Thoughts on Magmed Abdusalamov

He's a sharp, aggressive, heavy-handed puncher with thunder in his left hand. With that said, he fights flat footed, is lazy on defense and his power may be a bit overrated. He's great to watch but it would be difficult for him to defeat any of the current top 10 HWs, IMO.

 

How can you rationally claim that Mago "has a defense" yet he is "hugely exposed to a right hand?" Can't you see that you are contradicting yourself?

It is quite clear that Mago is easy to hit. Extremely easy. Everyone sees this. He is in dire danger of being KO'd by the first strong puncher he faces.

As for age and improvement, trust me, they have a lot to do with each other. The "improvements" Hopkins made after age 31 were really adjustments, not improvements. At age 31, Mago has yet to master the basics. That's not a good sign.

 

I think he's definitely exciting to watch, you know that KO shot may be coming any time soon and he doesn't mind taking a shot or two to land his own, I find him very exciting.

 

What you are describing is suspense, not excitement.

 

BTW, McGrain, I did see your post, it's very good, am not ignoring it. Just haven't the time to give it a proper response as it deserves.

 

He's strong as hell but has bad foot work,not much speed and he has little defense. Byarm will **** him up.

 

he must have learned his defense from Stiverne, how to block punches with his face

 

Good observation.

Another quality Mago has, despite horrible defense, is the willingness to really bring it, round after round. He's like one of those tough-as-nails monsters frrom the 40's & 50's.

Still, I doubt he'll ever be a champion.

 

I am not kidding at all. If a guy constantly gets ripped by right hands -- potential KO shots -- then he has a serious defense problem. No half-knowledgeable, rational fan would deny this.

In my experience, fighters who have problems blocking rights (particularly right leads) early in their career never overcome the problem. That kind of defensive flaw is physically or instinctively ingrained; no amount of gym work rectifies it.

Mago's defensive flaws are far worse than those of Seth Mitchell and Tyson Fury, two other disturbingly hittable prospects.

 

He'll have to prove he can really take it before this observation holds up. In the small time leagues, where Mago is now, certainly he can "bring it on" despite taking punishment. Whether he can do that when hit by higher caliber foes is another question.

But I do agree that guys like Mago are fun to watch...suspenseful, exciting, whatever you want to call it.

 

To me, the qualities of suspense and excitement go hand in hand. My guess is that Mago will turn out to be a dangerous-as-hell guy who fails on the world stage. But he may upset someone, or en route to losing, may floor and hurt whoever eventually beats him.

These fighters are fun to watch.

 

I'm not contradicting myself it all. The point, to put it bluntly, is that failure to have mastered the basics by age 31 (after a lengthy amateur career) suggests limited talent, and limited talent cannot be corrected.