Two great technicians going on it, Yuri moves up after he struggled making weight and there's Sot waiting,who wins?
Terrific match up. It's a very close fight that can go either way. Chitalada is perhaps more gifted athletically with the quicker footwork and lethal jab while Yuri was the better technician with the better punching power. Both at their best I'll favor Arbachakov slightly.
Arbachakov was only really sharp against Kittikasem both times before his hands started playing up and he dropped off a bit physically and mentally. As early as the Zamudio and Nam Hoon-Cha defences he'd become low workrate and overly methodical fighting within himself. He was forced out of his comfort zone and run close by several fighters worse than Chitalada. He was probably the more complete and technical fighter overall but it isn't hard to see him hovering about on the end of Sots jab spending too much time pawing with his own and not punching enough. Chitalada could be flat himself though because of being weight drained over the later part of his title run.
