Boxing Thread

[CurryAngel]

I'm not Khan's biggest fan, but he's a bigger star than Hamed ever was. Plus, he's a better fighter as well.

Don't think I'd agree with the bit in bold. As good as Khan is (and I think he has the potential to be great) Naz was a special fighter and could have gone on to greatness if he 'd have stayed focused.Steve Bunce actually called him the greatest British boxer of all time. Whether you'd agree with that or not is up to you but no one would even consider Khan at that level.

[David]

I guess time will tell. We'll see who has the better record and career when Khan's career is over & done with.

[TildeGuy~!]

Yuriorkis Gamboa(21-0) The next big thing

[Fox Piss]

Can anybody give me a idea how shit a

[rohpete]

From prince... i mean Amir kahns twitterThe fight is off! sorry everyone the only person to blame is @kingpete26 I'll be looking for a opponent to fight June 30th

[mikey]

As I recall, Fox, it'll be in one of the stands so you'll have a somewhat elevated view but you'll probably be 25m+ away from the ring. Like sitting in the tiers at the UFC I'd imagine.

[melina_mma]

I wish people would get of their high horse-when was the last time anything interesting happend on the British Boxing scene? Thanks to these 2 so called 'muppets' people are actually talking about Boxing again and that cant be a bad thing. Even the purists can't deny they are a little curious to what is going to go downAnd if these 2 go at it all hammer and tongs for a good 6/7 rounds it may just be the fight o spark some life back into the very dead heavyweight division

Maybe the winner can challenge Tyson Fury to a fight in a caravan park or try to goad Danny Williams out of retirement? They could get the cameras round Danny's house in London and throw stones at his window until he comes out and gets involved in a "right pwopa naughty tear-up".Frank Warren can screen the entire thing on his shitty little channel, and they can try to get sponsorship from the Daily Star or the Sun on Sunday.

I followed Hamed from his early days and watching Khan now its clear he did to since everything about him just seems a Hamed clone, right to the point that one of his nicknames is 'king'. Its clear he wishes he was as big a star as Hamed

I'm not Khan's biggest fan, but he's a bigger star than Hamed ever was. Plus, he's a better fighter as well.

Bigger than Hamed? No offence but how old are you? Anybody older enough to remember Hamed's career will remember he was huge, Khan struggles to get a fight on SKY. Hamed was a household name. If you are of an age where you can remember Hamed's career then REALLY? Bet most Americans don't even know Khan's name.Better fighter? Hamed was #1 for years, he fought and beat the best of his generation. His combination of skill, speed and power bought worthy challengers to their knees in 2/3 rounds. Maybe his career ended to early but then again he won 3 world titles, was the lineal champion. The only thing he never achieved was avenging his defeat but when you consider the career he had, titles won, money earned he didn;t really need to-his legacy was written.

To media_mma: TildeGuy didn't call you a racist!

I know but it could of gone down a racist path

[mikey]

Yeah but Khan could go head-to-head in traffic offences, for sure.

[Fox Piss]

As I recall, Fox, it'll be in one of the stands so you'll have a somewhat elevated view but you'll probably be 25m+ away from the ring. Like sitting in the tiers at the UFC I'd imagine.

Cheers Mikey. Hope to get tickets.I'm guessing the lay-out will be different to the Mitchell V Katsdidis(sp) fight. Edited May 10, 2012 by Fox Piss

[jimufctna24]

I'm not Khan's biggest fan, but he's a bigger star than Hamed ever was. Plus, he's a better fighter as well.

I like you David even when you are slagging Nick Diaz, but this is the worst thing I have seen you post.Hamed used to sell-out the MEN/Sheffield Arena in the 90,s and was the faces that started PPV boxing on SKY. He was all the popular shows over here and everyone knew who he was. There was even a Nike commercial shown that much I still remember it today.Khan whilst quite big of his olympic triumph, ever feels himself he is not that a big a star over here and does not get the attention he deserves. Naz was World Champ and seen as number 1 for years, his only loss is to a all time great Barrera when he was in his Prime. Naz has more natural talent than Khan and whilt both have suspect fight IQ, Naz at least was not stupid enough to throw a clear win away like he Khan did against Peterson, throwing his hands up every 30 seconds and getting points knocked off.Naz could and should have been the best fighter the UK produced, but his fragile hands and hatred of training made him not reach the heights he should have. No boxer in the UK had the talent Naz did, before or since.I like Khan, but he really is not as good or as big as Naz was in the 90's

