BoxRec

They were meant to fight. Pirog chucked the wbo title to fight GGG but his back was injured. He left the sport never to return. He seemed up for it when others weren't. Who wins and why?

Pirog could move, bang and had lovely defence. Golovkin was technically sound and had power in both hands.

ggg wide decision or late stoppage for me, pirov had that great ko of jacobs but also had overlooked performances (eg maciel, ishida) that i was not so impressed with - at least in terms of his legitimacy as an elite fighter

my guess is he would be slippery, but negative. real shame we got so close to this happening only to fall through though, gotta actually fight the fights and maybe pirog wouldve been much tougher than i think

Who knows how good pirog was

Hes a great could have been.

GGG is simply on a higher ability level compared to Priog, who could trouble but not beat the Kazakh. After five competitive rounds, GGG takes control and wins a later round stoppage or clear cut decision.

I'm not sure of the story behind Pirog's career ending injury. Was he tired of boxing, and looking for fresh fields to conquer? Or maybe the injury imposed insurmountable handicaps on him ring-wise.

Joson wrote: ↑29 Aug 2023, 09:42 GGG is simply on a higher ability level compared to Priog, who could trouble but not beat the Kazakh. After five competitive rounds, GGG takes control and wins a later round stoppage or clear cut decision.

I'm not sure of the story behind Pirog's career ending injury. Was he tired of boxing, and looking for fresh fields to conquer? Or maybe the injury imposed insurmountable handicaps on him ring-wise.

He had a major back injury

I think because we saw what GGG became once he started fighting good competition I'd pick him over Pirog by UD. But Jeff is right, it's hard to say how good or not good Pirog was because he had to quit with the bad back. His KO of Jacobs was terrific but his three title defenses were against crap opposition and I remember an inexperienced Maciel, who was given a title fight for no particular reason, gave him a good fight in Russia

giacomino wrote: ↑29 Aug 2023, 12:36 I think because we saw what GGG became once he started fighting good competition I'd pick him over Pirog by UD. But Jeff is right, it's hard to say how good or not good Pirog was because he had to quit with the bad back. His KO of Jacobs was terrific but his three title defenses were against crap opposition and I remember an inexperienced Maciel, who was given a title fight for no particular reason, gave him a good fight in Russia

I remember the Maciel fight. His strength made things tough for Pirog. It's also why I assume GGG would have been too strong for Pirog,(by a fair margin)

also his fight with ishida, he won the large share of rounds but most of them were competitive

that said, ive seen plenty of fighters who were meh in easy defenses but then consistently stepped it up for their big fights, who knows, maybe he was one of those . a lot of unknown with pirog

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑29 Aug 2023, 16:55 also his fight with ishida, he won the large share of rounds but most of them were competitive

that said, ive seen plenty of fighters who were meh in easy defenses but then consistently stepped it up for their big fights, who knows, maybe he was one of those . a lot of unknown with pirog

I dogged Pirog good for defending against Ishida at the time because three months earlier Ishida had lost all 12 rounds vs Paul Williams and I dislike fighters getting title shots coming off bad losses. Of course, Ishida came off two straight losses and his next fight was .... a title fight vs GGG.
In fairness, in GGG's first three years as a belt-holder he mostly fought no-hopers, so Pirog wasn't the only one fighting soft opposition at the time.
And you're correct, some boxers fight to the level of their opposition

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑29 Aug 2023, 16:55 also his fight with ishida, he won the large share of rounds but most of them were competitive

that said, ive seen plenty of fighters who were meh in easy defenses but then consistently stepped it up for their big fights, who knows, maybe he was one of those . a lot of unknown with pirog

I remember the child soldier fighter (name slips me) giving ggg a pretty good fight early in his reign

Jeff_lacy_ko wrote: ↑29 Aug 2023, 20:43

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑29 Aug 2023, 16:55 also his fight with ishida, he won the large share of rounds but most of them were competitive

that said, ive seen plenty of fighters who were meh in easy defenses but then consistently stepped it up for their big fights, who knows, maybe he was one of those . a lot of unknown with pirog

I remember the child soldier fighter (name slips me) giving ggg a pretty good fight early in his reign

Ouma. He had lost five of his previous seven fights and still gave GGG a fight

giacomino wrote: ↑29 Aug 2023, 21:13

Jeff_lacy_ko wrote: ↑29 Aug 2023, 20:43

margaret thatcher wrote: ↑29 Aug 2023, 16:55 also his fight with ishida, he won the large share of rounds but most of them were competitive

that said, ive seen plenty of fighters who were meh in easy defenses but then consistently stepped it up for their big fights, who knows, maybe he was one of those . a lot of unknown with pirog

I remember the child soldier fighter (name slips me) giving ggg a pretty good fight early in his reign

Ouma. He had lost five of his previous seven fights and still gave GGG a fight

Thats it. Thanks