6′ 1½″ undefeated Russian cruiserweight prospect. All five of his pro contests have technically been over the heavy limit, but just barely (never more than a couple of pounds) - he's a CW. Last month he beat the absolute dog shite out of stocky Iranian spoiler Seyedsina Ghalehbandi, dealing him his first loss. He looked a million times better against Ghalehbandi than longtime fringe contender Ruslan Fayfer did yesterday. https://vk.com/video-155311483_456241130 (Stotsky vs. Ghalehbandi starts seven hours into the gala) sidebar: honestly as awful as he is to watch, the fact that Ghalehbandi survived being damn near KTFO twice in a single round - and then ended it slapping his gloves against his face like "come on!" - is pretty endearing. Stotsky's and Fayfer's responses to Ghalehbandi's bulk and awkwardness were night & day. Whereas the latter got caught up in the spiderweb and even frustrated to the point of frequent fouling down the stretch, the former glided around and kept the punches flowing so that Ghalehbandi was never able to get ahold of him (or if he did, he was getting handled roughly on the inside, with leather landing on the sides of his head along with Stotsky's inner forearms). In the amateurs Stotsky was the Russian national champion at 92kg, and possesses notable victories over Shigabudin Aliev, Umar Salamov, and Jai Opetaia. He was also the sparring partner for Murat "Iron" Gassiev to help prep for Gassiev's most recent victory, knocking out Mike Balogun last year. He still has some amateur habits that need shaking off (touching lightly for the sake of contact) but when he does sit down on his shots they're very effective and he moves well. Should be a solid addition to a 200lb division that currently skews old and could use an infusion of talent under 30.
