fighter

Promoters Frank Warren and Alex Krassyuk sat on the top table for around half an hour, patiently waiting for the fighters.

Government forces and thousands of fighters — including from Sunni jihadist factions — beat back the loyalists but also hunted down Alawites, who share Assad’s religion and were seen by many Syrians as complicit in his policies.

All three judges scored the contest 116-112 following a bout featuring wild aggression from both fighters, albeit with neither landing the telling blow.

In a statement on Sunday summarising recent operations, US Central Command said it had "killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders".

Despite this, Ukraine's top military commander Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi had earlier also warned that North Korean soldiers were posing a significant problem for Ukrainian fighters on the front line.