BoxRec

This guy absolutely blows.

He's declined.

He looked good in his first few fights, but Top Rank has paid him very poorly (he's lived in poverty, like Korobov had for years) and not looked after him in other ways (training, hiring decent sparring partners, etc).

I said when Mekhontsev signed with Top Rank, he's made a mistake. Same is true for Korobov, Zewski, Ponomarev, Gvozdyk and of course Lomachenko.

Contrast Mekhontsev's career with boxers who signed with Haymon/DiBella like Deveryanchenko, someone who signed with K-2 like Golovkin, or someone who signed with Main Events like Kovalev.

Bob Arum is a lot like Don King was in his later years. He ruins many of his boxers.

Wonder if it has to do with the quality (or lack of quality) of opposition he has faced?

Very dissapointing. But im still dont write him off

Will he fight on PBC soon? Haven't seen him

I thought he really stood out at the last Olympics like Usyk.

With his amateur experience he should have been stepped up significantly about a year to 18 months ago.

How can you step him up when he cant even beat Alexander f'n Johnson.

Looks like he just lost according to these highlights, doesn't show the winner.

https://ok.ru/video/66991572817190-1

mattienelsen12 wrote:Looks like he just lost according to these highlights, doesn't show the winner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jqyYTaqd1M

He got a W.

Perfect example of why winning a gold medal at age 27 doesn't have the same significance as winning a gold medal at age 19. You're basically an adult with 15 years experience fighting kids with 5 years experience.

Lackeos wrote:Perfect example of why winning a gold medal at age 27 doesn't have the same significance as winning a gold medal at age 19. You're basically an adult with 15 years experience fighting kids with 5 years experience.

Excellent observation. Post of the Month!! Add to that the fact that it makes it tougher for you to adjust your style to the vastly different pro style after fighting so long under amateur rules.

I'd like to see a more comprehensive list of how young OG/WC medalists (mostly gold) do in pros compared to young ones:
Ali=18
Floyd=19
Roy Jones=19
Frazier=20
Ward=20
Klitschko=20
Holyfield-21
Joshua=22
Lewis=23
Mercer=27
Fraudley Harrison=28 years

You have inspired a separate thread so we can get input from as many people as possible!!

The late starters also spend less of their physical primes in the pro ranks and likely have more wear on their bodies when they start. Mekhonstsev is about to turn 33 (people were already talking about GGG being old at the same age) and Audley was going on 37 when he reached his BoxRec points peak.

Of course, the great Sven Ottke didn't turn pro until 29, and look at his career: 34 tried, 34 failed

Freedom2013 wrote:He's declined.

He looked good in his first few fights, but Top Rank has paid him very poorly (he's lived in poverty, like Korobov had for years) and not looked after him in other ways (training, hiring decent sparring partners, etc).

I said when Mekhontsev signed with Top Rank, he's made a mistake. Same is true for Korobov, Zewski, Ponomarev, Gvozdyk and of course Lomachenko.

Contrast Mekhontsev's career with boxers who signed with Haymon/DiBella like Deveryanchenko, someone who signed with K-2 like Golovkin, or someone who signed with Main Events like Kovalev.

Bob Arum is a lot like Don King was in his later years. He ruins many of his boxers.

Are you kidding me? Fighters who signed with Gaymon/DiBella have done horrible: Beterbiev, Derevyanchenko, and Khytrov. Derevyanchenko is now finally doing something, but the rest have been utterly ruined. Beterbiev is struggling to even get fights, and Khytrov is irreparably ruined.

Top Rank has done great work with Lomachenko, Gvozdyk, and Ponomarev. I can't hate with how they brought them up. Korobov and Mekhontsev have done terrible under Top Rank, but I think they're the kind of fighters that would do terrible under any promotional banner. Korobov is a high-risk, low-reward. Mekhontsev has looked horrendous.

Best Coast wrote:

Lackeos wrote:Perfect example of why winning a gold medal at age 27 doesn't have the same significance as winning a gold medal at age 19. You're basically an adult with 15 years experience fighting kids with 5 years experience.

