Boxing Off-Topic

[JayBee74]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

Just my opinion, but those judges in the Lucas/Ruslan fight were atrocious and that scorecard with a draw was criminal. No way he won 4 rounds, let alone 6. I gave him three at the very most.

To give him 6 rounds would have been very generous but Ruslan won some close rounds. Lucas just tore Ruslan apart in most of the rounds he won.

[fistofrage]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

To give him 6 rounds would have been very generous but Ruslan won some close rounds. Lucas just tore Ruslan apart in most of the rounds he won.

I thought it was a pretty easy fight to score. I had Ruslan winning 5 rounds. I thought in all but maybe 2 rounds the winner was clear by a decent margin. There weren't a whole lot f close rounds that could have gone either way.

Those Prime Time Boxing matches on NBC have had tougher fights to score recently.

[JayBee74]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7y36D6y1seI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Shannon Briggs still at it challenging Klitschko at the champ's press conference for the Jennings fight. Briggs has three consecutive first round KOs against guys who give stiffs a bad name. Looks in pretty good shape though.

[SPRINGS03]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

^He also met up with dontay wilder and they were both talking trash, it was pretty entertaining. But that fight makes a lot more sense than him vs klitchko, let the winner of that fight klitchko. Briggs doesn't deserve a shot again, hasn't done anything really noteworthy recently i can think of.

[jb12780]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

MSG had a 2 and a half hour documentary on the Klitschko's today and it was awesome.

Looking forward to the fight tonight.

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

[JayBee74]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

Bryant Jennings made the big guy struggle. Good body shots. Too bad he couldn't reach the head.

[N51_rob]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

Bryant Jennings made the big guy struggle. Good body shots. Too bad he couldn't reach the head.

Yep, he went after Klitchko about 16 months too early needed a few more fights with other top heavies. He has the chin, confidence and want to, to beat him but not enough experience.

Helps that he has the reach advantage and doesn't look like a bloated carcass....

[pietasterp]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

Also the chavez jr fight was good, but kinda funny to me. I always said that once chavez stepped up and started fighting people his own size he would have some trouble, and it looks like i was right. He's an ok body puncher, and he has a good chin, but his skills and dedication to the sport are seriously lacking. I knew that weight advantage carried him for a lot of his fights. Take that away, and you get what you saw tonight. He's a spoiled brat who waste his attributes.

Completely agree on both counts.

Chavez JR feasted on guys who were a lot smaller than him. He loved coming into a MW bout weighing 185 or more. Especially against guys like Martinez who probably weight no more than 165 for their title fight.

The problem with him is that he can't make 160 anymore because of his lack of commitment.
But he clearly doesn't carry his power up to LHW.
If he tries to go to 168, he gets destroyed by the better fighters there.

Really, the only division he can compete in is at 160 and he'll have to starve himself to make that weight.
His career is affectively over unless he's comfortable fighting B-fighters at 168-170, or acting as a gate-keeper for the upper-echolon fighters in that weight range.

Honestly, why I don't have anything against him per say, I'm glad he's been exposed and will be gone soon.
I always saw him as nothing more but a bully who loved to feast on smaller opponents while he smoked weed and disrespected the sport and his body.

I'm sure his next step will be to fight at his own personal weight class of 169.5.

I don't think much has changed. I was looking for a bag of weed to fall out of his trunks during the fight.

Seriously he looked like a very lifelike punching bag at times. When Fonfara was ripping off those combos Chavez's head was very willing to just go along for the ride. Some of the worst discipline I've ever seen in a decent pro.

Well, all these takes on Chavez (which I know all of you have been saying for years now) were proven to be pretty definitively correct. I agree with your takes on Chavez Jr - I thought it was odd that he would go up 2 weight classes (never even having fought at 168), and obviously that was too much for him. He nailed Fonfara with his best shots and never even really hurt him. Also, his complete lack of defense, head movement, and strategy are just reckless and possibly outright dangerous. As noted above, he can't make weight at 160 and his power doesn't translate to 168+ (from what we can tell).

Having said all that, I still think there's a really good fighter in there somewhere, but we'll probably never see it since Chavez Jr completely lacks discipline and apparently is un-coachable. I'm not sure Joe Goossen is the right trainer for him, although given Jr's total lack of serious commitment, I'm not sure there is a "right" trainer for him. Freddie Roach basically said "to hell with this guy" and since that time he basically hasn't evolved one bit as a fighter (and being trained by his uncles didn't help at all...).

