Boxing Thread

[Egg Shen]

The Price fight couldnt have really gone any worse. He did himself no harm in the actual fight, he was in it and had Povetkin hurt badly at one point, but there was always concerns that it was bad for Price's health because hes been KO'd badly in the past. Last nights topped the lot, a brutal KO.

[wandshogun09]

Yeah, all things considered that's probably the best way for Price to bow out. Fucked up as that might sound. In a good fight against a quality heavyweight where he left it all on the line and didn't embarrass himself. Most were expecting Povetkin to just walk straight through him so he actually did a bit better than a lot of people expected by being competitive and even hurting Povetkin. He gave everything he had and went out on his shield. Hopefully he calls it a day now. 

I agree with the criticisms about the ref as well. I enjoyed the fight but I can't help feel like it would've been better if he'd just stayed back a little bit more and let them work. Anytime they'd get anywhere near a close quarters situation he'd dive in between them. And that's where it would've got exciting because then Parker is on the inside where he's past AJ's reach advantage and could possibly have had some success. And also AJ's big uppercuts would've obviously been more effective in close range. Even if you say 'well they never did anything in close anyway', which I get, that's partly on the ref too. Because if you're AJ or Parker, after 4 or 5 rounds of the ref splitting you up any time you're anywhere near each other, why bother even trying to work in close? You could even see it later in the fight with Joshua just standing there every time they clinched up because he knew the ref was going to intervene within 2 seconds. 

It was still a decent enough fight but I definitely felt like the referee negatively effected both the flow of it and how the fighters themselves fought. 

[Egg Shen]

yeh, even though he took away an obvious approach of Parker's but preventing any in-fighting, he also prevented AJ from throwing any big shots including that uppercut he likes. AJ has proven he's not against getting dirty up close so it was a real shame that the ref. just stopped it playing out as it should have. It wasn't like a Klitschko situation where AJ would tie up and stop anything from happening, the ref was the one preventing anything from happening.

[Keith Houchen]

Here's hoping Price will stick to punditry and Talking Heads tribute acts now. Very uncomfortable to see. 

[gmoney]

I was watching with my housemate who's not a fan because he's a bit squeamish. He was getting right into it until that knockout, which caused him to go white and hold his hand over his face for about 5 minutes. It was very scary to witness. Luckily he looked all right when he got up, but the image of him lying flat on the canvas with blood on his chest will live with me. 

[Egg Shen]

yeh, we watched it with a mate who doesn't following boxing at all, and his reaction after the KO was 'that was bad', as in that wasn't very pleasant to watch. Especially as we'd told him it felt like he was abit of a lamb being led to the slaughter beforehand.

[jimufctna24]

The judges were a bit harsh on Parker, but I had Joshua comfortably ahead throughout most of the fight. When the final bell sounded, I had Joshua winning by 4-5 rounds at least. 

I still think a fully-fit Tyson Fury would outlast both Joshua and Wilder over 12 rounds. 

[wandshogun09]

As much as I dislike him, Fury's going to be a problem for the lot of them if he gets himself fully back in shape, knocks off any ring rust and sharpens up. The combination of his skill, deceptively good movement, durability, awkwardness, nuttiness and him not minding making it boring to get the win...then when you wrap all that up in a 7ft frame, he's going to be hard to beat. I think Joshua and Wilder have the power to put him down if they catch him but I find it hard to picture them outworking him over 12 rounds. All these fights need to happen though. 

I liked the idea of Povetkin vs Whyte last night. If they do that and can somehow get this AJ vs Wilder fight on for later this year I'll be well happy. Add in Chisora vs Takam and maybe rehab Parker by feeding him a Lucas Browne or something, I don't know. Then you a got Joyce and Dubois coming along nicely. The heavyweight division is a lot of fun at the moment. 

[David]

21 hours ago, wandshogun09 said:

As much as I dislike him, Fury's going to be a problem for the lot of them if he gets himself fully back in shape, knocks off any ring rust and sharpens up. The combination of his skill, deceptively good movement, durability, awkwardness, nuttiness and him not minding making it boring to get the win...then when you wrap all that up in a 7ft frame, he's going to be hard to beat. I think Joshua and Wilder have the power to put him down if they catch him but I find it hard to picture them outworking him over 12 rounds. All these fights need to happen though. 

