i only recently got round to watching alexander vs kotelnik and agree with most on esb who say that it was not an impressive fight at all. But i think its been blown way out of proportion. Many top fighters have a couple here and there who give them a harder time than they should. Lets not disrespect kotelnik either. Guy was a world class amateur and is a very good awkward pro! I know khan hammered kotelnik but that doesnt mean hes better than devon? Its all about styles and also your attitude on the night. Just like in other sports your not always at 100% and bang in form for every fight. Thats impossible. And against someone like kotelnik its dangerous some even say kotelnik won the fight. I dont think so. Although it was vvv close. But this fight does show how loaded and tight the division is. There is no clear number one. Maidana lost a v close fight to kotelnik. Ortiz got beat by maidana. Khan beat kotelnik heavily. Its a big web at the top right now and its difficult to say who could beat who. Infact i feel if all the top 6 fought each other no one would be undefeated and no one would have zero wins. Its all about styles up there imo. Of course alexander was exposed to some extent and khan bradley and co will feel a lot better having watched that. But i still feel regardless that devon alexander is the best junior welterweight in the world. Slightly....
I don't hold it against Alexander for having a tough fight- the dude fought with 100% effort, and that's all I can really ask for out of any fighter. It was the treatment of what we were watching that was astonishing and somewhat sickening to me. Going purely by the commentary and media reports during and after the fight, someone who hadn't seen it would assume that Devon had a fairly easy, clear cut night at the office. I hope that Alexander doesn't lose sight of how much better he'll have to fight if he's to beat Bradley in January.
When you talk about style DA held the advantage over Kotelnik in Speed,Power,Youth,Athletecism so you cant use conflicting styles as an excuse. Kotelnik had the cosh over him and Alexander wasnt good enough but he's still young so you cant write him off but i dont think he is on the same level that Khan is on.
Powerful words. The guy threw punches and showed lots of heart throughout the fight I'm proud to be a fan of his.
I think that fight just put a big question mark over his head and he needs to prove himself again by beating somebody good.
After watching the fight again I thought 5x as highly of Alexander as I did after watching Live. he has got great skills superb conditioning and can still get develop into a crisper puncher. I think he breathes out of his mouth and takes some power away from himself. he is really close to being special but if he don't work on getting more pop he will become Chad Dawson.
