I remember seeing Attila Levin fights on TV many years ago and I thought to myself "This dude can fight. For real." He could box and he was tough as nails, he was tall, he was big, strong and skillful.
Then I remember watching Nikolai Valuev fight a former (Small) Cruiserweight named Marcelo Fabian Dominguez and Valuev couldn't take him out. Don't get me wrong, Dominguez was tough and had skills, but he was much smaller and Valuev couldn't do too much with him. And when I later found out Valuev fights Attila Levin, I thought to myself "Wow, this will be a tough fight for Valuev, cause Levin is a big, strong, hard man and he can box".
And what happened? Levin lost clearly and fast. If Valuev was a Mike Tyson type of guy, I wouldn't question anything, but knowing that Valuev never was a Tyson, I just felt something might be fishy. Later Levin also lost very fast in untypical fashion to another german based fighter who we all know: Robert Helenius.
I am not gonna lie: there were a few fights of Valuev where I thought "Mmmmh, okay..... really?". I won't mention any more names of Valuev's opponents, because I have no proof and I don't want to disrespect Valuev or his career.
Anybody else knows a fighter where he thought his career was partly built not only by good matchmaking but also by "maybe fixed" fights (meaning the opponent took a dive)?
Then I remember watching Nikolai Valuev fight a former (Small) Cruiserweight named Marcelo Fabian Dominguez and Valuev couldn't take him out. Don't get me wrong, Dominguez was tough and had skills, but he was much smaller and Valuev couldn't do too much with him. And when I later found out Valuev fights Attila Levin, I thought to myself "Wow, this will be a tough fight for Valuev, cause Levin is a big, strong, hard man and he can box".
And what happened? Levin lost clearly and fast. If Valuev was a Mike Tyson type of guy, I wouldn't question anything, but knowing that Valuev never was a Tyson, I just felt something might be fishy. Later Levin also lost very fast in untypical fashion to another german based fighter who we all know: Robert Helenius.
I am not gonna lie: there were a few fights of Valuev where I thought "Mmmmh, okay..... really?". I won't mention any more names of Valuev's opponents, because I have no proof and I don't want to disrespect Valuev or his career.
Anybody else knows a fighter where he thought his career was partly built not only by good matchmaking but also by "maybe fixed" fights (meaning the opponent took a dive)?