I’m not down on Yuri Arbachakov or anything but if I had a hall of fame he wouldn’t be in it I don’t think. The IBHOF has many fighters who aren’t “great” but it’s just not to please we sort of fans. I think the hall of legends here will be a much more classically approved sort of collection of boxers.
Considering the guys that got inducted (Froch, Bradley), he should be in 100%. He is above those. But do they have any russian voting in there ?
Would you base it on personal standards or the standards of the IBHOF? Not being a smart ass just asking.
It's a combination of ignorance around the lower divisions and eastern fighters (yes, he was Russian, but fought in Japan), and the fact that he's a borderline case, even if you watched his career, as I did. He also fought in an era where he was dwarfed in popularity stateside by Carbajal, Gonzalez, Johnson, and probably Lopez. He didn't beat enough really good fighters to make himself a shoo-in, nor did he settle matters with Johnson to make apparent he was the king. On the flip side, he's the first post-Soviet Champion, he had 9 title defenses, did so in a traditional division, and he was as sharp as a tac technically. It shouldn't be lost on how important the first achievement is, given how many good fighters we have had from the former Eastern Bloc since. I also believe that if injuries hadn't hampered him, he would have had 10+ defenses. I mean, he lost his belt to a man he had already beaten... I will say that I saw Calderon's career in full, as well, and I was more impressed with Arbachakov.
