TYSON FURY and Anthony Joshua are going to leave a giant heavyweight void only a freakish talent like Bakhodir Jalolov can fill.
Never heard of him? Good, we barely have either.
But the 29-year-old has the baffling southpaw stance of Oleksandr Usyk, the 6ft 7in size similar to Tyson Fury and the vicious power associated with Deontay Wilder.
Because of boxing’s pathetic and sometimes dangerous bureaucracy, the sensational leftie is still allowed to fly around the world winning amateur tournaments like the 2021 Olympics, while climbing up the paid rankings.
YouTube is sadly packed full of highlights of him chinning over-matched, young opponents in the unpaid code.
Prior to 2016, pro boxers were never allowed to fight an amateur, however the rules were changed to allow pros to fight at the Olympics.
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Some of the more recent Jalolov wins are hard to watch, he is clearly head and shoulders above most of his amateur opponents and some of them are getting knocked spark out.
Dozens of solid amateurs have been pulled out of super-heavy tournaments when they have seen Jalolov in the opposite corner.
And the 2019 demolition of Richard Torrez Jr probably contributed to that terrifying reputation.
So brutal was the first round KO of Torrez Jr – who is now a respected 7-0 pro – that the WBC sanctioning body even labelled it “brutal and criminal”.
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But the Uzbekistan monster has also been allowed to tot up 13 professional wins as he quietly waits to pounce on the belts once they are fragmented.
Usyk currently holds the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight world titles, while the Gypsy King holds onto the WBC.
We are hoping and praying for an overdue undisputed decider very soon, potentially as early as December 23.
And then the four major titles are likely to fragment, with various mandatory challengers like Filip Hrgovic waiting in the wings.
Jalolov – a bizarrely gifted childhood wrestler and footballer – has been making a mockery of the amateur super-heavy class for a while.
To date he has won gold at the 2020 Olympics, the 2023 and 2019 world championships and four Asian Games.
He beat rising pros like Frazer Clarke before they went full-time.
But 2016 Team GB ace Joe Joyce does have an amateur win over the 6ft 7in leftie.
BoxRec has Jalolov’s amateur record at 102-15 which is not too far off the iconic legacies of 94-15 London 2012 winner Usyk and double golden boy Vasiliy Lomachenko, who made it to 396-1.
Last summer, Top Rank’s legendary promoter Bob Arum snapped up Jalolov and said: “Bakhodir Jalolov is one of the finest heavyweight talents in boxing today.
“His tremendous amateur credentials speak for themselves, and as a professional, he has proven to be equally devastating.
“I truly believe he will be a heavyweight champion one day.”
Jalolov has probably slipped past the casual fan because younger professional rivals like Jared Anderson, Daniel Dubois and even teenager Moses Itauma have enjoyed more hype from their promoters and broadcasters.
But the ‘Big Uzbek’ is quietly mapping his path out to a world title shot.
Southpaws are a rare commodity in heavyweight boxing and in any division the unorthodox stance is usually assimilated with being tricky and technical.
But Jalolov wants to rip up that textbook and add power to his amateur class.
“I'm not just a puncher,” he said. “Of course, I can punch, and I know that I have power because every time I land, people go down.
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"But I have much more than that. I have a great footwork, feeling of distance and timing and speed.
"I'll land one, but I'm not going to get hit and that's my goal. Boxing is about ‘hit and don't get hit’”.
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