The 1988 Olympics heavyweight bout between Riddick Bowe and Alex Miroshnichenko is n youtube.com now. We all know how good Bowe turned out to be. What amazes, me, however, is how tough Miroshnichenko is. Twice in the first round Miroshnichenko floors Bowe with powerful body shots. In the second and third, Miroshnichenko gets the worse of the action, but he stands up really well to the power shots of the swarming Bowe. Throughout the fight Miroshnichenko shows speed, durability, boxing skill, and power. It's also impressive that Miroschnichenko was big: at 6'4", 210 lbs., he is just as big as Bowe. Miroshnichenko quit pro boxing in 1993 after compiling a 21-1 record. His final fight was a stoppage loss to power-hitting Oleg Maskaev. In retrospect, I believe the Maskaev loss was a fluke. Too bad Mirshnichenko couldn't or didn't connect with a big-time American or European promoter. He would have ended up as a world champion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouEpIgdUMu4
I have always had questions about him myself. He was an impressive amateur, stood a pretty good height, and began his career with a respectable winning streak. His 21-0 record was a tad padded, but he did manage to fight and beat some of the same house hold journeyman and tomato cans that other prospects were building their records on as well. I don't know if I can see him being a world champion in the shark infested waters of the 90's though. That was an extremely competitive era, and Alex never showed that he could handle a solid opponent. Sure he may have benefitted from coming up on the American circuit with a reputable trainer/manager, but that could also have hurt him just as much as it may have helped him. Being nurtured in such an environment would also mean that he'd have to fight better opponents sooner. Losing early to a debuting Maskaev doesn't help his case much, even if the fight may well have been a fluke. Furthermore, to end his career after a single loss may have said something about his mental resolve and ability to handle a defeat, though I'm not sure what his reasons for leaving the game were.
Magoo: My guess is that Miroshnichenko's problem is that he wasn't connected to a top promoter. Fighting in the former USSR in the 1990s didn't exactly give a guy the exposure, promotionally. Still, I'm surprised Miron didn't sign with Cedric Kushner, who promoted one of his fights in Europe. I agree with your assessment that the 1990s had some monster champs, such as Lewis, Holyfield, and a comebacking Tyson. Still, I think Miroshnichenko would have an excellent chance against the lesser champs, such as Bruno, Seldon, Hide, Akinwande, and McCall. Here, Miron really shows his ability to take a punch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoDzmKtUPw8&feature=related
A good effort yes. We simply don't know how Miroshinchenko would have responded to having a different management arrangement. While I think he had some unfulfilled potential to some degree, I'm not sure that I can readily give him the benefit of the doubt against some of those guys you mentioned. Although Bruno, McCall, Akinwande and Seldon were not exactly ATG's, they were certainly more of a threat than a debuting Maskaev, or the 6-3 journeyman who fought him to a near draw in his 19th pro fight.
I agree that Mirshnicenko lacked connections and management. Sometimes a good prospect without connections and rankings is a horrible risk vs. reward to the other top prospect and ranked contenders. For those who have seen Zolkin, do you think he was better or worse than Miroshinichenko?
Zolkin seems better. Although more connected promotion wise than Miroshnichenko, Zolkin was still horribly matched. Who the hell thought it was a good idea to match him with three of the most avoided fighters in the 90s? A still lively Tubbs; Mike Bounty Hunter and Henry Akinwande. Even if he had won these matches, he would of looked terrible and got little kudos anyway. I think as well it should be noted Bowe went into the Olympics of 88 believing his own hype and putting together a terrible tournament, where he underperformed...
He was robbed against Tubbs and beat Hunter in the rematch. He also at least fought some respectable opponents like Greer, Tillis, Jerry Jones and a few others. Miroshnichenko fought nobody. Did he have potential? My answer is probably. But, unfulfilled potential is a speculative thing. Sometimes what we see from a guy is really all he has.
I'm talking about how Miroshnichenko would have fared with more seasoning, and the right kind of development athletically. Basically, I'm rating him on the potential he exhibited, and not on the basis of his ability level when he faced Maskaev in 1993. Two years with a top Western coach might have brought out a lot more in Miron. Even after 21 pro fights, I think Miroshnichenko must have been a neophyte as a pro. He hadn't yet had the seasoning he would have gotten in Western rings. Keep in mind that Miron fought Maskaev with a broken hand in 1993. Also, I don't think that Maskaev being in his first pro fight makes much difference here. This is because Miron's 21 pro wins were basically record building fights which were no more significant than his amateur wins. In 1993, then, the 21-0 Miron was probably no more experienced than the 0-0 Maskaev. Both guys were falling back on their huge amateur experience at that point in their careers.
Miron had a much more accomplished amateur career than Zolkin. Zolkin was one of the best in the Soviet Union, including winning at least one Soviet championship. I don't think Zolkin ever fought at the top of world championship tournaments. Miron, by contrast, was a long-term fixture at the top of the world amateur ratings. As early as 1984 Miron was rated in the top five internationally. And of course in 1988 Miron was probably the world's best amateur heavyweight outside of Bowe and Lewis. Thus, on the basis of amateur pedigree, I would have to say that Miron would have rated as a better pro prospect than Zolkin. In terms of their athletic, physical and boxing ability, Miron seems like a much stronger puncher than Zolkin. Miron also seemed a little quicker and more fluid, particularly on his feet. Both guys were equal in all other respects -- especially in terms of physical size, strength and durability. One advantage Zolkin had was his southpaw posture. Keep in mind that as amateurs, Zolkin was a heavyweight/cruiserweight, while Miron was always a superheavyweight.
The Akinwande fight was for the WBO world title; Zolkin was the mandatory contender. Thus, this fight made a lot of sense for Zolkin, particularly since the IBF, WBC, and WBA didn't rate him so high. Zolkin was also handicapped against Akinwande by ring rust and a gym injury -- a barely healed cut eyebrow. The fight was postponed for four months because Zolkin was cut in sparring. When the bout finally came off, the tender eyebrow was a prime target for Akinwande. As for Zolkin's ring rust, this is because he hadn't fought for 13 months leading up to the Akinwande fight. The reason for the inactivity was promotional: earlier in 1996, Zolkin was promised a title match against the then champion Riddick Bowe, so he was kept on the sidelines waiting for this fight. Months later, Bowe dumped his WBO belt and fought Golota instead. This led to Zolkin vs. Akinwande, and months of more inactivity for Zolkin.
Greer was completely gone by the time he fought Zolkin; Tllis too; this was 1992 to 1982... Even Jones was a few years past his fun period as a fighter. As you suggest Zolkin did win rematches with Tubbs and Hunter, by my point is he got little kudos in very risk bouts.