Boxing Insider: New Beginnings
Details on the competitors in the 10-round junior middleweight bout between Ivan Golub and Wesley Tucker, taking place at Sony Hall in New York City on Thursday night.
If you can’t be there, check it out on PPV at Bxngtv.com:
https://bxngtv.com/newbeginnings101322/
IVAN GOLUB (20-1, 15 KO’s), the current USBA welterweight champion, steps into action for the first time in 14 months as he faces Wesley Tucker.
- Golub, a native of Gorlovka, Ukraine, has vast experience in the amateur ranks. He compiled a record of 270-32, and this included five Ukrainian national titles, as well as a bronze medal in the 2009 World Championships. Golub also competed in the World Series of Boxing, a hybrid of sorts between pro and amateur boxing. He maintains that going through the Ukrainian system has prepared him well for his journey into the pro ranks.
- Golub fought in international competitions alongside Ukrainian teammates like Oleksandr Usyk, Oleksander Gvodzyk and Vasyl Lomachenko, all of whom became champions in the professional ranks. When asked, he’s been very effusive about Lomachenko, saying that “He is like no other athlete I have ever seen, he is that special.”
- He fulfilled a plan to come to the United States to turn professional, settling in Brooklyn. He is managed by David McWater of Split-T Management, who also handles Teofimo Lopez and has become well-known in boxing circles for his advocacy of analytics as a method through which to evaluate prospects. Golub also inked a promotional deal with DiBella Entertainment (DBE).
- Debuted as a pro in June of 2014 with a four-round decision over Javon Wright. He then moved right into six-rounders, and recorded four straight one-round KO’s. He spent the early part of his career as a middleweight before eventually moving down to welterweight.
- He stayed unbeaten through a third-round TKO win over James Stevenson that brought him the NABF 147-pound title in September 2016. But in his next fight, a non-title affair, he suffered his only defeat on an eight-round defeat to then-unbeaten Jamontay Clark. Interestingly, that was in Toledo, on the same show in which Thursday’s opponent, Wesley Tucker, lost to Enver Halili.
- He also won the WBC United States welterweight title with a decision over Lanardo Tyner (August 2018).
- Had been slated to face U.S. Olympian Charles Conwell last April, but Conwell had to back out of it when he hurt his hand.
- Best win took place in his last bout (8/3/21), as he won a ten-round decision over Eric Walker at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater, capturing the USBA (United States Boxing Association) welterweight title in the process. Currently carries a #7 world rating by the International Boxing Federation (IBF).
- Golub knows that there are a lot of good names in the 147-pound class, and feels as if he is ready to fight anybody at that weight.
- He has gone ten rounds in four of his last six bouts. His opponent, Tucker, has yet to go the ten-round distance.
- He currently lives in Brooklyn, where his wife operates a bakery……. Nicknamed “Volk,” which means “wolf” in Russian,……. He’s a SOUTHPAW and a stand-up boxer type who generally likes to establish some distance with his opponents.
- Weight: 150.6 pounds
WESLEY TUCKER (15-3, 9 KO’s) has a real crossroads fight on Thursday night against USBA welterweight champion Ivan Golub.
- Tucker, a native of Toledo and graduate of Scott High School, started boxing at the age of eight dominated amateur tournaments in that area, but he also made his mark on the national level in his 250-bout career. In 2012, he went all the way to the finals of the National Golden Gloves.
- Ironically, he was formerly managed by David McWater, who currently handles Golub, tonight’s opponent.
- Made his pro debut in February 2013 with a one-round TKO of Travis Blackston. And he won his first 14 fights as a professional,labeling himself a prospect to watch.
- The best win of his career was an eight-round decision victory over Edward Williams, which took place in Detroit and was aired by Shobox (on Showtime) in March 2017.
- From there, things took a wrong turn for Tucker. In his own hometown, he suffered his first career loss, an eight-round decision to Enver Halili which happened on the same show (6/30/17) as Golub’s first (and only) loss, to Javontay Clark.
- In February of 2018, Tucker suffered a fifth-round TKO loss to Alexander Besputin, won went on to win the USBA title at 147 pounds and then won the WBA crown, only to be stripped when he tested positive for a banned substance.
- Tucker sustained his third consecutive loss in July 2019 when he dropped a six-round decision to Jose Antonio Abreu. He was idle for two years and a month after that (the pandemic contributed to it), then got back in the win column in August of 2021 with a one-round stoppage of Eric Palmer. That was his last bout.
- Tucker has not yet gone ten rounds in the pro ranks……… He considers himself to be a formidable ring general, and he’s known for his counter-punching abilities…………… Like Golub, he’s a southpaw………. Nickname is “King Wes”…….. His middle name is “Casanova.” With a middle name like that, who needs a nickname?
- Weight: 152 Pounds