Dman22

Re: My thoughts on Ward-Kovalev I am calling it right now....This fight will resemble Hopkins vs Trinidad in 2001. I say 117-111,116-112, 117-111 for Ward. Kovalev will be wearing cement shoes in there and charging forward. Ward is just on a different level skill-wise than anyone he has fought. What was his closest fight? Froch? No. Kessler? No. The guy's power jab is something to behold. I think Kovalev has lost a lot of his luster after Chalemba. This time next year Ward dethrones Stevenson as well.

Re: Has Floyd Mayweather ducked his way to greatness? Well, I have a few thoughts on this, Mayweather's legacy and those horrible scorecards versus Pacquiao. Let's examine Mayweather's past couple fights in comparison to the fight with Pacquiao: May 2013 vs Robert Guerrero (Showtime PPV)- While there is no doubt Floyd won this fight-the judges scored it 117-111 (three times). Mayweather might have lost the first but no more after that as he repeatedly stuck Guerrero with right hands the whole night. September 2013 vs Canelo Alvarez (Showtime PPV)-This one remains puzzling but you could see a pattern developing here. Weird scoring, weird vibe. Yes, Mayweather dominated. Yes, Canelo tried. But a majority decision? and even two scores of 117-111 and 116-112 and that C.J. Ross scorecard. Wow. May 2014 vs Marcos Maidana (Showtime PPV)-Competitve? Yes. Close? No. I had Mayweather winning 116-113. Easy. No rematch needed. This is an example of how good Mayweather's PR was. Manny Pacquiao continued to wait and wait. Meanwhile, Pacquaio was actually taking on a good if not great fighter in Tim Bradley who he beat by identical scores of their fight 118-110, 116-112 (twice)-puzzled yet? Mayweather and Maidana rematched in September 2014. Not even close but somehow was closer than the fight was. Finally they met. Here is what I saw: Mayweather was doing his usual, holding. A little elbow push here. Firing a left jab, right cross combo. Manny actually landed the more telling blows. This was the worst connection pct in Mayweather's career. Round 4 Mayweather got his lip bloodied. All this while Manny had a hurt shoulder. What I found puzzling was that I was actually shocked that seasoned boxing writers and reporters did not watch the fight I had witnessed. Max Kellerman usually is bright, smart and informative. Dan Rafael is a great analyst but cannot score a fight correctly. Harold Letterman and Steve Wesfeld? Were they apart of the TBE and TMT? Just baffling. 118-110? No. 116-112? No. This fight was at worst a draw or 115-113 either way. It is not even the Pernell Whitaker effect. Manny Pacquiao, to his credit, put on a better performance than Alvarez, Maidana and Guerrero. Throw in that fight vs Cotto and this was much more competitive than that. I am shocked that every boxing analyst with the exception of Skip Bayless did not see what I saw. This was without a doubt Floyd's second most competitve fight (Castillo I, which Castillo mugged him). The fight with De La Hoya was smoke and mirrors. His aura won Oscar five rounds and even managed to get one judge to score it for him. Do I hate Floyd Mayweather? No. Do I think he is great? Yes. But there are so many times where his PR and business acumen are much better than his actual ring product. Words like "masterful" or "brilliant" always carry the day with the coverage of ESPN's, USA today and FSIs. Floyd was not masterful in this fight. It was two past their prime fighters while one being the aggressor (Pac) and one being the matador (May). I call this the De La Hoya effect. Only Floyd is better at it than Oscar and Floyd was not as well-liked as Oscar was. Let's all be grateful that we do not have to fall for his tricks again.