Pavel Sour, Czech heavyweight who fought 11 times in 2022 and 7 times in 2023.

Boxing is built on the backs of fighters like him.

 

Following in the footsteps of Ivica Perkovic.

I'm sure he'll have plenty more fights coming his way before he calls it a day.

 

This kind of matchmaking leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

 

The "Paper Chin" is a more complicated phenomenon than you think.

Lots of former prospects - after being handed their first couple of defeats face a choice of either quitting the sport or pimping out their chins for a quick knockout by their up-and-coming opponent. If Sour wasn't getting knocked out so easily, he would probably be making less money. I've seen footage of a couple of Sour's recent fights. Against a club fighter - he will box. Against a qualified prospect - he will rush him...and get stopped quickly. This is as expected. He is playing a part.

Yes, there are journeymen like Kamil Sokolowski & Terrell Jamal Woods who are not paper-chinned, but they occupy a different segment in the division and are forced to earn their money the hard way.

 

Boxing needs more guys like him, staying active and never ducking a challenge. Respect to him.

 

Not really. He's no longer a serious fighter. He's basically showing up to eat one good shot and lie down in more than half of these fights. The fans, his opponent, and the promoter are all getting what they want I guess.

He's basically doing what boxers like Galen Brown, Travis Fulton, and Michael Marrone were doing in the latter stages of their careers. Just rush your opponent, eat a flush shot, lie down, and get paid.

 

Guys like him are crucial to the professional development of fighters, filling it when boxers drop out last minute, turning up for fights. These guys are important to the sport.

 

He has a nice little rivalry going with fellow Czech journeyman Vaclav Pejsar. Currently ahead 2-1 in the series tasting defeat for the first time in the trilogy match. Part IV?????

 

Unsung hero of the sport

 

My favourite is Angel Emilov. Every fight the prospects are competing to see who can knock him out. Last time Emilov got stopped was about 6 years ago? When he had about 20 fights. Now he’s at over 60 fights.

 

There's tons of guys like him, low level journeymen. I do think that prospects should be fighting 4-6 x a year and contenders/champs 2-3.

 

I think boxers like Terrell Jamal Woods, Kamil Solokowski - who are decent, skilled fighters who don't lie down - are essential to the development of serious prospects. Boxers like Pavel Sour, Michael Marrone, etc. are just record-padding exercises who don't serve any developmental purpose.

 

They are confidence boosters and are good for building belief in developing fighters. Agreed though, guys like Sokolowski can be potential banana skins for up and comers.

 

Never drank one before.