Chakhkiev impressive in beating Kotlobay

By Boxing News - 01/30/2012 - Comments

Image: Chakhkiev impressive in beating KotlobayBy Jim Dower: Unbeaten cruiserweight contender and former 2008 Olympic heavyweight gold medalist Rakhim Chakhkiev (12-0, 9 KO’s) was very impressive in defeated Alexander Kotlobay (21-3-1, 15 KO’s) by a 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night to capture the World Boxing Council (WBC) Baltic cruiserweight title at the Grand Elysee, Rotherbaum, Hamburg, Germany.

The southpaw Chakhkiev, 29, really did a great job of body punching and throwing combinations in the first half of the fight. However, after the 7th round, Chakhkiev slowed down dramatically and fought in only spurts and threw a lot of single shots from that point on. But Chakhkiev was murderous with his body punching in the first half of the fight and it’s surprising that Kotlobay was able to stand up under those big shots round after round.

At the end of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd rounds, Chakhkiev pummeled Kotlobay against the ropes with triple hooks that were thrown with a massive amount of power. Kotlobay leaned forward looked like he was in a lot of pain but he was able to somehow make it through the rounds.

Chakhkiev looked really good in the 6th and 7th rounds with his powerful right hooks to the head and lefts to the body. He continued to throw powerful double and triple hooks to the body. After the 7th round, Chakhkiev’s work rate dropped off and he looked really tired. He was still able to load up with big shots but he wasn’t throwing the combinations like he had been doing.

Overall, it was a good performance from Chakhkiev. I liked his power, body punching and the combinations he threw. But I noticed that he get hit a lot and he doesn’t move his head. His trainer needs to be teaching him how to do this because against a better cruiserweight with big power, Chakhkiev might have problems. He’s not the tallest of cruiserweights at a very generous 6’0”, so he’s going to have to learn to stay on the inside against his opponents because he’s hittable when he’s standing on the outside.



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