Sergei Beloglazov v. Barry Davis, 1987 World Championships : Speakers & Interviews

1. Buvaisar Saitiev - World Champ 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2005. Olympic Champ 1996, 2004, 2008

2. Arsen Fadzaev – World Champ 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991. Olympic Champ 1988, 1992. World Silver 1989.

3. Sergei Beloglazov – World Champ 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987. Olympic Champ 1980, 1988. World Silver 1979.

4. John Smith – World Champ 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991 Olympic Champ 1988, 1992.

5. Valentin Jordanov – World Champ 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1995. Olympic Champ 1996. World Silver 1990, 1991. World Bronze 1986, Olympic Bronze 1992.

6. Makharbek Khadartsev – World Champ 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991. Olympic Champ 1988, 1992. World Silver 1994, 1995. Olympic Silver 1996. World Bronze 1993.

7. Alexander Medved – World Champ 1962, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971. Olympic Champ 1964, 1968, 1972. World Silver 1965. World Bronze 1961.

8. Levan Tediashvili – World Champ 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975. Olympic Champ 1972, 1976. World Silver 1978.

9. Soslan Andiev – World Champ 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1978. Olympic Champ 1976, 1980.

10. Mavlet Batirov – World Champ 2007. Olympic Champ 2004, 2008. World Bronze 2007.

Wow. Hey Craig, I know this is an impossible question, but do you have a 3 or 5 best wrestlers of all time in your opinion? doesn't have to be in order because i know its hard.

I guess when a man lives long enough he witnesses everything. This is simply hard to believe.

HOLY CRAP! Sergei is amazing. It's a good thing he stayed at 125.5, John Smith would of beat him like he did in that match against them that I watched, I forget what year it was, though.

I just had to return to watch thi ridicukous display of par terre wrestling. Man, totally unbelievable what he did to Barry Davis. Just nuts!

Craig,

I too am in awe of his awesome par terre offense. What amazes me the most is the "folkstyle' turns and tilts he uses in freestyle. Jumper Leggio was a big proponent of utilizing your folkstyle turns in a freestyle match. Thank you for posting, you're truly an asset to our sport.
Mike Porcelli

7 years ago Barry asked me who was the best wrestler that I ever saw. I told him either Sergy or Tediasvili his reply was Ted. How Good was he? Put some videos of him up.

I have watched this video like 2 dozen times and I am still in awe, I almost can't believe what I am witnessing, Barry Davis getting demolished and pinned. Thanks again Guru for posting this video, a classic on how to chain wrestle with turns from the top position.

I go with saitiev, only because of how diverse he is, belo, john smith, fadzaev all had there set moves, saitiev has no set moves, he flows with the motion scoring on both his offense and defense, you never know what hes going to do and always pulls off some of the sickest moves and scrambles that i have ever seen

Both guys (Saitiev and Beloglazov) probably faced their toughest competition from other Soviet-block athletes. With Saitiev, we have some idea how he did through the magic of youtube, and because those guys now wrestle for other countries. To truly compare the two we'd need to know how Belo did at the Russian Nationals, Tblisi, etc.

I'd say Belaglazov for the same reason we love the Brands style of wrestling, love Iowa or not. They constantly wrestle to dominate and pin. Same with Belaglazov. Saitiev is def one of the greatest if not THE greatest but his style wasn't the aggressive action packed style of Belaglazov.

I must say that B. Saitiev was the better of the two although not by much. My thinking is that Saitiev was a 4 time Olympian, winning 3 Golds at 163 pounds which is insane. He was a 9 time World Gold Medalist again at 163, generally regarded as the toughest weight class in the world in any given year. I just believe at 125.5 pounds are premised more on blazing speed than massive horsepower. Beloglazov rarely had to worry about getting caught against somebody who could literally shatter his ribs in a gut wrench (as Kevin Jackson against Jaibrilov) or blow through him with such power that he starts a double leg on one side of the mat and ends up throwing him on his head on the other side (as Slay did to Dolph). But 163 has guys who are not only juiced to the moon, not only fast and agile as heck, but inhumanely powerful (Jackson, Slay, Joe Williams, etc.). My vote goes to Saitiev.

