Ustinov dominates Vidoz

By Boxing News - 06/28/2010 - Comments

Image: Ustinov dominates VidozBy Jim Dower: Unbeaten Russian heavyweight contender Alexander Ustinov (21-0, 16 KO’s) kept his perfect record intact with a one-sided 12 round unanimous decision over former 2000 Olympic heavyweight Bronze Medalist Paolo Vidoz (26-9, 15 KO’s) on Saturday night at the Sportspalace, in Odessa, Ukraine. The final judge’s scores were 117-112, 119-109 and 119-109.

Vidoz, 39, at one time a good heavyweight, rarely threw any punches in the fight and mostly just stood on the outside with his hands down by his sides trying to keep from getting hit by the 6’7 ½” Ustinov. Unfortunately for Vidoz, he got hit quite a lot in the fight.

If this fight had taken place in another country, there’s a good chance that the bout would have been stopped early on, because Vidoz simply was not fighting back at all. It was really sad to see. He just took shots round after round without throwing much more than a rare jab.

I don’t know how Ustinov could have gotten much out of the fight, as it was nothing more than target practice for him for 12 rounds. He didn’t have to defend, didn’t push himself and could fight as hard as he wanted. Ustinov seemed to take it easy on Vidoz after the first few rounds when he saw that the guy wasn’t going to throw any punches back at him.

But I was stunned that the fight was allowed to go on for 12 rounds with only fighter throwing punches. It was like a sparring session, but worse because sparring partners at least push their opponents. Vidoz was doing nothing other than standing and trying to block as many shots as he could.

Ustinov, ranked #6 in the WBA, looked like slower, weaker version of WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. I imagine Ustinov could beat some of the top contenders in the heavyweight division, but given how painfully slow and weak he is, I just can’t see the guy ever winning a title.

He might get a shot against WBA heavyweight champion David Haye before he tires in a year or two. I think he would be destroyed by Haye any other champion in the division. Ustinov is just too slow and doesn’t hit hard enough. It’s too bad because with his size, he would be an interesting heavyweight in the division, but the speed and power just isn’t there for him.

He’s good against fighters like Vidoz, Ed Mahone and Monte Barrett, but I think he would be massacred by a good heavyweight.

In other action on the card, welterweight contender Victor Plotnikov (24-1, 12 KO’s) stopped Christian Bladt (35-11-2, 11 KO’s) in the 10th round. Plotnikov is currently ranked #9 by the WBA.



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