Artur Szpilka vs. Łukasz Różański & Mateusz Masternak vs. Adam Balski RBR

So that was what, five knockdowns in about two minutes? 4:1, but officially 3:1 in favor of Różański. Talk about don't blink glass cannon battles.

Artur's legs are made of fondant at this point, whether he is getting hit or not. Balance of a damn octogenarian. And of course his chin is pure meringue.

 

The idea of either of these guys in with the participants of the other WBC inaugural bridgerweight championship eliminators - Dmitry Kudryashov, Evgeny Romanov, Óscar Rivas or even Bryant Jennings - is just a sick joke. Both of them would fail to last a New York minute with any of the above.

 

I paid my lunch bill and hopped a train during the post fight pageantry; did Szpilka retire? There was talk in Polish media that he might if this very predictable outcome indeed took place...

 

That belt has been a joke for close to a decade now, IMO - ever since Vitali vacated I don't take its lineage the least bit seriously. Bermane freaking Stiverne became champ by defeating Chris mother****ing Arreola? (Wtf were those two clowns doing rated #1 & #2 in the world anyway? Since that's how lineages are supposed to be reestablished, so presumably they were, courtesy of the WBC... meanwhile in reality neither was deserving of top 15!). Nah, that ain't a legit titlist to me. Wilder's whole reign stands on shaky ice in my view.

 

Just watched replays of all 5 (er, "4,") knockdowns as part of the KBN15 studio panel's wrap-up coverage. Man. That counter left cross Szpilka dropped Różański with was a textbook thing of beauty...and then all the shots that in turn dropped him were sloppy shit sandwiches. Pays to have punch resistance in this game.

 

Decent boxer (more than a modicum of skill for a HW...at least offensively, and even defensively could be what passes for "slick" at heavyweight at times), above-average power...but lapse-prone defensive concentration and utterly garbage chin. And yeah, he probably will con the Polish fans with a series of retirements and unretirements...or fall back on his hooligan roots and turn to a life of crime to support himself. Or who knows, maybe he'll keep his nose clean, have the class to stay away from in-ring action and become a coach or something. But boxing is full of more sad stories than inspirational ones..

 

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Fairly sure I've drawn this parallel before, but...reading that back drives it home, he and Amir Khan really are twin flames in a lot of ways.