[Up Chuck]

So how exactly is it that the Luxembourgian commission can sanction a fight in the UK? Also, does it mean West Ham could represent Luxembourg in the Champions League? (One of these questions is serious)

It's a loophole in the European Free trade laws that allows the Luxembourg Boxing Federation, or any other Boxing Federation that is a member of the European Boxing Union for that matter, to licence boxers to fight anywhere within the European Union.

Yeah, specifically it's the fact that both BBFC and the Luxemberg group are private (non-government) organisations that charge a fee for a service, so BBFC can't stop their foreign equivalents providing the same service in the UK.

Very interesting. Also cheers to Lister for not calling me on nicking his joke off Twitter.

[David]

I'm not Khan's biggest fan, but he's a bigger star than Hamed ever was. Plus, he's a better fighter as well.

I like you David even when you are slagging Nick Diaz, but this is the worst thing I have seen you post.Hamed used to sell-out the MEN/Sheffield Arena in the 90,s and was the faces that started PPV boxing on SKY. He was all the popular shows over here and everyone knew who he was. There was even a Nike commercial shown that much I still remember it today.Khan whilst quite big of his olympic triumph, ever feels himself he is not that a big a star over here and does not get the attention he deserves. Naz was World Champ and seen as number 1 for years, his only loss is to a all time great Barrera when he was in his Prime. Naz has more natural talent than Khan and whilt both have suspect fight IQ, Naz at least was not stupid enough to throw a clear win away like he Khan did against Peterson, throwing his hands up every 30 seconds and getting points knocked off.Naz could and should have been the best fighter the UK produced, but his fragile hands and hatred of training made him not reach the heights he should have. No boxer in the UK had the talent Naz did, before or since.I like Khan, but he really is not as good or as big as Naz was in the 90's

I'm more than old enough to remember Hamed at his best, and whilst he was good (and certainly a household name in the UK), he never fullfilled his potential, and the flashy style that he was famous for simply didn't work when he made the step up over in the US. He lost to Barrera at 27 years of age in what could be classified his first mega-fight.I know that injuries and suchlike played a part in him going downhill, but the fact remains that he fought decent competition, and managed to look great doing so, but all that changed when he took the step up and went to the US.Khan however, has been fighting the top talent since he faced Barrera at the age of 23. I was personally shocked when he took that fight, as he hadn't fought anyone even close to that level before. Barrera at the time had only lost to two men in almost ten years, and those two were Marquez & Pacquiao.Since then he's beaten Malignaggi, Maidana and Judah in the US, before losing a highly controversial fight to Peterson. He's working with one of the best trainers in the game, and has pretty much cemented himself as a serious contender in the US at the age of 25.Hamed may have been a bigger star in the UK, but Khan has progressed so fast that he's basically stepped over the majority of UK fighters that he could have spent a few years fighting and headed right for the US where the big money and the big fights are, and has signed with GoldenBoy Promotions.In the end I doubt it matters that Khan isn't big over here. The UK isn't the home of boxing, the US is. He's over there doing the business and will more than likely be at the top of the game for the next ten years or so.When all is said & done, Khan will be regarded higher on an international level than Hamed is, even if the majority of UK boxing fans don't agree.

[jimufctna24]

I dunno Naz, was quite big in the US.The fight with Kevin Kelly is seen as a classic and headlined a New York card at MSG, which at the time was the mecca of Boxing. Khan is not just dismissed over in the UK, the American public do not rate him either, in fact I rate him better than most.There was a poll on a forum I go on that voted by a landside that Hatton would destroy Khan all day long if he was still about. This one on a forum based in America, where most think Hatton was a overhyped wrestler who caught a aging Tszyu at the right time, that is how little they rate Khan.I can understand why people think Khan will achieve more, and they maybe right. But I will always dispute Khan being more talented, Naz was somthing very special. I know no one would argue against this, but the version of Barrera that Hamed faced was leagues above the version Khan faced. Naz also has the comfort of only losing to a all time great, Khan lost to Peterson who is just decent and Prescott who has proven to be just ok since that fight.