I saw Sergei Belaglazov wrestle in the World Cups that used to be held in Toledo for quite some time. He dominated everyone he wrestled. Pound for pound - the best wrestler I ever saw. He was just stronger than everyone else and a great technician as well. I think it was his brother (not sure) Anatoly that wrestled around the same weight class, but was beaten by Mills in '81 or '82 in a disputed match. That was some of the greatest team wrestling ever held on US soil.

OK folks, let's take a vote. Sergei Beloglazov or Buvaisar Saitiev, who is/was the better pound for pound Soviet wrestler and WHY? A couple of links below to check out their mind boggling accolades.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buvaisar_Saitiev
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Beloglazov

sergei would have been a three time olympic champ had the russians not boycotted the olympics in 84. he's probably the best technician ever. its hard to stay as dominant for as long as he did at such a light weight

I really like that chest lock to step over technique Sergei used to get the first TD.

beyond belief and a thing of beauty. how could that guy be that much better than davis? thank you very much for this video.

More Beloglazov!!!

The Euro's are not great wrestlers...the guys from the Caucases are....Great handfighting to set the scene as well....

It's just unfathomable how Davis got tooled. I mean Barry was so dominate in the 1980's from what Iv'e seen. Amazing how John Smith beat Sergei two years later, even if Sergei was "retired". Great match. It just goes to say that anyone can be beat. It also appeared that Sergei was more fluid.

unreal!!!!!! a master among masters

GEEEZ serious smash job on a more than legit opponent.

Its hard to believe a wrestler of Barry Davis's caliber could be so throughly outclassed.Beloglazov was truelly the master.

Incredible, thanks for the video.

just goes to show you that everything is relative...huh Craig

Knowing whhat I know about Barry Davis and having watch him obliterate competition in the 80s at ALL levels, all I can say is WOW WOW WOW. That is sick!

Guru, THANK YOU for posting this match, you are the best! Now to secretly watch this gem here at work, hope I don't get caught and fired!

Wow amazing the russian very fast and fluid I have much respect for him

The russians stay in pretty much perfect position and just keep coming forcing you to take bad shots. The russians never stop wrestling, they go from one move to the next.

i just watched the match thinking the guy in red was the russian!!! i was so pumped thinkin the usa guy is actually toolin' that stud russian! oh well, def diff watchin it now that i know the blue guy is the russian. ha

Calls into question how much the difference in styles is the problem or just that Europeans are plain better wrestlers.

How have you grown to like the new rules? They're terrible, in my opinion. But I agree with what you say about par terre. Such an exciting part of freestyle wrestling, and it's all but gone now.

That match isn't even funny.

Great match. Unreal that anyone- even Sergei- could give out such a beating in the world finals.

Beloglazov was a master technician in all phases,but after studying alot of his matches you will find Sergei scored many of his points off a devastating front headlock go behind series. A great lesson for our younger wrestlers that basics are the cornerstone for even the greatest of par terre wrestlers.

Wow, Sergei B. has to be the best that has ever stepped on the wrestling mat.

such amazing top wrestling

ok so last week we saw how awesome Barry Davis was. This week we get to see how dominant Sergei Beloglazov was.

This is the finals of the World Championships. Keep in mind that Davis had to beat the Bulgarian Ivanov who was a World Silver medalist, 2x Bronze Medalist, and 3x European Champ to get to the finals.

Beloglazov had run through all of his opponents including a tough Turk who ended up winning the Bronze and a 16-0 win over 1984 Olympic Champion and 1988 Silver medalist Saban Trstena of Yugoslavia, who was competing up a weight. Just to give some perspective, Trstena owned a few wins over 8x World Champion Valentin Jordanov.

Anyway, obviously this match is a romp, but what I like best about this match is the chain wrestling Beloglazov does on the mat. He immediately switches from one move to the other: He ties up one side and does a flip-over Churella and then immediately bars the other side as Davis recovers. He runs it one way, gets back exposure, and as soon as Davis recovers and fights that hip down Beloglazov takes him the other way and stacks him for the fall. Just a thing of beauty.

I have adjusted to the new rules and have grown to like them but this match shows why par terre wrestling should be put back into our sport. Yeah guys can still rack up points like this in par terre, but few do because wrestlers spend less time training there. Alls you see these days are quick ankle rolls and gutwrenches. The real art of par terre has been lost. And it really was an art.

Enough of my ranting. Enjoy.

Wow! That was more dominating than Saitiev, but totally different.