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Makhmudov vs Takam - Tonight, baby !


Cableaddict

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Supposedly starts at 10pm EST.   (Main fight?  undercard?   I dunno.)

 

Boy Howdy!

 

Big Mak is one of the most exciting fighters in the sport today,  that dirty SOB.   With his love of throwing blatant, deliberate rabbit punches, he must have crawled out of the same sewer as Hrgovic.  

-  But the man has solid skills to go along with his massive power. including decent defensive footwork acquired  in the last few years.  Also, being trained by Mark Ramsey,  maybe they will eventually teach him to fight clean.   I don't see how a well-past-it Takam can possibly pull this one out,  but he might make it tough for Mak and bring out some new skills we haven't seen before.  

A win tonight probably won't raise Big Mak much in the rankings (He's already WBC #6 with only 14 fights) but a win over such a recognizable name will surely make the casuals more aware of him,  and they buy tickets.   Also,  can you say "Makhmudov vs Wilder?"   Oh yes, yes you can !

 

So, not a potential FOTY,  bu definitely one to watch.

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Update:

 

Big Mak probably automatically went to #5 because Ortiz just dropped to #11.  (Way too high, IMO.)

 

As for AJ:   He's never even fought a single top-20 WBC fighter except for Fat Andy.  - Who at WBC #2 has ALSO never fought a single WBC top-20 fighter.

Same as it ever was ..................

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Yeah,  Ivan Ditchko.

 

It seems nobody wants to get in the ring with him.  What a waste.

----------

 

###  SPOILERS:  ###

###  SPOILERS:  ###

 

As for Big Mak,   he didn't look his best last night,  but you have to give big props to Takam.  man, that guy really came to fight!

I think he took Mak by surprise, having so much energy and aggression  (PED's,  did you say?)  - But by round 5,  Mak seems to settle in to a decent defensive plan that negated most of Takam's attack.   Still,  wow, what a performance from the old man.   He clearly won the final round.   Makhmudov will no doubt learn a lot from this fight,  which will serve him well as he steps up to the big boys.

 

Also, and not fer nuthin' :   I was right about fighting clean.  Mak, amazingly,  wasn't throwing any rabbit punches.  I guarantee that (as with Hrgovic) this threw him off his game a bit.   I think it was at the end of round 9, when Takam landed some good shots, that Big Mak reverted back to his reptilian self and threw one or two right to the back of Takam's head. -  But the ref instantly gave him a warning for it.   We need more refs like this.

 

This new, clean Makhmudov is a fighter I can actually root for.  Heck, he even seemed like a genuinely nice guy at the end of the fight,  hugging and joking with Takam, etc.

Luckily, I can still despise Hrgovic.   Lol ......

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May be a season shaping up of rising heavyweight prospects/contenders being exposed. Makhmedov the latest. Probably had a KO1 on his mind the way it started. Takam righted itself and won rounds 3 and 4 for me. Round 7 turned the fight. Takam had it for 2:50 then he misses a right hand, Makhmedov counters, floors Takam and 10-9 Takam becomes 10-8 Makhmedov. Agree Takam won R10; perhaps momentum takes him through 8 and 9 if he sews up R7. Then we have some interesting scorecards. Makhmedov had stopped every previous opponent. By the middle rounds he fought conservatively as if he was unsure how much he had left in the tank. Yes, Takam is a savvy veteran the likes of whom Makhmedov had never faced. Progress toward a world title rarely travels in a straight line. Makhmedov has nice footwork for a guy his size but his punching is rudimentary and largely inaccurate. He spent too much time staring at Takam, waiting for counter opportunities when he should have been actively jabbing; again that may have been Makhmedov conserving energy but he'll have to work that out. He's got a sound trainer in Ramsey. By no means dismissing him as a riser from this performance but he remains in high level prospect status for now imo.

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On 9/17/2022 at 12:34 AM, Cableaddict said:

Update:

 

FWIW:   Makhmudov has been moved to #5 in the WBC rankings.      

