Artur Szpilka moves down to CW

[dagilechia]

He just knocked out Tuiach in 1 in his last HW fight. How do you rate his chances at CW? I've always thought that he could achieve much more in Cruiserweight.

[gilgamesh]

Couldn't hurt. Might not help, but it couldn't hurt. He's no longer Top 20 at Heavyweight so it at least gives him a mild chance to get back into contention.

[dagilechia]

his weight tonight was 102,5kg / 226lbs, 8kg/17,5lbs less than vs Chisora, he looked quicker, more explosive, just better, of course his opponent was terrible, old, stiff and scared, but still, i think that he can still make it to the top 10 at CW, thought i wouldn't bet money on that.

[Lackeos]

Successful moves from HW to CW are rare as hell, so skepticism is warranted. Szpilka still has like 16 pounds of legitimate body weight he needs to lose, in addition to 10 pounds of water weight. I would not bet on him to have that much success, unless he achieves a total body transformation.

To be fair, based on height and reach, it seems like Szpilka belongs at CW or below. But aside from making a physical transition to CW, he will have to adapt to different standards in skill and speed, and abandon his existing skills for fighting large opponents.

[oogiebe]

Would have been a better decision several years ago. I think he's a bit shot at this point.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

This rarely works

Chambers, Cunningham, Byrd, de la hoya, curtis Steven's, mundine... all failed moving down in weight late in their career

[oogiebe]

This rarely works

Chambers, Cunningham, Byrd, de la hoya, curtis Steven's, mundine... all failed moving down in weight late in their career

Yup. James Toney stayed at HW and did pretty well. Roy Jones went back down and got slaughtered. Tough to move down, I agree.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

Yup add Roy... tarver put on all that weigh to be in a movie then dropped it and was butchered by Hopkins. Chad dawson against ward...

There are a few examples of it working. Glen Johnson did well when he went to 168 for the super 6 as a fill in

[margaret thatcher]

Will get brutally knocked out again when he fights someone decent at either weight. Seems like the type of guy who will be a mess and fat and geeting arrested after he's done boxing too

[DrDuke]

Cruisers slug well too. The likes of Briedis, Dorticos, Glowacki, Makabu will KO chinny Szpilka. Overall, it will be easier to be at the top there, but still he won't handle the very best.

[dagilechia]

Wonder what if he never moved to HW and stayed in CW. Same with Izu Ugonoh. They could achieve much more in this division than in HW.

Szpilka's plan: fight in a 95-96kg catchweight, fight vs Włodarczyk in CW, then Briedis.

[drunkenpiper36]

Dropping down a division is hard for most guys. The weight and muscle loss hurts them . I suppose it’s worth a try since his prospects at heavyweight are pretty much diminished

[sturm vogel]

Szpilka didn't have a great chin at HW. Leaning up and boiling down to make 200 won't improve his chin. I think he's a tea cup waiting to get broken.

[Enlightened-One]

I can’t recall that many occasions where a fighter made a legitimate move down to a lighter weight class and enjoyed success.

And I’m intentionally excluding the lighter weight divisions where there’s only 3lbs or 4lbs difference between classes, as well as those that made a one-off or very short-term jump to a heavier weight class before swiftly moving back down to their natural habitat.

You could argue that Szpilka only needs to permanently lose 10lbs, in order to be physically capable of rehydrating to the 200lbs cruiserweight limit, but that’s an incredibly challenging task for a fighter in their thirties that has never previously needed to make weight.

In theory, Artur Szpilka, is the size of a cruiserweight (based on his height and some of his occasional official ring weights). However, the Pole obviously struggles with his diet regime, because he’s weighed close to or in excess of 240lbs on numerous occasions. So I feel any chances of him achieving any sort of success at cruiserweight are slim.

[jewboypgh]

would love to see him in there with this local ukrainian kid Pinchuk

[dagilechia]

would love to see him in there with this local ukrainian kid Pinchuk

There is a journeyman from Ukraine, Serhiy Radchenko, who often fights in Poland, he had Głowacki down, he was in a good fights with some undefeated prospects, him vs Pinchuk could be a good all-Ukrainian fight. Also, he could be a nice opponent for Szpilka's CW debut.

[margaret thatcher]

would love to see him in there with this local ukrainian kid Pinchuk

There is a journeyman from Ukraine, Serhiy Radchenko, who often fights in Poland, he had Głowacki down, he was in a good fights with some undefeated prospects, him vs Pinchuk could be a good all-Ukrainian fight. Also, he could be a nice opponent for Szpilka's CW debut.

Lol pretty sure that ref really wanted to see Balski last the distance

[TempleSlave]

On one hand it makes sense as body type wise he does belong to cruiser. Having said that it may just be to late for that shift. I’m predicting him getting a major shock when he experiences how much faster his opponents are at CW whilst probably not hitting that much lighter than HWs.

[Heretic]

would love to see him in there with this local ukrainian kid Pinchuk

There is a journeyman from Ukraine, Serhiy Radchenko, who often fights in Poland, he had Głowacki down, he was in a good fights with some undefeated prospects, him vs Pinchuk could be a good all-Ukrainian fight. Also, he could be a nice opponent for Szpilka's CW debut.

Damn did the corner forget to bring a towel with them?

[Heretic]

I don't see Szpilka having much success at CW. It is really tough division. Better boxers have tried that move and failed.

[dagilechia]

There is a journeyman from Ukraine, Serhiy Radchenko, who often fights in Poland, he had Głowacki down, he was in a good fights with some undefeated prospects, him vs Pinchuk could be a good all-Ukrainian fight. Also, he could be a nice opponent for Szpilka's CW debut.

Lol pretty sure that ref really wanted to see Balski last the distance

This ref was criticized several times for too early stoppages (Adamek-Molina being the most notable example) so maybe he feared that he would be criticized again for stopping this fight.

[dagilechia]

There is a journeyman from Ukraine, Serhiy Radchenko, who often fights in Poland, he had Głowacki down, he was in a good fights with some undefeated prospects, him vs Pinchuk could be a good all-Ukrainian fight. Also, he could be a nice opponent for Szpilka's CW debut.

Damn did the corner forget to bring a towel with them?

They just knew that if he lasts the distance, he will likely get the decision.

After this fight Balski announced end of his boxing career and went to work in Norway or Netherlands, but he changed his decision again in a short time.

I scored this fight 76-74 Radchenko. All 3 judges had it 76-75 Balski.

[Gnome]

This rarely works

Chambers, Cunningham, Byrd, de la hoya, curtis Steven's, mundine... all failed moving down in weight late in their career

Didn't Cunningham go from cruiserweight to heavyweight?

[Enlightened-One]

This rarely works

Chambers, Cunningham, Byrd, de la hoya, curtis Steven's, mundine... all failed moving down in weight late in their career

Didn't Cunningham go from cruiserweight to heavyweight?

Steve Cunningham made the jump from cruiserweight to heavyweight in 2012. He campaigned at the higher weight class for almost four years prior to officially making his return to 200lbs, which was when he was on the cusp of turning forty years of age.

[gregor]

Szpilka started as CW - he simply got fat in prison and never really bothered to get fully in shape after that.

Going back to cruiser would be generally a good idea, just a couple of years too late. Now he is finished as HW prospect and I don't expect any miracles in CW either. Maybe he can get yet another payday against Wlodarczyk.