This match is super important for both athletes to stay in the discussion for the top. A loss for either of them is unbearable at this point as both are on the verge of falling out of the top 10.
Georgi is coming off a dogfight vs Kamil “the golden dragon” Jablonski at East vs West 25, where he lost by the barest of margins. That match ignited a fire inside Georgi, and Kurdecha might be facing the best version of him yet in Budapest.
Alex hasn’t had any success on the right arm at EVW, except for one win, and that win came against the very man he’s about to face again in Budapest. One legitimate excuse for Georgi in that fight was his right foot injury, which clearly affected his approach and took away his leg drive. But that wasn’t the only loss he’s taken against Alex. The latter has also beaten him at Zloty Tur, one of the finest international tournaments of the past, so this isn’t just a case of one bad night explaining the whole history.
Georgi’s wrist and hand are overwhelming for most, if not all, of the superheavyweights in this sport. Alex is one of the few who has actually challenged that titanic hand and come out on top.
How might this match go?
Considering both athletes will bring their absolute best, this is an incredibly hard match to predict. Georgi has never managed to get the better of Alex on the table, but the Georgi we might see in Budapest could be the most violent version of him we’ve ever watched compete.
Both men have goliath hands and wrists, which means the slightest compromise could result in complete annihilation for whoever is on the wrong end of it. The game is decided right in the center. Georgi has lost his last two encounters in EVW, to Michael Todd and then to Kamil Jablonski. Alex, meanwhile, is still searching for his second career win on the right arm. On paper, that recent form favors Kurdecha, and there’s no getting around the fact that he’s beaten Georgi every single time they’ve been across the table from each other.
But records built against an injured man only tell you so much, and a fighter who just lost the closest match of his career to a rival contender tends to show up different the next time out. Georgi’s hand has troubled every superheavyweight he’s faced except this one man, and Budapest is his first real shot at finding out whether that was ever really about Alex’s game or just about a foot that wouldn’t let him plant.
Will georgi be finally able to solve Kurdecha’s height and reach with the same hand strength that’s given the rest of the division fits, and to get his revenge before the match sees a fourth round.
Who do you think is going to win? Let us know in the comments.
