i know there's a good few boxing fans on here and threads randomly pop up i thought id start one to chuck in some random thoughts on shit ive recently watched or whatever...

anyway's, some fights:

Riddick Bowe Vs Andrew Golota I - one of the most infamous heavyweight fights in boxing history, no one really gave the un-tested Golota a chance againt Bowe, but damn was they wrong...Golota beat the fucking shit out of Bowe, but with Bowe being one of the toughest mu'fuckers in boxing this made for one of the greatest wars ever (definatly one of my favourite fights), Bowe refused to drop and kept coming at Golota hurting him several times. Then Golota goes and gets himself disqualified for throwing repeated low blows, there's no real reason why Golota did it, he was winning the fight maybe it was through frustration of not being able to finish Bowe, or the fact that he felt he was getting tired. Anyway's the low blows set off a fucking riot, one of Bowe's men attack Golota with a phone and chaos kicks off, the best thing about it is the camera's film the whole thing, one of the craziest scenes in boxing history...a must-see, for the right and wrong reasons.

Larry Holmes Vs Marvis Frazier - as one-sided a heavyweight title fight that there's ever been, Frazier basically got this fight 'cause he was the son of Joe Frazier, anyway's Holmes beat the holy hell out of him, a knockdown early doesn't finish the corageous Frazier who refuses to quit, in the end Holmes traps Frazier in the corner and lays down one of the great heavyweight beat down's, Holmes actually stops punching to ask the ref to stop it, the ref doesn't and Holmes lays on some more jack-hammers, brutal!

Vitali Klitschko Vs Corrie Sanders - another great heavyweight battle, Vitali not only fighting for the heavweight title but to avenge the defeat of his brother to Sanders. Basically Klitschko is leagues above of Sanders in terms of ability but Sanders has the punchers chance cause he hits like a truck plus the guy has an iron jaw, this again is a brutal and exciting fight, Klitschko finally gets a stoppage victory but Sanders refused to drop...one of the best heavyweight fights in recent memory.

Great photo there in the sig

Great to see something like this, hope it can keep up.

What's everyones opinions on Calzaghe/Lacy? Do you think Joe can take on the Super Middleweight puncher?

Calzaghe seems to have very brittle hands. If he breaks a hand early in the fight then Lacey will finish him off. If Joe can stay fit then it will be a really good fight that I think Calzaghe would just edge.

Erik morales v Marco Antonio Barrera.

12 Rounds of two Mexicans doing an impersonation of Hagler v Hearns. It was a fantastic fight with the pair of them just lamping eachother in the mouth and refusing to give ground.

Spooky stuff Ebb i was watching that fight just a couple of nights ago. Golota really went to school on him and then threw it all away with those low blows.

Then he looked even more convincing in the return fight and did the exact same again. Those fights finished Bowe off although he won by DQ, shame there was never any clear cut winner.

Danny Williams v Mark Potter

A bit of a nothing fight you may think, it was from 2000 and for the British heayweight title - nothing too eye catching about that at the first glance. I'd actually not really heard much about it untill i read up on it a few weeks ago. Williams dislocates his shoulder a few seconds into the 6th round - you can hear it pop out - and keeps fighting on with his right arm completely limp by his side with the commentators aghast at his corner for not ending the fight and fearing for his safety he comes back and knocks Potter out with one hand. Unreal, you have to see this to believe it.

Anyone here seen the first Meldrick Taylor vs Julio Cesar Chavez fight? I watched it the other day, They go at it toe to toe for 12 rounds, with both the Philedelpia fighter and the Mexian fighter being to proud to guard or clinch. It looked like Taylor had the match won, then in the last round Chavez hit the exhausted Taylor and sent him to the floor. Taylors up at 8 but doesn't answer the ref and so the fight gets stopped, with 2 seconds to go until the end. It really was a damn shame for Taylor as he went into a rapid decline from this point, it looked like hewas on his way to being a true great, I've seen him speak recently and he's got brain damage or something because his words all mix into one. An all time great match though, it was voted fight of the decade by one of the top boxing mags.


I also watched Nigel Benn vs Gerald Mclellan from 95. I remember watching this match as a kid and being really into it because it was Our Nigel Benn vs one of those dastardly yanks, and everyone seemed to have written off Benn. It doesn't look good to start as Nigel gets knocked out the ring in the first round, but he comes back with a good counter to Mclellans style. I think it was in the tenth round when Mclellan bizzarely kneels down and lets himself get counted down. He passed out after and went into a coma.


Marvin Hagler vs Thomas Hearns. This was for the middleweight title in the middle of the 80's. This was a huge fight at the time. The first round is one of the most action packed inboxing history. Hagler had found Hearns bragging before the fight most annoying and went in to prove a point. Hearns returned fire and both spent 3 minutes swinging for the hills on each other. Hearns broke his right hand off Haglers head and Hagler was bleeding badly by the end of the first. Hagler shocked the world by ending this match quickly with a knockout in the third.

yeh Golota seriously meant business back then, shame the guy didnt have the mental attributes to go with his physical ones.

