Now I think Matt Korobov , in terms of raw ability belongs close to the top of the MW division. I understand his careers been mired in promotional and management problems, but it appeared that things were getting better with his impressive 3rd round bodyshot stoppage of Ossie Duran back in June. Then came the news that he was fighting TBA on the CCJ Jr - Vera undercard, and I waited with baited breath to see which fearsome pugilistic challenger stood in Matveys path.... Well, now I know. It's Grady Brewer. I can't help thinking Arum is seriously overlooking Korobov. Perhaps it's because he didn't want competition for Jr at 160, but Matt coulda campaigned easily at 168. I suppose there is some hope if Jr moves up, but surely they coulda found someone better than Brewer, even at short notice? Oh well, I guess at least he's keeping busy - it'll be his forth fight in 11 months, but outside of Duran, well, just....oh dear. Perhaps 2018 will be his year?
Given his propensity for upsets, I'll say Brewer is a lateral move from Duran...but yeah, definitely not the hoped-for step up we all expected with Korobov regaining some momentum...
Korobov has been poorly promoted/managed. Lomachenko and Usyk may suffer the same fate. They should have signed with K-2, Golden Boy, or Sauerland.
Nah, can't see that happening. They have too much talent (no disrespect to Matvey, he is definitely talented, just not like them) - and in Usyk's case, too much flair/charisma/star quality - to sit on the shelf.
I'm not sure I'd put Usyk above Matvey. I'm not really sold on his power yet, and can't forget how that stocky Romanian kid in the WSB finals backed him up and had him on the ropes in a coupla rounds - Usyk is obviously a great talent, but I've a feeling he may not transition as well as Loma. Remember also that Korobov beat Usyk in the 2006 Europeans. It's a real shame how Matveys been moved along, I understand he is naturally a bit more conservative than GGG, and might want to work on his aggression a bit just to generate some interest (perhaps that's what he was trying to showcase against Duran), but he rarely loses a round. TBH I wouldn't bet against him, head to head, against anyone other than GGG at 160. Although I've not seen his chin tested yet he seems to have that top am quality of rarely getting hit flush and by all accounts he's a very good worker in the gym and he's done the rounds, so his stamina should be fine.
Me neither. Korobov was fantastic. But Korobov's timid progression is more due to being surprisingly unimpressive (and uncomfortable) as a pro. And I can't explain it, I was sure he was going to be fighting for titles by now (more like years ago). He did look much better against Ossie Duran, though. Some of the things that has been missing, power for example, seems to have shown up. (One or two voices on the internet says he looked good in one of his other fights this year but I haven't seen them). Brewer is ok for now.
Thing is, Korobovs power was touted at the start of his pro career and, as he showed against Duran is very real. To me, it just seems as if he never quite shook off than kinda amateur attitude that puts winning as the only priority. When you're in the pro game it's how you look winning that brings in the big fights and the $s. I'm hoping Matvey's been watching GGGs career progression and thinking about how to get a piece of the action. Actually, on reflection, the Brewer fight might not be such a bad thing, Grady Brewer has the name recognition at least, but Matvey absolutely has to put on an eye catching performance - another big KO could help position him for a better 2014.
Not sure about this. Because even as an amateur his fights were usually good to watch. I think something has been wrong with him. Very mediocre fighters has been able to put him on the back foot and walk through everything he has thrown. I had written him off tbh and I suspected some disease (and there were rumours about that, which of course doesn't mean anything).
korobov's management hasn't felt he has been ready until now. i believe this next fight is a feature fight to highlight him. if he looks good i think he's getting golovkin is what arum has said.
Not only is Korobov stepping down from Duran to Brewer, but Arum's proposing a big step up to Golovkin, possibly for the Monte Carlo fight in January (assuming Murray says no again). I could see K2 accepting this as a prelim to Chavez-Golovkin early next year.
Grady Brewer is a good fight. I think Grady is a durable fighter that has the ability to pull the upset on anybody. Not the worst opponent. Put up a decent fight against Erislandy Lara, and more recently pushed Fernando Guerrero's **** in.
Korobov will probably go back to looking inactive and frankly weak against Brewer. If you look back at his amateiur career his last year was pretty craptacular. A real drop off from when he was one the World's best the two prior years. He was looking crappy against Duran until that first KD punch just seemed to hit that sweet spot. If Arum is actually considering throwing him in with Golovkin in January then he is cashing him out and wants to get rid of him. That paracytic(sp) gargoyle Arum must know something most of you guys don't.
Maybe. I know a lot of the issues have been through management / promotional problems, so it's hard to tell how much is him and how much is simply mis-management. If he pulls off a special looking win 'gainst Brewer, it would do him some favours, but I think it would be a big mistake by Arum to match him up with GGG too early. Always a shame to see real talent go to waste, but if you're right and his hunger for it is the issue, there's not much to be done. I still hold out hopes for Matvey, though. At least he's been staying busy this last year. Also, he took on a new trainer for the Duran fight, in which for me at least, he looked pretty good. As I said before, he rarely loses a round, but I'm hoping Mooney will help to make him a bit more aggressive. There's definite signs that at least he's trying to move his career forward.