[Dr Reefer]

Oh and if anyone's interested ESPN Classic are showing some good stuff this week. Holyfield vs Moorer, Foreman vs Moorer, Mayweather vs Gatti. And 2 of my personal favourites, Holyfield vs Foreman from 91 and the Gatti vs Ward 3. Look out for them if you haven't seen them.EDIT

Gatti vs Ward is on at 12:15am

[wandshogun09]

I just watched Herol Graham vs Julian Jackson from 1990. I'd never seen it before but heard a lot about it so I finally gave it a watch.

 

 

I haven't really seen a whole lot of Graham but I've read a lot about him recently after seeing him on Bunce's Boxing Hour a couple of months back and hearing about his life after boxing.

 

He was considered one of the best middleweights around in the late 80s and he was around in the golden era of British middleweight boxing at the same time as Benn, Eubank and Watson. In the US you had Hagler and Leonard, Hearns and Duran who were all slowing down by then plus you had Mike McCallum. Middleweight was a big money division back then.

 

Herol Graham for one reason or another was always on the outside of that group and not getting the big money big name fights. He did get a fight with McCallum but lost a close decision. But also he had a tough style to look good against and I guess a lot of the top names didn't fancy that. He's often called the most avoided British boxer and also the best British fighter to never win a world title.

 

 

By the time of this fight with Julian Jackson, Graham was 43-2-0 with his only losses coming to McCallum and Kalambay. He was in his 30s and this was thought to be his last shot at a world title. Jackson was a really powerful puncher and had only lost once but he had problems with his eye sight stemming from a detached retina and there were issues with the BBBC over it so the fight was moved to Spain.

 

Anyway, Graham couldn't have got off to a better start. He took a fairly lopsided first round and was giving Jackson a bit of a hiding after that. He rocked him pretty bad in round 2 and by the end of that second round Jackson's eye was badly swollen and closing shut. He rocked him again in round 3 and Jackson couldn't see the shots coming.

 

By round 4 Jackson's eye was completely shut and the ref was gonna stop the fight after one more round. Herol 'Bomber' Graham was about 2 minutes away from finally getting a world title when this happened...

 

 

Absolute disaster for Graham. For a puncher like Jackson to land a shot like that flush on your jaw there's no way he was getting up. I dunno why the ref even bothered counting.

 

The knockout is made even more dramatic by the commentary. They're so wrapped up in the moment thinking Graham's finally gonna do it and then when the KO punch lands a big "OH NOOO".

 

Here's a quick clip of the KO

 

Heartbreaking way to lose. One of the scariest knockouts I've ever seen, Graham never got up for a good few minutes after the fight. A gutsy comeback from Jackson though.

 

Graham never got back on track after that loss. He went 5-3 before retiring on a TKO loss to Charles Brewer in 1998 in a fight where he dropped Brewer twice only to get stopped in the 10th round.

 

He's brought an autobiography out recently that I'm defo gonna pick up soon.

 

 

'Bomber: Behind The Laughter. It's meant to be really good from what I've heard. He's had an up and down life since he left the ring, battled with depression and even cut his wrists. He seems more sorted out now though fortunately.

 

Here he is on Bunce's show plugging the book

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsfFQ8eDYbU

 

Dunno how much truth there is to that bit at the start about them 4 not wanting to fight him but it's interesting to hear.

 

I'd heard Eubank wanted no part of him, there's always been stories that Graham gave Eubank hell whenever they sparred apart from one time when Eubank knocked him down. I'm sure Eubank confirms he didn't want the fight in his book but I might be wrong.

 

I can understand why Hagler wouldn't have taken the fight. By the late 80s he was finishing up after a Hall of Fame career. He retired in 87 and the only fight he was interested in by that point was a Leonard rematch.

 

From bits I've seen it's clear he was one of our best boxers at that time. It's a shame he's not remembered as being on that level with Eubank, Benn and Watson.

 

Here's a good 10 minute feature from Sky Sports with clips from his fights and an interview. Benn admits to avoiding him here aswell;

 

'Almost Champ' -

 

Anyone read his book yet?

Edited May 11, 2012 by wandshogun09