“The Wild Horse” takes on the Ukrainian in a light heavyweight right-arm showdown at East vs West 26 in Hungary.
Matt Mask and Serhii Kalinichenko will meet on the right arm at EVW 27 in Budapest, and the rivalry arrives with a result on each side of the ledger. Mask took their left-arm match at EVW 20 in dominant fashion, while Kalinichenko, known as “Kalina,” holds a 4-3 right-arm win over the Wild Horse from AWC. In this match both men will walk to the table knowing exactly what the other can do.
How might this match go?
The AWC match was close, and it showed both men’s strengths and weaknesses. Mask’s huge hand was able to crack Kalina’s wrist slightly, but his backpressure, defensive sidepressure and pronation weren’t strong enough to crack Serhii’s wrist completely and neglect his side pressure until he was 3-0 down
But once he was able to toproll Serhii, he was fast to get the pin over him and he made a huge comeback making the score 3-3…
However Kalina knew his strategy of going sideways without his wrist was going to fail and would result in him losing the entire supermatch; he pulled out the toproller’s kryptonite “the flop press” and secured a 4-3 victory over the wild horse.
Kalina had noticeably more side pressure than Mask in that bout, while Mask’s hand and wrist looked stronger. As the match went on, Mask gained more and more of Kalina’s wrist, and that progress cost Kalina access to his side pressure, which is the weapon he relies on to move an opponent off the center of the table.
The stylistic contrast is sharp. Mask holds the edge in the hand and wrist battle, and Kalina leads in raw arm strength. In terms of versatility, Kalina has the advantage, because he can pull effectively without his wrist and bring in his shoulder when he needs to, which gives him routes to victory that Mask does not have.
Mask counters with his frame, which is too big for most light heavyweights to handle. His huge hand and long arm create problems for Kalina in the grip itself and in his ability to execute his strategy once the match begins.
For Mask, the plan starts at the center. If he can stop Kalina close to the middle of the table and take his wrist, Kalina cannot bring his shoulder forward, and without that shoulder the Ukrainian loses the main engine of his pull. That is the path to a Mask victory.
For Kalina, everything depends on his wrist. If he secures it and holds it while going to the side, he turns the match into the kind of fight that suits him, and it could be a very long night for the Wild Horse.
The deciding factor
Both athletes know their weaknesses, and both have had time since their last meeting to address them. The result will most likely come down to who has worked harder on those weak points in order to access their strengths on the night.
Who do you think wins? Let us know in the comments.
