Unbeatable British cruiser Richard Riakporhe continued his campaign towards the world title on Saturday night with a match at Wembley Arena against Italian Fabio Turchi.
Riakporhe (14-0, 10 KOs) always possessed huge potential, but his career stalled in 2019 due to injury and management issues after he beat Jack Massey to become home British champion and then he was absent from the ring for almost two years.
However, the south London man signed a promotional deal with Sky Sports and Boxxer last fall and has since successful in reviving his career in an impressive style, guided professionally and sensibly by his new promoters. The fight with Turchi will be Riakporhe’s fourth competition in nine months, a level of activity that other boxers are advised to emulate.
But then Riakporhe always showed a refreshing spirit ready to test himself and take down as many opponents as he could. The 32-year-old from Walworth has battled and beaten three of Boxing Social’s current top five British weekly charts – Chris Billam-Smith, Jack Massey and Tommy McCarthy – missing only Lawrence Okolie in His CV. (By contrast, Conor Benn ranks as the number one welder in the UK currently and has yet to face anyone in the UK top 10.)
Since signing with Boxxer, Riakporhe has also faced a fair amount of opposition, including an acknowledged lackluster. former world title challenger Olanrewaju Durodola and the talented and then undefeated rival of London Deion Jumah (now eighth in the UK according to Boxing Social). Riakporhe stopped both men, proved his strength, improved his shot and increased his adaptability.
In Turchi (20-1, 14 KOs) he now faces a second men’s hand in a row – well prepared if rumors are to come against WBC belt holder Ilunga Makubu who could be brokered (Riakporhe currently ranked seventh in the WBC’s weekly chart).
“The way I judge it, he’s just another opponent that I need to deal with brilliantly and we’ll be in the knockout stages,” the London male entered the competition.
“He [Turchi] reminds me of a Mike Tyson. He’s always moving, he’s always throwing big shots, those calloused hands. He can also be a little dirty. He likes to use his head, so we’ll make sure we talk to the referee so they know.
“I feel like once I detonate those bombs, he’ll be out of there in no time. I think this will be the best performance of my career. I’ll win a punch power contest, if that’s what it turns out to be. ”
With 6’5” and 77” reach Riakporhe possesses all the physical advantages in this match (Turchi is 6’2” and his reach is only 70”). He’s also mixed at a much better level – the Italian’s toughest opponent by far is undoubtedly Tommy McCarthy, who overtook him through a split decision in October 2019. By contrast. , Riakporhe eliminated McCarthy for four rounds seven months before Turchi met the Irishman.
Riakporhe has been beaten before – also heavily, by Adam Williams being deemed mild in 2018 – so we cannot discount the prospect of a nasty reversal. However, I fully expect him to gradually take down the rough Turchi in the middle of this match, maybe being exhausted early on, and then stop the Italians at some point. It was in the second half of the war.
