Devon Larratt did not participate PAL events so often but a few times only. I remember his first experience with Vendetta was against Taras Ivakin more than 10 years ago in Dubai. Then another one that I remember was against Andrey Pushkar with left hand when Andrey was still pulling tested events. Devon pulled great and he successfully defeated Andrey 5-1.
Denis has been around for about 10 years at World Level and he many times has proved to be the strongest armwrestler in the world. Of course, he has losses as well but most of the times he was the king of the day. Denis' right arm I believe is stronger than his left but his right arm competitions were also tougher. In fact, Devon's right was also stronger than his left till his right-hand injury.
Denis has not been around often enough in last a few years to judge his shape but he is experienced enough to bring himself to such a great meeting, ready. As far as I remember he was gone for some time and then pulled Michael Todd an Armfight in US and he won 4-2.
This match will be for the World Title and it will be Pure Raw Power vs Endurance+Strategy. Devon is smart technical and experienced enough to manipulate Denis but still he needs enough of power to make all these effective enough to get the result to keep his title. Not sure how the shape of Devon will be but I am sure that he will come as big as he was when he met John Brzenk 2008 England event.
Another key point about the result, will be about how smart Denis will be about before the match starts. If Denis falls into the trap of Devon about long grip fights then Denis will most likely lose the Armfight. Denis needs to make sure to save his power for the start of the match. Otherwise after round one or two his hand will be tired against the best endurance puller in the world. Denis' chance is high if he can keep himself fresh enough till the starts. The match will be under the WAF rules and PAL has been using these rules for many years. So Denis is much used to pulling under such rules while Devon had been pulling a pro event in US where the rules were not as strict as WAF rules. This may be a disadvantage for Devon if he does not train for WAF rules. Any round with ref's grip would be better for Denis.
Again, not sure how big Devon will come to this event but I believe he will be around 240-250 pounds as he needs enough of horse power to stop the side pressure of Denis. Technically Devon is good enough to defeat Denis but first he needs to stop him. I am sure that once he stops him then he will just wait and tire Denis to guarantee the next rounds by reducing the explosiveness of Denis. He did this to Pushkar years ago and it worked well. I am sure that Pushkar will never forget that day. Denis' chance is with quick wins but if I were him I would do a lot of gripping exercise and also starting position strength exercise because first he needs to stay strong at where the match starts and then he can apply his strength. Any weakness at the start will make him unable to apply his power at max.
Not sure if Devon's fresh inside power can stop Denis' hook but it seems unlikely but later rounds anything can be possible depending on how the earlier rounds will be. Denis will beat Devon that we saw in last a few years because of the low weight category that Devon was pulling but 20-30 pounds heavier Devon may be another story. There are many key factors as I mentioned above and the one who makes least mistake has higher chance to win.
Devon's pronator is strong and Denis' curling strength with especially left hand is not so strong. Denis' wrist is strong in handling solidness but not in curling. This is good for side pressure but not for hooking ability. Denis has pulled many technical guys with right hand but not with left hand as there are not many technical guys with left hand in super heavyweight class. Devon is the most technical left hand guy in the heavyweights. Travis is also very technical but mostly for the start while Devon can use his skills also during the match even in bad positions. Devon needs enough of horse power to stop Denis, otherwise his technical abilities or endurance will not matter so much. And Denis needs to save his power for the start to not to lose the match before even anything starts.
I wish both guys the best of the luck and congratulate Igor Mazurenko for the best meeting of the West vs East with left hand!
Engin Terzi