I liked the idea of Povetkin vs Whyte last night. If they do that and can somehow get this AJ vs Wilder fight on for later this year I'll be well happy. Add in Chisora vs Takam and maybe rehab Parker by feeding him a Lucas Browne or something, I don't know. Then you a got Joyce and Dubois coming along nicely. The heavyweight division is a lot of fun at the moment. 

The thing about Fury, like him or not, is that when you strip away all the mental talk and his out of the ring antics he's actually a skilled boxer. Many "in the know" types who've sparred him or worked with him say the same thing.

He's easily the best actual boxer in the division at the moment, and would likely box circles around AJ (provided he comes back in shape and giving a fuck).

Edited April 2, 2018 by David

[Egg Shen]

very true, it's crazy that the general perception of him is still that he's a big useless, uncoordinated lump. Don't get me wrong, he has been clumsy in the past but the guy knows his way around the boxing ring, when he's decided to actually use his skill he's looked pretty fucking good.

[David]

Yeah, the perception of him being a big lump of silliness really has no foundation in the boxing ring. 

He did have a tendency to get drawn into a brawl now & then, and suffered some knockdowns and a few scares in his early fights (notably against Firtha, Pajkic & Cunningham), but since the 2nd fight with Chisora he seems to have turned a corner and really tightened up on his game.

This article from the Guardian makes for interesting reading;

Quote

 

At some point, surely, the money will talk. And the negotiations between Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder, which increasingly carry the pheromonal whiff of a secondary‑school playground, will conclude with the planet’s two hardest-punching heavyweights putting their belts on the line in an epic reunification fight.

But even if Joshua creates history – as I expect him to do – by adding Wilder’s WBC belt to his WBA, IBF and WBO titles, thus becoming the first heavyweight to hold all four major belts at the same time, there is another fighter with the pedigree and x-factor to give him the toughest test of all: Tyson Fury.

Not the Fury we have seen during for much of the past two years: fattened up like a Christmas turkey, fighting a ban after a positive test for nandrolone, and spouting unedifying opinions like a drunk at Speakers’ Corner. But rather the raging Fury of November 2015, who presented Wladimir Klitschko with a fiendish puzzle he never looked like solving.

Many had given up hope that this Fury would ever return. However, last week his friend Ricky Hatton tweeted that he was “looking fit, confident and the swagger’s back”.

Whether the Gypsy King is capable of going 12 rounds any time soon is another matter. But one heavyweight I spoke to last year, who has sparred with Joshua and Fury, thought it would be incredibly close contest. Going up against Fury, he stressed in almost awed tones, was “like fighting an octopus” with his reach, height and ability to avoid being hit cleanly.

Wilder’s challenge is much more straightforward. True, the American punches with the force of someone with titanium in their knuckles. But his technique is more that of a four-, not 40-fight, veteran. Provided Joshua is able to box smartly – and stay away from the bombs flung at him from awkward angles – he should be able to capitalise on Wilder’s recklessness and poor balance.

Joshua is clearly maturing, too. Before the fight against Joseph Parker on Saturday, he spoke warmly about learning lessons from the way Klitchsko had tried to control him before their fight, as well as from the Ukrainian’s perpetual lust for improvement. The way he boxed behind his jab against Parker – and cleverly slipped out of range whenever the New Zealander tried a jab and overhand right – suggested he had absorbed some of Klitschko’s ringcraft, too.

Parker’s trainer, Kevin Barry, had been in the corner of another Kiwi, David Tua, when he fought Britain’s Lennox Lewis for the heavyweight title in 2000. Tua, an explosive puncher, was reckoned to be a major test. Instead he grew meek under the power of Lewis’s jab and lost a wide points decision. This was not much different.

True, the 80,000 crowd in Cardiff had wanted more blood and action. But can you blame Joshua for boxing more conservatively after those hellish but exciting fifth and sixth rounds against Klitschko last year? Why roll the dice when your physical advantages dictate you don’t have to?

