Malignaggi vs. Judah & Trout vs. Lara - Decmber 7th

[Pappy Knuckles]

Two of my favorite guys going at it in Zab Judah and Paulie Malignaggi. I've got Zab taking this one, but if Paulie performs like he did against Broner he might be able to take it to the cards.

Erislandy Lara vs. Austin Trout is a nice little bonus. Looking forward to this show a lot.

[pietasterp]

Re: Malignaggi vs. Judah & Trout vs. Lara - December 7th

Once again, I reiterate my puzzlement as to how Malignaggi keeps getting fights....having said that, Zab Judah is ancient. Someone has to press the action, or there will be audible snoring in the arena.

Trout vs Lara is a much more interesting fight to me. Lara's last fight against Alfredo Angulo was a fantastic bout, although that was primarily because Angulo has such an aggressive style and high work rate. Lara was primarily counter-punching, but he did press the action and showed some serious power (as evidenced by Angulo's orbital fracture resulting in the stoppage). If Lara presses, this could be a great fight. It's not really in Trout's DNA to go forward, though, so if we get two guys waiting to counter-punch, it could suck.

But I have to say, while I generally think Cuban fighters are boring pros, Lara showed he could get involved in a fire-fight and be exciting in victory. He's a much more interesting prospect to me than Guillermo Rigondeaux, who I wouldn't even watch if he were fighting in my kitchen.

[redsrule]

Re: Malignaggi vs. Judah & Trout vs. Lara - December 7th

I got Zab and Trout winning decisions.

[JayBee74]

Re: Malignaggi vs. Judah & Trout vs. Lara - December 7th

Once again, I reiterate my puzzlement as to how Malignaggi keeps getting fights....having said that, Zab Judah is ancient. Someone has to press the action, or there will be audible snoring in the arena.

Zab may be ancient, but he certainly earned the right for a couple more fights with his performance against "certified for real" Danny Garcia.

[RACZILLA]

Re: Malignaggi vs. Judah & Trout vs. Lara - Decmber 7th

These guys might both have their best fights behind them, but I like the match-up and there will be a ton of energy in the arena that night.

Can't wait and hope they put on a great show!

[N51_rob]

Re: Malignaggi vs. Judah & Trout vs. Lara - Decmber 7th

Should be a good card. I actually think Paulie might "shock the world". I see Trout winning as well. Looking forward to this card.

[pietasterp]

Re: Malignaggi vs. Judah & Trout vs. Lara - Decmber 7th

I like Zab Judah (because Paulie is basically boxing's Steve Lombardi to me) via decision, and Erislandy Lara also on the cards, but I think there may be a knockdown in that fight. I think Lara could be a serious contender.

[Pappy Knuckles]

Re: Malignaggi vs. Judah & Trout vs. Lara - Decmber 7th

Judah looks like he's a wrap, He offered nothing for Paulie tonight. He showed his most aggression when the fight was over.

I really enjoyed Bika/Dirrell. That was fight of the night for me.

[SPRINGS03]

Re: Malignaggi vs. Judah & Trout vs. Lara - Decmber 7th

Judah looks like he's a wrap, He offered nothing for Paulie tonight. He showed his most aggression when the fight was over.

I really enjoyed Bika/Dirrell. That was fight of the night for me.

Yeah that was a great fight, but if you managed to watch some of the hbo card too, kirkland vs tapia was definitely the fight of the night. Gatti vs Ward type of fight, great fight with kirkland stopping tapia(his corner should of done it earlier he was out on his feet).

I had lara winning and i called that one, the more i watch him the more impressed i am by him, he fought well. Wanna see him fight canelo(i think he'll beat him)

I thought judah would manage to beat paulie by getting him to respect his power and because of his speed, i was definitely wrong. Judah looked pretty bad, part of that was judah's own fault(didn't look like he really wanted it). but i can't take away from paulie, he's pretty slick and has a lot of speed.

