2020 Olympic gold medal heavyweight Bakhodir Jalolov got a eighth-round KO over Jack Mulowayi on Friday Night’s ShoBox main event. The ending was violent, and brutal, what it took to get there was oddly uneventful. 

Jalolov is probably the hardest prospect to predict, that I have seen in some time. Everything tells me that he is the boxing equivalent of Darko Millicic, a highly touted NBA player, who never saw stardom in the league. Yet, it is hard to argue with all eleven of his pro fights ending by way of knockout, as well as his crowning achievement KO over Richard Torrez Jr. in the amateurs.

That being said, Jalolov’s punch selection is similar to Erislandy Lara with a lot of straight punches, and a rear uppercut, as well as a ton of movement, movement that doesn’t always move the fight forward from an action standpoint. In short, Jalolov despite knocking everyone out still has a style that is largely amateur, and even though he is in eight-round bouts, and headlining boxing cards, he still feels about two-to-three years away from being a finished product. 

A positive sign is that Jalolov is converting to the pros with Gennady Mashianov, the trainer of Dmitry Bivol, who got the biggest win thus far in 2022 an upset of Canelo Alvarez. 

Jalolov is a strange case, as he got a brutal one-punch KO, and was deducted a point for holding in the same bout. To become the best of the era, he has to have a solution for the inside game besides holding, as Jalolov reminds me of another gold medalist from his home country, Vassiliy Jirov. 

I just am curious to see where Jalolov goes as his compassion shown towards the fighter he knocked out was a welcomed change, and surely he will fight for a world title, but I just have no clue how good he is until he steps up to the next level. 

A fight between himself and George Arias would be an interesting next progression, especially on ShoBox. 

undercard

Heavyweight George Arias got a sleepy decision over Alante Green, who I could’ve sworn was a cruiserweight. Arias, who look like Ali, and moves a ton, fought in spurts, while Green, looked for one shot. The result a close split-decision that I think will have both fighters thinking about what they should’ve done, more than what they did do. 

Chann Thonson stopped Ty Tomlin by way of a fourth-round doctor’s stoppage. Tomlin, who had the best round of the fight, prior to the stoppage. It was painful to see, as though Thonson was winning the fight, Tomlin wanted the chance to continue, but NYSAC is very strict, and stopped the bout. One of the better fights I saw on the evening was stopped rather quickly.

Undercard

2020 Olympic women’s bronze medalist Oshae Jones got a six-round decision off-television to start her pro career with a win.