Mikhaylenko decisions Mayfield

By Boxing News - 01/30/2016 - Comments

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By Jim Dower: Unbeaten #11 WBO, #13 IBF welterweight contender Dmitry Mikhaylenko (21-0, 9 KOs) easily defeated the smaller 5’7″ replacement opponent Karim Mayfield (19-3-1, 11 KOs) by a one-sided 10 round unanimous decision on Saturday night on the undercard of the Sergey Kovalev vs. Jean Pascal fight card on HBO Championship Boxing from the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.

The final judges’ scores were 100-90, 100-90 and 99-91. This was the co-feature bout on the Kovalev-Pascal card. In hindsight, this shouldn’t have been televised because it was too much of a mismatch in talent and size.

Mikhaylenko hurt Mayfield a number of times in the fight with big shots. However, he was unable to follow up with bigger punches to put him on the canvas. Mayfield showed a great chin and an ability to fire back shots each time when it looked like he was shaken up.

The 5’9″ Russian Mikhaylenko had too much size, power and talent for Mayfield, who looks like he’s not the same fighter that he once was three years ago when he beat Mauricio Herrera by a 10 round unanimous decision in 2013. Since then, Mayfield has lost to Thomas Dulorme, Emmanuel Taylor and Mikhaylenko. Mayfield is better suited for the 140lb division. He doesn’t have the size or the punching power to be fighting guys at 147 other than as a replacement opponent. He doesn’t have the size or the power of bigger light welterweights like Adrien Broner, who can move up in weight and sometimes beat good welterweights.

As good as the 29-year-old Mikhaylenko looked tonight, he probably doesn’t have the punching power to deal with guys like Keith Thurman. Mikhaylenko would do well if he could fight one of the champions like WBC 147lb champ Danny Garcia, IBF champ Kell Brook or WBO champion Tim Bradley. Mikhaylenko isn’t ranked high enough to get a world title fight, and it’s very likely going to take him a considerable amount of time before he gets a No.1 ranking. It’s doubtful that any of the champions will give Mikhaylenko a title shot in a voluntary defense because he’s a difficult guy due to his size, talent and high work rate.

With his win over Mayfield tonight, Mikhaylenko captured the vacant USBA welterweight title. He needs to go after some of the other titles like the EBU belt. That might help his stature a little.



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