Oleksandr Oleksandrovych "The Poltava Predator" Khyzhniak

Hope he turns pro and gets a fair shake.

 

Khyzhniak is phenomenal fighter who won every meaningful title in amateur boxing. In Paris, he had to dig very deep, as all of his opponents were world class, including two-time Olympic Gold medalist Arlen Lopez and world champion Nurbek Oralbay. In fact, most of them have better 'classic' skills than Khyzhniak, but his pressure, will to win and unbelievable engine and stamina made him an unstoppable force.

As for pro game, Khyzhniak has to adjust his style to keep energy for the late rounds. A have no doubts he destroys any D and C level opponents fairly quickly but against tricky and durable seasoned gatekeepers and fringe contenders he may find himself in a long fight. And that's where we will see if Khyzhniak can pace himself through 10 or 12 rounds if he needs to.

 

I don't think he would be all that successful as a pro.

 

And why’s that?

 

I reckon his style, physical attributes and age don’t lend to longevity. I think he could obviously be moved along very quickly but he is a proven sprinter , not necessarily a stayer.

He is probably going to be more of an attrition type of fighter leaving more opportunities for him to run into something big and have the fight turned on its head. A lot of miles on the clock already with an aggressive style and he spent significant time fighting guys above his natural weight in the am’s.

 

I read on a Ukrainian website many months ago, the Ukrainian team coach saying that he was staying amateur and going for a third medal at the next Olympics. Disapppointing.

Bull****.

 

Thank you for your insight.

 

I'm on board if he's turned Pro. Hard as nails. Brilliant pressure fighter hopefully can translate to the Pros.

29 though. Time is not on his side

 

He is an excellent amateur but I reckon he'd have similar issues as the last top-tier amateur Ukrainian middleweight to turn pro, Ievgen Khytrov (who also was a technical pressure fighter). Monstrous fighter but that style is difficult to keep up once you've had such a long amateur career. Khytrov suffered from horrendous matchmaking + horrible luck in his pro career, but he could have easily become a world champion if he was developed the right way. Same thing with Derevyanchenko.

Since his chin has been cracked on the biggest stage before already, who knows what will happen with pro gloves against the best counterpunchers at middleweight. Can definitely see him becoming a world champion (or even unify or become a multi-weight champ) but it'll be hard for him to crack the P4P list given that he's turning pro this late.

 

Ievgen Khytrov is one of the great 'what if's?' for me. It's a shame he didn't get a fair run at it. I don't know who's fault that was but it's a shame either way.

 

Very good evaluation. Unless he jumped in very deep, very early in his pro career which he probably could do especially now that Turki is taking over.