This Weekend's Boxing (Garcia vs. Benn - August 12th)

[NeverYield]

Will read that article now, and yes Wand Crawford has all the ability skill wise, but you're right with Canelo, I get that sense too, and sometimes fighters need a decent opponent to get motivated, sometimes they can't drag a good performance out of themselves unless the occasion demands it. This demands it imo, and skilled as he is Crawford has periods of inactivity so it Canelos on form his workrate could see him steal rounds.

And no I definitely can't see him stopping Canelo, rewatched lots of fights of both this week and that includes Canelo-GGG, and those shots Canelo rode from GGG are unreal.

[jimufctna24]

Great result.

Usyk the greatest of this era, Crawford the best. And I'm very happy with that.

[NeverYield]

Just an unbelievable performance from Bud, his timing and movement basically negated the size difference completely, and he wasn't afraid to trade in there at times either! Absolutely unreal.

And what a fight Mbilli-Martinez was!

[wandshogun09]

Very happy to be wrong. Crawford looked incredible. I really thought going in that Crawford winning by decision was gonna be unlikely, even if he deserved the win. But he won this so clearly that they couldn’t even rob him. I wasn’t scoring it closely, couldn’t be arsed and just wanted to enjoy it. But I felt like it was pretty wide in Crawford’s favour by the end. Probably wouldn’t have given Canelo more than a couple of rounds. Felt like the scorecards were closer than the fight I actually saw with my own eyes but whatever. The right man won and that’s the most important thing because it’s not always the case.

Huge win for Crawford’s legacy. Felt like he needed a win like this to really cement that. Boxing fans know how great he is but he was missing that one huge name on his record. Beating Canelo is big. I did feel like Canelo looked past his best, and obviously he is. But it’s not like he’s completely washed up or something. I really felt like this fight might bring the best out of him but Crawford was just too sharp and dialled in. Incredible performance. For what it’s worth, Canelo was asked by the media after the fight how he’d compare fighting against Crawford and fighting against Mayweather and he said “I think Crawford is way better than Mayweather”.

Wasn’t a fan of most of the rest of the show, apart from Mbilli vs Martinez as mentioned above. That was a banger. Obviously lacked the significance and star power of the main event but it was the best actual fight on the card as far as entertainment goes.

Sick of Callum Walsh being forced down everyone’s throat just because he’s Dana’s little pet project for some reason. Haven’t seen a lot of him but what I have seen, I’ve never been convinced and this did nothing to change that. Pushing him as co-main on a card like this was piss weak. Shite to watch, personality of a house brick.

The production of this was crap on the whole I thought. It’s like they took Boxing and ran it through Dana’s UFC template where he basically strips all the fun out of everything. The only thing they kept from Boxing shows was the shitty ‘musical performance’ before the main event which for some reason has become obligatory in recent years. No-one wants this bollocks. We’re tuning in to watch Boxing. And on a card like this, we’re tuning in pretty much solely for the main event. So they decide to drag it out to unbearable levels with a Mexican band doing a mini gig. But yeah, production-wise, on the whole this just felt like a bog standard UFC card. Surprised they never shoehorned Bruce Buffer in as the ring announcer, even though they had the better Buffer. 

Get this fucker away from Boxing please. He’s bad enough in MMA, don’t need him infecting Boxing as well. Actually a terrible promoter. He doesn’t promote. Seeing him brag this week about how he “promoted two of the three biggest fights in Boxing history” was as hilarious as it was pathetic. He means Mayweather vs McGregor and this Canelo vs Crawford fight. The third is Mayweather vs Pacquiao which he obviously wasn’t involved in. But even the other two, he did fuck all in the promotion of Mayweather vs McGregor really. Just stood around in the background holding Conor’s bags. He crowbarred his way into that fight but he wasn’t needed at all. He made zero difference to the size or success of that fight. And Canelo vs Crawford, like Eddie Hearn says, wasn’t even Dana’s fight it was a Turki show where Turki just let him introduce his stale UFC show production and sit by him front row like a Make A Wish kid.

Hearn and Dana are starting to have digs at each other and, for now, it all mostly seems to be fairly light hearted and in the spirit of ‘healthy competition’. It’s not gonna last though, is it? Anyone who knows anything about Dana knows how thin skinned he is. He changes colour and blows up at even the slightest bit of pushback, criticism or even mild disagreement. He’s had it all his own way in the UFC for so long now with his carefully curated media members who only ask him softball questions and lick his arse. He never had full control over who was allowed to do media for this fight and we saw a couple of examples this week where reporters had him on the ropes and rattled. I’m no fan of Eddie Hearn but he’s gonna have a field day winding Dana up. They’ve always spoken nicely of each other in the past but you could tell Eddie’s nose got put out of joint a bit when Dana was brought in for this Canelo vs Crawford fight. The honeymoon is over now. It’s all little sly digs through fake smiles at the minute but it’s not gonna be long before it starts getting a bit nasty because Dana can’t take the ‘banter’ (hate that word). Eddie’s gonna have him raging before long. 

Edited September 14, 2025 by wandshogun09

[Kfogg1991]

I worked it out before and this main card ran double the time noche ran and that had 6 flights the main card here was 4 fights.

The pacing of it was fucking abysmal there is no way Dana is walking away from it happy and proud of this debut showing in boxing. 

It clearly shows he knows how well it went because he was scheduled to be at the press conference post and he pulled out because he knew how rough the media would be so he refused to go out and take the rough and smooth on this side of things.

