By Jim Dower: Undefeated Russian middleweight prospect Matt Korobov (4-0, 4 KOs) kept his perfect record and knockout string alive on Saturday night with a last second knockout in the 4th round against his crafty opponent Cory Jones (4-5, 1 KOs) at Madison Square Garden, in New York, New York. Korobov, 26, with seconds to go in the fight landed a short right hook to the head of Jones late in the 1st, sending him down on the canvas face first. Jones was too hurt to get up and the fight was immediately stopped by the referee at 2:59 of the 4th.
Despite getting the knockout, Korobov struggled badly against Jones, who for the most part was looking just to survive in there against the Russian slugger. Jones stayed on the outside through most of the fight, using constant lateral movement and a lot of clinches to prevent Korobov from landing his big power shots. Korobov, a former Russian amateur world champion from 2005-2007, didn’t help himself much by failing to use his jab and by fighting poorly on the inside.
The lack of a jab probably hurt Korobov more than anything because he was tied up often as he was coming in trying to land his power shots. His hand speed, or lack thereof, was also a problem for Korobov. He’s not a particularly fast middleweight and needs to let his hands go in bunches to create opportunities. He does best when he has a stationary target in front of him that’s interested in engaging with him.
Jones, however, was not in the least interested in fighting it out with him and kept Korobov reaching for air. When being tied up, Korobov had ample opportunities to work on the inside but he lacked uncomfortable in close and not skilled at the inside fighting game. If he had gone to the body while in close, he could have opened up a lot of possibilities and maybe taken Jones out much quicker.
Korobov stalked Jones around the ring in the 1st, looking to land his power shots. Jones kept his guard far out in front of him leaning on the back foot and waiting for Korobov to commit himself to a punch. Instead of a brawl which Korobov would have loved, he found himself chasing Jones around the ring in circles and not getting many chances to land anything significant.
During this time, Korobov was mostly limited to pawing jabs and short right hands. Before long, Jones’ movement had Korobov missing a lot and looking bad. If he had a good jab to use, Korobov would have easily been able to deal with the movement, but he unfortunately isn’t blessed in that area, at least not yet.
In the 2nd round, Jones continued using a lot of lateral movement, giving Korobov few chances to land his shots. Korobov instead found himself having to make the most of opportunities when he was being clinched, at which time he would pound at close range with short right hands. He continued to miss an awful lot and be clinched whenever he got close to Jones. For his part, Jones only landed a handful of punches, throwing a few rights to the body and head.
All total, he only attempted five punches that I could see of in the entire round and was showing himself to be a classic case of a fighter just trying to survive. As you would guess, the fight was completely boring to watch and the crowd soon began to get restless.
Jones stayed on the move in the 3rd round, making Korobov miss a lot and avoiding his big power shots. Korobov began to adapt to Jones style by small degrees by throwing short punches when in close, but he looked poor even at that. He failed to even try landing to the body and seemed mostly focused in head hunting with short punches. The crowd began to boo by the end of the round. Korobov tried to get some action going by rushing Jones but only ended up missing like usual.
The crowd continued their booing of both fighters in the 4th, showing their displeasure at the lack of action and skills that they were seeing. Korobov at least was trying to make a fight of it but he just didn’t have the tools needed to beat a fighter like Jones. The clinching by Jones continued as did the missing by Korobov.
Finally, with the fight nearing the end and it looking as if it was going to go down to a decision, Korobov landed a short right hand as Jones was loading up with a right of his own. The punch landed hard to the side of Jones’ head, pitching him face first down on the canvas. He rolled over on his side and was attempting to get up when the referee seemed to hastily stop it. I think Jones would have beaten the count but the referee probably saw something in his eyes and stopped it anyway.
All in all, Korobov looked pretty average and I got to say he’s got a ton of work cut out for him if he’s going to be a future champion. I think he’ll do well against the slow plodders of the division but against a faster middleweight with boxing skills, he’s going to have major problems. He needs a jab, better hand speed and more skills at fighting on the inside. His stamina needs work as well because he was gasping for breath like a fish out of water as early as the 2nd.