Excellent observation. Post of the Month!! Add to that the fact that it makes it tougher for you to adjust your style to the vastly different pro style after fighting so long under amateur rules.

I'd like to see a more comprehensive list of how young OG/WC medalists (mostly gold) do in pros compared to young ones:
Ali=18
Floyd=19
Roy Jones=19
Frazier=20
Ward=20
Klitschko=20
Holyfield-21
Joshua=22
Lewis=23
Mercer=27
Fraudley Harrison=28 years

You have inspired a separate thread so we can get input from as many people as possible!!

Well your theory doesn´t really hold up...if we take a look at the 2012 Olympians who has been fast tracked to a World title shot, most of them were 2-time (and even 3-time) Olympians between 24-27 years old. Only Oscar Valdez (21), a 2-time Olympian, and Errol Spence (22) were younger than 24 years old.

2014-03-01 WBO FEA Challenger Vasyl Lomachenko, 2-time Olympian, 25 years at Pro debut - later Champion.
2015-03-07 IBF FLY Challenger Zou Shiming 3-time Olympian, 31 years old at Pro debut - later Champion.
2015-08-02 WBA BAN Challenger Raushee Warren, 3-time Olympian, 25 years old at Pro debut - later Champion.
2016-04-09 IBF HEA Champion Anthony Joshua, Olympig Gold, 24 years old at Pro debut.
2016-07-23 WBO FEA Champion Oscar Valdez, 2-time Olympian, 21 years old at Pro debut.
2016-09-17 WBO CRU Champion Oleksandr Usyk, 2-time Olympian, 26 years old at Pro debut.
2017-05-20 WBA MID Challenger Ryota Murata, Olympic Gold, 27 years old at Pro debut.
2017-05-27 IBF WEL Champion Errol Spence, Olympian, 22 years old at Pro debut.
2017-07-02 WBO WEL Champion Jeff Horn, Olympian, 25 years old at Pro debut.

When I was a young kid starting out I used to hear that these Russian and Cuban fighters were "3-round fighters" who had way too many amateur bouts to ever be able to adapt to the pro game. Well, I think today in 2017 fighters like Lomachenko, Rigondeaux, Usyk, etc has proven the old experts wrong.

locoxelbox wrote: Well your theory doesn´t really hold up...if we take a look at the 2012 Olympians who has been fast tracked to a World title shot, most of them were 2-time (and even 3-time) Olympians between 24-27 years old. Only Oscar Valdez (21), a 2-time Olympian, and Errol Spence (22) were younger than 24 years old.

2014-03-01 WBO FEA Challenger Vasyl Lomachenko, 2-time Olympian, 25 years at Pro debut - later Champion.
2015-03-07 IBF FLY Challenger Zou Shiming 3-time Olympian, 31 years old at Pro debut - later Champion.
2015-08-02 WBA BAN Challenger Raushee Warren, 3-time Olympian, 25 years old at Pro debut - later Champion.
2016-04-09 IBF HEA Champion Anthony Joshua, Olympig Gold, 24 years old at Pro debut.
2016-07-23 WBO FEA Champion Oscar Valdez, 2-time Olympian, 21 years old at Pro debut.
2016-09-17 WBO CRU Champion Oleksandr Usyk, 2-time Olympian, 26 years old at Pro debut.
2017-05-20 WBA MID Challenger Ryota Murata, Olympic Silver, 27 years old at Pro debut.
2017-05-27 IBF WEL Champion Errol Spence, Olympian, 22 years old at Pro debut.
2017-07-02 WBO WEL Champion Jeff Horn, Olympian, 25 years old at Pro debut.

When I was a young kid starting out I used to hear that these Russian and Cuban fighters were "3-round fighters" who had way too many amateur bouts to ever be able to adapt to the pro game. Well, I think today in 2017 fighters like Lomachenko, Rigondeaux, Usyk, etc has proven the old experts wrong.

Murata won the gold, right?

Yeah Murata won Olympic Gold, World Amateur Silver

Boxing Prospect wrote:Yeah Murata won Olympic Gold, World Amateur Silver

Yes, of course, my mistake. Now it's fixed.