Mihai Nistor fell to his first professional defeat against Kashaun Davis on the latest Zuffa Boxing show.
Nistor shot to notoriety as an amateur for becoming the first to KO heavyweight superstar Anthony Joshua in 2011.
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Nistor was beaten by Davis, who controlled vast portions of the fightCredit: Ed Mulholland / Zuffa Boxing
Despite having vast experience in the unpaid segment of his career, the Romanian has failed to keep as active as a pro.
But after seven perfect wins, he ended a two-year hiatus from the ring to sign for Dana White’s Zuffa Boxing.
He would take on 306lbs giant unbeaten American Davis, who was looking to push on his own career on his biggest platform yet.
For Nistor, he had big plans of his own, and has even spoken about chasing a rematch with Joshua.
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But he suffered a big blow in his comeback outing.
Davis beats Nistor in comfortable win
It was a scrappy fight with Nistor struggling to match Davis’ aggression from the opening bell.
The American, despite his large frame, was able to dictate the tempo, using his sharp hands to land the scoring shots throughout the fight.
Nistor was struggling to replicate the success of his amateur days, and his negative approach with repetitive clinching came to no avail.
A head clash was the turning point as he had a cut open above his eye, sending blood trickling down his face.
And in another determining factor, Nistor was deducted a point for repetitive holding in the fifth round.
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Nistor used a scrappy approach and it backfired, as he was deducted a point and was cutCredit: Getty
Davis remained composed and scored an eight-round shut-out on the scorecard.
The judges ruled the contest at 80-71, 80-71, and 79-72, and Nistor was beaten for the first time.
It promises to be a long way back now for the former rival of Joshua, who did little to impress the Zuffa Boxing top brass.
As for Davis, he will hope to keep moving in the right direction, after picking up his 12th win in the paid ranks.
It was a busy night of heavyweight action on the Zuffa Boxing bill, with Otto Wallin also in action.
Another rival of AJ in 2023, Wallin was brutally knocked out by Vyacheslav Sirenko in the final round of their clash.
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He was taken to hospital for routine tests, but it was too a big blow in his ambitions of returning to bigger name fights.