Also i watched rigondeaux vs agbeko, rigondeaux put on another clinic, and while some people may say it's boring(and people in the crowd were cheering), i can appreciate his skills. He is amazing and IMO the 3rd best fighter p4p( ward and mayweather are the only ones ahead of him IMO). It's a shame some mindless fans can't appreciate him unless he's mindlessly brawling.

[JayBee74]

Re: Malignaggi vs. Judah & Trout vs. Lara - Decmber 7th

Forgot about these fights.

Didn't care to much about light hitting Paulie, but was surprised that Judah didn't give him more trouble.

A big setback for Trout, but Lara is one of the most underrated fighters around today.

[Pappy Knuckles]

Re: Malignaggi vs. Judah & Trout vs. Lara - Decmber 7th

I got a chance to watch the HBO card last night. Kirkland and Tapia could have fought in a phone booth. That was a good fight for sure, a lot of heavy shots thrown. I thought they were going to stop it between rounds once Tapia started taking a lot of punishment.

I respect Rigondeaux, but I didn't find that fight very interesting. Lara's defensive performance was a lot more entertaining to the eye. Rigo's style just hasn't done much for me yet. His mannerisms when talking crack me up though, you can tell he's a very confident guy.

[pietasterp]

Re: Malignaggi vs. Judah & Trout vs. Lara - December 7th

Once again, I reiterate my puzzlement as to how Malignaggi keeps getting fights....having said that, Zab Judah is ancient. Someone has to press the action, or there will be audible snoring in the arena.

Guess I have to give Paulie credit; he pressed the action. The fight was pretty "meh", though, as everyone probably expected. Judah just flat-out looked like he didn't want to be there. Worst I've ever seen him look. He basically did nothing; no work rate, no combinations, just a whole lot of nothing. One wonders whether we'll see him fight again (or whether he should fight again).

Trout vs Lara is a much more interesting fight to me. Lara's last fight against Alfredo Angulo was a fantastic bout, although that was primarily because Angulo has such an aggressive style and high work rate. Lara was primarily counter-punching, but he did press the action and showed some serious power (as evidenced by Angulo's orbital fracture resulting in the stoppage). If Lara presses, this could be a great fight. It's not really in Trout's DNA to go forward, though, so if we get two guys waiting to counter-punch, it could suck.

I give Trout credit for trying to go forward, but it just isn't him. The fight totally sucked, and I realized Lara is boring unless he's fighting a high work-rate action fighter, just like every other Cuban pro ever. I was fooled by the Angulo fight. The judges should have just given Trout the fight anyway just for trying to press the action and make a fight, even though he did a relatively poor job. He could just as easily have hung back and made Lara come forward a little, and the results would likely have been flipped. But then the finally punch stats would have been like 15-14 for the entire 12 rounds...seriously, that fight was a complete and total bust. Lara "won", but it's because he hung back and did what he does well, and Trout tried to do something he doesn't do well because he was trying to make it a fight. I don't even really ding Trout for that loss; better to try to press and lose than have 2 counter-punchers stand around for 12 rounds while the audience passes out...

[JayBee74]

Re: Malignaggi vs. Judah & Trout vs. Lara - December 7th

I give Trout credit for trying to go forward, but it just isn't him. The fight totally sucked, and I realized Lara is boring unless he's fighting a high work-rate action fighter, just like every other Cuban pro ever. I was fooled by the Angulo fight. The judges should have just given Trout the fight anyway just for trying to press the action and make a fight, even though he did a relatively poor job. He could just as easily have hung back and made Lara come forward a little, and the results would likely have been flipped. But then the finally punch stats would have been like 15-14 for the entire 12 rounds...seriously, that fight was a complete and total bust. Lara "won", but it's because he hung back and did what he does well, and Trout tried to do something he doesn't do well because he was trying to make it a fight. I don't even really ding Trout for that loss; better to try to press and lose than have 2 counter-punchers stand around for 12 rounds while the audience passes out...

