Yunier Dorticos takes on the respsected American Andrew Tabiti.
UPDATE 6/15/2019
This bout will now be for the vacant IBF cruiserweight title!
On June 15, Andrew “Beast” Tabiti (17-0, 13 KO’s) and Yunier Dorticos (23-1, 21 KO’s) will go head-to-head in the Arena Riga located in Riga, Latvia.
The exciting fight will serve as one half of the semi-finals in the World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament. The winner will face the Mairis Breidis v Krzystof Glowacki victor in the WBSS finals.
On the outside looking in, Dorticos v Tabiti contains all the elements for a great action fight. Each man possess solid boxing skills, respectable power, and neither shy away from firefights.
Both work behind a competent jab and each enjoy going to the body with regularity. On paper, the Cuban schooled Dorticos edges Tabiti in virtually every category.
He is slightly taller, has the longer reach, turned pro four years earlier and has more KO’s than Tabiti has total fights.
Fight Flow and Game Plans
Aside from these would-be advantages, Dorticos generally is the more aggressive of the two fighters. Where Tabiti prefers to probe and feel out his opponent before heavy engagement, Dorticos usually opts to press the action and go after his opponents straightaway.
In the ring, I expect Dorticos to follow his normal routine and open the fight aggressively behind his jab. Due to his early aggression, Dorticos should collect a good measure of the opening rounds while Tabiti warms up and adjusts to the Cuban’s pressure.
The Beast will begin having greater success in the middle rounds and even the fight up. During the second half of the fight, when Dorticos typically begins to slow, Tabiti will take the fight over.
Prediction
While Dorticos is the taller, longer and more aggressive fighter, I feel that Tabiti is the better overall boxer.
In particular, the Beast has regularly shown the better defense and greater versatility of the two. Dorticos habitually utilizes a generic high guard defense and employs very little head movement.
These traits will come back to haunt Dorticos this match.
Tabiti wins by clear, twelve-round unanimous decision. A late round stoppage is not out of the question, however Dorticos has proven to be rather durable.
The Cuban showed a great deal of heart and grit in his TKO loss to Gassiev. While I don’t think he’ll prevail, Dorticos should hear the final bell on his feet.
By: Bakari Simpson
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