Already a former WBA world bantamweight champion Artem Dalakyan (22-1, 15 KOs) made a statement after his loss to Seigo Akui (19-2-1, 11 KOs).
On January 23 in Osaka, Dalakyan lost to Akui by unanimous decision and lost the belt he had held since 2018. For the 36-year-old Ukrainian, this defeat was the first in his career.
“First of all, I want to thank our UNION BOXING PROMOTION team and all those people who, throughout my career, believed in me, supported me and watched my fights.
My feelings and thoughts after the defeat are fatigue and the desire to see my beloved wife, our daughters and son as soon as possible. In recent years I have seen my family very rarely. Now I’m only thinking about meeting my family and about peace coming to Ukraine as soon as possible and this horror ending.
I want to show respect to my opponent. He did a good job in the ring, but as for me, my athletic old age has arrived, and I feel how moral and physical fatigue has accumulated over the years. Defeat was bound to happen sooner or later, but not in this battle.
I never got the chance to unify the belts, but I held the world title in my hands for 5 years, and I’m happy that I have something to remember.
Time will tell what will happen next. In no case do we lose faith in the best. The most important thing now is family and peace in Ukraine. Glory to our Heroes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Dalakyan wrote on Facebook.
