Damian Knyba vs Top 15 HWs today

I'm excited to find out

After the Kabayel fight I became a fan

 

The highest ranked guys I think he'd beat I think are..shot Joshua, Hysa, Okolie, Riakporhe, Jalolov, Hunter, Yoka

 

There isn't a consensus "top 15" at the moment. More like a top 30 of guys that are all in some people's top 15. As of now Knyba strikes me as guy who will be ranked 9th or 10th for a very long time. He could be more than that but based on what we've seen that's where I think he is.

I would agree he likely beats Gassiev. But Otto Wallin beat Gassiev. There's a lot of HW's with a good chance of beating Gassiev. As many as 40.

 

The HW division just looks like a mess, outside Usyk....none of them are untouchable. 90% of them are old and washed. The prospects many believed were the next greats.......aren't. Itauma got flattened, Torrez Jr got flattened and Jarrell Anderson got flattened. Jalolov

Wilder Fury AJ Ruiz Miller are all washed.

I mean the governing bodies are actually having to include guys like Riakporhe and Rico ffs....might even see Jake Paul in there before long.

 

The sport is in its death throes.

 

I noticed him just a little before. I have a couple of posts about him in the heavyweight thread. I am glad he is doing so well

 

Lol. There is no evidence of this.

 

Kabayel resume keeps getting better and better with time

 

Top 15 or not, i want to see him KO Nelson Hysa

 

It might be a question of style matchup.
I can imagine him beating hrgovic, but I am reasonably sure he loses against Itauma for example.

Hrgovic is slow and has limited workrate and power. If he doesn't ko knyba he might lose. Of course he is more variable than knyba, but he has to do a good job outboxing him.

Itauma on the other hand is super quick and deceptive and I don't think knyba can take too much punishment and Itauma would have a field day with him and stop him in a few rounds. Just because he would land constantly.

I like how knyba is on his toes for longer than you would ecpect him to with his size and weight.

 

His loss against Kabayel was a robbery, he won both rounds and when Kabayel had just slight control they called the fight.
If the Hrgo Itauma fight would have had the same ref Itauma would have won by TKO early

 

Let me go based on BoxRec's top 15 (excluding Usyk because he's basically retired). The Boxrec list is crazy flawed, but it's one of the few places that gives a top 15 and isn't a sanctioning body:

Daniel Dubois: I think Dubois can struggle for the first couple rounds, but once he gets into a groove, Knyba is in trouble.

Agit Kabayel: We've seen this one. Yes, the stoppage was too early, but it was clear Knyba would have gotten out of there soon anyway.

Murat Gassiev: Gassiev loses this if he fights his normal tentative counter punching style because he won't touch Knyba. If he gets on the front foot, his feet are too slow to give Knyba problems. Knyba by decision or KO.

Anthony Joshua: Apparently these two spar, so that could certainly affect the matchup. But I struggle to make AJ the favorite in any fight because of that chin he showcased against Prenga. Knyba does need to be more aggressive to do his best against AJ, but if he lands that right hand he landed on Ruiz, AJ will be flat on his back. Knyba by KO.

Tyson Fury: Fury is currently bad, and I think that fight with Wach puts into question whether he can beat any fighter with a pulse and a brain (sorry, Makhmudov). I think this would be a close fight, but I would edge Knyba based on the simple fact that Knyba has some power in his hands, and that would certainly equalize the lack of offensive variance against Fury.

Filip Hrgovic: I take Hrgovic by decision. He'll outwork and outbox him for most of the fight.

Lawrence Okolie: I don't know if Okolie looks good without PEDs. I will give Kynba this win.

Fabio Wardley: Wardley is going to have some trouble due to his lack of boxing skills, but his killer instinct will be too much for Knyba, who doesn't have the best recovery.

Richard Riakporhe: I think Riakporhe has some good pressure fighting skills, and I think he can beat the giant to a decision. But we haven't seen him enough against good competition at heavyweight for me to make that statement with any confidence.

Frank Sanchez: I almost see this fight the same way as the Ajagba fight, but I think Knyba would do better than Ajagba and possibly be up in the fight until Sanchez eventually counters Knyba and really hurts him. Sanchez by KO.

Efe Ajagba: Jab battle! I think Ajagba is the more well-rounded fighter, but he has significantly worse feet. However, he has a similar reach to Knyba, which basically mitigates the distance problem. He does have a better chin, though, and he's more experienced than Ajagba. Ajagba by decision.

Joseph Parker: I think Parker is going to win quite comfortably if he loses weight.

Artem Suslenkov: Quite a basic fighter. He only really beat Joyce because Joyce didn't have the stamina, was overweight, and had been out of the ring for over a year. Knyba keeps him on the outside with his jab.

Nelson Hysa: I said this before, but Knyba is everything Hysa is marketed as: a tall guy with a good jab, good feet, and a killer right hand. Hysa's terrible defense ends with a Knyba KO.

So in total, I have him beating Gassiev, Joshua, Fury, Okolie, Suslenkov, and Hysa.

 

He might have recovered. It's a world title fight and early stoppages really sour the moment. Not the most likely outcome but Knyba and the fans were deprived by the ref.