I personally was underwhelmed from it all 

[NeverYield]

I thought it was a cracking night, Mbilli-Martinez was a brilliant bout and Canelo Crawford was a matchup I thoroughly enjoyed aswell.

I do enjoy MMA too, and they do pace shows better, in boxing circles its always been a long running joke particularly on Warren shows to not bank on getting the train you want afterwards as the show may well run over, it just is what it is with boxing, he can't be too negative about it all as the sad reality is lots of ex MMA men end up going to boxing for career high pay days that they dont get anywhere close to in MMA, 

He did look disinterested through it all so he's best off fucking off though really isnt he.

[JakeRobertsParoleOfficer]

The right man won and any card that wasn't 9-3 to Crawford  is just lies.

You could see the fix was in by the cards, if it had been remotely close Canelo would have got it, just like vs Bivol. That ended up 115-113 (thrice) with all the judges having canelo 4-0 entering the fifth!!! Mind boggling as even at best Canelo lost 11-1

The scorecards are pretty much pre-filled in for Canelo, so im inclined to believe they didnt want to pull a robbery in their first major card on Netflix!!!

As for Dana, I think the magic he once wielded is long gone!!!

Promotions of fights now are piss weak, he let Jon Jones fuck around for an eternity, he tried to stiff Ngannou financially and Francis told him and UFC to fuck off, allowed Aspinall to wait for an age and stars seem to be being made inspite of him, rather than because of him!

If like Dana to piss off and actually let someone with enthusiasm in!!!

He won't though as hes an avid gambler and blows money like water!!

Still also think Jones has something on him as Jonesnis a dispicable jjmam being, a non draw and yet Dana fanboys over him like anything!

 

 

[jimufctna24]

From what I have seen opinions are split between Crawford winning a close fight and Crawford winning almost every round.

I would have to rewatch it, but I gave Canelo a few rounds (round 5 was probably his best round) and felt another few rounds were close, but otherwise scored the majority of rounds for Crawford. So I have to agree that the two 115-113 cards were probably generous towards Canelo.

Kellerman was dreadful on commentary btw. 

Edited September 15, 2025 by jimufctna24

[wandshogun09]

37 minutes ago, jimufctna24 said:

Kellerman was dreadful on commentary btw. 

Oh fucking hell I meant to mention that before. I’ve never been a fan of him but he was unbearable for this fight. Shamelessly licking Turki/Dana/TKO’s arse every chance he got. Think he said something like ‘if Turki wasn’t born none of us would be here’ or some bollocks at one point. Might’ve been to the media in the week. Then on the actual broadcast he was embarrassing as well. Kept bringing up how Boxing should introduce a BMF belt. No. Piss off. Then saying to Crawford in the ring, “You are the GOAT of this era”, which doesn’t make any sense at all as a sentence. Does he know what GOAT stands for? So is Crawford the “Greatest Of All Time” or just “this era”? It can’t be both. Made me laugh how many idiots were going “where’s the lie?” and shit ? oblivious that it’s a completely nonsensical statement. People just throw GOAT around and don’t even know what it means now. The Greatest Of All Time…of this era? That’s like saying you’re the GOAT of Tuesday.

It says it all how much of a shite job Kellerman did when even Al Bernstein is having a dig. Can’t remember him ever really taking a pop at another announcer like this before but he’s dead right. The constant gibberish preambles and awkward pauses before every question were a chore to sit through. 

Edited September 15, 2025 by wandshogun09

[NeverYield]

I haven't minded Kellerman in the past, his passion has shined through imo, even if he can be a little annoying. but yeah Saturday he was really annoying! And his post fight interviews were bizarre 

[wandshogun09]

Allen vs Makhmudov tonight then. 

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

There are levels in all sports, but it's always very clear in boxing. Dave, God bless him is regional title/British title level. No shame in that, but every time he steps beyond that he's found out. Makhmudov is probably European title level and I thought he handled Allen pretty easily despite obviously having the sort of gas tank you would find on a moped. 

[NeverYield]

Dave Allen is a tough chap, always game, but yes the levels were clear

Makhmudov boxed at range and through textbook shots most of the bout, and Allen couldlnt really do much at all about getting inside his reach, not effectively anyway.

Plenty of heart but wrong tactics for me from Allen imo, but he'll be back he's well liked.

[wandshogun09]

Yep. Out of his depth any time he steps above regional level. Shame really. Imagine if he had world level skills, with his likability plus being a Heavyweight? He might’ve been the closest thing you could get to a Heavyweight Ricky Hatton* in terms of support. 

*Well Ricky himself had to be close to Heavyweight at times when he was between training camps. 

[Gooner]

Ring IV card tonight:

• David Benavidez vs Anthony Yarde,  Light heavyweight fight, for the WBC title
•  
• Brian Norman Jr.  vs Devin Haney, Welterweight fight, for the WBO title
•  
• Abdullah Mason vs Sam Noakes, Lightweight fight, for the WBO title
•  
• Jesse Rodriguez vs Fernando Martinez,  Super flyweight fight, for the WBA, WBC and IBF titles
•  
• Vito Mielnicki Jr. vs Samuel Nmomah, Middleweight fight

Time for the serious business of the sport to happen tonight after the fiasco of last weekend and laughter at a fight that was confirmed yesterday in a press conference.

Four world title fights on one card, with one being a unification for three world titles. 

Some fights I'm finding difficult to call, but I'm going to go with:

Benavidez to win by late stoppage 

Norman Jr to win on points

Mason to win on points

Rodriguez to win by TKO 8-10 rounds 

Mielnicki to win on points