Top former amateurs are expected to make it in the professional ranks. We see it so often than we almost take it for granted that World Amateur Champions and Olympic champions will, one day, win professional world titles.
Of course things don't always go the way we expect. Audley Harrison is a great example of a former amateur who failed to reach the expected heights as a professional, Yan Barthelemi is another and this weekend we saw Alexander Alekseev (24-3-1, 20) joining that list of high profile "flops".
Alekseev, a Russian who was a repeated medal winner in the unpaid ranks, took on Cuba's enigmatic Yoan Pablo Hernandez (28-1, 14) for the IBF Cruiserweight title that Hernandez was defending for the third time. Funnily despite Hernandez not looking like a champion at times he was in total control of Alekseev who looked out of his depth and fragile through out.
The fight started with Alekseev using his jab well, unfortunately that was all he seemed to have, a sharp jab. Hernandez walked through them whilst landing his own much more eye catching shots to both head and body. Despite Alekseev throwing a lot, it took just one punch, late in the round, to decide the rounds winner as Alekseev was sent to the canvas for the first time in the bout.
Although Alekseev was able to get up from the knockdown it was obvious that he wasn't able to take the full blooded shots that Hernandez was able to land. Hernandez, whilst not having the record of a puncher, does hit hard and Alekseev found that out the hard way.
Through rounds 2,3 and 4 the power of Hernandez wasn't landing cleanly enough to send Alekseev over again though in round 5 the champion managed to connect again with a bomb which really seemed to not just Alekseev but really shake him. Hernandez did go for the finish but his lack of finishing skills were shown up as Alekseev saw out the bell.
Having gotten himself well in to the lead Hernandez then began to fall asleep at times. The Cuban, whose talent is obvious, seemed happy to know that he could land a bomb at any time and relied on this mentally as he took rounds off, fought in very short bursts and relaxed.
By round 10 to appeared that Hernandez had began to be clawed back. He was still in the lead but Alekseev was beginning to make things interesting just due to the fact Hernandez was being that lazy. Suddenly however things were over, a single right hand sent Alekseev down for the third time in the bout and this time the referee stopped the fight, a right decision looking at Alekseev who was in no fit state to continue even if he had gotten back to his feet.
Hernandez, who is regarded by some as the top Cruiserweight in the world, won here comfortably in all honesty but again left me feeling like he's not that good. Physically he has it all, speed, timing, power, size but mentally there is something not there and his finishing seems awful. He has the power to put people away with single shots but if he's forced to take it to a standing opponent out he seems to lack the ability to connect cleanly. A big issue if he faces someone like Lebedev, Huck, Jones, Afolabi or even Drozd.
For Alekseev this is probably the end of his world title dreams. He's been shown, once again, to lack a world class chin and he's also shown that he lacks the skills needed to avoid being tagged on the chin. A shame given his amateur credentials but at the end of the day it is a flaw that he's failed to find a way to defend.
Showing posts with label Yoan Pablo Hernandez. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yoan Pablo Hernandez. Show all posts
Sunday, 24 November 2013
Saturday, 15 September 2012
Yoan Pablo Hernandez v Troy Ross
German based Cuba Yoan Pablo Hernandez (27-1, 13) successfully defended his IBF Cruiserweight title despite being given a really torrid time by Canadian challenger Troy Ross (25-3, 16) in a thoroughly entertaining bout that really left more questions than answers about Hernandez.
The bout started well for Hernandez who managed to keep Ross at range in the opening round but the challenger swiftly grew into the bout and after a competitive second round seemed to steal the third. Despite being the much taller, and longer man Hernandez was stupidly fighting Ross' fight and getting involved in a tear up.
Ross found his best success in round 5 a round that he completely dominated not only dropping Hernandez but having the Cuban holding on for dear life. Hernandez seemed almost ready to be finished but showed incredible heart to survive the round and despite not looking great in round 6 he did manage to regain his legs by the end of it.
After regaining his legs Hernandez managed to start to actually show his ability and easily out boxed Ross in rounds 7 and 8 by controlling the distance, using his legs and jab to keep Ross at a safety distance. It appeared that Hernandez was going to manage to do what he was expected to do and actually control the bout with his excellent boxing ability.
Sadly for Hernandez, Ross had different ideas and by the end of round 9 both men were wildly flinging leather at each other looking for the knockout. Whilst both guys were rocked and Hernandez arguably took the round it appeared as if the fight was turning back in the way of Ross who was much more suited to the all action style of a brawl. Luckily for Hernandez the follow up round was a much slower paced one with both guys catching their breath as very little of note was landed.
