Thursday at York Hall, for the vacant BBBofC UK cruiserweight title (surrendered in September by Lawrence Okolie). "Cat Walker" Riakporhe, a protégé of Dillian Whyte and something of a renaissance man who also works as sometime runway model and competes in charity soccer and basketball games, is 10-0 with eight knockouts, but has only begun to step up in class in his last couple of bouts (against Tommy McCarthy and Chris Billam Smith). "One Smack Jack", a former national amateur cruiser titlist, is also undefeated and has six more pro bouts yet has faced even weaker opposition - with an overall losing record, against whom Massey has only netted a 50% kayo rate.
Yeah, doubt Massey can get his respect and keep him off. That said, I'm not sure what to make of Riakporhe. @f1ght3rz thinks he's a beast (and McCarthy did show he wasn't finished after the Riakporhe loss by upsetting Turchi) but I know @Serge thinks he got a gift over CBS in his split decision victory last time out.
I'm pretty high on him as well, but I have to admit he did disappoint me against CBS, but I had it a draw, I didn't think it was a robbery. But I think it has more to do CBS being solid than Richard sucking.
Riakporhe needs to work on a lot of things, some of which I am not sure he can train for like not being hesitant and showing some ring IQ anyways I hope he has improved since his last bout I had high hopes for him in eventually taking okolie down a few pegs
Riakporhe IMO improved a lot. Prior McCarthy i thought he might be another glass jawed hype job because he was knocked down hard in one of his tune up fights. He looked robotic and was hit with an alarming amount of clean shots. But he showed real toughness in his last two fights and also improved in many departments: Jab, defence, footwork. I think with a good team he can improve even more despite being nearly 30yo. On the other side...Jack Massey for sure is a step down compared to McCarthy and CBS. I do not see Massey causing a problem here. Epect Riakporhe wide UD if Massey is tough and has a great chin, otherwise Riakporhe TKO/KO at some point. His power is for real. Odds reflecting that tbh. McCarthy was even the favorite vs. Riakporhe and CBS was like +200 or +180 i think. Massey is between +900 and +1200 lol.
My problem with thinking he's on an improvement trajectory is the prevailing opinion that he got a gift over CBS - in his most recent outing, after McCarthy. Now, it could be, as @CST80 believes, that CBS is just very good, and having what should have been a close loss to him (but officially a questionable victory) isn't a major blemish. I couldn't say; I've never seen a Smith fight AFAIK. But the fact that I've never heard of him until doing research on Riakporhe means there's only so much of a diamond in the rough he can be.
I don't think the win was a gift or a robbery. I had it 95-94 Riakporhe and in my RBR i marked 4 rounds as "close" with both guys snatching two of them. The knockdown basically decided the fight in favor of Riakporhe on my card (a draw without the KD). I think the SD was a good result and both fighters deserved the win or at least a draw. In the end Riakporhe won but this isn't even close to a gift or a robbery from my point of view. https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/dillian-whyte-vs-Óscar-andres-rivas-torres-david-allen-vs-david-price-rbr.633150/page-19 All three guys who scored it in the RBR, had Riakporhe winning btw: The Professor 96-93 Riakporhe Myself 95-94 Riakporhe CST80 95-94 Riakporhe Watch it, @IntentionalButt It was a good fight. Very good fight. This content is protected
There isn't a man born from their mother walking this earth who could convince I'm wrong about that and the KD was not a KD lol.
Massey being written off a bit here, he beat Billam Smith in the ABA final at 20 as the younger guy by 3 years and apparently split a couple of fights with Buatsi one a piece. Riakporhe didn't have an extensive amateur career and is improving as a pro but was losing to Hyde and went very close with Billam Smith, as Serge mentions above it was a very dubious knock down against Smith that won it as well, more of a shove. The McCarthey win was impressive and he does look to be a big puncher. Looking forward to this one.
Massey doesn’t have the power to keep Riakporhe honest. Riakporhe TKO in 6 This is arguably easier than his last 2 fights that he has won