Yes I remember this one. (Well it's pretty hard to forget!!) His shoulder came out in the third, then had popped itself back into place by the end of the round. It came out again in the 6th and Williams used the jab, with his other arm hanging limply by his side and collarbone protruding. He then caught Potter with an uppercut with his good arm and Potter couldn't recover.

Thing is Williams was getting his arse booted with two arms, and looked a lot better fighting with one arm!!!

so what about Skelton/Williams next weekend? who you fancy?

Skelton as Williams tends to blow hot and cold and it is about time for the moody can't be arsed Danny Williams to show up. Add to that that Williams's last fight was against someone who didn't want to fight and this time Skelton will be all over him because of his style, Williams won't be able to handle it.

I got a question, who should Ricky Hatton's next opponent be?

Baldomir?
Freitas?
Gatti?
Castillo?
Corrales?
Witter?

Anyone else?

Baldomir fight would make sense and add another recognised scalp on Ricky's hitlist. It would also set up a nice little earner against the winner of Judah/PBF fight somewhere down the line.

Also is anyone in the UK showing the Sugar Shane/Vargas or the Glen Johnson/Hall fights next weekend?

I think Gatti would be a good move.

Past his best but still a name fighter, dangerous and entertaining. Would be a good way to dip his feet in the US market and would certainly be a good slug - very much like Naseem/Kelley.

seconded...

Frank Bruno Vs Carl Williams - im a big Bruno fan, so i went back to some of the the old dvd's...this was a huge fight for Bruno, a win would set up a world title fight with Lennox Lewis a loss would have probably spelled the end for him. Bruno just bullied his way through this fight, very aggressive early on and doing alot of holding and hitting (Bruno was a pretty dirty fighter, he even threw the most blatant elbow ive ever seen later in the fight). Williams' insistence to shake his head after every attack just made me wanna see him get KO'd even more so when Bruno clubbed him down in the 10th it was pretty fucking awesome. Good fight.

Baldomir and Gatti are fighting each other. (Hatton;s promoters reportedly said they couldnt offer Baldomir the money he was asking for, whilst Main Events and Golden Boy have publicly stated they can)

Frietas is fighting Raheem

Castillo and Corrales are fighting each other.

Just leaves Witter..........and he wont fight Witter.

Other "possibles"

Juan Diaz (WBA Lightweight Champ)
Has been mentioned but couldnt be considered a real threat as he isnt a big puncher at lightweight. I see Hatton would like this fight as it is low risk but unlikely to happen as he is a young guy who they wont want to risk in a fight like this.

Louis Collazo (WBA Welterweight Champ)
Called out all the major players from 140 to 147 last week in a bid to land himself a big fight. possible but unlikely. Hatton camp would argue he isnt a big enough name.

Antonio Margerito (WBO Welterweight Champ)
Was mentioned once but I dont think the Hatton camp could be serious about this one, the guy is an animal, and an enourmous puncher, at WELTERWEIGHT.

sucks for Hatton

boxings on its last legs, give MMA 5 years and it will totaly eclipse it

Thats crap Chris Prime... The only thing Boxing needs is a breakthrough star in Heavyweight that the media can get behind

The two sports are not related. A lot of friends of mine would not and will never watch MMA and they are huge boxing fans. Apart from a very small crossover of a few fighters the skills are completely different, and no matter how much MMA fans try and convince boxing fans that MMA is better, boxing fans will always regard MMA as a second class sport. It is what you do if you can't box to a high enough standard in most boxing fans opinion. That is not a view I share but it is the view of most of the boxing fans I know.

Outside of forums like this I've never heard anyone ever mention MMA, let alone profess to like it. I've never seen it covered in a newspaper, or on terrestrial TV. Everybody could name a boxer, past or present, how many people on the street could name one MMA fighter? MMA will never over take boxing as the top combat sport.

i love em both why can't we all just get along.

i read in the paper this morning that Hatton is gonna fight Vivian Harris.

Unlikely.

A lot of the general public confuse MMA with Pro wrestling or illegal fighting as a result are resistant to MMA, until their perception is corrected. Until this happens there is no chance of it surpassing boxing.

