Denis Grachev Shocks Ismayl Sillakh, Javier Fortuna Is A Boss
by Gautham Nagesh
When boxing is done right, few spectacles are more thrilling. ESPN’s Friday Night Fights did it right last night, matching four undefeated prospects in a pair of bouts designed to separate the contenders from the pretenders. And the fighters delivered, or at least half of them did, from the campus of the University of Texas in Austin.
Dominican featherweight Javier Fortuna (above) blew out Cleveland’s Yuandale Evans, handing “Money Shot” his first loss in the opening round of a matchup of southpaws at 130 lbs. World-rated Ukranian light heavyweight Ismayl Sillakh wasn’t so fortunate, as he allowed San Diego-based Russian Denis Grachev to hang around long enough to rally for a stunning, come-from-behind stoppage in the 8th round.[[MORE]]
I covered Fortuna’s first fight in the U.S. for TQBR, and left firmly believing the Dominican will eventually fight for a world title. Since then, he’s been running roughshod over fairly strong competition for a fighter of his age. Evans faired no better, tasting Fortuna’s power after just 90 seconds in the form of a looping left hand. Evans staggered, his glove briefly touching the mat, but no knockdown was scored. It didn’t matter.
Fortuna pounced, unleashing three wide left hands followed by wider right rooks. The third combination found home, as Fortuna’s left sent Evans’ eyes rolling back into his head. The clubbing right to the back of Yuandale’s head was purely academic. Somehow Evans rose, despite having no balance, but Fortuna allowed him no space to recover. Javier trapped Evans against the ropes and pummeled him with left-right combinations, until Evans fell again and the ref waved it off. The end came at 2:02 of round one, Fortuna’s ninth first-round knockout in 19 fights.
It is too early to write off Evans, who at 23 years old boasts some impressive physical gifts. He simply ran into a decorated amateur with skills beyond his years, a true prodigy in the fight game. Fortuna is managed by the same team that handles middleweight champion Sergio Martinez, so you can be sure he won’t be fighting a string of stiffs any time soon. His style is a little wild still to be tested at the top level, but we would love to see him paired with another young 130-lb prospect like Luis Cruz. His handlers insist he’s better than Cuban phenom Yuriorkis Gamboa; that’s a fight we would love to see.
The main event looked equally one-sided at the outset, despite both fighters’ unbeaten records. Sillakh has shown real class since coming stateside, dispatching a string of solid opponents including Daniel Judah and Yordanis Despaigne. The rangy Sillakh has extremely fast hands for his weight class and throws rapid combinations with power. Grachev, by comparison, is an awkward former amateur kick-boxing world champion. He leads with his head and comes straight in, making him an easy target for a skilled counter-puncher like Sillakh.
Early on, it appeared Sillakh’s speed and skills would be too much for Grachev. The Ukrainian bounces and moves around the ring, content to potshot from the outside rather than setting his feet and digging in. It looked like an effective, if slightly boring strategy, especially when Sillakh caught Grachev with a straight right in the third that put the Russian down for a count. But rather than finishing his injured opponent, Sillakh kept boxing and looked comfortable with his lead on the scorecards.
The crowd began booing in the middle rounds as Sillakh danced, poked, and picked his way around the ring. Grachev doggedly marched forward, and occasionally appeared to get close with a right hand. To his credit, ringside analyst Teddy Atlas warned before the fight that Sillakh is susceptible to the right hand. Those words would prove clairvoyant before too long. Sillakh looked to be setting up the right uppercut, but he never caught Grachev with it cleanly, despite the Russian’s tendency to duck his head.
The tide began to turn in the seventh round as Grachev kept coming, gaining confidence from Sillakh’s constant retreat. Two jabs to the body from Denis got Ismayl thinking, allowing Grachev to fake the body shot and land a clean right hand to Sillakh’s jaw. Grachev pressed Sillakh, who backed up for the rest of the round, but Denis failed to land another big shot.
Sillakh came out for the 8th more willing to stand and fight, a decision that would prove to be his downfall. Grachev at that point was clearly rejuvenated, and began firing shots to Ismayl’s midsection. Sillakh re-established himself and started landing power shots, standing his ground once again. But Sillakh sat down on a combination too long and ate a straight right hand from Grachev in response. Sillakh was hurt immediately, and forced back into the corner, where Grachev unleashed a barrage of punches from both hands.
The rights were mostly blocked, but the lefts found home. A final right along the ropes finally toppled Sillakh and sent him to the canvas. The ref jumped in immediately and stopped the fight rather than counting, making the stoppage perhaps a bit premature. But Sillakh looked ready to go, and he probably wouldn’t have beaten the count. The official end came at 2:18 of round eight.
Grachev is a tough customer and claims his natural weight class is 168, where his punching power and sturdy chin give him a greater advantage. But it’s tough to see him troubling the likes of Andre Dirrell or Andre Ward, who should both be able to out-box him even more effectively than Sillakh did for the first seven rounds. He may be in line for a big fight at light heavyweight, since there was talk of Sillakh facing the winner of Chad Dawson-Bernard Hopkins 2 tonight. But it’s hard to see him troubling either man. Grachev deserves all the credit in the world for his win, but his ceiling appears slightly below the world-class level.
As for Sillakh, unfortunately he became the latest to realize that Atlas is still one of the sharpest observers in the fight game. Sillakh is a young man at 27 and he could have won this fight, but some work needs to be done. One thing is certain: he needn’t worry about the top fighters at 175 being afraid to fight him anymore. Every light heavy with a big right hand (which is most of them, especially Tavoris Cloud) will be looking to line him up for their next fight. This looks like one of those cases where a loss might actually improve Sillakh’s chances at landing a big fight.
Proof again that failing up is only a viable career path in boxing, politics, and the media.