Richard Riakporhe born 1/05/1990 is a 6'5 Cruiserwight with a 9-0 8 KO's record. Born in and fighting out of Walworth, London, United Kingdom. Granted, I'm not the biggest fan of many of the recent fighters the UK has produced in and around the Cruiser and Heavyweight divisions as of late. I think Okolie is a talentless hack, Dubois is an overrated chinless hypejob and of course the recently beaten Anthony Joshua, who I've been critical of for years. But awhile back a new British Cruiserweight grabbed my attention, he's still rough around the edges, but has everything one needs to become a standout. Sadly he's gotten little to no fanfare, certainly far less than his fellow countrymen, which is a real pity, because I think he might just be the one to watch of all of them. His name is Richard Riakporhe, who like Joshua, was born in the UK to Nigerian parents is an absolute monster size wise at CW. As a teen he suffered a life threatening knife attack outside of a club that almost killed him, after he recovered from that, he still got drawn into the streets, but eventually after a short stint in jail, he straightened himself out, took up Boxing and went to college. After turning pro he hooked up with Dillian Whyte, who's taken him under his wings and is his regular sparring partner and manager. His opposition up until his last two matches was anything but impressive, but still, the manner in which he dispatched most, you can just tell, the power is real. Almost reminiscent of Nigerian HW monster Efe Ajagba and Wilder himself, he touches people, they go down in a heap. As evidenced by his frightful destruction of Jiri Svacina, who while a journeyman with several KO losses, they aren't usually this brutal, see below. His first step up against Sam Hyde, his nerves might have gotten the best of him, he was tentative, maybe fearing his gas tank may empty, but when push came to shove, and down on the scorecards, he came out with a vicious barrage causing a massive grotesque hematoma to form over Hyde's left eye, bringing the fight to an end. He followed that up with his biggest fight to date & put together his most complete performance against Tommy McCarthy, who he walked down behind his jab punishing, eventually disconnecting from his senses and stopping Tommy with his vicious straight right, which is a thing of beauty. He's still got a ways to go, but thus far, all the ingredients are there for him to become a full blown destroyer, even up at HW. His footwork, handspeed, backfoot game are all decent, although his defense could use a little work, and he could rein in his tendency to go full blown Windmiller Wilder when he gets his opponents hurt. But his fundamentals are decent enough, that that shouldn't be too hard to correct. Check Out Richard Cracking Some Skulls. Educate Yourselves Riakporhe vs. McCarthy This content is protected Riakporhe vs. Hyde This content is protected Riakporhe vs. Svacina This content is protected Riakporhe vs. Cechvala This content is protected Riakporhe vs. Orsos This content is protected
I've been keeping an eye on Riakporhe for a while now and I rate him. The bad: He got dropped (and heavily by all accounts) by a now 2-8 tomato can who sports a terrifying KO 0% lol and Hyde was schooling his ass and well on his way to a clear UD win prior to him suffering that freak injury which to be fair was obviously caused by the freakish power of Riakporhe. The good: As said, he hits freakishly hard, is enormous for the division and he looks to have improved of late. I was impressed with his destruction of McCarthy. He's fighting the Shane McGuigan trained Chris Billam Smith next in what is another quality domestic clash of unbeaten prospects. Billiam looks a bit too easy to hit to me but he was a good amateur and McGuigan speaks very highly of him. This content is protected Another savage punching British prospect (albeit more skilful than Riakporhe) to keep an eye on is the undefeated LHW Lyndon Arthur. He's made somewhat of a habit knocking out very durable journeymen who have had tons of fights but rarely ever get stopped. I think he'd spark Yarde. http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/769852 Here he is against the tomato can who dropped Riakporhe This content is protected This content is protected
Yeah, I was going to mention that, but my paragraph I like to keep these to was getting quite elongated. And I figured you'd fill in the blanks by setting me up for a bump response perfectly. Here he is talking about getting dropped by said tomato can Williams. This content is protected Fingers crossed, it was just one of those Ottke-Mundine like flukes. I've heard of Arthur, bu haven't seen him yet, I'll check those vids out later, possibly he's thread worthy himself.
I wouldn't actually be too concerned about that KD because it, as you say, could just be a fluke and to be fair he is a late starter who lacks experience. If a non-puncher puts him on his ass again or he starts getting a little too friendly with the canvas then we'll have to put him on Glass-Jaw Watch lol Thanks, yeah I've seen that interview before. In fact, I've watched a bunch of his interviews before. This content is protected He wants your boy Okolie lol This content is protected
Good post, yeah I've been watching Richard closely for a while now, and I see him as the man to stop Okolie, but he needs to work on a few things first. For him to be a real player in the game he is going to have to display real drive and commitment in training. He is a BEAST at CW, massive guy. It might be too early to say... but I question Richard's confidence in himself and his craft. I feel he might be lacking something inside him, mentally and spiritually as opposed to Okolie or Dubois. His endurance needs work though, not so much that it inhibits his explosiveness, but enough for him to stay relatively more busy and retain explosive power.
Having seen Richard and Chris Billam-Smith a few times each.. I am very sure Billam Smith beats Riakporhe.He is the better CW prospect, Barry Mcguigan knows his stuff and he's very confident. I'll be putting a bet on Billam Smith.
I've seen quite a bit of Chris myself, and while I think he's decent, and has a lot of attributes that may cause Richard some issues, I don't think he hits hard enough, an I on't think he's elusive enough to take him deep and sop him late. It wouldn't shock me all that much, they're both a work in progress, but I think Richard is just a little bit more polished.
