By Erik Schmidt: It looks like K2 East Promotions will finally be taking the training wheels of the huge 6’7″ 305 pound pro prospect Alexander Ustinov (15-0, 13 KOs) on June 20th, when Ustinov steps in the ring against British journeyman Michael Sprott (31-13, 16 KOs) on the undercard of the heavyweight championship between IBF/WBO title holder Wladimir Klitschko and challenger David Haye at the Veltins Arena, in Gelsenkirchen, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.
Ustinov, 32, a former MMA fighter with a lot of size and decent power, has been a project for the Klitschko brother’s promotion team who are hoping that they might have a potential heavyweight contender on their hands in the huge Ustinov.
However, given Ustinov’s lack of amateur boxing credentials and his relatively late start in the sport of boxing, it’s a calculated risk that the Klitschko team is taking with him. On June 20th, Ustinov is going to be taking a big step forward in his career against the hard hitting Sprott, and it will be interesting to see if Ustinov has the talent to beat a fighter like Sprott.
At this point, there’s no telling how well Ustinov will do against a fighter like Sprott because the best opponent on Ustinov’s resume is journeyman Sedreck Fields who Ustinov toyed with last year en route to beating him by an eight round decision.
Sprott, 34, has a lot more to offer than a fighter like Fields, especially in terms of power. Ustinov isn’t the quickest of heavyweights, and looks like a slower, heavier version of Vitali Klitschko but without his big power. Ustinov can hit hard when he loads up on right hands to the head and body, but he tends to throw a lot of short hooks and jabs to control his opponents.
For a fighter as big as Ustinov is, he’s fairly nimble on his feet and can back up well when pressured. Like both Klitschko brothers, Ustinov is capable of throwing left hooks in retreat and stopping on a time to take the fight to his opponent. His reach, left hook and right hand make him a difficult opponent to deal because it’s not easy to get close enough to land repeatedly against him.
In Ustinov’s last fight, he stopped Byron Polley in the 2nd round in March 2009. Ustinov pounded Polley with right hands to the body and nailed him with left hooks. Twice in the round, Ustinov roughed Polley up by forcing him to the canvas by pushing him down.
Near the end of the round, Ustinov landed a hard left-right combination to put Polley down on the canvas. Somehow, Polley staggered to his feet at the count of right and continued fighting for the remainder of the round. In the 2nd round, Ustinov finished Polley off with a long right hand to the head. The referee stopped the bout just as Polley got to his feet at the count of nine.
Many of Ustinov’s other opponents have been Eastern European fighters with good skills but little power to speak of. Ustinov has a 1st round knockout victory over 7’1” American journeyman Julius Long last year in October 2008, another one of Ustinov’s notable journeyman opponents.
However, it remains to be seen whether the boxing skills and power that Ustinov has shown in these fighters will give him enough of a boost to beat a fighter like Sprott on June 20th. Its one thing beating fighters like those and quite a different matter fighting someone with halfway decent ability like Sprott.
We already say what Sprott could do against a fighter like Audley Harrison, whom he knocked out in the 3rd round two years ago in February 2007.