Fury, though, would present an altogether tougher problem. Joshua likes to control fights with his stinging jab, thrust time and time again in his opponent’s face with the spite of a bullfighter’s sword. From that left hand everything else flows. But it would be far harder to establish the jab against Fury, who has a three-inch height and reach advantage.

And while Fury often sounds boorish outside the ring, inside it he is as tactically cute as they come. Just look at how he dealt with Klitschko, who had held at least one version of the world heavyweight title for almost 10 years and won 64 of his 67 fights, 53 by knockout, before they met.

During that fight Fury boxed orthodox, with his left hand leading when he was attacking, yet was able to switch to southpaw whenever his opponent came for him. Not only did this prevent Klitschko from setting, but – crucially – it also increased the distance between the Ukrainian’s right hand and Fury’s chin, making it harder for Wladimir to land with the heavy artillery.

Watch the fight again and you will also see Fury frequently step to the right while in his southpaw stance, again blunting the effectiveness of the Ukrainian’s right cross.

It did not make for pretty viewing. Indeed after three rounds Fury had landed only 17 punches to Klitschko’s 11. But Fury had established that the fight would be held on his terms and went on to win a clear and deserved points victory.

True, he is not the most explosive of fighters. But he does not need to be because he has an unerring ability to drag his opponent down to his level, to ensure that any contest is on his terms, and to win. At his best, Joshua would have to show exceptional cunning to stop Fury.

Speaking during the early hours of Sunday morning, meanwhile, Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, admitted that if the Wilder fight does not happen in 2018 there will be “serious problems” because the Englishman will soon have to face mandatory challengers for his WBA, IBF and WBO belts instead. Joshua said that “2018 is about getting all the belts and we are one away now”, and added, “I will have to be the most powerful man on a negotiating table”.

Indeed he will. But if Wilder is dealt with, he knows that Fury will have a few bargaining chips of his own, outside and in the ring.

 

 

[wandshogun09]

The Khan fight is coming up in a few weeks. What's the score with this Phil Lo Greco bloke he's fighting? I've never actually seen him fight. All I know about him is from seeing him at that press conference. So basically just that he's a chubby little fuck with a gob on him and Khan chucked water over him. A quick look at his record shows he's 28-3, got bashed by Errol Spence but went to a 10 round decision with Shawn Porter before that. 

Obviously I'm not expecting much. It makes sense to give Khan a winnable fight after his layoff. But is Lo Greco a live underdog or a complete jobber? 

Fill me in on Phil. 

[TildeGuy~!]

Definite jobber. 

Like you said 2 of his 3 losses were Porter and Spence Jr, the other against Joseph Elegele back in 2016 who was a bang average Welterweight and hasn’t fought since. Most of his wins have also come against people with negative records and those went to a decision, his last fight was a split decision win over a fighter with a record of 24-13-3.

Most of his fights have also been 8 rounders too, he’s only ever had 1 twelve round fight which was against a polish lad with a record of 20-6-2 back in 2010, it was for the WBC international Welterweight Title, usually that’ll get you a world title fight but then he went back to  6 and 8 rounders a year later for some reason. 

Khan will win, I’m certain of that.  I’m just indecisive of the way he will win.

 

[wandshogun09]

I hope he smashes this guy in style and we finally get Khan vs Brook. It seems like forever we've been talking about that fight and it never seemed to get any closer. But now Khan's signed to Matchroom, the path has never been clearer and there's really no excuse for the fight not to happen. You get the feeling that if it doesn't happen this year, next year at the latest, it'll never happen.

So yeah, I'm hoping Khan completely wrecks this fool and gets all carried away calling out Brook post-fight and we can get the fight on. If Khan looks rusty and goes to points or whatever, I can't see him fighting Brook off that. We'll see. 

[Egg Shen]

Yeh this is a gimmme for Khan to help secure the Brook fight. Hopefully Khan does a proper job on him on him to get everyone excited again.

Manny Pacquiao/Lucas Matthysse has been announced for July, not entirely enthused by Pacquiao's insistence to keep fighting, but i like that fight.