, which is almost guaranteed to end long before the final bell.

As reported earlier by BoxingScene, the Pejsar bout was exactly that type of a fight, with the only difference being that the Russian Hammer was mauled and hammered all over the ring for the first two rounds. It got better for the Russian in the third, when – despite a one-sided beating he was receiving – the Russian dropped Pejsar with a hard right hand.

It wasn’t a moment of truth for Kudryashov (now 24-3, 23 KOs), as he was beaten to the punch in the mid rounds, although he did definitely better than in the opener. He got several good moments during the last third but clearly lost the very end of the fight.

From what BoxingScene saw and from what was reflected on its scorecard, Pejsar, despite a knockdown and some bad moments, was the clear winner of the bout. This reporter had it 96-93 – for the Czech, and one of the official judges saw it even more this way: Roman Petrov gave it to Pejsar – 97-92. However, he was overruled by two other Russian judges Irakli Malazonia (95-94) and Semen Stakheev (97-92) – both for Kudryashov.

It was surely home cooking for the ranked fighter, and a major letdown for Pejsar (14-9, 12 KOs). There have been clearer robberies this year but this one was bad. The foul play was proclaimed by Russian TV, which saw it as a win for the Czech.

It would have been it, just a few cries after the verdict, but the initiative was taken by Andrey Ryabinskiy, a well-known Russian boxing tycoon, who in the past had previously promoted both Kudryashov and Denis Lebedev (who has lost via unanimous decision to Thabiso Mchunu in the main event).

The classy Ryabinsky did not sound like your typical promoter: “Dmitry is a cool guy and a very nice person… He has lost this fight. Speaking of this particular bout, he was defeated. Those judges, who awarded it to him, did him dirty, by making him an accomplice to an injustice. He doesn’t need it.

That’s not good. But I have known Dmitry for quite some time. He isn’t that type of guy, he is a good guy. He fought himself out in this bout. He did everything to win”.

Kudryashov himself was also not so content.

“I’m not a judge, and I’m not the one who is making decisions. I don’t think I did enough for the win. Don’t be angered, folks. I cannot fight [well] but I love doing it. Peace”.

The outcome got further development under the eye of the Russian Boxing Federation and its pro boxing department. Today, both Malazonia and Stakheev were banned for a year and a half without the right of appeal for inadequate scoring of the Kudryashov vs. Pejsar fight. The decision had been made by the appeal commission, constituted of Umar Kremlev (RBF general secretary), Kirill Schekutyev, Oleg Ageev and Yuri Koptsev (a well-known Russian referee and a judge).