Heavyweight kingpin Wladimir Klitschko (58-3, 50) will look to make yet another successful defense of his world titles, including the Ring Magazine, WBA "super", WBO and IBF as he faces unbeaten Pole Mariusz Wach (27-0, 15) in an interesting battle of the giants.
Although Wach is unbeaten he is the big under-dog going in to this fight, however some are tipping the Pole to shock the world. I myself can't see it, however it is fair to say that Wach is likely to be Wladimir's biggest challenge in quite some time, in fact at over 6'7" it's fair to say Wach is one of the biggest challenges in the division, period.
With his huge height and unbeaten record Wach does make for an interesting proposition for Klitschko. Then when you also factor in things such as the fact Wach is young than Wladimir by 4 years and also has a marginally bigger reach (82" to Wladimir's 81") it's little a little wonder that some are favouring Wach. Sadly however Wach isn't as good as his record looks and so far, in a career dating back to 2005, Wach hasn't scored a a really major win, instead feasting on club fighters like Kevin McBride and Tye Fields. In fact it's fair to say that Wach's best win to date is over Jason Gavern, not a world level fighter.
Despite the fact Wach hasn't faced anyone near world level, he has shown solid power, especially in recent bouts. In fact despite his record only showing a 55% KO rate he has stopped his last 7 opponents dating back to April 2009 including scoring eye catching KO's over both McBride and Christian Hammer.
Sadly despite seemingly developing his punch power, Wach is slow, he's clumsy and his over-all skills are limited, to say the least. Other than his size it's fair to say there is little to really but shocked by.
Like the challenger, the champion, Wladimir Klitschko is tall, however Klitschko is much, much more than just a tall Heavyweight. As we all know Wladimir is arguably the hardest puncher in the sport with his straight right hand being genuinely deadly, he also posses an excellent, fight controlling jab and whilst he's not got the aggression of some of the most memorable Heavyweights out there he is incredibly hard to beat.
The long standing feeling over Klitschko is that he's chinny and easily beatable as a result, however he's managed to go unbeaten in over 8 years and won no less than 13 title fights in that period. Not only has he been winning, but he's been beating the top guys in the division such as Chris Byrd, Samuel Peter, Sultan Ibragimov, Ruslan Chagaev, Eddie Chambers and of course the supposed saviour of the division David Haye.
I can't help but think that Klitschko is going to have a bit of a field day with Wach. Wach may be able to, whack (excuse the pun) but Klitschko is able to do a bit more than just punch, so I imagine he'll box, manage to use his superior foot work and get off on Wach in a cautious bout. I think it will start really slowly but Wladimir will manage to detonate his right hand in the middle rounds and Wach will topple. Don't expect this to be exciting, but expect it to be...interesting.
Sadly however, as we all know, Wladimir Klitschko's long term trainer Emmanuel Steward passed away recently. This will be the first time Klitschko will fight with out Steward in a number of years, and hopefully this won't get to Wladimir. As we all know, Wladimir was re-invented under Steward and hopefully this won't see Wlad forgetting the teachings of his much missed mentor.
Prediction: Klitschko KO8
Showing posts with label Poland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poland. Show all posts
Friday, 9 November 2012
Thursday, 20 September 2012
Krzysztof Wlodarczyk v Fransico Palacios II
The Cruiserweight has given us some great fights recently with last weekends bout between Yoan Pablo Hernandez and Troy Ross being one of the very best fights of the year. This weekend we get another Cruiserweight title treat as WBC champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (46-2-1, 33) makes the fourth defense of his title as he faces Puerto Rican born American based Fransico Palacios (21-1, 13). This bout, a rematch of one of last years most controversial title bouts promises a lot, though will it deliver?
With 49 bouts on his record it's somewhat easy to forget that Krzysztof Wlodarczyk is just 31 years old. It feels as if the Pole has been around for years and to be honest he has, having made his debut a little more than 12 years ago. Despite a really long career Wlodarczyk is somewhat of an unknown outside of the hardcore boxing community, despite the fact he literally fought a who's who of Cruiserweight's.
