As soon as I saw the beating he took, and the nature of the knockout - not to mention the condition he was in after the fight - I was sure, against my wish of course, that Shavkat would end in a hospital.
I'm sorry to have even thought of that, but the signs were all there.
I watched fight and from introductions of fighters, Rakhimov didn’t look quite right. Wasn’t in prime, ripped condition like previous fights (even though moving up a division), didn’t seem to have any fire, and was concerningly slow and plodding first two rounds like I’ve never seen him before. I was wondering if he had an undocumented concussion in training because that can carryover into looking lethargic.
Not taking away a great performance from Paulson in any way.
After fight I was very aware of his struggles coming around and the body language of him leading up to walking out of the ring with assistance made me think brain bleed at that exact moment unfortunately. It was hauntingly familiar to Maxim Dadashev after his final fight. Same exact look. Really hope he gets a clean bill of health and hopefully retire. He’s been a world champion and hopefully has some money saved and wish him the best.
I'm just frustrated/upset that Rakhimov's handlers/manager would put him in against Pauldo after nearly a year off. You don't go right back in after a KO loss, a year off, and pull off a fight like this in a higher weight class. Build him up with a couple of fights to see if he needs to be at 135 or 130. Now his career may be in jeopardy two fights removed from being a world champion.
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