Interesting, maybe Trout can get his career back in the fast lane.

[pietasterp]

Re: Malignaggi vs. Judah & Trout vs. Lara - Decmber 7th

I got a chance to watch the HBO card last night. Kirkland and Tapia could have fought in a phone booth. That was a good fight for sure, a lot of heavy shots thrown. I thought they were going to stop it between rounds once Tapia started taking a lot of punishment.

I respect Rigondeaux, but I didn't find that fight very interesting. Lara's defensive performance was a lot more entertaining to the eye. Rigo's style just hasn't done much for me yet. His mannerisms when talking crack me up though, you can tell he's a very confident guy.

Just watched the HBO card from 2 weeks ago last night, since there was f*-all on TV (man, never thought I would miss Tuesday night MACtion so much...).

Getting on the soap-box for a minute, I have to say that Glen Tapia's corner should be suspended or reprimanded or something...that fight, while an awesome fire-fight, was a travesty. If Steve Smoger is the one who is the closest person to stopping a fight, the fight's gotten way too far out of hand. Tapia's corner should have stopped that thing at LEAST 2 rounds prior to when it was finally, mercifully, stopped by Smoger. And the fight doctor deserves some criticism here too, IMO - I mean, you could see he was unsure of allowing the fighter to continue after round 3, and as the only guy there who theoretically should be concerned ONLY about safety of the fighters, I think he failed Tapia in that regard.

But they always say the corner should be a fighter's first line of defense, and they utterly failed Glen Tapia in that fight. It's one thing if he was firing back with hard shots, but he was just standing there taking bombs to the head for the last 3 rounds of the fight with essentially no countering shots or head movement or anything. If you're even thinking of stopping the fight, I think that's a sign that you probably should just go ahead and do it. It was obvious he had no zip on his punches by the 3rd round, and was throwing back weak arm punches; he was basically out on his feet. I mean, there was so much discussion between the doctor, the corner, and the ref, that you would think someone would have stopped it at some point out of those 3. I just know that Tapia took serious punishment over the course of the last 3 rounds of that fight that he never should have been allowed to take, and if I were Tapia's family or friend, I would insist that he get rid of his entire corner immediately. They obviously don't have his best interests as their primary motivation.

Re: Rigondeaux, I also respect his skill, but all I have to say about that is I fell asleep during the fight, woke up during the 7th round or so, fast-forwarded to the end and felt I didn't miss anything. He has a ton of skill, and I appreciate that, but I shouldn't have to be convinced to watch someone if my natural reaction is to not enjoy it. I like Max Kellerman in general, but he needs to check his ego sometimes - I was getting really irritated at his condescending scolding of viewers for not appreciating Rigondeaux more, and insistence that "real" fight fans should love him. Look, I mean the bottom line is if you have to spend a lot of energy to convince someone that it's fun to watch a certain guy fight, it's probably not fun to watch that guy fight. I don't watch boxing for a living like Kellerman; when I get home from work, I want to be entertained by boxing. I'm not watching it to dissect the art of head movement or defense; while I appreciate those qualities, I'm not a boxing writer or professional appreciator of the sport. If you gave me a choice of watching Rigondeaux or someone like Alfredo Angulo, I'd much rather see Angulo against basically anybody. Sure Rigo is a better boxer, but if I wanted to watch a bunch of guys avoiding contact at all costs, I'd watch a Detroit Pistons game (insert rimshot here).

Rigo is a great boxer, but if it takes HBO and Max Kellerman constantly shilling for their guy to convince people to watch him, they're going to be in for a lot of disappointment in their ratings. They can criticize "non-hardcore" fight fans all they want, but in the end they're just spitting into the wind. The fans make fighters stars, and for those stars that the networks try to manufacture, well....they end up getting exposed sooner or later. Ask Adrien Broner.