Oleksandr Usyk, an Olympic gold medalist, will make a pro debut on Nov.9

09/26/201309/25/2013 Ivan Ivanov

A recent press release about the pro debut of Oleksandr Usyk (not Alexander) on Nov. 9 finally alerted some journalists that the cruiserweight Olympic champion had actually turned pro. He did that right after Vasyl Lomachenko singed with Top Rank. The two are team mates and close friends and they traveled to the US together to seek a deal with a premiere promotional company. Both are Olympic champions from the Ukraine and very competent boxers whose styles would need only minor tactical adjustments for them to cross over to the paid ranks. Conditioning should not be a problem for people who run the marathon distance as a part of their road work.

Lomachenko was in high demand and he put up an auction of sorts demanding a championship fight in his debut along with the financial terms. Apparently Top Rank beat the rest to the chase and attracted the diamond in the rough to their stable. A debut for a title was a pipe dream but the rest of the requirements may have been met.

Vasyl Lomanchenko has arrived

09/22/2013 Ivan Ivanov

Lomachenko’s arrival at the LAX airport in LA a couple of days ago marked his arrival at the professional scene. He is expected make a splash with his debut as he is jumping at the deep end choosing to fight for 10 rounds in his first fight. He will fight Jose Luis Ramirez on Oct.12, 2013 on the under card of Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley.

Ramirez is ranked at featherweight and his ranking is targeted by Vasyl who plans to fight for a championship on his second fight. That is if he wins his debut and he may not need 10 rounds to do it although he needs the experience.

Floyd Mayweather vs. Saul Alvarez – strategies and conclusions

09/19/201309/18/2013 Ivan Ivanov

The hype has been dispelled by harsh realizations, the euphoria (if any) has winded down and it may be time for some conclusions. Saul Alvarez and his team must have reached several revelations while Floyd Mayweather backed up braggadocio on Sept. 14.

Floyd Mayweather imposed his ‘blueprint” from the start and needed to make only small adjustments as the fight went on. He often anticipated his opponent’s actions taking advantage of the weaknesses he and his father mentioned before the fight. He used one small halfway-back movement on top of his usual routine to dampen Alvarez’s right hand. Floyd positioned himself as his opponents expected but he did not move in the direction his opponent expected. On top of that as an additional precaution he used this unobtrusive angle maneuver which seemed to hypnotize team Alvarez and they did not address that issue. FMJ’s game consisted of performing all the basics of boxing but performing them exceptionally well. His game reminded me of the Cuban amateur style, the same feet position and wide use of all defensive dimensions while throwing long-range scoring shots. Scoring shots favor speed and endurance while power punches consume a lot of fuel. His father’s instructions were “touch him to the body”, not “hit him”.

Floyd Mayweather vs. Saul Alvarez recap

09/16/201309/15/2013 Ivan Ivanov

The judges did the right thing and agreed on a winner. It wasn’t an easy fight to score but they did not disappoint and the decision is acceptable. It should have been a UD though. Anyway, the fight was tough to score and even tougher to watch. Both fighters underperformed and they had to lure each other out of inactivity while both wanted to box on their own terms and wouldn’t fight the other guy’s fight outside their comfort zone.

There was a hot debate on a size advantage before the fight and it turned out there really was one, only it was in Floyd’s favor. He looked bigger, more muscular with longer and stronger arms. Floyd is about an inch taller and his reach is about two inches longer than Alvarez’s, but their stances and styles made Floyd’s advantage look even greater than what “the tale of the tape” suggested.

Oscar De La Hoya voluntarily misses “The One” – a bizarre publicity stunt or a necessary urgent measure?

09/12/201309/11/2013 Ivan Ivanov

Oscar De La Hoya has stolen the lime light from Floyd Mayweather and Saul Alvarez for a moment by going public with his personal demons and choosing a climatic stage of the hype to “drop his bomb”. What kind of an emergency could not wait for several days and prevented him from attending an event of such magnitude? Has he become so dysfunctional that he has to be removed from the scene as a liability to the joint venture? Was there an “intervention”?

