BEIBUT SHUMENOV vs VIACHESLAV UZELKOV

Eastern Europeans meet in a high-quality main event on Friday Night Fights tonight when Beibut Shumenov, from Kazakhstan but Las Vegas-based, defends his WBA light-heavy title against the mandatory challenger, Viacheslav Uzelkov, of Ukraine.
 
There are those who feel that Shumenov got a bit exposed when he struggled to win a much-disputed split decision over Gabriel Campillo in their rematch in Las Vegas in January, after having lost a close decision to the Spanish southpaw in Kazakhstan in August 2009.
 
Shumenov, 26, showed great heart and determination in the Campillo rematch, when he survived a very shaky ninth round and came back banging. I thought that Shumenov was lucky to have got the split decision in that fight, which was televised on Fox Sports, but I believe he can put it down to a learning experience and come back as an improved fighter.
 
The fighter has made what could be an important change. Having promoted his own shows in partnership with his brother, Chingis, in Kazakhstan, Shumenov was actively involved in the promotion of January’s Las Vegas show, with all the attendant stress. Now Shumenov has enlisted the services of promoter Dan Goossen, which has allowed him to focus fully on Friday’s fight. Shumenov has also had a longer training camp with Kevin Barry, his new trainer. Barry, perhaps best known for managing David Tua (he also trained Tua for a spell) knows that Uzelkov is a dangerous challenger but believes that we have not yet seen the best of Shumenov.
 
“It’s a very good fight,” Barry said over the phone from the fight site in Lemoore, CA. “Uzelkov’s a real difficult guy to fight against, he’s very strong, very aggressive but Beibut has I believe turned the corner since fighting Campillo. Before that fight we’d worked together for two months. We’ve had four months preparing for this fight. I’ve really seen him develop. His confidence level’s high. He is a terrific specimen of a man, a very impressive physical specimen, a tremendous athlete, very strong, very explosive, and he trains with real discipline and great focus. I’ve never worked with anyone with so much discipline. He’s a very intelligent man, as well. Between himself and his brother Chingis, [he is] always looking for improvements, always looking to develop new strategies.
 
“We believe we have a very good fight plan in place. It’s a fight a lot of people don’t think that we can win, but a fight we’re very confident of winning.”
 
Uzelkov is a tough, seasoned fighter who can hit with either hand, and he comes across as being very confident. He has been a bit dismissive of Shumenov, pointing out that has had more than twice as many professional bouts as his opponent, while Uzelkov was also a top-flight amateur, winning a silver medal in the European championships and a bronze in the world championships, where he to David Haye, 27-15 on the electronic scoring system.
 
The 31-year-old Ukrainian has earned his chance at the title, having defeated the durable Alejandro Lakatos and knocked out Campillo. He’s stopped nine of his last 10 opponents.
 
Still, Barry believes that Shumenov is ready to win this extremely tough title defence — and to do so impressively.
 
“He has great character and a huge heart,” Barry says of Shumenov. “He would die in the ring, that’s the sort of attitude that he takes to the fight. He doesn’t leave anything to chance. We’ve made some great progress in this training camp. He’s a guy that’s always been able to rise to the occasion and I believe that this will be no different: The bigger the challenge, the higher the motivation. Beibut is extremely driven to perform.
 
“You know, he’s been a professional a little over two and a half years. To beat two former world champions, Byron Mitchell and Montell Griffin, and beat Campillo for the title, he’s really achieved a lot in a very short time. We’re still making improvements. He’ll keep improving for the next five, six fights. He’s developed into a hell of a fighter.  We’ve done tremendous work in sparring. I’m excited, because as I keep telling him, all the time, we’re only seeing the tip of what his true potential really is.
 
‘We’ve worked hard on getting him to relax. He got all tired in the ninth round against Campillo and then changed gear when we needed to win those last rounds, but his conditioning is a lot better this time. We’ve done a lot of strength work, and as a specimen he is a lot bigger than he was for the Campillo fight, much stronger, his overall style has improved — I’m excited. I think this could be a coming out for him. We’re fighting a tough guy but I think it’s a style we can look good against. We’ve worked hard to counter this guy.
 
“Beibut never had any animosity toward Campillo but he doesn’t like Uzelkov, and that’s been another driving force for him. He was working on the promotion himself for the last fight, it took the guts out of him, he was mentally stressed, he wasn’t sleeping. This time he’s been able to focus just on the fight, he’s been happier in the gym, he’s slept better, he’s been happier at home. For the Campillo fight he was very, very unhappy.”
 
Barry is an experienced boxing man and of course he boxed with great success as an amateur, getting an Olympic silver medal when Evander Holyfield was controversially disqualified in their semifinals bout. He was Tua’s trainer for the Fres Oquendo fight, and for eight rounds things were not going well. Tua was trying too hard to land a big punch, and getting frustrated as he lost round after round. As I recall, Barry calmly told him: “Look, David, just go out there and win a round for me,” and Tua left his corner for the ninth round and proceeded to knock out the troublesome Oquendo. It will be a fine achievement for Barry, as a trainer, as well as for Shumenov, as a fighter, if they get the win in California tonight, because this is a fight that has opinion divided among those who closely follow boxing.
 
I am going with Shumenov. Although Uzelkov has to be respected, I’m not sure he is quite as formidable as his record suggests. He seemed to me to be losing clearly until he caught up with Campillo in the sixth round, and in the fight with Lakatos there were moments when he appeared to be under pressure against a strong and tough but not particularly gifted fighter — and it looked to me as if Uzelkov definitely got wobbled by a right hand in the second round. There seems an awkward look to Uzelkov’s punching, although he can certainly bang. He has been able to march forward, gloves up high, and simply walk down many of his opponents. I’m not sure he can do this to Shumenov, however.
 
Shumenov looked the more imposing physically at the weigh-in, coming in at 175 pounds to Uzelkov’s 172. It seems to me that Shumenov is the more athletic of the two men and I think he has the better hand speed. At 26, Shumenov is the younger man by five years. In what should be a gruelling battle, I feel that Shumenov will dig in and fight his way through to victory, maybe even by late stoppage.