By Jim Dower: I’ve seen at least a dozen of the fights of unbeaten light heavyweight contender Ismayl Sillakh (17-0, 14 KO’) and I can see he’s a good fighter but he’s not in the class of someone like Chad Dawson and I doubt that he’ll ever get that good. But the 26-year-old Sillakh, who comes from Ukraine and now fights out of Simi Valley, California, will do well because he’s fighting in the talent weak light heavyweight division.

He’s young enough to where he’ll be one of the champions in the near future when Bernard Hopkins retires unless Dawson scoops up his belt. But he’s not unbeatable by any stretch of the imagination and he’s not a huge puncher. What makes Sillakh good is that he hits and constantly moves to avoid shots. His jab isn’t the greatest and neither is his right hand or left hook, but his movement really saves him.

If you watched his recent fight with Cuban Yordanis Despaigne, Sillakh wasn’t the stronger puncher and had big problems every time he tried to stand his ground and fight it out. Despaigne was clearly too strong for him and forced Sillakh to get on the run. Sillakh was able to move and box his way to a 10 round decision but he didn’t look like a world beater. Sillakh got hit a lot in that fight and looked no better than Edison Miranda did in his fight with Despaigne.

Indeed, Miranda was stronger than Despaigne and was able to stand his ground and beat the Cuban in trading bombs. But Sillakh literally had to run for his life in order to win that fight. This is why I don’t see Sillakh as a future star in the division. I think he’ll do well and pick up a title eventually but he doesn’t have enough speed and power for him to be the main guy in the division. He’s not at that level.

Sillakh wants to take on the best fighters in the division but I think he needs to aim lower and go after the weak link among champions WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly. Tavoris Cloud would too strong for Sillakh, and Dawson is just too big, too strong, too fast and too technical for him. Jean Pascal would be dangerous because of his explosive power and blazing hand speed. Bernard Hopkins would never fight him in the first place because there’s no money there.