At the age of 36 – soon to be 37 – Avantandil Khurtsidze became an overnight sensation. Okay, that’s overstating it, but his bravura performance vs. Antoine Douglas in the Showtime-televised show from the Sands Events Center in Bethlehem, PA on Saturday, March 5, had viewers lusting to see more of him. TSS ringside correspondent Bernard Fernandez called the Khurtsidze-Douglas bout the “most fan-friendly, action-packed bout of 2016” and made it the early favorite for Fight of the Year.
A stumpy 5’4”, Khurtsidze has a face that only a mother could love. As one wag said, if we could graft his head onto the body of a 250-pound bodybuilder, we would have a WWE superstar. He should have been named Igor, not as in Igor Stravinski, the pianist and composer, but as in Igor the stock character in those old black-and-white horror films.
Khurtsidze is a throwback to fighters of yesteryear, or rather our perception of fighters of yesteryear. The opening round of a boxing match tends to be a “feeling out round.” Against Douglas, who was eight inches taller, Khurtsidze was in a seek-and-destroy mode from the opening bell.
Douglas gave a gutsy performance, but Khurtsidze's buzzsaw attack wore him down. The bout was stopped in the 10th frame but could have been stopped sooner. Douglas, who was thought to be a rising star in the middleweight division, took the sort of beating that can shorten a boxer’s career.
I feel sorry for Antoine Douglas who was undefeated (19-0-1) and had a heart-warming back story. The child of drug-addicted parents, Douglas spent his formative years in foster and group homes. His initial opponent was the 42-year old Australian, Sam Solomon, but that match fell out when the Aussie suffered a knee injury. It's likely that Douglas would still be undefeated if that match had gone off as scheduled.
As for Khurtsidze, he was 24-1 in his last 25 fights heading in, but most of those fights were in Europe, primarily the Ukraine, and his name didn’t register with American fight fans. He was slated to fight the last man to defeat him, Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam, in Paris last year but that show was cancelled in the wake of the mass shooting by Islamic extremists. If Khurtsidze had avenged that loss, Douglas’ management would have likely rejected him as an opponent, so things just didn’t break right for Antoine Douglas, who was dealt a bad hand by the fickle finger of fate.
Khurtsidze’s nickname is Tazman. He needs a better nickname than that, ideally one that alludes to his swarming offense. Any suggestions?
By the way, we were curious if any prominent middleweight of years past was shorter than 5’4.” Offhand, we couldn’t think of any. Among middleweights enshrined in the Hall of Fame, the shortest is Laszlo Papp who checks in at 5’5”.
A stumpy 5’4”, Khurtsidze has a face that only a mother could love. As one wag said, if we could graft his head onto the body of a 250-pound bodybuilder, we would have a WWE superstar. He should have been named Igor, not as in Igor Stravinski, the pianist and composer, but as in Igor the stock character in those old black-and-white horror films.
Khurtsidze is a throwback to fighters of yesteryear, or rather our perception of fighters of yesteryear. The opening round of a boxing match tends to be a “feeling out round.” Against Douglas, who was eight inches taller, Khurtsidze was in a seek-and-destroy mode from the opening bell.
Douglas gave a gutsy performance, but Khurtsidze's buzzsaw attack wore him down. The bout was stopped in the 10th frame but could have been stopped sooner. Douglas, who was thought to be a rising star in the middleweight division, took the sort of beating that can shorten a boxer’s career.
I feel sorry for Antoine Douglas who was undefeated (19-0-1) and had a heart-warming back story. The child of drug-addicted parents, Douglas spent his formative years in foster and group homes. His initial opponent was the 42-year old Australian, Sam Solomon, but that match fell out when the Aussie suffered a knee injury. It's likely that Douglas would still be undefeated if that match had gone off as scheduled.
As for Khurtsidze, he was 24-1 in his last 25 fights heading in, but most of those fights were in Europe, primarily the Ukraine, and his name didn’t register with American fight fans. He was slated to fight the last man to defeat him, Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam, in Paris last year but that show was cancelled in the wake of the mass shooting by Islamic extremists. If Khurtsidze had avenged that loss, Douglas’ management would have likely rejected him as an opponent, so things just didn’t break right for Antoine Douglas, who was dealt a bad hand by the fickle finger of fate.
Khurtsidze’s nickname is Tazman. He needs a better nickname than that, ideally one that alludes to his swarming offense. Any suggestions?
By the way, we were curious if any prominent middleweight of years past was shorter than 5’4.” Offhand, we couldn’t think of any. Among middleweights enshrined in the Hall of Fame, the shortest is Laszlo Papp who checks in at 5’5”.
Avantandil Khurtsidze -- I Can't Wait To See This Guy Fight Again
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