It's Showtime Lyon: Yohan Lidon vs. Marat Grigorian preview

Friday, 13 May 2011 21:27

Written by Rian Scalia

In the fourth bout on the main card, another title is up for grabs as Yohan Lidon and Marat Grigorian battle it out for the vacant It's Showtime 73MAX World Title.

The winner will be the first ever holder of the It's Showtime 73MAX World Title as the division was just introduced this year. Fighting it out for the title are Frenchman Yohan Lidon and 19 year old rising star Marat Grigorian. Lidon is a veteran of the game while Grigorian is one of the rising stars of It's Showtime. Despite only being 19 years old, Grigorian already has 35 fights of which only 3 he has lost. Grigorian has been fighting for It's Showtime since he was just 17 years old.

Making his home at the Bulldogs Gym under trainer Daniella Somers, Grigorian is relentless in his attack. He'll hunt down his opponents and punish them until they can no longer fight back. Possessing heavy hands, Grigorian loves to bang to the head and body with combinations of hooks and uppercuts. Many fighters just cover up and wilt when faced with Grigorian's onslaught of non stop pressure.

Grigorian's opponent, Yohan Lidon has other plans in mind. Lidon likes to take a more technical approach to a fight. While a semi-aggressive fighter, Lidon will pick his shots with every one of them having a calculated purpose. Lidon will go forward on his opponents but nowhere near as much as Grigorian does. Lidon also likes to throw hands, but takes a more crisp approach throwing straight punches as well as mixing in hooks. He uses his kicks to find the range on his opponent before he can move in and start doing some damage.

One of the keys for Lidon in this fight will be the teep. Lidon frequently uses the teep to establish his range and set up his strikes. Grigorian will be coming forward all night long so it's essential for Lidon to throw out the teep to stop Grigorian's forward movement for a moment that Lidon can use to set up strikes. Grigorian will be looking to just walk Lidon down and bludgeon him with punches and knees inside.

I see this being a very close fight that has a good chance of going the full five round distance. Both fighters will have their moments as they go back and forth with exchanges. If Lidon can throw straight punches then he can tag Grigorian coming in with wide punches but I expect Grigorian to walk through a lot of shots to deliver his own.

I think Grigorian's relentless pressure will give him a slight edge but if Lidon can land clean punches consistently then he has a chance to stop Grigorian. It'll be tough to get Grigorian out of there. Lidon would have to pounce on Grigorian right away after hurting him. In the end, I believe this fight will go to a decision. Don't be surprised if one of or both of them get dropped in the fight. Lidon's more diverse arsenal will help him come cleaner in the exchanges and edge out a close, hard fought decision that is likely to have the crowd on the edge of their seats.

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