Wlodarczyk started his career with 20 straight wins and claimed both the IBF Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title and the Polish Cruiserweight before suffering a controversial technical decision loss to Pavel Melkomyan in Germany. Despite the bout being ruled a technical stoppage due to a clash of heads replays seemed to suggest that the fight ending cut was scored by a punch.
It wouldn't take long for Wlodarczyk to bounce back from his first loss and he swiftly captured the WBC Youth Cruiserweight title and soon afterwards the World Boxing Foundation Cruiserweight title. Despite these title wins it wasn't until he claimed the European Union title by stopping Ruediger May in 2005 that he really started to announce himself.
In 2007 Wlodarczyk claimed his first world title as he controversially out pointed American Steve Cunningham for the IBF Cruiserweight title, though his reign was short lived as Cunningham claimed a majority decision in a rematch just 6 months later. This wasn't to be the end of Wlodarczyk at the top level however and just 2 years later Wlodarczyk would challenge Italian Giacobbe Fragomeni for the WBC Cruiserweight title. Despite dropping Fragomeni, the judges scored the bout a draw.
Almost exactly a year after the draw between Fragomeni and Wlodarczyk the two men fought again this time Wlodarczyk would come out on top taking an 8th round TKO victory. Since then Wlodarczyk has defended his title 3 times, including a controversial decision win over Palacios and an 11th round TKO over Australian Danny Green.
Wlodarczyk's record would indicate he's probably a power puncher but in all honesty he's not a powerful hitter, especially not at world level however he is a grinder and hits hard enough that you feel his shots even if no single blow will take an opponent out. Sadly however the Pole can be frustrating to watch as he can often lose focus in bouts and give rounds away by doing nothing, a problem we saw in a number of rounds against Green last time out. At his best he's exceptional, capable of throwing hurtful shots to the head and body and using very accurate fast jabs, at his worst however he's really awful.
At 35 years old Palacios is the older man, though he hasn't had the ring years of the champion. In fact not only has Palacios only fought 22 times as a professional but he's also only been a pro since 2004. Despite his relatively short professional career Palacios has a solid amateur background and he competed at the 2003 World Amateur Championships (losing controversially to Erbol Babayev).
Since turning over to the paid ranks Palacios has adapted well and started his professional career with an impressive 20 straight wins. In those 20 fights Palacios claimed the WBA Fedelatin Cruiserweight title by impressively stopping former world title challenger Luis Andres Pineda and defended that belt once stopping Lawrence Chapman inside a round.
With his amateur background it goes with out saying that Palacios is a talented fighter and knows how to use all of the punches in book with his busy jab being a key yo many of his attacks. He's at his best however when he's able to let his hands go something he used effectively when he first faced Palacios last year, sadly however the referee repeatedly broke up the action when Palacios was getting the better of it.
With the controversial nature of the first bout, which many though Palacios had won, this bout is a long awaited rematch and one that many fans would have preferred to have seen last year however it still serves to be an intriguing bout.
Against Green, Wlodarczyk looked like he was a fighter who didn't want to fight any more, he was a man who looked to be there in body but not in mind until he felt his title was being taken from him. Against Palacios he's fighting a much better fighter than Green and one who is there to take the title back from Poland come hell or high water and one who I feel will not be denied this time around. Expect Wlodarczyk to be forced to work at a high tempo, something that will not like suit him and expect him to lose rounds as a result. Whilst the judging may be questionable I just can't see the "3 wise men" favouring Wlodarczyk quite as much as they did last time, especially after the backlash by those watching.
Prediction-Palacios SD12
With 49 bouts on his record it's somewhat easy to forget that Krzysztof Wlodarczyk is just 31 years old. It feels as if the Pole has been around for years and to be honest he has, having made his debut a little more than 12 years ago. Despite a really long career Wlodarczyk is somewhat of an unknown outside of the hardcore boxing community, despite the fact he literally fought a who's who of Cruiserweight's.
