On paper it looked like the ideal choice -a first
step in regaining lost prospect status for its charge- or, so the Dominick Guinn
brain trust thought.
Unfortunately, the pigeon turned hawk Serguei Lyakhovich, had other plans - and
what we got was an interesting heavyweight chess match that saw the Russian
giant out dueling Guinn for the decision win.
Guinn was a bit quicker out of the gate in stanza one … claims the candle on
busier output - then it’s Serguei in number two having the better - and so it
went with both having moments down to the "championship" rounds of 8-9-10 with
Serguei taking command.
Official scoring went Lyakhovich 96-94, 96-4, 97-93. My unofficial saw it
Serguei 96-94 in points and 6-4 in rounds.
Post Scripts: Think while there’s still something positive about Guinn as
prospect, I also believe changes must be made in the tutor-trainer department.
Even from a distance I could quickly see a clearly visible flaw come the opening
candle.
All of what I saw in Guinn in my first two peeks, the explosive demolition of
Michael Grant, and then catching and passing Dokiwari in the run to the wire was
missing in this one.
On the strength of those past performances the "prospect" label was a given. He
worked the old school way patient and disciplined … then on the inside the
combinations were pugilistic blockbusters and blueprints of a solid foundation
for success.
Then it’s trainer-tutors Ronnie Shields and Mark Breland turning the "let the
hands go" cheerleader route and Guinn goes loser to Monte Barrett and now a
Russian transplant no-name Serguei Lyakovich.
Question: Whatever happened to the old cliché "if it ain’t broke don’t fix it."
And what about this Russian heavyweight that stands about 6-4 and scales in at
240? First peek shows the guy is one tough cookie … surprise is the Western look
in style. Relaxed with decent jab and tosses the power punches from both sides.
And they come in overhand rights, left hooks, uppercuts - power not explosive
and is big target for a sharpshooter. Worth a peek but not quite title timber.
Closing comments: Referee Randy Neumann had a good outing in letting them wage
war without undue presence.
