Former American world champion in two categories, and now a popular boxing analyst Paul Malignaggi recorded another broadcast of his
YouTube vlog.
In the video, the expert described the boxing styles of the WBA super champion title holder in the light heavyweight division (up to 79.4 kg) Russian Dmitry Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs) and the former holder of three lightweight titles (up to 61.2 kg), ex – champion of the featherweight (up to 57.2 kg) and second featherweight (up to 59 kg) divisions Ukrainian Vasily Lomachenko (16-2, 10 KOs).
“Dmitry Bivol is a high block, full-length stance. You won’t see a lot of upper body movement in the traditional Eastern European style with him.
But now you see some hybrids. You see Usyk and it’s obvious that Lomachenko has a lot of that, and there are some others. Bivol seems to fight in a slightly older Eastern European style. High block, arms high, and throws (punches) from that position. And stands straight, not a lot of movement of the upper body. He often uses his legs to get in and out of the race. That is why it is very high. And he uses this advantage very actively, because he has a great sense of distance and an understanding of how to avoid retaliatory strikes. You saw this a lot in the Canelo fight. And the right hand is always high in the block. And he’s always ready to counter with a left hook. You don’t often see traditional Eastern European style upper body movement, so most of his punches are lubricated using his legs. Otherwise, he is playing a positional game. He blocks right there and doesn’t lose position, which is an option for a right counter when he catches a left hook.”
“For the short Eastern European fighters… I think you are now thinking of Vassily Lomachenko, who I think is a hybrid. He is a unique fighter even in terms of the European style. I have seen lesser known Eastern European fighters even in the pros who copy Lomachenko’s style a little “To me, Lomachenko has a hybrid style. His jab is basically there to get your reaction. He’s waiting for your reaction. Also keep in mind that he’s southpaw. So he’s waiting for your reaction. If you don’t react, he just attacks you from there. But he tries on. He sets a distance, evaluates you. If you react badly, he has already seen you, and if you don’t react, he can be aggressive right in that way. But if you react, if you react his jab, he’ll make you pay.The point of his jab is to create opportunities for counters.And he also looks at the opponent’s reaction time, whether it’s there or not.aboutBy beating his opponent more, he realizes that there is no reaction from the jab, but he still uses it for more security. Obviously, he doesn’t enter the strike zone recklessly, but nevertheless it shows him that there is no reaction and he just directs direct aggression and changes angles.
- “If there was no communism…” Malignaggi on Lomachenko, Saitov, Gaidarbekov and Vysotsky
Once again, Lomachenko’s angle change is very unique. I haven’t seen that often with Eastern European fighters. He has a very good ability to change angles. Keep in mind that this guy was born to be a fighter. His father sent him to dance lessons when he started walking. Then to sambo and judo, which I think had a positive effect on his close-range play. And then, of course, came boxing. He strictly associated himself with boxing from a young age. He is a very special example of a regime Eastern European fighter, very unique. I think he was supposed to be a fighter from the womb. And he’s a hybrid in every sense of the word, in my opinion.”
“A lot of Eastern European fighters don’t pivot. And a lot of North American fighters use it, just stand and turn, use their front foot to turn themselves and change angle. You don’t see that often with an Eastern European fighter. They usually change direction in straight lines or to the left -to the right, and rely more on their high block, sense of position and everything else. When you see people like Lomachenko, it’s a hybrid style. It’s unique even for Eastern European style.”
- Roy Jones argued with Malignaggi over P4P, Lomachenko and Usyk