He is the owner and founder of Golden Boy Promotions and even if he has only representative status at the company, he is hardly expendable. Even if his attendance at the Sept. 14 card is not of vital importance, his absence will be very conspicuous. The internal conflict transpires even in the press release where a public announcement calls for privacy in a vocally publicized personal dilemma.

“The One” and the political factors surrounding the showdown

09/09/201309/09/2013 Ivan Ivanov

Boxing is a sports-based show business and the sporting element very often gets sandbagged by mercurial agendas. Boxing like any other sport is an instrument of politics and as such it has its own internal politics as well. Those who know the ropes earn decently win or lose. Other very talented people who are stuck with the wrong management can waste their best years outside “the mix”.

This is not the case with Floyd Mayweather and Saul Alvarez who have achieved iconic political status and have been spared from the adverse effects of stringent judging in some instances.

“The One” will probably be elected by the judges unless they score it as a draw in which case there will be “The Two” with an ensuing second fight.

Chris Arreola retires Seth Mitchell in One of a doomed showdown

09/08/201309/08/2013 Ivan Ivanov

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) The fight ended quickly and so did heavyweight Seth Mitchell’s career as a prospect. 31 year old prospects with KO defeats on their record are not a bizarre concept nowadays. Chris Arreola deserves his encouragement for winning and if this was an eliminator of sorts, the right man advanced to the next level. I am not sure this was a boxing match though and I’ll give my grounds for doubting the obvious.

The fight started with Arreola looking to land his heavy hands on what turned out to be a stiff defenseless strongman (boxer) and Chris did so without losing his cool. The new svelte version of Chris not only tidied up his vocabulary but he cleaned up his act as well. Seth Mitchell was frozen and his upper body rigid as if he was expecting a rendezvous with the freight train. He was prepared to use his superior core strength against Arreola’s right hand.

Floyd Mayweather, Saul Alvarez and the double standards of the boxing industry

09/03/2013 Ivan Ivanov

Fight night is approaching, the tension in both camps is building up and the masks are falling. It’s time for mind games and a little psychological warfare. It will probably be a close fight most of the time and the judges scoring the points will be the main factor. This time Floyd may not benefit from the politics if it comes to that. So far he has been greatly privileged as far as point scoring is concerned. The best example of that would be his first fight with Jose Luis Castillo when Mayweather won by UD but was out landed 176:66 in the power punch department and 203:157 in total punches. Boxing isn’t about counting punches (tell that to Castillo) but when one of the boxers out-lands his opponent almost 3 to 1, questions and doubt will linger the outcome forever. Floyd was the beneficiary of a “political” decision when he was a rising prospect loaded with expectations.

Floyd Mayweather vs. Saul Alvarez – a technical comparison and forecast

08/29/2013 Ivan Ivanov

The two candidates for “The One” on Sept. 14 are the most discussed boxers at present. A technical review of some key points in their game could shift the focus away from weight loss and diet speculations, emotionally biased pro and cons with utter disrespect for one and idolizing praise for the other. Both boxers deserve respect prior to the fight and I hope both will be worthy of it after September 14.

Boxing is not an exact science and it does not “compute” well. The sweet science has very little to do with a single science at all. Game plans very often last until the first sub-concussive blow and strategies sometimes turn out to be wishful thinking. However there is a system of fundamental skills (the basics) and it will be my basis for my technical comparison.

Double Olympic Champion Vasyl Lomachenko Turns Pro at 25 years of age

08/27/201308/27/2013 Ivan Ivanov

Vasyl Lomachenko will fight Jonathan Oquendo in a 10 round featherweight bout on the undercard of Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas on October 12. If you are wondering why a newcomer is rushed into a 10 round fight on his debut instead of a four or a six rounder, it’s because of his outstanding amateur pedigree and unique skill set.

Lomachenko is a double Olympic champion, a double World champion and he boasts a record of 396-1 in the amateur ranks. He brings over 1000 quality rounds of experience and this is something money can’t buy. His style is a complete package and you have to see him in action to appreciate a power plant of skill and athleticism. To make things even bleaker for his opponents, he is also a southpaw with power in both hands.