Another Olympic heavyweight bronze medalist will be aiming to emulate Deontay Wilder after making a knockout start to his professional career.
Ivan Dychko, who is 13-0, has stopped twelve of his opponents early and has only been past three rounds once.
The run is reminiscent of Wilder, who went 30 fights undefeated without going past four rounds. The American even took this “Bronze Bomber” nickname from a 2008 Olympic achievement.
Dychko, from Kazakhstan, is already a Bronze Bomber in his own right and could be challenging the best around by 2024.
The 33-year-old made an ominous move in the rankings after his latest victory. That’s despite having zero wins of note on his record, though.
Heavyweight Rankings move
World Boxing Association chiefs deem his achievement of stopping Argentine journeyman Ariel Bracamonte worthy of tenth place in the heavyweight rankings.
This means Dychko could be eligible to challenge Oleksandr Usyk [super champion] or Mahmoud Charr [regular champion] in a voluntary capacity.
It’s been a slow run for Dychko, who turned pro after his medal-winning effort at Rio 2016. He lost to eventual silver medalist Joe Joyce in the semi-final.
He entered the paid ranks in 2017, scoring four victories in three months. But from there, things slowed down considerably. Three wins followed in 2018 before just two in 2019 under promoter Henry Rivalta.
Due to the pandemic, 2020 was a washout before Dychko returned to action in 2021 after leaving his American dream behind. During that year, he scored his standout victory over Alexander Ustinov.
Dychko blasted the former world-rated contender out in one round, which is probably why he gained a WBA rating in the first place. However, that was his solitary win in 2021.
Ivan Dychko
Another one-fight wonder took place in 2022, and so far this year, the Bracamonte triumph is another solo effort. Despite those four fights in four years, the WBA is happy to deem Dychko worthy of a title shot if either Usyk or Charr chooses.
The stop-start nature of Dychko’s run hasn’t been ideal. However, he does still have time on his hands, unlike his old foe – Joyce. “The Juggernaut” lost for the second time in a row to Zhilei Zhang after positioning himself as the WBO interim champion.
At 37, question marks are now hovering over Joyce’s career. Dychko needs to get some TV dates for the end of 2023 and next year to kickstart his ever-halting career.
There’s no doubting his ability. It’s more that activity is the worry.
Phil Jay is an experienced boxing news writer.