Wlodarczyk started his career with 20 straight wins and claimed both the IBF Inter-Continental Cruiserweight title and the Polish Cruiserweight before suffering a controversial technical decision loss to Pavel Melkomyan in Germany. Despite the bout being ruled a technical stoppage due to a clash of heads replays seemed to suggest that the fight ending cut was scored by a punch.
It wouldn't take long for Wlodarczyk to bounce back from his first loss and he swiftly captured the WBC Youth Cruiserweight title and soon afterwards the World Boxing Foundation Cruiserweight title. Despite these title wins it wasn't until he claimed the European Union title by stopping Ruediger May in 2005 that he really started to announce himself.
In 2007 Wlodarczyk claimed his first world title as he controversially out pointed American Steve Cunningham for the IBF Cruiserweight title, though his reign was short lived as Cunningham claimed a majority decision in a rematch just 6 months later. This wasn't to be the end of Wlodarczyk at the top level however and just 2 years later Wlodarczyk would challenge Italian Giacobbe Fragomeni for the WBC Cruiserweight title. Despite dropping Fragomeni, the judges scored the bout a draw.
Almost exactly a year after the draw between Fragomeni and Wlodarczyk the two men fought again this time Wlodarczyk would come out on top taking an 8th round TKO victory. Since then Wlodarczyk has defended his title 3 times, including a controversial decision win over Palacios and an 11th round TKO over Australian Danny Green.
Wlodarczyk's record would indicate he's probably a power puncher but in all honesty he's not a powerful hitter, especially not at world level however he is a grinder and hits hard enough that you feel his shots even if no single blow will take an opponent out. Sadly however the Pole can be frustrating to watch as he can often lose focus in bouts and give rounds away by doing nothing, a problem we saw in a number of rounds against Green last time out. At his best he's exceptional, capable of throwing hurtful shots to the head and body and using very accurate fast jabs, at his worst however he's really awful.
At 35 years old Palacios is the older man, though he hasn't had the ring years of the champion. In fact not only has Palacios only fought 22 times as a professional but he's also only been a pro since 2004. Despite his relatively short professional career Palacios has a solid amateur background and he competed at the 2003 World Amateur Championships (losing controversially to Erbol Babayev).
Since turning over to the paid ranks Palacios has adapted well and started his professional career with an impressive 20 straight wins. In those 20 fights Palacios claimed the WBA Fedelatin Cruiserweight title by impressively stopping former world title challenger Luis Andres Pineda and defended that belt once stopping Lawrence Chapman inside a round.
With his amateur background it goes with out saying that Palacios is a talented fighter and knows how to use all of the punches in book with his busy jab being a key yo many of his attacks. He's at his best however when he's able to let his hands go something he used effectively when he first faced Palacios last year, sadly however the referee repeatedly broke up the action when Palacios was getting the better of it.
With the controversial nature of the first bout, which many though Palacios had won, this bout is a long awaited rematch and one that many fans would have preferred to have seen last year however it still serves to be an intriguing bout.
Against Green, Wlodarczyk looked like he was a fighter who didn't want to fight any more, he was a man who looked to be there in body but not in mind until he felt his title was being taken from him. Against Palacios he's fighting a much better fighter than Green and one who is there to take the title back from Poland come hell or high water and one who I feel will not be denied this time around. Expect Wlodarczyk to be forced to work at a high tempo, something that will not like suit him and expect him to lose rounds as a result. Whilst the judging may be questionable I just can't see the "3 wise men" favouring Wlodarczyk quite as much as they did last time, especially after the backlash by those watching.
Prediction-Palacios SD12
Thursday, 23 August 2012
Gennady Golovkin v Grzegorz Proksa
It's rare for HBO to showcase fights between two European fighters though this coming Saturday HBO do just that as they show the WBA Middleweight title fight between Kazakhstan's hard punching phenom Gennady Golovkin (23-0, 20) and Poland's exciting Grzegorz Proksa (28-1, 21).
