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 LEGACY! 47 - Available on PPV
02.12.16
Belle Centre - Montreal
Event Preview prepared by: Taylor Powell (107803)
LEGACY! 47
PRELIMS
HEAVYWEIGHT: Oleksandr Usyk (14-5) vs Sven Kristian Nielsen (13-6)
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT: Artim Irhin (7-5) vs Stan Judea (4-2)
HEAVYWEIGHT: Obelix De Gaul (11-3) vs Vincenzo Vitalli (9-3)
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT: Johny Clattenburg (11-7) vs Brian Pereira (10-8-1)
HEAVYWEIGHT: Bull Hurley (10-6) vs Farrokh Bulsara (8-6)
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT: Guido Gloom (8-3) vs Ivan Kuznetsov (6-5)
MAIN CARD
MIDDLEWEIGHT: Ed Gennero (17-9) vs Friedrich Von Kuschelbar (13-5)
Newly signed Friedrich Von Kuschelbar will make his Legacy debut on the main card. Von Kuschelbar is on a 3 fight winning streak and brings a ton of momentum, as well as power with him to this fight. With 10 career KO wins in his young career, he’s proven to be a handful on the feet. He faces the former 2 time LFC champion Ed Gennero in this fight. Gennero challenged Cid Strife for the 185 pound championship in Legacy a few fights ago, so he will certainly test the young upstart’s will in this one. In 26 career fights, Gennero has been knocked out in 8 of those fights. This is generally not a good sign when you face off against a proven power striker like Kuschelbar, but Gennero is still just 26 years old and shouldn’t have to worry about his chin disintegrating just yet. This fight should certainly take place on the feet and Gennero is a very technically sound fighter, as well as being a solid finisher.
WELTERWEIGHT: Better Dead (17-13) vs Chiku Maneno (15-6)
Two former title challengers at 170 pounds in the promotion will do battle in this main card fight. In their first fight a year ago, Chiku Maneno got the best of Better Dead. Midway through the very first round, Maneno connected with a devastating punch that left Dead unconscious before he hit the mat. Even after such a devastating knockout, I would expect Dead to come forward constantly again and turn this fight into a firefight. All of his 17 career wins have come by knockout and he certainly has the potential to turn Maneno’s lights off and repay him from the last fight in this one. Both of these guys lost to former champion Kelvin Parker in their last fight, so it’ll be critical for each guy to pick up a solid rebound win. The fighters are very similar in size, so neither man will enjoy much of a reach or strength advantage. I certainly wouldn’t put money on this fight lasting any longer than the first fight, but I wouldn’t put any money on it being any less entertaining either.
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE FIGHT: © Liam McGuiness (21-10-1) vs Ravi Shankoli (20-4)
After a pair of razor thin decision fights against Edinger Nucleus, Liam McGuiness is still the champion, but he certainly didn’t prove himself head and shoulders above the challenger. The first fight was scored as a draw and in the rematch, McGuiness prevailed by a majority decision. Ravi Shankoli is on a 4 fight winning streak that began with a unanimous decision win over you guessed it, Edinger Nucleus. Shankoli certainly has a lot of confidence coming into this crucial title fight and he was a former champion in the now defunct but then solid NEX promotion. It’ll be interesting to see if Shankoli decides to follow the Nucleus blueprint and shoot for takedowns in this fight because that typically isn’t his style but Nucleus was able to secure 5 takedowns in the first fight with McGuiness. I would expect this fight to take place on the feet and for Shankoli to press the champion and see where he stands with the elite 205 pound strikers in the world.
HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE FIGHT: © Nick Fjera (14-2-1) vs Ji Lu (17-5)
After a very quick TKO win by way of a cut, Nick Fjera will put his title on the line again against Ji Lu. In their last bout, Lu was cut by some vicious ground and pound from Fjera in the first minute of the first round. Fjera will be very hard pressed to repeat that performance against the former Rezdog and Imperial champion at 265 pounds. If he’s to have any chance in this fight, Lu will have to be able to defend the takedowns because Fjera is arguably the best heavyweight in the world at reigning down ground and pound. Fjera will give up a substantial reach advantage to Lu, so Lu will obviously try to keep this fight at a distance on the feet. It was a very interesting decision to give Ji Lu another title shot and it’ll be very important for Lu to put up a solid performance in this fight. If not, it may be a very long time before Lu sees another title shot. If Fjera is unable to land the takedown, look for him to be on the receiving end of the long jab of Ji Lu’s. This should be a very exciting main event!
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