Commentator Sergey Lukyanenko, in his expert breakdown, summed up the two main fights of the boxing card, which featured two major stories: the defeat of Ukrainian Denis Berinchyk by Britain's Sam Noble in London, where the WBO International title was on the line, and the sensational victory of Filip Hrgovic over Moses Itauma. According to the expert, both bouts served as a vivid illustration of two opposite scenarios: how accumulated age and breaks drain even a bright fighter, and how "anomalous" resilience can upend a balance of power in which the favorite was already considered the near-certain winner.
Berinchyk vs. Noble: Age and Accumulated Problems
Lukyanenko admits that, despite his attempts to convince himself otherwise, a year-and-a-half break and a five-month camp could not compensate for the fact that "age is age." In his assessment, the opponent was younger and physically stronger, and Noble, while not a super-intelligent boxer, was "at least not stupid": he did not do anything foolish, acted with discipline, and played to his strengths. As for Berinchyk, as this bout revealed, "little is left" of his strengths — only his legs kept working, allowing him to escape the pressure, but nothing else. The only real problem Berinchyk managed to create for Noble was that the Briton could not catch him, corner him, and finish him off.
A Career That May Continue in Another Combat Sport
The expert emphasizes that there was no visible attempt by Berinchyk to win in this fight, and the sporadic bursts of activity in the final rounds only brought a small amount of joy — and even that only if they had started a bit earlier. At the same time, Lukyanenko allows that this may be self-deception: Noble had a clear game plan that he was capable of executing, while Berinchyk had too many accumulated problems. Therefore, in the commentator's view, Berinchyk "should thank his boxing career" and, as he himself had stated, try his hand in another combat sport. Lukyanenko is confident that this bright, capable "spark" who knows how to draw attention will not be lost and will extend his social life in sport.
Boxing Lessons Confirmed by the Itauma – Hrgovic Fight
Breaking down the second fight, Lukyanenko admits that he is tired of the worn-out phrases about how you cannot chase a knockout because it may come the other way, and about the need to gradually raise the level of opposition. However, the Itauma vs. Hrgovic bout, in his words, "clearly confirmed: this is not a stereotype, but lessons that the history of boxing has shaped and crystallized." Despite all of Itauma's miscalculations and those of his team, despite his excessive self-belief, what Hrgovic did, the commentator calls "anomalous" and rationally unexplainable — Hrgovic himself said that the Holy Spirit supported him in preparation and on the ring.
Itauma's "Kryptonite": Hrgovic's Bulletproof Chin
Lukyanenko notes that already during media week Hrgovic got under Itauma's skin and provoked him into pushing after the face-off — this was a "warning bell" that the favorite had been goaded, and in the first two rounds he spent a lot of strength and energy. The real "kryptonite" for Itauma, in the expert's words, was Hrgovic's incredible chin: how much and how he withstood it is "impossible to train or replicate — it is either given or it is not." A quality camp with Abel Sanchez helped, but the decisive factor was precisely this "superpower," which allowed Hrgovic to survive to the rounds where Itauma gassed out and catch his luck. Lukyanenko concludes the breakdown with an emotion: he is "very happy" for Hrgovic, who, by his own account, was always a guy to whom "no one ever gave handouts" — and it is precisely such stories, when common sense steps aside and the lab-rat favorite meets the one who gets in the way of his throat, that, in his words, we love in boxing.