If he could reliably make 168 (the fact that he wouldn't step on the Showtime scales on fight night against Fonfara is somewhat revealing...), there are some fights that might be interesting, but does anyone really think he could beat the likes of Ward? He clearly can't make 160 anymore, and at 29 years old, it's unlikely he ever will again. So he's at a crossroads now. I still think he's an exciting fighter and I like to watch his bouts, but he basically has to decide if he wants to be a professional boxer or just a sideshow who will give you action fights once or twice a year.

Regarding Fonfara, he looked absolutely great. Of course, Chavez made it easy on him by basically standing there and letting him tee off at will, but I think a rematch with Stevenson could be really compelling (especially since the Kovalev-Stevenson fight is apparently headed the way of Mayweather-Pacquiao).

Switching gears, I thought Matthysse- Provodnikov was a bit of a disappointment. I mean, good solid fight, but it seemed like each guy respected the other's power too much and no one really seemed to commit to engaging in a firefight (which was probably wise on both sides). Anyway, solid bout but not the fight of the year I was hoping for.

I guess this week's conversation will be dominated completely by the superfight, and since I have nothing left to add to that conversation (I'm not sure anyone does at this point), I'll catch up with you guys during the aftermath...have fun this weekend.

P.S. For what it's worth, prediction = typical Mayweather in 12 decision (avoids, pot-shots, wins rounds...). And that's really all I have to say about that.

[JayBee74]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

Switching gears, I thought Matthysse- Provodnikov was a bit of a disappointment. I mean, good solid fight, but it seemed like each guy respected the other's power too much and no one really seemed to commit to engaging in a firefight (which was probably wise on both sides). Anyway, solid bout but not the fight of the year I was hoping for.

Really? You were disappointed? It wasn't like they were shy about throwing leather and getting hit.

A lot of action and a lot of BRUTAL shots.

[pietasterp]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

Really? You were disappointed? It wasn't like they were shy about throwing leather and getting hit.

A lot of action and a lot of BRUTAL shots.

Maybe I need to re-watch it. I remember feeling a bit underwhelmed, but it's possible that's because I expected a fight for the ages, which is probably an impossibly high bar.

[JayBee74]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

Maybe I need to re-watch it. I remember feeling a bit underwhelmed, but it's possible that's because I expected a fight for the ages, which is probably an impossibly high bar.

I said it before, but I thought it was better than last year's Matthysse-Molina "Fight Of The Year" (Ring Magazine and Boxing Writers Association).

[allBthere]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

I said it before, but I thought it was better than last year's Matthysse-Molina "Fight Of The Year" (Ring Magazine and Boxing Writers Association).

A pro boxer I'm doing a documentary with went and said it was the best fight he had ever seen! I only saw a few rounds but thought it was very good.

[JayBee74]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

Maybe I need to re-watch it. I remember feeling a bit underwhelmed, but it's possible that's because I expected a fight for the ages, which is probably an impossibly high bar.

Yeah, I thought Leonard won his first fight with Duran rather handily when I was watching it on closed circuit at Municipal Auditorium, into the crowds, distracted by friends, and consumed with alcohol. When I watched it again, in a calmer setting, on the tube, I saw that Duran clearly won a very competitive fight.

This YouTube video shows the one sided destructive 6th round, in which Provodnikov took a lathering, and survived and was even landing a few shots at the end.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9_B-sKc5RMI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

However in defeat, Provodnikov was a bull, warrior, and the "Russian Rocky". (Last two rounds)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0zqD4rn3Ic8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[pietasterp]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

I said it before, but I thought it was better than last year's Matthysse-Molina "Fight Of The Year" (Ring Magazine and Boxing Writers Association).

A pro boxer I'm doing a documentary with went and said it was the best fight he had ever seen! I only saw a few rounds but thought it was very good.

Wow. OK, I rescind my prior comment. I'll re-watch the fight.

I was pretty moved by Provodnikov apologizing for losing (!!!). Not that he had anything to apologize for at all (the one time in my life I agreed w/ a Jim Lampley comment...), but the fact that he has so much, I dunno, for lack of a better word, "bushido", is really quite refreshing and impressive. I don't know what the future holds for him, but I hope he stays in the fight game at a high level for as long as he chooses to do it.

[pietasterp]

Re: Boxing Off-Topic

Long-form article on ESPN (caveat emptor), if you're bored at work....

http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/12749248/floyd-mayweather-manny-pacquiao-fight-boxing-demise