Personally, over the last two years, a mixture of crap fights on sky and the price of attending a boxing show compared to an MMA show, I have been going to more MMA shows than Boxing

go look at how much the UFC and MMA made last year in america, go see how much Pride and K1 made in Japan, its only the uk thats still behind on the MMA scene, as for the comments about MMA being a route for those not good enough to make boxing, your an idiot, every boxer who tried to enter MMA got destroyed, and im not just talking about on the floor but stand up, also look up antonio nogueria, the bloke is a decent striker in MMA, but won a recent national championship in boxing, once MMA gets main stream global attention boxings funding and suport will be massivly dinted, its happening in america, and has happend in japan allready

Difference is that MMA is growing and growing and boxing is dying. The general public are sick of the Mike Tyson's of the world. They are sick of fixed fights and dodgy decisions. MMA is a whole new world. And on PPV, they aren't a mile apart now when it comes to PPV buys or live gate money.

Can't use the star power arguement either. Take away Hatton and you'd struggle people who are casual boxing fans who actually know more than 2 current world champions. Take away Tyson and Amir Khan and you'd struggle to find people who could name 5 current boxers! You can easily find the same comparison in the States. And I'd bet more people know The Rock, Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan than Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins and Floyd Mayweather in the States and that doesn't make pro wrestling bigger than boxing either.

Matt Skelton is one dirty ass fighter!

4th round just finished, this is turning into a cracking heavyweight bout...

You're kidding me?!? If this is the 'best of British', heavyweight boxing as we know it is in a sorry state.

Williams will NEVER be World Champ, and Skelton is nothing more than a Pit Fighter.

hey, its fucking competetive and im enjoying it, it doesn't have to be pretty to be good

may i add its up there with the dirtiest fights ive ever seen...

loving the 'referee's a wanker' chant.

The fight was dirty as fuck, but I really enjoyed it. It was a close fight with a lot of action, puts Harrison vs Williams to shame.

Excellent point. I was gonna post that until I read your post. I completely agree that in 5 years MMA will be MUCH bigger than boxing, It's just growing so rapidly and is much more exciting than boxing. I'm a fairly big boxing fan too. It'll never be the same as it was 20 years ago.

What was the result last night? Did Williams win?

yea williams won a slit decision. boxing is going through a bad time at present but it will come through and sorry mma will never repace it.imo.

Not saying they will overtake boxing. MMA will definately compete with it though. You are always going to find the boxing purists who will just bury MMA for being "human cockfighting" even though the injury rate in comparison to boxing is on another level. No deaths as a direct result of a legal MMA match. This weight cutting thing needs to stop though.

Does anyone know where Hattons next fight will be screened?

I was having a talk with a mate last night and he thinks Sky will keep hold of him but i have a feeling it might go on terrestrial...

Also lets look forward to Calazaghe vs Lacy as im going and i just want to build it up some more. Im thinking Lacy will win in round four or eight but im wondering what everyone else thinks...

Also could someone post some links to the boxing sites they read...

Sorry i meant to click the edit button...

im in a rush to get to pub to watch Carling Cup Final

East Side Boxing good site.

so what's everyone's opinion on who Calzaghe's next opponent should be?

Mike Tyson Vs Peter McNeeley - browsing my Mike Tyson career dvd's...holy shit, this was crazy! McNeeley comes storming out swinging bombs, gets caught and goes down in the opening ten seconds, he gets up goes crazy and gets in Tyson's face...the fights restarted and it's a fucking war! headbutts flying in..crazy! McNeeley then gets dropped again 90 seconds in and the fight is stopped. Gutted McNeeley looked like he was ok, a little shaken but ok. Quite gutted i think the ref. or the corner (wasnt clear who stopped it) robbed us of a classic brawl, i dont think it would have gone past the 2nd or 3rd round but it woulda been awesome.

hang on... i just read the fight was ruled a DQ, anyone know why??? weird.

McNeeley's cut man and chief second came in to pull him out so it was a technical DQ for them encroaching the ring Ebb.

ahhh right, it was a little weird...why'd they come in? i know McNeeley was dazed but he looked like he could go on.

anyone know if Rahman/Toney is on tv tonight or tomorrow???

anyone know?

Sorry Ebb Doesn't look its gonna be shown anytime soon. It might on Friday Fight Night in a couple of weeks though. I heard Sky showed the Vargas/Sugar Shane fight the other week so we'll probably get it on a delay.

Really wanted to see this fight live though! "Has-been" Rahman has been talking a good fight up to this point. Lights Out has been pretty funny too. Smart money's on Toney I guess...

anyone know if Rahman/Toney is on tv tonight or tomorrow???

According to a boxing forum, it's not being shown on British tv at all. I was going to stick money on Toney to win, but the odds are awful so I decided not to bother.

Fight isn't on. You know something is wrong when the World Heavyweight Title can't get shown!

sucks

I came to just ask this... I was hoping id missed it on the prgramme planner

Thats what all these alpabet titles are doing to boxing, 4 different guys (more if you count the tin pot organisations) being able to call themselves world champion has left the title with no importance. People just won't care about the heavyweight division until it gets some kind of focus.