Ivan Baranchyk Attempts to Put Fear in Montana Love at the Weigh-in
In his last fight, Ivan “The Beast” Baranchyk (20-2, 13 KO’s) was one-half of 3Kingsboxing’s 2020 Fight of the Year. During that bout with Jose Zepeda, the Beast gave as good as he got for five intense, knockdown filled rounds in an all-out battle royal. In the end, a vicious left-right hook combination violently snatched away his consciousness. While Baranchyk’s brain was trying to reboot his body fell backwards limp and twisted like a yoga class gone horribly wrong. Nevertheless, the tenacious Russian brought all of that frenetic, confrontational energy to his weigh-in with Montana “Too Pretty” Love (15-0-1, 7 KO’s).
Love, the hometown fighter, hit the stage in level-headed and laid back fashion. He made the limit and fell back to the side. Next, Baranchyk hopped on the scale grinning like a coked-out rocker from the 80’s. The only thing the #9 (WBC) ranked super lightweight was missing was big hair and a guitar as they announced his 141-pounds. Once both combatants had exited the scales, and went to stage their face-to-face stare down, Baranchyk buried his forehead into Love’s. In fact he put so much pressure into the maneuver that he actually caused Too Pretty to back-peddle a few steps.
ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?
The two were separated but Baranchyk quickly closed the gap once again. When in close the Russian cuffed the back of Love’s head as if in a manner to pull him in for a kiss. Understandably, the Cleveland native didn’t appreciate this and shoved him back. After a flimsy moment of separation the two stood side-by-side to take pictures. Following a quick arm nudge by Baranchyk the two adversaries seemed to talk freely while laughing with one another. Then, when Love went to the edge of the stage to say his farewell to the fans, the Beast gave him a gentle push.
The audience gasped when they saw it.
Luckily, Love was quick on his feet and caught his balance before toppling over the edge. It should also be noted that if Baranchyk earnestly intended on shoving him off he probably could have. Instead, it appeared that he was just looking to put a little scare into Love. Later, when being questioned by the event host, the Beast found himself hampered with his limited English vocabulary. When he attempted to explain why the fight would be exciting, he froze up like a bad wi-fi connection.
His mouth hung open with no sound emanating from it. During the silence the crowd at hand began booing. Upon hearing the razzing, the Russian instantly flipped from trying to entice the crowd into WWE heel. He pointed to the audience and yelled “shut up” in true Saturday morning wrestling fashion.
WATCH YOURSELF!!
Obviously, Love was none too happy about the incident as he would later tell EsNews. Clearly both fighters have a lot on the line. Love is against his toughest opponent at home in front of his native fans on a tremendous platform. Meanwhile, the Beast is desperately trying to avoid back-to-back losses which would be a huge detriment to him. Now, along with this already present pressure Baranchyk has gone and made it personal! From the outside looking in this should be one fun fight!
“I’m going to knock him the fuck out! He got me fucked up! I told him, ‘that chin is sweet, we touching that ma’fucka!’ He said some Russian shit like Rocky, ‘I break you,’ man get the fuck out of here pussy! I told him, ‘you better stop playing with me before he be in Lake Erie swimming like a goldfish!’”
By: Bakari Simpson