Probably because Ortiz just dropped to #11.  (Way too high, IMO.)

 

They've also mysteriously added AJ to their top ten.   I think we can guess why.

Anthony Joshua should be in their top 10. He doesn't hold any rival belt. Two points loses to Usyk shouldn't see him outside any top 10.

Edited by WelshDevilRob
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After that, Makhmudov didn't look the monster he's been built up to be. Consider that Joshua got Takam out of there 5 years ago, a much better version of the Cameroonian. Old Dereck Chisora did Takam in 8, a cracking fight. Helluva KO! In his last fight, Joe Joyce got the stoppage in 6.

The big Russian reminded me of David Price, at times. But, 10-rounds will have done him good.

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Hard to know what to think about Big Mak right now.

He's certainly no chicken nugget,  but calling him elite would surely be a whopper.

 

As I said before, and I was serious:  I think that he got flustered by having to fight clean.  He's so use to throwing rabbit punches (Even pulling his opponent's head down first!)  that he probably had to constantly tell himself not to.  That slows down your thinking.   But Mak has plenty of legit offensive firepower,  with fast combinations, subtle feints, and a deadly uppercut.   He has all the tools to still be a monster without the illegal stuff.   He just need time to get used to it.

He also definitely needs to improve his defense,  but I'm sure Mark Ramsey is working on this hard.

 

You know, this performance against the VERY tough and underrated  (and several times robbed in the past) Takam may work in Big Mak's favor, and not just as an excellent wake up call:   The top HW's right now may look at that fight and decide that Mak is not the threat they used to think,  and so he may get some high level fights with guys that would otherwise have avoided him.

 

Those other guys might end up very sorry in the end.

 

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On 9/18/2022 at 3:41 PM, WelshDevilRob said:

After that, Makhmudov didn't look the monster he's been built up to be. Consider that Joshua got Takam out of there 5 years ago, a much better version of the Cameroonian. Old Dereck Chisora did Takam in 8, a cracking fight. Helluva KO! In his last fight, Joe Joyce got the stoppage in 6.

The big Russian reminded me of David Price, at times. But, 10-rounds will have done him good.

 

Mostly valid points, but  the Joyce stoppage was complete BS,  and I had Takam easily winning the fight before that round.

 

Also,  look at Takam's body in the Makhmudov fight:  He looks a bit larger, or just more ripped. (even just vs the Joyce fight,  let alone vs AJ.

I think that with every fight,  Takam has been upping those high tech PEDs he's obviously taking, so maybe Big Mak faced the best Takam ever.

 

Or maybe Mak isn't what we had hoped.   I'd say it's 50 / 50.

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 - Cable, this may be a first, but I think you are on this.

Been thinking the same, but keep in mind that I have the kind of physiology that I have proven as an advanced age male, I could gain 15% from my already in good shape bodyweight inside 3 months with a heavy lifting rotating schedule and a single portion of extra meat daily from normal. I never diet, but felt like this was the best way for my study.

Thus I'm not inclined to jump on the everyone's doing it bandwagon without better info.

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On 9/21/2022 at 12:44 AM, Cableaddict said:

 

Mostly valid points, but  the Joyce stoppage was complete BS,  and I had Takam easily winning the fight before that round.

 

Also,  look at Takam's body in the Makhmudov fight:  He looks a bit larger, or just more ripped. (even just vs the Joyce fight,  let alone vs AJ.

I think that with every fight,  Takam has been upping those high tech PEDs he's obviously taking, so maybe Big Mak faced the best Takam ever.

 

Or maybe Mak isn't what we had hoped.   I'd say it's 50 / 50.

I see what you mean. Takam has steadily been getting heavier. But, he's 41 now - it ain't easy to shift weight, the older you get. With age you get weaker, so maybe, he's working harder on the weights.

With PEDS, in Heavyweights, it's the old, flabby ones that seem to get caught. They need the help training. Takam just might be a beast of a trainer, with good genes. His punch resistance will go regardless.

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