Ivan Fyodorovich "The Cyborg" Dychko

The six foot nine undefeated Kazakh is something of an enigma, isn't he? On the one hand massive and more than decently mobile for his size, with very good power and passably fair hand speed (let's say equidistant between a Ruiz and Dubois). His counter right cross is a menace.

On the other hand...gas tank and chin are going concerns. The former caused him to wilt under Joyce's body shots in the Olympic semifinals in 2016, and the latter perhaps combined with the former led to his lone stoppage defeat - KTFO by Medzhidov (a smaller guy with okay pop) in the AIBA world championship finals in 2013.

Such issues may explain the bizarre march through molasses that has been his professional campaign. He's facing Craig Princeton Lewis on the upcoming ProBox card. It'll be his first action of 2024. He debuted in 2017. You would think after 7 years of being fed a diet of almost exclusively baby food, a bigger step up would be in order for the Kissimmee-based now 34 year old.

Literally all of his best results since turning pro have been early knockouts against recognizable names, albeit totally spent forces. Sugar Mo Harris and Mike Marrone in 2018? Rainman Ray Austin in '19? Denis Bakhtov and Alexander Ustinov in '21? None of these were remotely threats anymore.

Just to contrast how poor this run of weak opposition stands up to his amateur record:

He beat the likes of Efe Ajagba, Magomedrasul Medzhidov, Zhìlěi Zhāng, Erislandy Savon, and Filip Hrgović ...and for a cherry on top, went 4-0 against two-time super heavyweight Olympic gold medalist Bakhodir Jalolov. Nearly all his losses were against the uppermost tier (Joshua, Joyce, Kuzmin, Zhāng, Medzhidov, etc) and, like many of his peers, he got robbed against Yoka. Throughout his very successful time in the amateurs most observers remarked that his style was going to end up translating very well after switching over.

Given all that, he should be facing better and in more of a position to contend by now, don't we think?

Milquetoast - that is the word I'd use for his matchmaking to date.

 

Craig Lewis, btw, is 15-7-1 and on a seven year slump with just one victory (over Midwestern losing-record southpaw tomato can Dennis Vance Jr.) in that span.

 

Yeah... look at Richard Torrez Jr., who turned pro just 2½ years ago but already has a much better record than Dychko does after 7. Only a few less in quantity, and bit more quality (again, the bigger names on Dychko's are shot to hell) - and he's already stepping up to a Joey Dawejko, instead of...Craig Lewis.

Granted it was easier for RTJ being an Olympic medalist (not to mention American) to attach himself to a big-fry promoter like Top Rank, but still. They're steadily progressing him, which shows faith. Something we're yet to see in Dychko from his own people.

 

Waaaaaaaaaaay past their sell-by dates.