The biggest original in Russian boxing

Alexey Alekhin - with surprise, but hope - about the main upset of the year in Russian boxing.

It’s quite rare in boxing for big-name fighters to meet when both are at their peak. And this is such a tricky boxing game - to catch a dangerous guy when he is already giving up a little or is not ready for a serious fight right now, but you can’t tell in advance. Soslan Asbarov and his team caught Alexey Papin quite well. As for me, Alexey, in the time of a championship fight against Ilunga Makabu, would have broken the lungs of the Soslan that he was in his last fight against Brandon Glanton. The problem is that the fight with Makabu took place our years ago. And over the past couple of years, Alexey spent less than four rounds and his last two opponents were no match for him. With Asbarov, Papin suddenly turned out to be much slower and more monotonous than usual. Without a sharp explosion and, unfortunately, unprepared to turn around a bad fight.

It is even more surprising that in parallel with this, Asbarov turned out to be much stronger than his former self. Soslan was fast, flexible, did not stand still with discipline, and at the same time, he threw a lot and heavy. And the left hook right to the temple, with which he knocked down Alexei, was masterful, really. Landing Papin is not so easy, but it is truly an achievement. All of Soslan’s tactics (combination punching and constantly moving) were quite common for a fight with a strong knockout artist who can peel off your head with one blow, but... sometimes to win you just need to do simple things well. I don’t know if Soslan will be able to become a world champion, as he dreams of, but he definitely learned how to box interestingly in the pros.

And here let's digress into the context. Russian boxing, frankly speaking, is in a sad state. In short, according to the WBC, WBO and IBF you can’t fight for a belt, and if we see a Russian fight in boxing gloves, then in 70% of cases they will be worn by a pugilist, an MMA fighter with bad knees or a legendary criminal like Vyacheslav Datsik.

- DAMN, DUDE, IT'S EXACTLY THE SAME HERE, ASBAROV IS A BARE KNUCKLE CHAMP! - you can tell me.

“NOT QUITE SO,” I’ll answer, pointing a crooked finger into the air. - NOT REALLY. AND THE DEVIL IS KNOWN QUIETLY HIDDEN IN THE DETAILS.

Yes, Asbarov is a bare knuckle fighter, but not an ordinary one. And the reason is not even 227 fights in amateur boxing. Just at the level of building a career, Asbarov is now probably the smartest Russian boxer. The fact that an unfulfilled top-class athlete finally decided to use his old skills and perform with his bare fists is a common thing for Russia. It's not what 's unusual here, but how.

Soslan took this extremely seriously. He always came out trained and with ambitions, and in general he only looked into the bare knuckle for a short time to take exactly as much as he needed. He is 5-0 with his fists, a knockout masterpiece over Daud Kelbikhanov and the Hardcore FC belt. Thanks to his bare knuckle appearance, Asbarov gained weight in the media and recognition, but at the same time quickly switched to boxing. That is, entirely.

Soslan did not combine bare fists and boxing, box barefoot in a cage or make his MMA debut, and he also avoids opponents who are not boxers. In short, in our crazy-beautiful Russian world of fighting, where you can exchange breams, fight in a telephone booth or fight in a convertible, Soslan is now doing the most exotic and provocative thing possible - building a classic career in classic boxing.