Jump to content

Gerald

Members
  • Posts

    375
  • Joined

  • Days Won

    4

Gerald last won the day on November 30 2018

Gerald had the most liked content!

Gerald's Achievements

Enthusiast

Enthusiast (6/14)

  • Reacting Well Rare
  • Week One Done Rare
  • One Month Later Rare
  • One Year In Rare

Recent Badges

12

Reputation

  1. Reports now suggest that WBC is planning to lower the cruiserweight limit to 190 - so this new 'Bridger' weight will be 190 - 224. Actually some merit to this (leap from 175 into fighting 200lb men was always a tall ask for light heavies moving up to cruiser) but this certainly feels like they are making it up as they go along. https://www.boxingscene.com/wbc-prez-lower-cruiser-limit-190-which-force-boxers-bridgerweight--153214
  2. Voted GGG for the simple reason that its expiry date is fast approaching (if it hasn't gone already). I think GGG has a good argument for winning both, even if the second was a legit close fight. If not GGG III then Smith, Benavidez or Saunders at 168 would be good. I'm glad it seems that DAZN have put their foot down to prevent Ryder or Yilidrim.
  3. Not sure whether this is legit, but Boxing News 24 is reporting that the WBC is planning to create a 224lb division and lower the cruiserweight division to 190lbs https://www.boxingnews24.com/2020/10/wbc-creates-new-224-lb-division-cruiserweight-now-190-lbs/ Little doubt this is simply more mercenary behaviour by the WBC, trying to proliferate sanctioning fees whilst masquerading as the defenders of fair competition. Hard to see this working particularly well, especially if the WBC are alone in creating the division. The financial allure of the heavyweight division is almost certainly too great to entice the top level smaller heavyweights to campaign in the lighter division and it potentially hurts the bigger cruiserweights (still interested in contesting WBC rankings/belts) who will now be forced to fight in the heavier division (although, by the same token, it helps bigger light heavies to jump up a division). Will be interesting to see how it unfolds. Anyone else remember the last time there were weight divisions in different sanctioning bodies that weren't aligned?
  4. Favourite (though clearly not best) is Fury - Wilder II; just for the nature of the performance and what it represented in terms of the recent history of the heavyweight division.
  5. Very depressing that this is happening. Not only is it of questionable value when it comes to marketing the sport, it also means that Pacquiao is in effect ruled out from contesting a bone fide boxing match until he has even left in the tank.
  6. As the fight gets closer, I have lingering worry, from a Fury perspective, about something Fury mentioned about his new training camp. He emphasised how in his camp prior to the first Wilder camp they would spend the vast majority of the time drilling defence, whereas in this camp they are spending much more time working on effective aggression. Now in one sense this isn't news at all - we all know that the camp with Sugar Hill has reportedly involved working on some offensive parts of Fury's approach, and Fury is claiming that this will inform a more aggressive approach in the fight. What I would be concerned about is not so much that the aggressive approach itself will leave him more open to Wilder (though it does involve that obvious risk) but that simply not having gone through that consistent defensive drilling in training camp will mean that his ability to avoid shots is diminished. After all, there is a reason why him and Ben Davison drilled defence so much - to make him as sharp as possible on that front for the fight itself. Perhaps it was only because he was so well-drilled and sharp with his defensive movement last time around (from a defence-oriented camp) that he was able to keep out of trouble for all but the 9th and 12th rounds. If he is just a little less sharp in that regard it seems to significantly increase the chances of Wilder landing big shots the longer the fight goes on. You might think that Fury has shown that defensive competence throughout his career, so the camp with Sugar Hill should have just added some weapons without taking away from that side of this game. But in a fight where the margins are potentially so slim, even being fractionally off when it comes to defensive slickness could be significant. Anyway, I'm sure I'll keep going back and forth with advantages and disadvantages for either fighter right up until the first bell. Can't wait.
