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I’m gonna call on my good friend @craftyboxing to chip in on this one as well, but here’s some thoughts on Melikuziev. I’ll make this a thread so people can dive in and get to know him! https://twitter.com/glitterroad/status/1339603055050821641
First of all, he is an absolute physical freak. Bek is one of those rare fighters, much like Beterbiev I suppose, that is both as strong as an ox and has scary power as well. @FrolovAliko will know more precisely than I do, but I believe he had over 200 KO’s as an amateur.
Bek has that kind of power where when an opponent tastes it, they immediately shell up and go into survival mode. And he’s a sickening body-puncher to boot; straight lefts to the solar plexus, hooks to the liver, they’re all on the menu.
As @craftyboxing pointed out, Bek looked very good in his last fight. He’s done some tweaking to his style (which we both agreed was to his benefit) and his head movement is improving too. That was initially a point of concern for me - he was quite statuesque when he closed-
- distance (got caught clean a few times by Alexander’s counters) - but this noticeably improved against Campa.
I’d like to see more activity with the lead hand from Bek, and that’s one of the things I really hope he develops in the coming years. With his style, a versatile-
I’d like to see more activity with the lead hand from Bek, and that’s one of the things I really hope he develops in the coming years. With his style, a versatile-
- lead hand would be fantastic. I’d love to see him use it to occupy an opponent’s lead hand more, as well as paw with it in order to establish rhythm before breaking it and exploding into a straight left á la Rigo. Throwaway punches with the lead hand would be nice, too.
One thing his compatriot Israil Madrimov does very well is vary the rhythm of his shots in order to disguise his entries. Whilst Bek doesn’t play with rhythm as much, he also doesn’t have a tendency to raid from too far out which Israil is prone to doing.
Another thing that Bek is developing is an inside game - it’s something I know the Diaz’s have both him and Israil working on - and that’ll go nicely when paired with his sheer physical strength.
Now, onto Kovalev and how he matches up with the Russian.
Now, onto Kovalev and how he matches up with the Russian.
Honestly, I think this is a horrible matchup for Kovalev at this point in his career and when the odds are released I’ll be putting a fair amount on Melikuziev to take him outside inside the distance. There’s a few reasons why:
1) Kovalev is susceptible to body-shots, and as I mentioned above, Melikuziev is one hell of a body-puncher. Bek will land to the body, Kovalev certainly will feel it, and down the stretch I really don’t see anything other than Kovalev tiring from the cumulative effect and caving
2) Kovalev will likely be looking to keep Bek at the end of his jab all night, but because this is a closed stance matchup he won’t be jabbing conventionally (the lead hands will obstruct one another). What I’m hoping to see is Bek build off that, occupy Kovalev’s lead hand and-
- using it to find routes to the body.
3) Melikuziev will be looking to put Kovalev on the back-foot, and given his strength and power I see that being the case. This will be to his advantage - if Bek is constantly pressuring him and keeping him occupied with foot feints etc. this will tire Kovalev out. He’s going to-
- be panicking, rushing his work and expending a lot of energy with Melikuziev constantly on top of him. Coupled with the body-shots and I just can’t see Kovalev lasting.
4) Bek will be looking to circle to his right in order to move away from Kovalev’s right hand - dangerous for a leftie because of the threat of the left hook, but I’m confident in Bek’s team that they’ll prepare him for this.
Worth mentioning as well he’s built like a brick shithouse, you can tell he’s going to be one of those guys who’s near-impossible to dent. The stable base helps a lot with that, but he’s got that Gassiev-esque stocky build about him.
