Hide Obliterates Nasyrov

By Boxing News - 12/24/2007 - Comments

Earlier tonight, former World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Hernie Hide (41-4, 40 KOs) totally destroyed his previously unbeaten Russian opponent Mikhail Nasyrov (19-0, 13 KOs) in the sixth round, knocking him down five times in the process, at the Maritim Hotel in Halle/Saale. Nasyrov, 25, was knocked down four times in the 2nd round, causing many in the audience to began laughing. By the forth knockdown, Nasyrov’s right knee was red from having hit the canvas so many times.

In the sixth round, Hide finally put Nasyrov out of his misery when he connected with a right-left combination, dropping him to the canvas for the 5th time in the bout. The referee then moved in and halted the bout, perhaps tired of watching Nasyrov get knocked down so many times. On the surface, it was a good win for the 36 year-old Hide, beating an undefeated opponent. However, Nasyrov’s record was badly inflated, filled with almost exclusively fighters with losing records.

To be sure, only three of Nasyrov’s opponents had winning records, which were as follows: 14-9, 7-2-1 and 1-0. Not too good for a fighter that is being thrust into a bout with a fighter with the experience of Hide. Other than that, Hide appeared tired after only the 3rd round, gasping for breath and complaining in his corner about the positioning of his ice bag on his neck.

Hide was extremely fortunate that Nasyrov rarely let his hands go, for on the rare occasions that he did, Hide, a fighter with a history of bad knockout losses, didn’t look good in taking the shots. Indeed, in the first round, Nasyrov only attempted one punch, a weak jab, and only threw a couple of rounds two and three in round three. It was a miserable display of offense by Nasyrov, who looked absolutely petrified of Hide for the entire fight.

In the first round, Hide came out fast, staggering Nasyrov with several right hand shots, knocking him back each time from the force of the blow. Hide had it especially easy because Nasyrov was throwing zero punches and just taking shots like a sparring partner.

In the 2nd round, Hide knocked Nasyrov down with a big left hook. After Nasyrov got up off the canvas, the corner of his left eye was bleeding. Moments later, Hide staggered Nasyrov with a big right hand, and then followed up with another right hand, knocking Nasyrov down for the 2nd time in the round. After Nasyrov got up, Hide landed two more big right hands, knocking Nasyrov down for the third time. Once again Nasyrov rose from the canvas, seconds later getting knocked down for the fourth time in the round after absorbing two more right hands.

In the 3rd round, Hide continued to land mostly right hands, but he had little on them, as he appeared badly fatigued, looking every bit of his 36 years. During this round, Hide used some of his old dirty fighting tricks, such as holding and hitting, and pushing. It didn’t look good but that’s Hide’s style, something that he does from time to time in his bouts with things get dull.

In the 5th round, Nasyrov actually began fighting for the first time, and landed a number of excellent shots, snapping Hide’s head back. You could see that Hide is still very much vulnerable against any fighter with halfway decent power, especially by the 5th round, when Hide starts to tire out. However, Nasyrov, a light-hitting cruiserweight, didn’t have the kind of power to dent Hide’s brittle chin. As in the previous round, Hide did a lot of holding and hitting, trying to rough Nasyrov up on the inside.

In the 6th round, Hide landed a huge right hand, following it with a right-left combination that dropped Nasyrov for the final time. The referee had seen enough and immediately stopped the fight while Nasyrov was still down. The fight was stopped at 1:30 of the 6th round.

Overall, it was a sloppy fight by Hide, far from impressive considering the soft opponent he was up against. Sooner or later, Hide is going to have to face a real threat, and once that happens, I don’t like his chances.

Afterwards, Hide said, “This 25-year-old boy had the chance to become a champion and fought for his life but ‘The Dancing Destroyer’ stopped him cold. Now I will go on to become World Cruiserweight Champion. Tell Marco Huck and David Haye that I will knock them out the same night if they want!.”