By John Hively
Friday night, Sultan Ibragimov of Russia received a very lucky gift when he battled to a twelve round draw against the awkward Ray Austin. No, the decision wasn’t really all that bad. A draw seemed fair to both fighters. The winner of this fight was supposed to get a shot at Waldimir Klitschko and his portion of the heavyweight title. In retrospect, both fighters were very lucky because based on the skills they showed against each other it is difficult to envision either of them lasting more than a few rounds against the Ukrainian titleholder.
With the exception of round twelve, both fighters spent most of each round in boxing poses normally reserved for photo opportunities to publicize their fights before they ever step into the ring. Sure, each fighter had his moments, but they were few and far between.
Ibragimov twice badly hurt Austin in the first round, but Ray might have taken the second round by virtue of out-hitting his opponent four to two. The third round could have gone either way; but then the Russian lunged forward with a sloppy left hook in the fourth round, missed his opponent badly, but caught the American with the follow through right hand. It appeared to be a very lucky punch, but it caught Austin flush and down he went. Ibragimov appeared to feel sorry for that punch and failed to seriously follow through after his badly hurt opponent lifted his body off of the canvas with unsteady legs.
Given that this was one of those semi-ring battles, naturally Austin came back and took the fifth round by fighting smarter. He stopped pawing his jab out as some sort of feel the distance weapon, as in earlier rounds.
The sixth through ninth rounds were difficult to score due to the strategic posturing of the two pseudo-gladiators. Austin dropped his opponent with a left hook after the Russian rushed forward like a novice amateur. Naturally, having accomplished this feat, the American failed to follow through. Worst yet, at least from Ray’s point of view, Sultan took the last two rounds and earned the draw.
The Russian demonstrated an unusual ability for an alleged contender or near contender to ignore using his own jab, he lunged forward with wild shots on occasion, and he largely forget that Austin was the taller guy and that punching his body might be a good idea. He also forgot something about shortening his punches. Short left hooks are usually more effective than punches that are launched somewhere from beyond the bleachers. He sometimes swung so wildly it appeared that he was deliberately advertising his punches. Most of the time Austin wasn't buying and typically moved out of the way of these wild swings.
Austin didn’t show much skill either. For the most part, his jab had no snap, and his straight right hands looked slow and awkward.
Punching in combinations was something that both fighters were hesitant to do, perhaps because they were worried that they might get hit in reply.
The American counterpunched effectively at times, and this may have had something to do with the Russian not being overly aggressive for lengthy periods of most rounds. So maybe it was their particular styles that didn’t make for a great fight, and maybe it was this factor that made both of them appear relatively inept. Still, it is difficult to envision either fighter successfully engaging Klitschko.
Austin is made to order for the champ. Waldimir is approximately the same size as Ray, but he is faster of hands and perhaps of feet, more skilled in all departments, and he hits quite a bit harder. Wald’s advantage in hand speed would surely neutralize Austin’s counterpunching abilities. Sure the American might manage to last a few rounds with the champ, but so too can most punching bags, and that is precisely what Austin would be should some promoter be brazen enough to match him with Klitschko.
At this time, Ibragimov wouldn’t stand much of a chance against the champ either. His relative shortness of height, sloppy and inconsistent punching, lack of combinations, his inability to solve Austin’s counterpunching until the last round, and his lack of attention to body punching, would have made him an easy opponent for Klitschko. He needs more instruction before he is ready for the big-time.
But Sultan is a fighter on the rise, whereas at thirty-five, Austin is a fighter who isn’t likely to be going much farther in terms of career development. Against the American, on occasion Sultan showed fast hands and feet, and the ability to punch hard with either hand. The ghost of past disappointments might yet come to haunt Klitschko simply because what Ibragimov possesses bears an uncanny likeness to Corrie Sanders (fast hands and feet and power punching) and we know what happened to Klitschko way back when.
So maybe someday, but certainly not yet, Ibragimov may prove to be a formidable opponent for the champ. But now that he has salvaged a draw against Austin, nobody should be rushing him into fighting Waldimir before he is truly ready; and that means that the draw with Austin may have been the luckiest outcome Ibragimov could have possibly received.