The champion (Golovkin) will go into this bout as a clear favourite (around 1/3 with the sports books) though on paper this will be his toughest fight as a professional having had an exceptional amateur career. As an amateur Golovkin was special. He was a 1 time World Junior Championships (2000), 1 time Asian Games Champion (2002), 1 time World Amateur Champion (2003), 1 time Olympic Silver Medal winner (2004) and a 2 time medal winner in the Boxing World cup (Silver-2002, Bronze-2005). As an amateur he scored notable victories over Matvey Korobov, Andy Lee, Lucien Bute, Yordanis Despaigne and Andre Dirrell further proving his credentials prior to turning professional.
After his excellent days as an amateur Golovkin finally turned professional in 2006 and swiftly advanced his record with 7 wins inside a year (all by T/KO). His first notable victory came in his 8th bout as his T/KO streak continued and he took out the well regarded Belorussian Siarhei Khomitski in the 5th round. His stoppage streak just a fight later as Frenchman Mehdi Bouadla took him the 8 round distance. Golovkin was taken the distance again just 2 fights later, this time by the experienced Ian Gardner who again survived the 8 round schedule. Golovkin was taken the schedule for the 3rd (and final) time 2 fights later as Amar Amari again survived the 8 round distance.
Since defeating Amari in July 2008 Golovkin's power has been the key with him scoring 10 straight by T/KO to move his record to an excellent 23-0 (20) whilst also claiming the WBA Middleweight title, a title he has now defended 4 times since winning it back in August 2010. He first won the belt by swiftly disposing of Colombian Milton Nunez before defending against another Colombian in the form of Nilson Julio Tapia. Following the defense over Tapia, Golovkin has made defenses over veterans Kassim Ouma and Lujuan Simon as well as the over matched Japanese challenge Makoto Fuchigami.
Despite having an excellent amateur pedigree and fantastic skills with seriously heavy hands and technical proficiency Golovkin has had issues. The most obvious issue is that Golovkin hasn't yet fought anyone worth mentioning. His best wins so far have been over Simon-who had been out of the ring for over a year and Ouma-who was old and 2-5 in his previous 7 bouts. Whilst this has been put down to promotional difficulties Golovkin's last fight, promoted by the Klitschko's K2 East was against the awful Makoto Fuchigamai an inexcusable bout. As well as the poor quality of opposition Golovkin faced, he has also not been featured on mainstream US TV before meaning that, outside of the hardcore fan base, very few actually know about him, despite his skill set and amateur exploits.
Despite being a solid former amateur and European Golovkin's style really isn't that "European", he doesn't use a solid technical jab to control the range and pace of the fight but instead looks to use his defensive skills to land powerful counter punches. Although he can brawl (as he did against Ouma) he's at his best when he walks down an opponent behind his guard whilst looking to land his dynamite power on an over-committed opponent with a deadly counter. When he lands those counters opponents know about it.
Originally Golovkin's opponent was supposed to be the current WBO Middleweight champion Dmitry Pirog, though Pirog unfortunately suffered an injury and was replaced by British based Pole Grzegorz Proksa. Whilst Proksa, like Golovkin, is only really known by the hardcore boxing community he has had a number of fights televised in the UK, including his latest two bouts with Welshman Kerry Hope.
Proksa has been a professional since 2005 and actually debuted in the US scoring an opening round stoppage over Adam Capo before adding 3 more wins before the end of the year to move to 4-0 (3) fighting between the US and the UK. Inside a year of being professional Proksa would claim his first professional titles winning both the IBF Youth Middleweight title and the WBC Youth World Middleweight title in just his 6th bout.
Despite winning a number of titles Proksa had faced no one of note in his first 23 bouts, often taking out journeymen like Alex Spitko or Lee Noble, however a victory over Tyan Booth had seen Proksa claiming the European Union Middleweight title in February 2010. It wasn't until fight #23 that Proksa first faced a recognised opponent in the form of Spaniard Pablo Navascues. Navascues managed to survive until round 9 before laid out by a Proksa left hand up close that forced the referee to wave off the bout. Just two bouts later Proksa really put his name on the map as he dominated former world champion Sebastian Sylvester who retired at the end of the 3rd round thoroughly beaten.