  7. Without trying to overthink this… although it feels like a 50-50 fight, that also seems like a strange way to characterise it. The received wisdom is that Fury is a far better boxer, but that Wilder has the power to take him out in any given round. Does that mean that they are evenly matched? Does that mean that if they fought 10 times they would each win roughly half of the time? I don’t know. What does seem right is that both have a clear path to victory and it seems really unclear, prior to the fight, who’s going to be successful at making their advantages pay. What makes this so intriguing is the multiple variables in play after the first fight. Fury outboxed Wilder for virtually all of the fight, despite coming off two very low calibre warm-up fights. Shouldn’t he be sharper and fitter this time around? Wilder spent most of the fight flailing wildly and consistently missing with the right hand, but he managed to find a lower, straighter one in the 12th, and he and his team seem aware that they need to adjust the right hand accordingly (and we saw in the Breazeale and Ortiz fights the effect it can have). There is a definite rationale for Fury’s professed more aggressive approach – Wilder hasn’t shown himself particularly adept at fighting inside, or backing up, and Fury at least stunned Wilder a couple of times in the first fight. But Wilder’s feet are deceptively good for someone who is otherwise quite deficient in terms of elite boxing skills, so perhaps he has the ability to find distance and still land some hard shots on a Fury who is taking the fight to him. Either way, the fact that Fury could simply be bluffing about his approach has the potential to put some doubts in Wilder’s mind. Will Fury's cut play a role? For those reasons and several others this fight is devilishly difficult to pick (and all the better because of it). The again, I also sometimes catch myself thinking that Fury is simply a vastly superior boxer, and, at the highest level, Wilder’s power alone shouldn’t be enough to mean that he will be consistently competitive with Fury (even if he might win, say, 2 in 10 fights between them by KO). He lost every round to Ortiz before landing the right hand (though some will argue he gave those rounds away – which is to some degree fair), he got wobbled a little by Breazeale before pole-axing him, he looked positively amateurish in stretches vs Washington, Arreola, Szpilka and Duhaupas. Then again, his last two fights might suggest he has further refined his ability to deliver the KO when he needs it – and with such a relatively brief amateur career, we should expect him to be continually improving in boxing ability as a pro, even if he is getting older at the same time. This may be a bit fence-sitting but I’ll say that Fury should win convincingly, but that a Wilder KO (anytime, early or late) also wouldn’t surprise me.
  8. I'd like to see 1. Wilder-Fury winner vs Joshua 2. Spence vs Crawford 3. Berterbiev vs Bivol Always depressing at the beginning of the year when the top matchups seem so unlikely. I'm sure we could put together a list of 10 or 20 more top fights with a very low chance of being put together. I hope fights like Hooker - Ramirez and Fury - Wilder work as blueprints for what's possible when it comes to successful collaboration between promotors/networks going forward, but that's probably too optimistic. Try as I might, I just can't see a way that Wilder/Fury vs Joshua gets made if the network alignments remain in place.
  9. Agree with almost all of this. He took a few shots that might make you worry going forward, but that was after a dominant first round where he probably judged that his opponent couldn't hurt him, as Ton says. It seemed to me a classic case of a prospect having a preconceived notion of what makes an impressive performance - overwhelming and stopping his opponent - which deviates a bit from what some boxing fans/pundits/trainers would be looking for - boxing technique and acumen that would take the prospect to the very highest levels of the sport. One thing that makes me worry a bit less is that when he was switched on in the first round his reflexes and ability to see punches coming seemed a lot better than the next couple of rounds. I can only think he had just concluded that he could afford to focus first and foremost on knocking the opponent out and not worry about what was coming back.
  10. Much better fight than anticipated. Like many others, I thought Inoue would get to Donaire in the first half of the fight and take him out. Competitive and lively (even if not always thrilling) throughout. Got to have respect for the way Donaire gritted it out towards the end of the fight after being severely hurt to the body. With so much time left in that round and with how badly he was hurt, he showed incredible resilience to get through without getting stopped (I think he even buzzed Inoue with a sell-out left hook).
  11. Some more nonsense from the WBC. I seem to remember Hearn decrying the WBC for doing this sort of thing and worrying that it might be done in both lightweight and heavyweight divisions. Happy to celebrate Haney being made WBC champ through social media today though! (in fairness, he probably has informal promotional responsibility to advertise Haney's standing as champion. Still, it's a funny change of tune) Does this mean that Lomachenko can't now achieve undisputed status because he won't have the WBC (non-franchise) belt if and when he unifies? Or is he undisputed even though there is another officially recognised champ by a major sanctioning body (Haney)? As I say, nonsense. https://www.boxingscene.com/lomachenko-named-wbc-franchise-champ-haney-upgraded-full--143620
