We couldn’t wait to see Arslanbek Makhmudov take on his first real heavyweight challenge. He successfully passed the test with a convincing victory against Mariusz Wach.
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“It was an important fight for Arslanbek, but we had chosen an opponent who was important in his formation, underlined his trainer Marc Ramsay after the duel.
“We took Arslanbek to another territory against Wach. We did fewer rounds than during the fight against Jonathan Rice (7), but he was hit more often. We had more conversations than usual.”
Even though he won, Makhmudov went to school during his fight. In particular, he learned a lesson in terms of managing emotions.
Before the duel, Wach showed him that he was not intimidated. As he strode into the ring to the sound of his nuclear alert siren, Makhmudov came face to face with his opponent. The two giants looked at each other, but it didn’t go any further.
“It knocked Arslanbek out a bit,” Ramsay said. If there’s anything I’d like to work on with him, it’s emotional control.
“When he knew passages where things were going less well, he was less efficient technically. It all came from the emotion and frustration of not hurting Wach quickly. When he was calmer and focused on his boxing, everything was fine.
big third round
In the third round, Makhmudov had his most explosive career moments. He was involved in several tough exchanges with Wach who saw others during his long road at heavyweight.
It was then that we noticed that the protege of EOTTM was able to take power shots. Wach hit him several times this round, but he wasn’t shaken.
“That’s where you ask if you’re going to lose control or if you’re going to be able to bring it back,” Ramsay said. You have to go through it.
“It’s the type of thing you don’t see in the gym. You can do the number of rounds you want with quality partners, but there is never this emotional side that we saw tonight (Saturday).
fateful combination
We saw several interesting things from Makhmudov during this duel which ended in a sixth-round knockout.
First of all, the Montrealer of Russian origin has several tools in his toolbox. Against Wach, he demonstrated that he could deliver great combinations.
That of the fifth assault was not pitted with worms. He threw an uppercut followed by a right hand which froze Wach standing. The Pole survived until the end of the round, but we had just witnessed a pivotal moment in the fight.
It happened in the next round. He managed to pin down his opponent before unleashing a series of power shots. Wach, 41, couldn’t get up before the end of the count.
“I knew it was a matter of time and I mentioned it in the corner to Arslanbek before the sixth round. I wanted him to work well and not do this all wrong.
Makhmudov will take a few days off before thinking about what to do next. He could return to the ring in a gala which would be presented in Shawinigan at the end of May. A file to follow…