I was going to said that even before the Volk fight but too many max fans around here.
I had good reasons to I know Topuria was able to beat Volk. Yeah we all know about 35+ year old records in championship fight at 170 and lower. And we all know that Volk may be affected by Islam KO. But even without these factors, I would still take ilia because Ilia is the only very good boxer with knock out power that Alex has faced. Not only that he has a wrestling base.
Look at Volk’s past opponent’s
-Max - very good boxing but no power
-Ortega - elite JJ guy
-Yair - good kicks but not great boxing
- Mendes - wrestler
-Korean - no boxing defense
Aldo - no power
I rewatched the Volk and Yair fight. Volk was trying to get inside while Yair tried to keep him at bay with kicks. The reason was that Yair doesn’t have hands or wresting to match Volk in the pocket. So I though this fight would be the opposite that Ilia was going to be the one trying to close distance. With his wrestling, youth, boxing and KO power, I knew that he would do it because Max has never faced anyone like him.
So if Topuria fights Max, it would be same results. He’s just that combos of boxing + power+ wrestling that’s a nightmare for Max. And once he gets inside, it will be lights out for Holloway.