HUGE undercard for Lebedev vs. Toney on Friday, November 4th!!!

@ the Ice Palace in Moscow:

8 rounders:

Wayne Braithwaite vs. Ali Ismailov - CW (close to 50-50 match-up between third-tier cruisers. The winner could get their fingertips on a handhold of the second tier and perhaps pull themselves up toward fringe contention. Braithwaite has been very inactive, fighting twice in three years. His best win - and last good one - was in March '08 over a green & stupid Hernandez. Ismailov, a two-time Olympian, has been much busier - fighting four times in the last year...but getting stopped every time. :!: His last decent win and arguably his own best was a destruction of Hungarian journeyman and blown-up middleweight Jozsef Nagy last September. This one is really a question of whether Braithwaite will score a knockout or Ismailov will win a decision. Anything else would be a mild shock.)

Igor Mikhalkin vs. Sergey Ekimov - LHW (I honestly don't know anything about this. :conf Mikhalkin has faced the better competition by far, in both quantity and quality having been in with a few decent names and lost only once. We'll see if he can pop the cherry of his novice countryman who's the same age and same height.)

10 rounders:

Sherman Williams vs. TBA - HW (Admittedly, not exactly the highlight of the card. That's really no matter who TBA winds up being - unless it's a rematch with Holyfield, since William almost scored an unthinkable upset over the Real Deal back in January. He hasn't fought since, and hasn't picked up an official win since 2008. Don't expect anyone good to fill in the TBA slot - and if it's someone even remotely good expect Williams to lose. Again - unless it's Holyfield. It won't be. :yep)

Viacheslav Glazkov vs. Sam Peter - HW (Gigantic step up for Glazkov in his tenth pro bout. Even with Peter being "done" and coming off back to back KO losses, this is still extends a run of incredibly bold match-making for a prospect so early in his development...some of the boldest you'll ever see these days. Is the Peter of 2011 a step up from the Bakhtov of 2011? I don't know...but it's still a very dangerous assignment for someone with only 31 rounds logged. Glazkov still makes some amateurish errors and is a bit of a sucker for right hands. Peter may well be shot, but power is the last thing to go and he has always been able to BOOM. Could Glazkov be "who nex"? Neither has a great gas tank, so it could be a late stoppage either way...late enough to shy away from any under 7.5 round bets...)

Ismayl Sillakh vs. Maxim Vlasov - LHW (Vlasov is a a replacement for Chris Henry by way of Isaac Chilemba - pretty good replacement, tbh. Sillakh would have been the favorite against all three opponents, but none constitutes a soft touch and are all much-needed big steps up for the extremely talented kid who's been looking a bit complacent of late...)

12 rounders:

Alexander Bakhtin vs. Leon Moore - SBW (The skilled but pillow-packing Bakhtin is coming off a ho-hum session at the archery range against once-serviceable journeyman Jose Angel Beranza, who is now badly deteriorated, slow, and trigger-shy. Moore, a well-traveled Guyanan southpaw, hasn't had any meaningful time in the ring since 2009 when he widely outpointed Mauricio Pastrana - a guy who like Beranza was once serious business but has been defeated by seemingly everyone under the sun in the lower weight classes in the several years since Rafael Marquez ruined him...even shot-to-hell Johnny Tapia just a few months ago...)

Denis Lebedev vs. James Toney - CW (What can really be said? Toney has forgotten more about boxing than Lebedev will ever know, and with hand speed not being among Denis' key assets the notoriously slick-in-the-pocket legend could have an easy time making the hometown hero miss and look mighty stupid in front of up to 14,000 of his comrades. Besides - even if Lebedev gets something big past that defense thanks to James' eroding reflexes or his own patience, Toney has that ATG chin...right? Maybe. There have been disturbing signs that it could be not so great anymore, and a weight cut equivalent to about two full grown healthy adult pit bulls won't help.)




So, pretty damn good card. The kicker? It's in god damn RUSSIA on a god damn FRIDAY. :twisted:

If any of you haven't tried to tune in to a Russian boxing card before - bad news. They start at about noon EST/5pm UK and finish by 3:30pmEST/8:30 UK. Horribly inconvenient on a weekday for those working normal schedules.

I'm going to have to miss the entire damn thing. :| (still in my 90 day probationary period at the new job and therefore no sick time accrued yet, otherwise it would almost be worth taking the whole day off to stay home and watch an afternoon of boxing halfway around the world on my computer).

 

It genuinely warms my heart you American guy appreciates our Comrades from the East.:good

Cold Wind is blowing from the East.

 

Lebedev is a 1/10 favorite! :shock:

No value at all there. I guess Toney couldn't sway the bookies into believing he's got enough left to boil down and make this competitive.

 

I could see Toney beating Lebedev. There were times in his fight with Jones that it looked like he was close to getting stopped.

 

I appreciate the sweet science, wherever it can be found. :good

It's a shame the organizers couldn't have made this on a Saturday for the convenience of those of us in he West, like recent past big events held over there (Pirog-Maciel & Lebedev-Jones).

 

great card im curious to see if Sam Peter can maybe turn his career back around yet again

 

West Coast time for these bouts?

 

There seem to be many believers here already (I'm not one of them) :think

 

Thanks for the preview IB! I'm hoping to catch the main event if not the full card, I heard a rumour it was going to be on Boxnation over here in the UK can anyone corroborate?

 

Probably from 9am to about 12:30pm.

 

I'll probably watch the Toney fight and keep an ear out for the Black Russian and Sam Peter. Don't really know the other guys or care.

 

I was really looking forward to this one before I knew who was fighting on the undercard. I had no idea Sillakh and Peter were fighting, so that makes this even better. Sillakh being a promising up-and-comer and Peter having fallen so far that he's involved in a toss-up against a guy with eight fights.

Awesome write-up IB.

 

Glasskov is being brought in as an opponent for the Sam Peters come back trail. Sam is gonna get in shape and Ko Helenius.

 

I think it's more that Peter is the opponent here...

 

If Peter loses here he can retire!