This Weekend's Boxing 🥊

[NeverYield]

Yup, punch resistance totally shot. 

Bellotti-Dillon, they aren't messing about.

 

Edited February 10 by NeverYield

[d-d-d-dAz]

That jab. Gee whizz.

The Bradley Skeete fight did Hamzah the world of good. Taught him not to get frightened by the idea of someone just turning it into a bar fight. 

He could be the real deal.

Edited February 10 by d-d-d-dAz

[NeverYield]

Fancy Alimkhanuly to beat Sheeraz.

He done his job tonight though did Sheeraz, looked a unit in there. 

I mentioned the weight cut and Williams being all at sea from CEJ jabs, would have been reasonable, and nice to believe the weight cut affected Liam, but after tonight it's obvious his punch resistance has totally gone and its Time to pack it in.

The weight cut played a part of course but its become clear now it wasn't the sole reason and Williams has been on the slide.

Edited February 10 by NeverYield

[Egg Shen]

Quite sad to see a guy like Liam Williams go out with a bit of a whimper like that. There was talk of a retirement a few months back, and seeing as Gary Lockett was quick to throw the towel in leads me of believe they decided to have one last go of it. Lockett quickly realising it wasnt there anymore.

I'm on the Sam Noakes train though, nasty little fucker.

[d-d-d-dAz]

9 hours ago, NeverYield said:

Fancy Alimkhanuly to beat Sheeraz.

Sure, but I also fancy Tyson Fury to beat Johnny Fisher.

Hamzah is nowhere near being compared directly to the elite of the elite. He's not even won a British yet. The question now should be whether he goes on to beat Denzel Bentley or Nathan Heaney.

I think he'll struggle to get credit for last night because of how easily he did the job, but even if you take Liam out of the picture (which I don't fully buy, I think Liam was a very good test at this stage of Hamzah's development) Hamzah's fundamentals were superb, his jab looks world class and the prospect of being in there with a rough, nasty old man who'd beaten up tall middleweights before didn't stop him executing his plan.

I think there was enough in that performance to say he could be the real deal, but that doesn't mean you just chuck him in at the deep end right away. 

On Liam, he's obviously on the downswing but I don't think he's much nearer his bottom than his top. He's always been a vicious little bastard, but probably topped out at British or at best European level. I'll never forget being ringside for him dicing up Alantez Fox. Possibly his best performance, considering Fox was rated highly at the time.

Edited February 11 by d-d-d-dAz

[Egg Shen]

Agree with that, a lot of the reaction im seeing on Twitter is that Sheeraz beat a shopworn Williams rather than it being some breakout performance. Still, its great ammunition to spin from a promotional angle.

Sheeraz vs. Ammo Williams on the Queensbury vs. Matchroom show would be great.

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

1 hour ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

The question now should be whether he goes on to beat Denzel Bentley or Nathan Heaney

I think the first of those two is the more interesting fight Dazzler, and I say that knowing full well that Heaney has beaten Bentley.  I think Heaney will struggle than anymore than the level he is at as he seems to lack power in his punches and Sheeraz will need to be deterred by what is coming back to get him put of his gameplan. Also it gives you more of a straight measure on where he is as Bentley went 12 rounds with Janibek. 

[d-d-d-dAz]

13 minutes ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said:

I think the first of those two is the more interesting fight Dazzler, and I say that knowing full well that Heaney has beaten Bentley.  I think Heaney will struggle than anymore than the level he is at as he seems to lack power in his punches and Sheeraz will need to be deterred by what is coming back to get him put of his gameplan. Also it gives you more of a straight measure on where he is as Bentley went 12 rounds with Janibek. 

I tend to agree, but if I was Hamzah I'd be banging the door down for the Heaney fight.

Nathan is a very good fighter, but British level is probably as high as he can get. He's worked very hard since I first saw him (Midlands Mayhem, November 2019 - I worked it with an absolute shite of a hangover, one of the days that went on to inform my teetotalism), especially on moving his head and feet, and having a bit of looseness through his waist. 

He looks a much more accomplished fighter these days, but I still think he's easily dragged into wars by average fighters and struggles to push people back with his power. His jab doesn't really snap either, it sort of hinges down from his elbow like a semi-flaccid hammer.

I think Hamzah probably beats him quite easily. Stick it in Stoke, or Manchester or something, and have it in front of 3,000 of Nathan's closest friends and Hamzah will look a huge star in victory.

Denzel  - who, full transparency, I consider a mate and have worked with a bunch of times both inside and outside of boxing - is a much better fighter than the Nathan fight showed. I think he just suffered with favourites curse a bit, plus he's an assassin who capitalises on mistakes and Nathan, to his credit, made very few. Denzel can sometimes be guilty of being a bit laid back when he doesn't feel in danger, and is happy waiting for opportunities to present. I doubt he'd approach a Hamzah fight that way, knowing what Hamzah is capable of.

I'd love to see it, but I can't see why Hamzah would take it unless he has to. I suspect he'll be made mandatory for the British at the next opportunity.

Edited February 11 by d-d-d-dAz

[NeverYield]

2 hours ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

Sure, but I also fancy Tyson Fury to beat Johnny Fisher.

Hamzah is nowhere near being compared directly to the elite of the elite. He's not even won a British yet. The question now should be whether he goes on to beat Denzel Bentley or Nathan Heaney.

I think he'll struggle to get credit for last night because of how easily he did the job, but even if you take Liam out of the picture (which I don't fully buy, I think Liam was a very good test at this stage of Hamzah's development) Hamzah's fundamentals were superb, his jab looks world class and the prospect of being in there with a rough, nasty old man who'd beaten up tall middleweights before didn't stop him executing his plan.

