Photo: World of Boxing

Dmitry Kudryashov served notice to the cruiserweight division last weekend with a devastating knockout, 52 seconds into the opening round, over two-time world-title challenger Francisco Palacios.

The 29-year-old Russian wrecking machine wasted little time before blowing away Palacios, whose only previous two defeats were competitive points decisions against former WBC titlist Krzysztof Wlodarczyk.

Kudryashov, who was the subject of a New Faces feature the week leading into his fight, moved to 17-0 (17 knockouts).

Looking back on his recent win he is understandably happy with how he performed.

“[The] fight met all my expectations,” Kudryashov told RingTV.com through his manager, Vasily Kostenko. “I wanted to win the fight by knockout, and I did it. Preparing for the fight was long. I had a very good opponent, so I’m completely satisfied with myself.”

Which leaves the question, “What next?”

“My next purpose is to win a world title in one of the main four versions,” he said. “I would like to enter a ring with the current champion.”

Kudryashov is ranked by three of the four sanctioning bodies, though can expect to be elevated in their next revision; currently he is WBC No. 5, WBA No. 6 and IBF No. 12. His impressive demolition of Palacios also saw him crack THE RING Magazine ratings at No. 10.

Currently Grigory Drozd holds the WBC strap, Yoan Pablo Hernandez is the RING and IBF kingpin, Denis Lebedev is the WBA beltholder and Marco Huck is the WBO boss.

Kudryashov says he’d prefer not to face a fellow Russian in Drozd or Lebedev, but if that’s the path he has to take, so be it.

“Huck and Hernandez are the priority for me, because they are foreigners,” Kudryashov explained. “Though in principle there is no difference with who comes to a ring – with the foreigner or with the Russian.

“I boxed at the World Championships [in the amateurs] with the Russians – why can’t I box in a professional ring with my countrymen? ÔǪ The main thing for me is the fight for the title, and who will be my opponent – this is of secondary importance.”

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