Headlining an ESPN show on Thursday at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas - providing both national TV audiences and citizens of Sin City a little "Kazakhstani vs. Mexican" hors d'œuvre before the main course of Gennady Golovkin vs. Saúl Álvarez II down the strip a couple of nights later. Madiyev is riding a confidence high, coming off a sizable leap up in class in his first 10-rounder (jumping straight from 6 and skipping 8-rounders) wherein he comfortably outpointed a Tijuana banger named Jesús Antonio "Ricky" Pérez entering 21-0 (17) on the Golovkin vs. Martirosyan undercard. He was molded initially by Abel Sánchez but is now trained full-time by Maksim Golovkin, the less famous brother operating in the shadows but said in almost mythic whispersr to have a keener brain for boxing (and more natural talent for it, before deciding to sit on the sidelines and defer the spotlight) than Gennady himself. Along with coach Max, Murat Gassiev, and fellow unbeaten prospect Ali Akhmedov (among the better up and coming light heavyweights, if you haven't heard him hyped up by myself or others ) he is part of the "Kazaq Kliq" - known for training hard in Big Bear and partying even harder, roaming around the SoCal coast cruising for food, thrills, chicks, and social media group selfie photo ops. Inside the ring, the influence of his country's number one boxer is self-evident in his cerebral yet offense-emphasized stalking & rocking style and dedication to body-punching, although he is a much greener version with plenty left to learn - and not blessed with as much p4p thunder in his fists. Cano, for his part, is only three years Madiyev's elder but in terms of ring tread could be considered double his age. Indeed, he turned pro a dozen a years ago (compare with Madiev's five on the job). Stylistically a shrunken down version of Gilberto Ramírez Sánchez (or a blown-up Léodegario Santa Cruz, take your pick), he is a workhorse not overly burdened with speed nor power (though he is heavy-handed) nor guile - just a durable, high-volume, non-risk-averse classic Mexican. His peak, however, came several years ago when, in the span of thirteen months, he picked up arguably his pair of career greatest official victories (over Johan Pérez & Ashley Theophane) as well as suffering two defeats to superstar names in which most fans believe he was robbed (against Paulie Malignaggi & Shane Mosley). His stock, despite the losses, was highest at this period but would soon begin to sputter, with Cano never quite able to capitalize on any momentum. A cuts TKO loss to Fernando Angulo was followed by nice bounce-back wins over Jorge Silva and Juan Carlos Abreu...but the latter was overturned when Cano failed a drug test and reverted to an eyesore NC on his record (along with a suspension forcing him to seek his next assignment back home across the border in Tlalnepantla). Another win, another loss. A pretty good win squeaked out over Mauricio Herrera by SD, which could have put him on the right track toward a title shot...and then Fidel Maldonado gets off the canvas to squeak by him via SD and pull the rug out from under him. Currently he is coming off a knockout loss to Marcelino Nicolás López, last October. He's taller, longer and has oodles more experience than Madiyev - but this will still be an uphill battle, and for him a crossroads with a wrong turn here meaning contention is going to forever elude his grasp.
The deep undercard will stream on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app from 6:30pm EST, while the main card is airing on ESPN2 from 8pm EST. I may or may not be around to do a RBR - my girlfriend has never been to Fenway so apparently we're seeing the Red Sox that night.
Yet to ever be truly impressed with Madiev, but at this point, he's probably good enough to beat this faded version of Cano, maybe even by late TKO.
Yeah my exhaustive search for any extant nickname (which involved sifting through dozens of pages of Google results for his name in Cyrillic) finally culminated in me just shrugging and deciding to use whatever you had coined in your spotlight thread on him...only to discover that you'd never bothered making one.
Will anyone actually be attending this fight or have they just purchased tickets to get VIP seating for the Canelo-GGG weigh in? I get into Vegas about 2.30 pm tomorrow, couple of hours before the televised card starts. I'll get my ticket and pop my head in for 10 mins but won't be there for the full thing.
where have you heard about them partying and cruising the streets of LA? It’s not that I don’t believe you, it’s just that it’s a pretty ridiculous image to imagine. I also don’t know that their countrymen back home would be 100% supportive of those lifestyle choices lol
@CST80 I went to check the Golovkin vs. Martirosyan thread for your RBR scoring of Madiev vs. Pérez and was shocked to discover that you a) didn't apparently even bother watching/scoring the undercard (or, tbf, it just wasn't televised anywhere or streamed) and b) THIS: I hope you've binged both seasons in the last four months..?
The co-main event, btw, is Marciela Cornejo vs. Franchon Rebecca Monich Crews, a battle of 31 year old super middleweights gunning for the interim WBC ladies' title. Cornejo, pictured below, in addition to being a majestically sumptuous goddess (I would eat a bushel of her earwax or navel lint just to lick the sweat off that side-boob ) is a former WBC middleweight women's champion. This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected Crews is best remembered as Claressa Shields' pro debut opponent.
Was just wondering about Madiev and his actual present level in the prediction league. A line for this fight actually just came out, with Cano being pegged as a 6 to 1 underdog. Quite wide, I don't know if Madiev has earned that level of respect from me yet. Cano might not be spectacular but he never goes away without a fight and is usually best dealt with carefully, negated with skill. Wondering what the over/under would look like, with Cano's legendary status as a true bleeder by the bucket. The man is at risk to be cut by a stiff breeze.
Madiev really hasn't looked to be a prodigious hitter at lightweight or light welter. I'd say the chances of a pure KO are slim to none. Cuts bringing about the ending (whether TKO/TD/NC) are on the table, though, absolutely.
Addendum: slim to none unless Cano's mandible is just spiderwebbed to **** at this point, which I guess we'll know if the average-thumping Madiev rips through him like a hot knife through butter and scores a KO1 or something.