I think there was enough in that performance to say he could be the real deal, but that doesn't mean you just chuck him in at the deep end right away. 

On Liam, he's obviously on the downswing but I don't think he's much nearer his bottom than his top. He's always been a vicious little bastard, but probably topped out at British or at best European level. I'll never forget being ringside for him dicing up Alantez Fox. Possibly his best performance, considering Fox was rated highly at the time.

Of course. The reason I mentioned Alimkhanulys name is his name and Sheeraz have been linked in a potential fight since 2022. 'It was possible' at one stage. For a November date I believe. 

I'd say its too early to call Alimkhanuly the elite of the elite yet, he's had some cracking performances and some underwhelming ones, Hassan N'Dam and Denzel Bentley. 

If the twos name hadn't been previously linked I wouldlnt bother mentioning him, but they have and I feel when they clash Alimkhanuly beats him, but Alimkhanuly himself can't be called the best of the best yet. 

Hamzah deserves credit for last night, he looked 100% in there, sharp as a razor, but Williams was shot, that's not Hamzahs fault or his teams fault, it's just how it is, Gary Lockett is not one to stop fights usually and he threw that towel in because he could see Williams could end up seriously hurt, he was all over the place, but Hamzah still deserves credit, you can only fight who is in front of you. 

I'd like to see him matched a bit better going forward, he's been matched a bit careful since Skeete, let's see how it goes going forward, there isn't anything wrong with tough fights, Frak Ali on Fridays GBM sports card was matched extremely well, and he ended up getting beaten, in a good hard fought fight and the post fight interview between him and Izzy was quality, very refreshing to see, all the GBM match making was brilliant to be fair. 

Thing is with Liam is he was very active as an amateur and also had a lot of gym wars, he's been in the game a long time, that wear and tear has caught up with him and he can't take the shots anymore.

Egg, Sam Noakes lifts in the gym are incredible for his weight, 150kg squat, 190kg deadlift, 100kg power clean, he's a machine. 

Edited February 11 by NeverYield

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

1 hour ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

I tend to agree, but if I was Hamzah I'd be banging the door down for the Heaney fight.

Nathan is a very good fighter, but British level is probably as high as he can get. He's worked very hard since I first saw him (Midlands Mayhem, November 2019 - I worked it with an absolute shite of a hangover, one of the days that went on to inform my teetotalism), especially on moving his head and feet, and having a bit of looseness through his waist. 

He looks a much more accomplished fighter these days, but I still think he's easily dragged into wars by average fighters and struggles to push people back with his power. His jab doesn't really snap either, it sort of hinges down from his elbow like a semi-flaccid hammer.

I think Hamzah probably beats him quite easily. Stick it in Stoke, or Manchester or something, and have it in front of 3,000 of Nathan's closest friends and Hamzah will look a huge star in victory.

Denzel  - who, full transparency, I consider a mate and have worked with a bunch of times both inside and outside of boxing - is a much better fighter than the Nathan fight showed. I think he just suffered with favourites curse a bit, plus he's an assassin who capitalises on mistakes and Nathan, to his credit, made very few. Denzel can sometimes be guilty of being a bit laid back when he doesn't feel in danger, and is happy waiting for opportunities to present. I doubt he'd approach a Hamzah fight that way, knowing what Hamzah is capable of.

I'd love to see it, but I can't see why Hamzah would take it unless he has to. I suspect he'll be made mandatory for the British at the next opportunity.

I speak as a fan Daz, you speak as someone who actually knows these guys and has a take a million times better than mine. Its easy to forget that you know Frank Warren, you worked for him, it must colour how you see fights and fighters incredibly. 

[d-d-d-dAz]

12 minutes ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said:

I speak as a fan Daz, you speak as someone who actually knows these guys and has a take a million times better than mine. Its easy to forget that you know Frank Warren, you worked for him, it must colour how you see fights and fighters incredibly. 

I don't know that my take is better, as its incredibly bias for lots of reasons.

I'd have swore blind Dubois was going to put Joe Joyce down, for example.

Whilst I'm indulging myself, my favourite picture from my boxing years; https://www.instagram.com/p/COnnay_h8Tn/?igsh=MTR5aHAxdndrZnRwYQ==

 

That's me in the Champion hoodie 🤣

Edited February 11 by d-d-d-dAz

[NeverYield]

Sheeraz came across really well in his boxing king media interview, looks like he will be going for Williams or Heaney next as mentioned. 

Think he could beat Heaney within 6, he certainly has all the tools. Fancy he would beat Williams aswell. 

 

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

5 hours ago, d-d-d-dAz said:

I don't know that my take is better, as its incredibly bias for lots of reasons.

I'd have swore blind Dubois was going to put Joe Joyce down, for example.

Whilst I'm indulging myself, my favourite picture from my boxing years; https://www.instagram.com/p/COnnay_h8Tn/?igsh=MTR5aHAxdndrZnRwYQ==

 

That's me in the Champion hoodie 🤣

Better may be the wrong choice, more nuanced is probably correct. You've been part of the promotion of fights, you'd know more about the ins and outs of these things. 

I think we agreed on Dubois though against Joyce. Losing probably turned out for the best though in the end, despite having to deal with Don King. 

Edited February 11 by Lion_of_the_Midlands
I and O are stupidly close for a fat thumbed idiot like me.

[Egg Shen]

Always appreciate your input @d-d-d-dAz

[d-d-d-dAz]

You're very kind @Egg Shen but you have also forced me down memory lane.

If anyone wants to see a man completely out of his depth and like a deer in the headlights, I offer you me hosting the Ennis Brown vs Maxwell fight week press conference as Dev was in Vegas;