By Grigoriy Stangrit (Allboxing.ru) and Alexey Sukachev
After watching the bizarre collision between all-time legend Bernard “Executioner” Hopkins (52-6-2, 32 KOs) and his much younger counterpart “Bad” Chad Dawson (31-1, 18 KOs), which resulted in a highly controversial second round TKO loss for the 46-year old champion, Ukrainian prodigy Ismayl Sillakh (16-0, 13 KOs) is confident that he has what it takes to defeat 29-year old Dawson and to become the next great light heavyweight.
“That was horrible, simply horrible”, said the NABF beltholder, who is ranked #3 by the WBC and #7 by the IBF at 175 lbs. “People are in need for a true champion. What was seen at Staple Centre is just bullsh*t. If I’m to fight Dawson, I’ll whoop him easily. No disrespect for “Bad” Chad here. He is a champion; he is a strong guy and a good boxer, just not as good as me. I think I’m ready to take him out in six or eight rounds. As for Bernard, he just didn’t want to fight. Working men paid their hard-earned money for nothing. They haven’t seen a champion there. Great thanks to Antonio DeMarco and Jorge Linares for saving that night for us”.
Sillakh is scheduled to fight next on November 4 in Moscow, Russia, as a part of the Denis Lebedev vs. James Toney undercard. Sillakh’s opponent has not been determined. Former Ukrainian amateur standout was first rumored to battle equally tall Russian super middleweight Maxim Vlasov, but according to German Titov, this fight is impossible to be made at the moment.
Meanwhile, former Russian super middleweight titlist Konstantin Piternov (13-2, 4 KOs) is absolutely confident that he can make Sillakh pay for inadequately looking past his next outing. Piternov, who is coming off a disputed loss to Karen Avetisyan on October 1 in Barnaul, and was badly beaten by hard-hitting puncher Dmitry Sukhotskiy, issued a public challenge to Sillakh.
“We offered Sillakh a fight”, added his manager Alexander Yagupov. “Vladimir Hryunov, who is the promoter of the event, supported this idea. I don’t think that a slight weight difference is critical. Piternov can do everything in the ring. He is fast and he thinks fast; and he also has over 300 amateur wins to give him the necessary experience. He has everything one needs to defeat such a talent as Sillakh. The Ukrainian is a great fighter, which motivates us even more. I’m sure; Kostya should fight top guys in his weight class. He has good chances to upset Sillakh. If he isn’t, it will be a wonderful experience for him nevertheless and it will help us to learn some lessons”.
