Interested to hear some thoughts regarding this matchup. The more I think about it, the more I'm leaning towards Arlovski. My feeling is that the longer the fight goes, the better for Arlovski. He's coming off some bad losses and will probably have jitters in the first round, but if he gets through that I expect his better cardio and better footwork will see him through.
I actually like the chances of Arlovski by decision... I think if it goes to decision it's highly unlikely Kharitonov takes it. Arlovski will probably have a good gameplan, as he's training with Greg Jackson's camp, which might involve sticking and moving and basically outspeeding Kharitonov en route to a decision victory or maybe a 3rd round TKO if Kharitonov's cardio isn't up to par. I guess we don't know much about Kharitonov's cardio since he almost never goes out of the first round, but hasn't he seemed out of shape lately?
I'd love to see some analysis on this one. I know Arlovski's motivation is through the roof, at least if his recent interviews are to be believed. I think Arlovski will have better technical boxing and head movement, better movement in general, and he also has decent leg kicks while Kharitonov seems to rely exclusively on his hands. As for props, Arlovski by decision +340 and Arlovski wins in round 3 +1000 look interesting to me. One can't expect the ground game to be tested much in this one, but if it goes there I'd expect Arlovski to be just fine. The main concerns are obviously his chin and Kharitonov's power, but it seems worth the risk at these odds, perhaps with a small hedge on Kharitonov in round 1 +300. Aside from a split decision win against Werdum, all of Kharitonov's wins have been by stoppage in round 1, including his lone win in K1.
Anybody have info on Kharitonov's training, specifically who he trains with these days? How do you see this one going down?
I actually like the chances of Arlovski by decision... I think if it goes to decision it's highly unlikely Kharitonov takes it. Arlovski will probably have a good gameplan, as he's training with Greg Jackson's camp, which might involve sticking and moving and basically outspeeding Kharitonov en route to a decision victory or maybe a 3rd round TKO if Kharitonov's cardio isn't up to par. I guess we don't know much about Kharitonov's cardio since he almost never goes out of the first round, but hasn't he seemed out of shape lately?
I'd love to see some analysis on this one. I know Arlovski's motivation is through the roof, at least if his recent interviews are to be believed. I think Arlovski will have better technical boxing and head movement, better movement in general, and he also has decent leg kicks while Kharitonov seems to rely exclusively on his hands. As for props, Arlovski by decision +340 and Arlovski wins in round 3 +1000 look interesting to me. One can't expect the ground game to be tested much in this one, but if it goes there I'd expect Arlovski to be just fine. The main concerns are obviously his chin and Kharitonov's power, but it seems worth the risk at these odds, perhaps with a small hedge on Kharitonov in round 1 +300. Aside from a split decision win against Werdum, all of Kharitonov's wins have been by stoppage in round 1, including his lone win in K1.
Anybody have info on Kharitonov's training, specifically who he trains with these days? How do you see this one going down?