Looking on the verge of a world title fight Proksa was given a chance to show his talent in front of an excited British crowd live on Sky Sports against Welshman Kerry Hope. On paper the bout was a complete mismatch in favour of the then unbeaten Proksa, though, after a bright start Proksa started to look more and more ragged and was narrowly out pointed by Hope in one of the British upsets of 2012. The two rematched a few months later and this time a determined Proksa dominated Hope before scoring an 8th round stoppage over the Welshman and gained his revenge. The rematch over Hope was the most recent bout for Proksa who whilst not looking tremendous did look better than in his previous bout with Hope.
Like Golovkin, Proksa doesn't have a "European" style, in fact Proksa's style is very loose with his hands by his waist as he relies on reflexes and speed. He's fun to watch and whilst defensively poor he's usually got the skills and natural speed to get away with his low guard. Whilst he has showed excellent movement and shot selection (notably against Sylvester) he can get ragged and wild, especially in the later rounds as he starts to show his tiredness, as he did against Hope the first time around.
On paper this appears to be a noticeable step up for both men, and with it happening on HBO it gives hardcore boxing fans a chance to see both men with the winner having a chance to move into another major fight next year (with the winner of the Sergio Martinez v Julio Cesar Chavez Jr being a possible opponent). Golovkin is rightfully the favourite, the Ouma fight aside he has looked exceptional and whilst not hugely active he is incredibly powerful and accurate. He takes advantage of opponents when they make mistakes and rather fortunately for him Proksa makes a lot of mistakes especially when he's getting tired. Whilst Proksa has the activity to win a number of the early rounds he will have to seriously think twice about having low hands against Golovkin who will take advantage of them. Unless Proksa has spent the last few months on his stamina I'd be shocked if he manages to hear the final bell.
Prediction-Golovkin TKO7
Note-This fight will on the same day as the WBA "super" and IBF middleweight titles are unified as Felix Sturm faces Australian Daniel Geale.
The champion (Golovkin) will go into this bout as a clear favourite (around 1/3 with the sports books) though on paper this will be his toughest fight as a professional having had an exceptional amateur career. As an amateur Golovkin was special. He was a 1 time World Junior Championships (2000), 1 time Asian Games Champion (2002), 1 time World Amateur Champion (2003), 1 time Olympic Silver Medal winner (2004) and a 2 time medal winner in the Boxing World cup (Silver-2002, Bronze-2005). As an amateur he scored notable victories over Matvey Korobov, Andy Lee, Lucien Bute, Yordanis Despaigne and Andre Dirrell further proving his credentials prior to turning professional.
After his excellent days as an amateur Golovkin finally turned professional in 2006 and swiftly advanced his record with 7 wins inside a year (all by T/KO). His first notable victory came in his 8th bout as his T/KO streak continued and he took out the well regarded Belorussian Siarhei Khomitski in the 5th round. His stoppage streak just a fight later as Frenchman Mehdi Bouadla took him the 8 round distance. Golovkin was taken the distance again just 2 fights later, this time by the experienced Ian Gardner who again survived the 8 round schedule. Golovkin was taken the schedule for the 3rd (and final) time 2 fights later as Amar Amari again survived the 8 round distance.
Since defeating Amari in July 2008 Golovkin's power has been the key with him scoring 10 straight by T/KO to move his record to an excellent 23-0 (20) whilst also claiming the WBA Middleweight title, a title he has now defended 4 times since winning it back in August 2010. He first won the belt by swiftly disposing of Colombian Milton Nunez before defending against another Colombian in the form of Nilson Julio Tapia. Following the defense over Tapia, Golovkin has made defenses over veterans Kassim Ouma and Lujuan Simon as well as the over matched Japanese challenge Makoto Fuchigami.
