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The now Stacked 175lbs division


WelshDevilRob
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Prospect Watch: Dmitry Bivol

 

by Jeremiah Preisser

 

Have a good look at the light-heavyweight landscape. What do you see? Reasonably you would have to notice, at the very least, that it is a well-stocked class. After all, Andre Ward, Sergey Kovalev, and Adonis Stevenson round out the top three, anyone of which could be argued to be “the man”. They are followed by names like Joe Smith Jr., Nathan Cleverly, Sullivan Barrera, Eleider Alvarez, Artur Beterbiev, Juergen Braehmer, Oleksandr Gvozdk, Marcus Browne, Andrzej Fonfara, Jean Pascal, Erik Skoglund, Thomas Oosthuizen, Radivoje Kalajdzic, Yunieski Gonzalez, Vyacheslav Shabranskyy, Thomas Williams Jr. and Isaac Chilemba. Anyone know of a class this deep?

I could extend the list out to thirty, maybe more, and still have depth. How so? The steady stream of fighters from the former USSR, a sizeable number of which aren’t well-known for taking prisoners. Besides Sergey Kovalev, who has shown that he belongs near the top of the sport, you have the fast-rising Oleksandr Gvozdyk, the hard-punching Artur Beterbiev, the go-getter in Vyacheslav Shabranskyy and the durable Andrzej Fonfara all within the top-15. Umar Salamov, Igor Mikhalkin, Sergei Ekimov, Egor Mekhontsev, Vasily Lepikhin and Medzhid Bektemirov are all inside or near the top-40 range.

 

Of course I have intentionally left out one name, that being Dmitry Bivol.

 

Read more: Prospect Watch: Dmitry Bivol - - Boxing News - Ring News24

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Bivol is in action this weekend and Kovalev vs Ward 2 has been signed. In recent years, I've seen plenty moan about the lack of depth at Light Heavyweight. It certainly appeared to be in a slump for some time. But it's looking up!

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Re: The now Stacked 175lbs division

 

Kovalev/Ward and Gvozdyk/Beterbiev make other boxers in this division look very average. I didn't even include Stevenson here :haha:

 

 

Bivol appears to be rather special as well.

 

- As does Mekhontsev. - In fact, he may be the best of them all, though sadly he's starting to get old, relative to his pro experience, and doesn't even have a fight booked right now.

 

Kalajdzic could also be crazy good, in not much more time. (He got blatantly robbed against Marcus Browne.)

 

Also, I think Browne (despite looking like ass against Kalajdzic) may finally be finding his sea legs as a pro. He might just yet fulfill the promise he showed in the ams.

 

And finally, while Umar Salimov looked really off in a couple of his recent fights, he also has the potential to take a belt or two. He has that "Kovalev" thing going on, and I think he just needs to get his head together. Stop taking foolish chances (due to frustration) as his competition level rises, like leaning in with too-long punches.

IMO, he's the goods, but he just may not realize it yet.

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IMO, any of these guys could beat any other of these guys (including Ward & Kovalev), on any given day, if everything went their way.

(Except maybe for Browne, we shall see with him...)

 

There's also SMW Gilberto Ramirez in the wings. Super-high output, great accuracy, excellent defense. - Only 25 years old, and he's AWFULLY big for SMW. I think he'll have to move up soon.

Edited by Cableaddict
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Re: The now Stacked 175lbs division

 

Kovalev/Ward and Gvozdyk/Beterbiev make other boxers in this division look very average. I didn't even include Stevenson here :haha:

 

He's another one making a mockery of a world championship belt

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Re: The now Stacked 175lbs division

 

--- Wasn't much of a test as the easy results show. Sounds like a truly gifted fighter.

 

 

Indeed. I expected a better fight.

 

Clarkson is really quite a decent fighter, with solid power, but Bivol is just THAT good. Best footwork in the game today, great defense (300 amateur fights) plus his power seems to actually be improving.

 

A brilliant performance.

Edited by Cableaddict
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Re: The now Stacked 175lbs division

 

Totally agree. Bivol looked great last week. Very patient, taking a step back not to smother his punches.

 

Also isn't Badou joining the 175 soon? Just another name in a stacked division. Yikes.

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Re: The now Stacked 175lbs division

 

Totally agree. Bivol looked great last week. Very patient, taking a step back not to smother his punches.

 

Also isn't Badou joining the 175 soon? Just another name in a stacked division. Yikes.

 

 

Didn't know this. That's very interesting. I could see Jack as being one of those guys that actually does better at a higher, more comfortable weight.

Shades of tony Bellew.

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