  12. Re: Prograis drops WBSS Positive update for the WBSS... Prograis-Taylor: Talks Progress In Hopes To Revive WBSS Final - Boxing News
  13. Re: What do you think about Ruiz vs Joshua taking place in Saudi Arabia? I have various reservations about the fight going to SA, but I'll keep this comment focused on the contract side of things. There’s little doubt that Ruiz is contractually boundto take the rematch and that the contract grants team Joshua the authority todetermine the location. In that regard Ruiz seems to have very little leverageto either force a change of location or extract more monetary compensation inorder to refrain from instigating protracted legal proceedings. In short, itseems that he is sure to lose any such battle. He does seem to have some things on his side though. First there is the matter of the belts. The decisions of thesanctioning bodies are outside of the remit of the contract. A long legaldispute might result in a sanctioning body – the IBF in particular –removingtheir belt from the fight. Given how much significance Hearn and Joshua placedon becoming the undisputed champion, this is a scenario they will certainlywant to avoid. The IBF announcement that the rematch must take place on orbefore December 7th and the subsequent defence before May 31st2020 only helps Ruiz here. It adds the pressure on team Joshua to keep him froma legal challenge; even one he would eventually lose. Second there is the issue of the SA location. Just like itseemed that Ruiz might try and hang his hat on a grievance related to the drugissues surrounding the Whyte fight, with the fight being scheduled for SA hecan try and leverage the safety of the region (or lack thereof) as a factorwhich exempts him from the obligation to take the rematch there. Warren wasquick to point out that the US State Department has issued guidance to UScitizens to avoid travelling; apparently strengthening any case Ruiz would havein a legal dispute. https://talksport.com/sport/boxing/587495/frank-warren-eddie-hearn-andy-ruiz-jr-anthony-joshua-saudi-arabia/ How much of this is Ruiz simply posturing to scrape a bitmore compensation from Matchroom and how much of this is a sincere attempt toget the bout location moved is unclear. One thing I find strange is Hearn’s publiclyreiterating that the decision to shift focus from Cardiff to SA was motivated(on both his and Joshua’s part) by a desire to keep Ruiz happy (and avoid difficulties/excusesfrom their side). He has also been clear that he has been in constant contactwith the Ruiz team who has informed about the SA location prior to the announcement.Either he isn’t being entirely transparent that satisfying Ruiz was aconsideration, or he judged the SA proposal was just too attractive, or Ruiz’steam didn’t let on that they would have a real problem with SA (maybe some combination of these is closest to the truth). It is going to be interesting to see how all of this playsout. If Ruiz is really serious about frustrating the SA arrangements then Hearnmay have promoted himself into a corner. If he had announced Cardiff, ratherthan SA, I suspect it would have been easier the shift the fight elsewhere had theneed really arisen. Now, with the amount of media exposure, and controversy,this location has generated, it will be far more difficult, from a promotionalcompany perspective, to be seen to fail to deliver on the promises he has made.If I had to judge which way this is going to go I would say that the bottomline is going to win the day and Ruiz is going to get enough extra money tokeep him happy and proceed without too much trouble to the Dec 7thdate in SA. Hard to tell at this stage though.
  14. Re: Joshua - Ruiz II reportedly in Saudi Arabia December 7th Ruiz has been firing back over social media about the arrangements. Suggests intent to make sure it's held in the US. Hard to know what to make of this - could just be bluster to try and secure some more allowances etc. from Matchroom. Eddie Hearn threatens Andy Ruiz with legal battle after champion raises concerns about fighting Anthony Joshua in Saudi Arabia
  15. Re: Who is greater: Bernard Hopkins or Joe Calzaghe? I would argue that Trinidad, Glen Johnson, William Joppy, Howard Eastman, Robert Allen, Antwun Echols, Keith Holmes are all better wins than Calzaghe's apart from Kessler, Lacy and Reid. You could argue that Mitchell and Brewer are solid wins, and Eubank is also creditable, even though it was late in his career, but then if you factor in Hopkin's late career resurgence vs Wright, Tarver, Pavlik + longevity to win and defend LH titles deep into his 40s, I would say Hopkins has a clearly better resume. Agree with the other stuff about adapting and making opponent fight his fight. No-one really figured out how to cope with his style over 12 rounds (although Reid and Hopkins had a good go)
×
×
  • Create New...