2015 World Amateur Championships - Afterthoughts

Hey everyone.

What did you all think?

It was a year of upsets, not just during the championships but before, too.

We didn't see Nikitin, Aloyan, Ramirez (who has fallen off since achieving his dream of Olympic Gold), Chebotarev, Mytrofanov, (Alimkhanuly out very early) and so many others..

We saw relatively unknowns like Argilagos take Gold. The landscape looked different from 2013. I actually think there was a better display of skill and just better talents in 2013.

Julio Cesar La Cruz shone in the final and has cemented himself as one of Cuba's greats with 3 consecutive World Golds. Absolutely astonishing. He had a tough route to victory, too. He schooled Joe Ward, it was quite simply a schooling tbh.

Mohammed Rabii has emerged as a top boxer over the last couple of years. In WSB, he beat Roniel Iglesias and is undefeated there, and he really did school our boy Yeleussinov in the final. Both are young and will yet show great promise.

Akhmadaliev's level of activity was insane lol but Conlan showed that he can really fight as well as box a smart fight. Conlan has so much potential (yeah he was knocked down but it wasn't that was really based on balance and secondarily positioning, rather than chin).

Arlen Lopez looked like a seasoned pro. So patient, picking his shots so well, no wastage. Like Rabii, he really has come into his own over the last couple of years. Melikuziev will learn a lot, he is great at steamrolling but this will turn up Bektimir's game I hope.

I have to say it, sorry not sorry, but Lomachenko's resume is looking even better now.
Gaibnazarov is now a World Silver (we knew a more pro-like scoring would benefit this guy), Conceciao = Silver, Bronze, Toledo = Silver x2, Bronze x2, Selimov = World Gold, Silver, Bronze.

Lazaro Alvarez vs Selimov was a dissappointment, stopped on a cut, come on..Selimov is in the final and he's like 28 or something, not 16.

The super heavyweight landscape atsch Dychko is very overrated. Mehdizov's knockout has made him even more gunshy. Tony Yoka won world Gold everybody lol. Joyce is laughably slow.

Eastern Europe and Asian countries are churning out some good pressure fighters, however they need to start learning how to manipulate their opponent rather than just going for the status quo fight. I get the feeling I'm not getting a championship level chess match from these guys, I'm getting a regional championship chess match.

 

That is quite a resume. Yoka used his speed and athleticism intelligently. Beating Hrgovic especially was a good feat.

La Cruz is definitely P4P no.1 despite his balance being off at times and getting knocked down on pretty big shots as a result. He actually has a good chin lol doesn't exactly fit into the Cuban glass stereotype.

 

For Cuban boxers, the Olympic gold medal usually means everything to them. Robeisy since then has become very sloppy, he doesn't seem to push into his reserves in terms of effort and intelligence anymore. He has all the tools to make for a future star but I guess he can't be bothered anymore. Each to their own. He loses domestic championships too now lol. If somehow he becomes possessed by work ethic and has the burning desire to be the best again, he'll be back. The Robeisy Ramirez Rises.

 

They are exciting fighters and they're young. Melikuziev is only like 19.

 

Impressive counter punching and reflexes by Rabii, at close range. Catching Daniyar at the right times.

 

Brought up in France for 7 years, I couldn't help but to support Tony, especially with him being the underdog.
Unfortunately I don't see Yoka being a massive success though in the pros. I've never seen Joyce this big.

This is the one thing I didn't like about these championships, they're pushing their gas tanks so hard in such a short period of time, they're shunning strategy as a result. Akhmadaliev is a great example of this type of point-scoring. These guys are not going to have primes as lengthly as the former amateur crop.