On Friday,
January 22, super-welterweight Jared Robinson, fighting out of Charlotte, will
be facing undefeated Bakhtiyar Eyubov (9-0) of Kazakhstan, the same country
that undisputed middleweight world champion Gennady Golovkin is from. The bout
will take place at the Casino Del Sol
Resort in Tucson, Arizona. Barring any schedule changes, Showtime Network will kick-off its boxing
telecast with the Robinson-Eyubov fight at 10:30PM.
Jared, who has held a number of amateur boxing titles,
including 4-time South Carolina Golden Gloves Champion, and currently holds the
USBO welterweight title, began his professional career with an unblemished
record of 14-0. He will enter the ring against Eyubov at 16-2-1.
Jared recently fought to a draw with a tough undefeated
23-0 fighter from Las Vegas, Haskell Rhodes, in a fight that took place in
Rhodes’ new hometown. Before that, he went the distance with Michael Perez of
New Jersey, who was 20-1-2, in a bout in Cincinnati. Jared lost the 10-round decision,
but he’s no stranger to accepting tough out-of-state fights against fighters
with excellent records, and no doubt will continue to do so.
Studying fight film of Eyubov, it appears obvious that,
much like Golovkin, he is heavy-handed in both hands. The Kazakhstan fighter
having scored 9 KO’s in all 9 of his fights, nearly all ending in 1 or 2
rounds, is proof of that. Jared will need to have his defensive skills at peak
for this bout.
It seems Eyubov prefers infighting, only swinging away
when he’s right up on his opponent. Jared can counter that style by staying
outside and pecking away at Eyubov with solid jabs and quick combinations to
rack up points. Eyubov’s punch count drops when opponents keep him away, at or near
the center of the ring. He seems to be concentrating more on trying to cut the
ring off to get out of that situation. At all costs, Jared must avoid getting
trapped with his back to the ropes, because that is when Eyubov attacks and is
at his best. Also, Jared shouldn’t hesitate to clinch when Eyubov lowers his
head and bulls into him looking like Joe Frazier, something he will do to back
an opponent into the ropes. When the ref breaks it up, take him back to the
center of the ring. Eyubov’s game gets thrown off track when that happens.
Eyubov’s stamina is a question mark; he’s never gone past
the 3rd round. Jared and his corner may want to watch for Eyubov possibly fading
in later rounds, giving Jared an opportunity to land punches with more frequency.
The bout is scheduled for 8 rounds.
While Eyubov’s promoter and camp based in Brooklyn, New
York have high hopes of him accomplishing much of what his countryman Golovkin
has done, Eyubov is nowhere near as tested as that. Out of nine bouts, Eyubov
has fought an opponent with a winning record just once, 2-0 Cliff Newton, when
making his debut in 2012. Newton hasn’t fought since. Jared has a significant
advantage when it comes to being matched against higher caliber opponents
during his professional career, which began in 2009.
Jared will have Coach James Pressley of Dyme Boxing & Fitness in Charlotte
in his corner along with James Carr and Danny Smalls, all trainers from a gym
that has produced numerous successful amateur and professional fighters over
the years.
On Friday night, Jared’s Dyme “brothers and sisters”, as
well as North Carolina boxing fans, will not foresee Eyubov as the next Gennady
Golovkin. Instead, they will be looking for Jared Robinson to return home with
yet another win on his record, and a chance to take on other tough challengers…wherever
they may be.
GAR1680 North Carolina Boxing Talk will be tweeting round
by round coverage of Jared’s fight and retweeting observations from other
boxing analysts. (Tweets will appear on Facebook).
Paco Rivera,
GAR1680 Boxing Talk Radio & Blog
