Sergey Rabchenko vs. Anthony Mundine RBR

What exactly were most of us thinking falling under the "RabchenKO" mystique?

His best opponents to date were Vitu, shot old Rhodes (35 when they met), and shot old Pryce (30 and 32 in their pair of encounters).

Rhodes was undersized and worn ragged by years of tough fights on the domestic scene (and was coming off a respectable last huzzah with Khomitsky, but had been systematically destroyed by Canelo the year before), yet still gave Rabchenko difficulties. Rhodes was actually up on my card entering the 7th, with an official judge having it level and one having Rhodes still very much in the contest down only by a couple of points. Rhodes in fact had begun to clearly outbox Rabchenko over the first two minutes of the seventh, when a heavy body shot proved more than his old hide could handle. This seems to be where the Rabchenko mystique really got its wings, even though everyone's memory became very selective and focused just on the body shot KO (splashy as it was) instead of Rabchenko pretty much getting exposed as very limited all night beforehand right until that moment.

Vitu, he edged via controversial split decision. Many observers thought it a robbery. A rematch was in fact ordered and scheduled for November of 2013, with Vitu in place as Rabchenko's mandatory although everything was stacked in the champion's favor with Hatton winning the purse bid and set to promote, and the venue being in a small town in Belarus. Instead of a rematch with Vitu, however, Rabchenko made his next defense in a pointless rematch with Pryce on the intended date (in a small town in Bulgaria) when Vitu pulled out with a back injury...and despite having recovered and fought thrice in the intervening year to retain his ranking, never got his deserved second chance rescheduled, while Rabchenko vacated his Euro title and kept the WBC Silver hostage for 361 days of inactivity.

Speaking of Pryce... he fought Rabchenko on the downward slope of his career, twice, both times coming off losses. First he was coming off a UD in 8 to Colin Lynes, at which point his days as Commonwealth titlist or anything other than prospect fodder already looked well behind him. Then he went 3-4, very much falling squarely into that role of prospect fodder, a tough walking punching bag, a distance-goer, and yet somehow got a crack at the Euro & Silver belts coming off a loss (and 1-4 in his previous five). :huh Pryce, who shouldn't be troubling anyone of real quality nowadays, ran him close in the rematch - 115-112 on my card, sweeping the championship triplet. He was given a count early on from a body shot that did hurt, but he was never down.

4-0 (1) versus his three best opponents, looking really bad for stretches on all four occasions, one-gear and predictable with slow footwork and total inefficacy on the backfoot or when not first to get off - and outside that blast on Rhodes' wizened carcass, never really seemed to have anything like dynamite in his fists to have any of those foes in dire straits.


His entire reputation as some kind of killer was from body shot kayos of tomato cans.

:?


What is the matter with us, seriously?

 

Four men have worn the WBC Silver belt since its creation:

Saul Alvarez (never lost it) - current WBC #1
Vanes Martirosyan (never lost it) - current WBC #3
Sergey Rabchenko (lost it) - previously WBC #2, obviously heading down
Anthony Mundine (just got it) - previously WBC #32, obviously heading up

Curiously, of those never to have lost the belt in the ring, two are rated in the WBC top five and Mundine ought to now be taking Rabchenko's spot there along with the belt itself.


None of them are likely to fulfill the dream of landing champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (except perhaps Alvarez on financial grounds, though he is far removed from deserving a rematch and unlikely to have "earned" it on merit before Mayweather retires) - but they could have a little round-robin amongst themselves with the Silver as temporary prize and the possibility of maybe picking up the real strap if Mayweather elects to drop it? :think


How does Martirosyan vs. Mundine sound, with Canelo in wait for the advancing party?

 

Martirosyan has some very spotty performances. (Ouma, Lara, Andrade)

You don't think Choc from this morning could get in Vanes' head, frustrate him, and negate his effectiveness as Kassim, Erislandy, and Demetrius all managed to?

Alvarez is a clear favorite over both, I think - although Mundine must see something in him to be making the call-out? (maybe just dollar signs :conf)

 

:yep Wouldn't the late Mr. Steele tomb) have been a super heavyweight?

He was closer to seven foot than six, wasn't he? And not a bean pole.

 

Did you see Rabchenko vs. Mundine this morning, though?

Mundine can still box on the outside and negate aggression. He may not be as slick, athletic, or fast as Lara or Andrade but he does operate in that same mold that bothers Martirosyan.

 

Europe, actually, per Bernard Hopkins.