Arslanbek Makhmudov shows off horrific eye injury stemming from "head blows" in statement after loss to Guido Vianello

Arslanbek Makhmudov recently released a statement following his loss to Guido Vianello. Makhmudov revealed in a picture that he suffered a horrible eye injury as a result of multiple head blows from his opponent, which led to his defeat.

Makhmudov squared off against Vianello in a heavyweight showdown that took place this past Saturday at Centre Videotron in Quebec, Canada. The boxing event was headlined by a super middleweight bout between Christian Mbilli and Sergiy Derevyanchenko.

Makhmudov (19-2) was coming off a second-round knockout win over Miljan Rovcanin this May and was targeting a title opportunity against the winner of Oleksandr Usyk vs. Tyson Fury 2.

Meanwhile, Vianello (13-2-1) was the less experienced fighter among the two. In his last boxing outing, the Italian fighter squared off against Efe Ajagba, losing the bout via split decision.

As for their heavyweight clash, Vianello took command of the bout from the start, dominating Makhmudov as the fight went on. The swelling around 'Lion's' left eye only made matters worse as the Russian fighter came close to being knocked out in the seventh round.

Before the start of the eighth round, the medics checked Makhmudov's eye and deemed him unfit to continue. Thus, Vianello was declared the winner by TKO as a result of the doctor's stoppage.

Makhmudov recently took to social media and issued a post-fight statement, including a picture of his left eye looking swollen and bruised up. He captioned the post:

''After multiple head blows, my left eye completely closed, so I didn’t see all the attacks from the right and the doctor stopped the fight in the 8th round! Alhamdulillyah, in any position, did everything what I can.''

Popular boxer Ryan Garcia also shared his thoughts on Makhmudov's swollen eye, citing that boxing is not an easy sport, writing:

''Boxing is easy you say?''

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Arslanbek Makhmudov weighs in on Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk rematch

Arslanbek Makhmudov's dream of potentially challenging the winner of Tyson Fury vs. Oleksandr Usyk 2 was crushed last weekend when Makhmudov was unable to continue his fight against Guido Vianello due to a severe eye injury.

However, before his fight against Vianello, Makhmudov offered his prediction for the heavyweight rematch between Fury and Usyk, which is set to go down at the Kingdom Arena in Saudi Arabia on Dec. 21. In an interview with Seconds Out, the Russian fighter stated:

''I think it's gonna be a close fight.''

Check out Arslanbek Makhmudov's comments below (9:23):