I was bitterly disappointed when he pulled out of the Gassiev fight, because I was so pumped to see him violently KO'd. I couldn't have asked for a better consolation prize.
Can he at least fight a reasonable quality HW so that the elite fighters have no choice but to fight him sooner rather than later? Why doesn't he call out someone like Wallin. Hugie fury?
Teper recently turned 39 and has been inactive for just over 18 months, having fought two unranked journeymen in almost three years. He's not always come into fights in condition and it will have been 3 years since getting brutally KO'd by Helenius at the end of the 8th round when he makes his comeback against Makhmudov in Canada. His reputation means that drug testing is likely to be more stringent. The fact that he was lining up a fight with Gassiev before Makhmudov indicates that he's happy to get KO'd for a paycheck. Some of his performances against domestic level fighters have been far from convincing, even in and around his prime and he was TKO'd by Pulev in the amateurs. Makhmudov is ruthless and will want to dispatch this aged, worn and inactive version of Teper much faster than Helenius did. Teper won't be able or willing to move away for a number of rounds as Rice did so this fight will end very quickly if it happens.
Yeah, i am a little pissed. I was hoping Gassiev could get this fight re-signed real quick and keep up some momentum. Teper sucks, but he was briefly a contender when on the hot sauce, and I think it would have been a good third fight back if it could be made quick.
It's on boxrec at the moment so hopefully that's a good sign of it going ahead. I think if Makhmudov can raise his profile and score one name win he's very marketable as a menacing opponent for a top hw ... who could also sign up on favorable terms. Big risk maybe ... but there's always rematch causes.
Was thinking the same thing haha. More likely he faces someone like Dominic Guinn instead, someone around that level.
