Korobov is a great shout Went on a five year unbeaten run in the amateurs winning gold at the World Amateur Championships in 2005 and 2007 and European gold in 2006. He won the Russian nationals in 2003 and 2004, beating the 2000 Olympic gold medalist Gaydarbek Gaydarbekov in them IIRC but the national squad selection committee decided to send Gaydarbekov to the 2004 Olympics instead. Gaydarbekov won silver losing by 2 points in the final. From 2004-2008 among many others Korobov beat Usyk, Kovalev, Badou Jack twice, Danny Jacobs, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Ismail Sillakh, Carlos Gongora, Bakhtiyar Artayev, Alfonso Blanco, Dmitrii and Fedor Chudinov, Emilio Correa, Yordanis Despaigne, Elshod Rasulov, Mohamed Hikal, Darren Sutherland, Jarrod Fletcher etc. The scary thing is he stopped most of them on the outscored rule: Jack, Derevyanchenko, Jacobs, Usyk (not 100% sue about that), Gongora, Fedor Chudinov, Sillakh, Sutherland, Fletcher were all stopped on the outscored rule. People won't recognize some of those names but they were top amateurs and they beat a lot of fellow top amateurs and future pro world champions and top contenders. But at the 2008 Olympics he lost 7-10 to 2004 Olympic welterweight gold medalist Bakhtiyar Artayev before the medal stages. In the pros Korobov was beating Andy Lee handily in their vacant WBO MW title fight before getting clipped by Lee's extremely potent pet right hook during an exchange which wobbled him badly. Lee immediately pounced on him and the ref waved it off after Lee unloaded a 15 punch barrage on him even though Korobov was still standing. Korobov has been hurt badly a few times but he's never been down and had he taken a knee and allowed his head to clear he might have survived. After that, through no fault of his own, he didn't fight anyone with a pulse for the next four years and couldn't catch a break anywhere. He finally caught the break he's been waiting so patiently for after Willie Monroe Jr. failed a drug test: A shot at Jermallo's world title on about a weeks notice. Korobov had only fought once in the previous 25 months, a six rounder against a tomato can who was like 2-11 in their last 13 fights IIRC and been training to fight another tomato can in an 8 rounder on Jermallo's undercard who was 1-4 in their last 5 fights. Most feel Korobov was robbed against Jermallo and I would be one of them. But then in Korobov's next fight he got robbed again against Aleem in a fight he clearly won. And in his next fight after that one he was lighting Eubank Jr. up and hitting him at will in the first round with that southpaw backhand of his. He couldn't miss with it and the skill and class gap between them was plain to see but then bad luck struck yet again when he suffered a freak shoulder injury in round 2 and had to pull out. And then in his next fight, again one he was dominating prior to the finish, he suffered his second successive freak injury in a row, this time to his Achilles. He lost four fights on the spin despite none of them being legitimate losses.
My memory is probably hazy but I thought pirog picked up a strap when he beat Jacobs? It still pains me that Ggg Vs pirog never happened die to his retirement from back injury..on paper that was a great fight
Fought an absolute murderers row for titles...it's funny to hear him say Salvador Sanchez is overrated as most people say the sun shine out of his ass lol
Ohh yeah and thanks to Pirog that he was honest. They usually check head, eyes and reflexes, cardio not spinal column and legs. So we might had get this fight if Pirog had huge intent just to collect big paycheck. A lot fighters fights with short camps, in not best shape if they are offered good $ and later just pulls out excuses. Pirog was not like these. I even suspect that Pirog vs then not too old GGG had been at least not less watchable than Beterbiev vs Gvozdyk fight, most likely even more entertaining fight to see.
Lucas Matthysse. He lost by Garcia 'cause a eye problem. He fractured his orbital bone in the pistol match. He was robbed against Judah and Alexander.
Ken Norton and Ron Lyle. For Ron Lyle, he was just in the wrong era, could've been champion imo. For Kenny Norton, my man got all the bad sides of the big fights maybe besides the fight with Jimmy Young (who in a similar case to Ron Lyle also had champ potential).
gerry cooney comes to mind. jerry quarry too. both could have been champions. cooney in the early 80s and quarry of course against ali.