In the final two rounds a very tired looking Hernandez did very, very little and almost gave the rounds away to the busier Ross. Despite giving away the final 2 rounds it was a close fight overall. Sadly for Ross he was fighting and Germany and this was probably the telling factor with Hernandez taking a close unanimous decision (114-113, 115-112, 116-112).
Whilst the fight was genuinely excellent and ebbed wonderfully, despite a number of quiet rounds, their will be numerous complaints aimed at British broadcaster Boxnation who managed to missed a sizable chunk of the 12th round as their broadcast randomly cut to adverts. Despite this we didn't miss anything too important to the result.
For Hernandez this bout really did leave a lot of question marks. Just how physically tough is Hernandez? He seemed to be wobbled repeatedly by Ross, and it's hard to imagine that Marco Huck wouldn't have gone after a hurt Huck at the start of round 12. We know he's been stopped before, and down numerous times, but is Hernandez killing himself to make 200lbs? He's a giant at 6'4" and may do better at Heavyweight with his punch resistance hopefully shored up. A mooted bout with Huck, as Boxnation were talking about, would be a seriously painful night for the Cuban.
For Troy Ross he may be able to talk himself into a rematch, claiming he was robbed, though in all honesty it was a close bout, if he doesn't manage to bag a rematch however he'll likely be questioning his future in the sport. With his age (37) he may struggle to get another big fight like this. If he can get a fight with Huck (instead of Hernandez getting the bout) then that will be one that the fans would love, however if that doesn't happen Ross may well end up bowing out with his head held high.
The bout started well for Hernandez who managed to keep Ross at range in the opening round but the challenger swiftly grew into the bout and after a competitive second round seemed to steal the third. Despite being the much taller, and longer man Hernandez was stupidly fighting Ross' fight and getting involved in a tear up.
Ross found his best success in round 5 a round that he completely dominated not only dropping Hernandez but having the Cuban holding on for dear life. Hernandez seemed almost ready to be finished but showed incredible heart to survive the round and despite not looking great in round 6 he did manage to regain his legs by the end of it.
After regaining his legs Hernandez managed to start to actually show his ability and easily out boxed Ross in rounds 7 and 8 by controlling the distance, using his legs and jab to keep Ross at a safety distance. It appeared that Hernandez was going to manage to do what he was expected to do and actually control the bout with his excellent boxing ability.
Sadly for Hernandez, Ross had different ideas and by the end of round 9 both men were wildly flinging leather at each other looking for the knockout. Whilst both guys were rocked and Hernandez arguably took the round it appeared as if the fight was turning back in the way of Ross who was much more suited to the all action style of a brawl. Luckily for Hernandez the follow up round was a much slower paced one with both guys catching their breath as very little of note was landed.
In the final two rounds a very tired looking Hernandez did very, very little and almost gave the rounds away to the busier Ross. Despite giving away the final 2 rounds it was a close fight overall. Sadly for Ross he was fighting and Germany and this was probably the telling factor with Hernandez taking a close unanimous decision (114-113, 115-112, 116-112).
Whilst the fight was genuinely excellent and ebbed wonderfully, despite a number of quiet rounds, their will be numerous complaints aimed at British broadcaster Boxnation who managed to missed a sizable chunk of the 12th round as their broadcast randomly cut to adverts. Despite this we didn't miss anything too important to the result.
For Hernandez this bout really did leave a lot of question marks. Just how physically tough is Hernandez? He seemed to be wobbled repeatedly by Ross, and it's hard to imagine that Marco Huck wouldn't have gone after a hurt Huck at the start of round 12. We know he's been stopped before, and down numerous times, but is Hernandez killing himself to make 200lbs? He's a giant at 6'4" and may do better at Heavyweight with his punch resistance hopefully shored up. A mooted bout with Huck, as Boxnation were talking about, would be a seriously painful night for the Cuban.
For Troy Ross he may be able to talk himself into a rematch, claiming he was robbed, though in all honesty it was a close bout, if he doesn't manage to bag a rematch however he'll likely be questioning his future in the sport. With his age (37) he may struggle to get another big fight like this. If he can get a fight with Huck (instead of Hernandez getting the bout) then that will be one that the fans would love, however if that doesn't happen Ross may well end up bowing out with his head held high.
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