Alexander Zolkin?

Tony Tubbs outboxed zolkin easily. He gave Riddick bowe the fight of his life. shows you just how good mike tyson was in his prime seeing what he did to tubbs.

I defintley agree with you though, he was the "precursor to the giant European heavyweights" that would follow up

 

Zolkin was around before Golota. While he was big, he was not a strong puncher. I would say he was lighting fast either. Better than average speed.


Zolkin had a stereotypical amateur style, and lacked versatility in his game on offense or defense. A top 15-25 type of talent. I think Golota at his best was a bit better, though you could argue Zolkin beat better fighters. The same people who managed Buster Douglas managed Zolkin. He was on ESPN a few times.

 

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG, and did I say WRONG????

I saw that fight live on USA cable network in 1993, and frankly I think that Zolkin was at least worthy of a draw. One of my best friends and his father were watching the fight with me. My friend's dad was a very knowledgable boxing fan who actually thought Tubbs had boxed terribly, and that Zolkin had won. Tubbs was so sluggish in that fight, and Zolkin ( a novice ), was far more active and accurate.

I will also ad, that this fight is not available on youtube, and given the age perameters that you have advertized in the past, you were all but 5 years old??

Therefore, I doubt you've seen this fight, and given that it's a rather obscure topic, I doubt you've heard many posters discuss it either. No........You saw a boxrec result, and figured that an established fighter easily outboxed an unknown......

 

Zolkin definitely deserved his victory over Tubbs in the rematch. He totally outworked Tubbs. If anything, the scorecards should have been unanimous, and not split.

 

It's been nearly 15 years or more since I've seen him fight, but I remember him as being a rather aggressive starter, and a fighter with very well developed amateur skills with good endurance. Not much of a finisher from what little I saw of him, but certainly someone with potential that was obviously never fully developed...

 

Zolkin was fine but predictable in a way that required excellent power which he did not possess.

 

I didn't see the fight, but I have heard pretty much what you describe. The first bout was anything but a clean Tubbs win. Many people flooded USA cable network with telephone calls afterwards complaining about the Tubbs victory.

Russell: I saw Zolkin fight many times. He was basically a slow-footed, mechanical, stand-up European fighter with good technical skill and a fair degree of talent. He could best be described as a boxer/puncher. He had fairly fast hands, but he lacked serious power. Zolkin's drawback was that he was predictable and fairly easy to hit.

The upside to Zolkin is that he put his combinations together very well, he could take an excellent punch, and he used his southpaw posture and big physical size (6'5", 245lbs.) very well. Zolkin definitely had a lot of guts.

In terms of where Zolkin rated ability-wise relative to his peers, I'd say that he was anywhere from 10th to 20th best in the world.

Zolkin was unlucky toward the end of his career. First, he was slated to face Riddick Bowe in 1996 for the title, but HBO nixed the fight because they didn't think Zolkin was enough of a draw with fight fans. Bowe instead fought Andrew Golota and was clobbered due to being totally out of shape. If Zolkin had been facing Bowe that night, I think Zolkin might very well have won.

Also, when Zolkin stepped into the ring to face Henry Akinwande in 1996, he had been inactive for 14 months prior. Zolkin was out of the ring due to promotional problems and the fact that he needed to recover from a terrible cut eye suffered in training. Thus, he may not have been at his best against Akinwande.

For the record, I believe the referee stopped the Akinwande fight prematurely. The official reason was Zolkin's cut eye, but the cut wasn't bleeding too, too badly, and Zolkin was pressuring Akinwande when the stoppage came. With only two more rounds to go (it was the tenth round), Zolkin should have been allowed to finish on his feet.

 

Great post.. Thanks for the refresher on Zolkin. Yeah, that Tubbs fight was a robbery, or certainly close enough to qualify as one...

 

I have seen the fight. I stand by my opinion a well past his prime sluggish tubbs still managed to clearly win the fight.


Tip: I wouldn't make try to make fun of my age if I were you, trying to personally attack me like that, because judging by your photos in the other thread and your wife, I could make things pretty pretty personal. and you do not want me to go there. but since I am so close to shipping out to Navy SEAL school I won't. lets leave it at that.

 

You certainly aren't giving me any reason to believe that you've seen that match, and frankly I think you're just afraid to reverse yourself. But, if you choose to " stand by your opinion", or so to speak, then have it your way.

I had originally posted an appology as part of response, but have since edited it, as I feel that one is not warranted here. I wasn't " making fun of your age. " I was simply pointing out that you were likely too young to have seen or remember the match, and I really don't see how my comment warranted your making the implied necessesity to personally attack my family.