Dimitrenko decisions Sprott; Boytsov, Chakhkiev and Menzer also win

By Boxing News - 09/24/2011 - Comments

By Jim Dower: European Boxing Union (EBU) heavyweight champion Alexander Dimitrenko (32-1, 21 KO’s) successfully defended his title against 36-year-old Michael Sprott (36-17, 17 KO’s) in a 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Dima-Sportcenter, Lohbruegge, Hamburg, Germany.

The final judges’ scores were 116-111, 119-108 and 117-111. Sprott was penalized twice, but it didn’t really matter because he wasn’t going to win this fight anyway by decision. The height difference between the 6’7″ Dimitrenko and the 6’1 1/2″ Sprott was the main factor in Dimitrenko winning this fight, as he was able to use his long reach to jab the shorter Sprott to keep him on the outside.

When Sprott would try to come forward, Dimitrenko would often back away while keeping his left arm held out in front of him to keep Sprott from getting near to him. It’s a move that IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko likes to use. However, Sprott was still able to land big shots every now and then and appeared to hurt Dimitrenko a couple of times. Dimitrenko’s face was badly swollen around both eyes by the end of the fight showing the power that Sprott had in his shots.

The action was mostly dull until the 5th, when Dimitrenko started loading up on his shots much to the happiness to the German fans, who looked very bored with the fight. Sprott came back in the 6th to land a couple of really big left hands that had Dimitrenko backing off and looking uncertain.

In the 7th, Sprott swelled up Dimitrenko’s right eye with a left uppercut. Dimitrenko did enough to win the round. In the 8th, Dimitrenko was dominating the action until late in the round when Sprott connected with a hard right hand that sent Dimitrenko flying into the ropes as if he were shot by a cannon.

Had the ropes not been there, Dimitrenko would have hit the canvas. In the 10th and 11th rounds, Sprott controlled the rounds with big power shots that shook Dimitrenko. His punches really did a number on Dimitrenko’s face, leaving him looking badly beaten up. In contrast, Sprott was completely unmarked and looked as if he had just taken a light jog.

In the 12th, Sprott, tired of all the clinching that Dimitrenko was getting away with, tossed the big Ukrainian to the canvas twice. The referee took a point off for one of the throws but it didn’t matter, because Sprott needed a knockout anyway. He was just tired of Dimitrenko’s holding and stalling.

All in all, terrible performance by Dimitrenko. He proved in this fight that he doesn’t deserve to be anywhere near the Klitschkos or guys like Robert Helenius.

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In other heavyweight action, former WBC cruiserweight champion Juan Carlos Gomez (49-3, 37 KO’s) lost a very questionable 10 round majority decision to American journeyman Darnell Wilson (24-12-3, 20 KO’s) in a decision that really makes you shake your head and wonder what the judges were looking at to give Wilson the fight. Gomez, 38, controlled every round of the fight with his powerful jab and short right hook.

He was rarely hit, and when he did get tagged, he always answered back with jabs and more hooks. Gomez didn’t throw very many left hands, though, which makes you wonder if he injured the hand early on because he stopped throwing punches fairly early with his left. However, he more than made up for it by landing right hands and jabs. Wilson missed with a ton of punches throughout the fight, especially in the last four rounds when he was head hunting and looking for a knockout shot.

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Former 2008 Olympic Gold medalist for Russia Rakhim Chakhkiev (11-0, 9 KO’s) looked impressive in cruiserweight action, stopping 37-year-old journeyman Michael Simms (21-15-2, 13 KO’s) in the 4th round. Chakhkiev, 28, knocked Simms down once in the 2nd with a scorching left hand and then battered him with beautiful body shots until taking him out with a left hand to the body in the 4th. It was all one-way traffic for Chakhkiev, as he was the only one that was throwing anything. Simms just looked timid and old.

Chakhkiev has got to be pushed a lot a little faster than other prospects because he’s already 28 and if his German handlers take him too slowly, he’ll be in his early 30s before he cuts his teeth on quality opposition. He can’t afford that with the way he likes to fight. He’s a gold medalist and needs to be brought along a lot faster. He looks ready now to compete with the likes of Marcos Huck and Steve Cunningham.

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In a really ugly mismatch, heavyweight contender Denis Boytsov (29-0, 24 KO’s) stopped 34-year-old journeyman Matthew Greer (14-7, 13 KO’s) in the 6th round of a scheduled 8 round bout. Boytsov, ranked #4 WBO, #6 WBC, #6 WBA, #7 IBF, teed off on the out of shape-looking Greer in each of the 6th rounds of the fight, jabbing him to the head and landing well to the body. In the 6th, the referee Michael Maass had finally seen enough of the mismatch and halted the bout at 1:25 of the round. Boytsov, 25, had hurt Greer with body shots in the last seconds of the 5th and it was odd the referee didn’t use that moment in the fight to halt it because Greer was hurt and had taken a lot of one-way punishment in the other rounds.

If I was too look at area that needs work for Boytsov in this fight it would be conditioning. He was already laboring after the 2nd round, gasping for breath in between rounds and looking closer to 45 then 25. Boytsov looked totally winded and he got worse as the fight wore on. Had this been someone that was actually throwing back, I think Boytsov would have lost.

As it was, Greer landed hard right hands every time he threw. Boytsov was remarkably easy to hit. Another problem I saw in this fight was Boytsov’s lack of size. Although he’s listed at 6’1″, he looked at least three inches shorter than the 6’2″ Greer. I have no doubt that Greer’s height is really 6’2″, but I think Boytsov’s German handler’s have fudged on the numbers for his height.

At best, Boytsov is probably no taller than 5’11”. Why that’s important is that he’s not a huge puncher nor is he blazing fast. He can punch, but he can’t punch like the bigger heavyweights such as the Klitschkos and Robert Helenius. I really think Boystov is going to have problems in the future. At 215 lbs, Boytsov is too small for the division and he doesn’t have a frame that can pack on more weight unless it’s fat. He’d be better off moving down to the cruiserweight division because he’s too small for heavyweight.

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In other action:

Ina Menzer UD 8 Ela Nunez



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