Great fighter, a real throwback. Very tough and very determined. Leb has been around for what seems forever, but what do you think of his reign/resume? He fought Jones (the cuban, who I'm sure was in decline by then), but never faced Afolabi (another killer from that era) or Cunningham. He fought Huck (who owns a great resume himself. Fought everyone) and Gassiev (albeit Gassiev was kinda "green", imho) and that's it. Never entered the CW tournament just gone (that would have been epic with him in it). It's a pretty shallow resume, in all honesty, for someone who has been at the top and been around for as long as he has. No Breidis, Afolabi, Cunningham, Haye, Mormeck, Usyk, Dorticos. And Leb has been active throughout all era's. Not knocking the guy, he's been one of the guys I've followed a lot over the years because of how entertaining he is (from his entrances to performances), I'd just like to get the boards thoughts on him...
He was the division's best for some time, but part of his career has been screwed over by others and there's also that weird 4 year gap in his career, even before he got really noticed. Got blatantly robbed against co divison #1 Huck back in the day. Took years before the G. Jones fight got overturned, which I remember the fallout over when he lost, looking like his career ended there and then with that eye injury. Then the fallout over the answer what everyone wondered about, "How the F did Guillermo make weight?!", walking Lebedev down while being horribly outboxed and taking massive shots. Then the back and forth about the test samples, finally being confirmed when popping dirty for the same substance for the 3rd time in his career (2nd time against Lebedev) putting the final nail in the coffin. Also quite clear almost nobody wanted to face him, only the guys that had little to lose in advance. As for the guys you mentioned he didn't face... Haye left the division before Lebedev even got past bumbashing stage, as did Mormeck. USS came of a loss and after rebuilding lost twice in controversial fashion to Hernandez prompting him to go north as well. Usyk, Briedis and Dorticos all came into play when Lebedev was clearly past it. Afolabi would have been an option, but who was actually asking for that, as people wanted to see him fight Huck after those close and controversial fights. Hernandez the Ring champ (don't know why you didn't mention him) was an option, but he got injured and was very inactive, ending his career due to that. I think Lebedev was the best of his actual era, but had to deal with favoritism and really bad timing when to get screwed over.
A very good fighter. Unfortunately, he crossed paths with the Captain. Same happened to Povetkin, both got their future careers beaten out of them. Always puzzles my mind, when people claim, that Povetkin ( after Huck) is a good win.
He's easily one of the best CWs of the past few years. A real throwback and as tough a man as any that ever laced on the gloves. It's weird that his resume isn't deeper than it is and he never, to my knowledge, ever ducked anyone. Seemed more a case of the other way round when I think about it; Huck never seemed too keen to get back in the ring with him at any rate, and a lot of the top guys at the time of Leb's prime were either inactive through injury or choice or swerving tough fights. Leb could have got Huck, Drodz, Hernandez and Wlod on his record had he fought them, and be recognised as an ATG CW; even later in his career he could have got Glowacki or Dorticos, though those would have been tough, potentially career-ending fights. Even well past his prime he still took Gassiev the distance. That's some feat.
Great reply! I forgot all about Hernandez. Good fighter. Guill was shockingly big for the Leb fight. Leb looked like a LHW in there. Olaf/Leb would have been brutal. Those two and Huck weren't playing in their primes. He's still up there and he's still a name, so I wouldn't say he's been "past it" when the new breed showed up.
Leb could be quite cute, skills-wise, when he wanted to, and I think he would have easily beaten Ola. That's what I really about Leb: he had the ability to slug it out with the best of them, but if he found himself getting outgunned or taking undue damage he could sit back and pot-shot. Great worker of angles too. Jones indeed looked freakishly large. Well into the 220s. I still think Leb could have beaten him had he not taken that horrific eye injury, but as it was he was lucky his career wasn't permanently cut short.
Good post. Leb was quite adaptable when needed. He definitely didn't lack an IQ, that's for sure. I'd have still liked to have seen those two face off as Olaf was a good fighter on his day.