Despite having an excellent amateur pedigree and fantastic skills with seriously heavy hands and technical proficiency Golovkin has had issues. The most obvious issue is that Golovkin hasn't yet fought anyone worth mentioning. His best wins so far have been over Simon-who had been out of the ring for over a year and Ouma-who was old and 2-5 in his previous 7 bouts. Whilst this has been put down to promotional difficulties Golovkin's last fight, promoted by the Klitschko's K2 East was against the awful Makoto Fuchigamai an inexcusable bout. As well as the poor quality of opposition Golovkin faced, he has also not been featured on mainstream US TV before meaning that, outside of the hardcore fan base, very few actually know about him, despite his skill set and amateur exploits.
Despite being a solid former amateur and European Golovkin's style really isn't that "European", he doesn't use a solid technical jab to control the range and pace of the fight but instead looks to use his defensive skills to land powerful counter punches. Although he can brawl (as he did against Ouma) he's at his best when he walks down an opponent behind his guard whilst looking to land his dynamite power on an over-committed opponent with a deadly counter. When he lands those counters opponents know about it.
Originally Golovkin's opponent was supposed to be the current WBO Middleweight champion Dmitry Pirog, though Pirog unfortunately suffered an injury and was replaced by British based Pole Grzegorz Proksa. Whilst Proksa, like Golovkin, is only really known by the hardcore boxing community he has had a number of fights televised in the UK, including his latest two bouts with Welshman Kerry Hope.
Proksa has been a professional since 2005 and actually debuted in the US scoring an opening round stoppage over Adam Capo before adding 3 more wins before the end of the year to move to 4-0 (3) fighting between the US and the UK. Inside a year of being professional Proksa would claim his first professional titles winning both the IBF Youth Middleweight title and the WBC Youth World Middleweight title in just his 6th bout.
Despite winning a number of titles Proksa had faced no one of note in his first 23 bouts, often taking out journeymen like Alex Spitko or Lee Noble, however a victory over Tyan Booth had seen Proksa claiming the European Union Middleweight title in February 2010. It wasn't until fight #23 that Proksa first faced a recognised opponent in the form of Spaniard Pablo Navascues. Navascues managed to survive until round 9 before laid out by a Proksa left hand up close that forced the referee to wave off the bout. Just two bouts later Proksa really put his name on the map as he dominated former world champion Sebastian Sylvester who retired at the end of the 3rd round thoroughly beaten.
Looking on the verge of a world title fight Proksa was given a chance to show his talent in front of an excited British crowd live on Sky Sports against Welshman Kerry Hope. On paper the bout was a complete mismatch in favour of the then unbeaten Proksa, though, after a bright start Proksa started to look more and more ragged and was narrowly out pointed by Hope in one of the British upsets of 2012. The two rematched a few months later and this time a determined Proksa dominated Hope before scoring an 8th round stoppage over the Welshman and gained his revenge. The rematch over Hope was the most recent bout for Proksa who whilst not looking tremendous did look better than in his previous bout with Hope.
Like Golovkin, Proksa doesn't have a "European" style, in fact Proksa's style is very loose with his hands by his waist as he relies on reflexes and speed. He's fun to watch and whilst defensively poor he's usually got the skills and natural speed to get away with his low guard. Whilst he has showed excellent movement and shot selection (notably against Sylvester) he can get ragged and wild, especially in the later rounds as he starts to show his tiredness, as he did against Hope the first time around.
On paper this appears to be a noticeable step up for both men, and with it happening on HBO it gives hardcore boxing fans a chance to see both men with the winner having a chance to move into another major fight next year (with the winner of the Sergio Martinez v Julio Cesar Chavez Jr being a possible opponent). Golovkin is rightfully the favourite, the Ouma fight aside he has looked exceptional and whilst not hugely active he is incredibly powerful and accurate. He takes advantage of opponents when they make mistakes and rather fortunately for him Proksa makes a lot of mistakes especially when he's getting tired. Whilst Proksa has the activity to win a number of the early rounds he will have to seriously think twice about having low hands against Golovkin who will take advantage of them. Unless Proksa has spent the last few months on his stamina I'd be shocked if he manages to hear the final bell.
Prediction-Golovkin TKO7
Note-This fight will on the same day as the WBA "super" and IBF middleweight titles are unified as Felix Sturm faces Australian Daniel Geale.
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