Artem Suslenkov Stops Artur Mann In Three Rounds

At the Nadezhda Sports Palace in Serpukhov on Friday night, Artem Suslenkov did what a rising heavyweight is supposed to do when matched with an older, seasoned man from a lower division: he took charge early, kept matters simple and finished them before anyone could begin inventing suspense. Suslenkov stopped Artur Mann in the third round of their scheduled 10-round main event, a bout contested for a WBA Continental heavyweight belt, and in doing so moved to 14-0 with 9 knockouts. Mann, the German-based former cruiserweight world-title challenger, slipped to 23-6.

There were no scorecards to debate and no controversy to carry into the corridors afterwards. This was a straightforward, increasingly one-sided affair, though not entirely from the opening bell. Suslenkov later admitted that Mann was dangerous in the first round and that he himself had hesitated slightly at the start. That seemed fair enough. Mann, the more experienced man, was careful early, circling and trying to create space, hoping perhaps to make the younger fighter think before committing himself. But if he intended to complicate Suslenkov’s evening, the plan did not survive for long.

By the second round the shape of the contest had become clear. Suslenkov was the naturally bigger heavyweight and he fought like one, not with wild impatience but with measured authority. He pressed behind the jab, drove punches into the body and steadily forced Mann onto the back foot. That body work was the telling feature. It was not flashy, but it was effective, and it narrowed Mann’s options with each passing minute. Suslenkov was not trying to impress with flourish. He was simply breaking the other man down.

Mann had spent much of his notable career at cruiserweight and had challenged at world level there, but here he looked exactly what he was: a former cruiserweight trying to resist a younger, fresher heavyweight who understood the value of pressure and physicality. Mann never truly established his jab, never found enough room to counter cleanly and never looked able to hold the centre of the ring for any meaningful stretch. He was reacting rather than dictating, and that is usually a grim way to spend a night against a composed puncher.

The finish came in the third and it came decisively. Suslenkov’s pressure finally produced the damage it had been threatening. Mann was dropped twice by heavy hooks, and after the second knockdown there was very little left to settle. Suslenkov poured on a final burst of unanswered punches, Mann rose gamely, and the referee stepped in. Officially it was a technical knockout, though in truth it was the inevitable conclusion to a fight in which Mann had run out of answers before he ran out of courage.

For Suslenkov, this was the sort of victory that keeps a heavyweight moving in the right direction. He did not merely beat a recognisable opponent; he dismantled him in an orderly, professional way. It would be foolish to get carried away, but equally there was no need to undersell it. Mann was a useful measuring stick and Suslenkov cleared him with something to spare. He leaves Serpukhov unbeaten, heavier-handed, increasingly composed and with more momentum than ever.