I'ma catch flack but I was going crazier in this fight then the others so far this year. The year isnt up yet and Pac-Rios has been my pick since it was announced but these two shocked me tonight
Edit* fight of the year for me so far
I thought it was too sloppy to be honest, fun fight but nothing special.
Same thing I said about Froch Kessler 2. Rios Alvarado or Tim Ruslan got it just for HBO. Showtime got Figueroa vs the Japanese Samurai and I really enjoyed Lara and Perros fight. Crazy sh1t went down in that 1.
It's definitely worth mentioning. I liked it better than Bradley-Provodnikov, and it's on par with Lebedev-Jones and Figueroa-Arakawa.
I wouldn't object too much about Barker-Geale being FOTY. So many rounds could have been scored either way, they were dead even throughout, it was an action fight, and it had a Round of the Year candidate that was incredible. The competitiveness is what sells the fight for me. I can't believe how even they were.
Bradley-Provodnikov, which seems to be the frontrunner for most, didn't have that same even feel. Either Bradley dominated the round, or Prov hurt him.
Saul Roman vs Jose Pinzon deserves a strong mention. I don't know if it was the best, but it was definitely the most exciting fight of the year so far, imo.
This is the fight don't miss it... if you have lost it, you have to remedy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp8h0zBlocg
The Alvarado-Rios rematch wasn't anything close to being a great fight. Everybody wanted it to be because of the first fight and the hype leading up to the second fight, but anyone who wasn't at least mildly disappointed with the second fight is fooling themselves.
HBO will attempt to promote and market their third fight by endless comparisons to the Gatti-Ward trilogy, mind you - another grossly overrated series that the boxing media have manufactured.
Correct me if I have understood wrong, but have you just implied that the Gatti Ward trilogy was overrated?
Figueroa vs Arakawa was one sided fight. I thought Alvarado beat Rios way too handily to be fight of the year. Bradley vs Provknikov was great, but it missed a lot of back and forth action within the same round. Either Provknikov dominated the round or Bradly dominated the round I thought.
I'm not sure how comfortable I am calling Barker-Geale fight of the year, but I found it to be the most competitive entertaining fight of the year.
I agree. Lara vs Angulo was FOTY imo. Then Bradley-provodnikov
The Alvarado-Rios rematch wasn't anything close to being a great fight. Everybody wanted it to be because of the first fight and the hype leading up to the second fight, but anyone who wasn't at least mildly disappointed with the second fight is fooling themselves.
HBO will attempt to promote and market their third fight by endless comparisons to the Gatti-Ward trilogy, mind you - another grossly overrated series that the boxing media have manufactured.
Myself and some huge fat lad went at it for about 10 mins outside a chippy in Crookes, Sheffield the other week. Trust me, that was the fight of the year.
I lost by the way :(
Figueroa vs Arakawa was one sided fight. I thought Alvarado beat Rios way too handily to be fight of the year. Bradley vs Provknikov was great, but it missed a lot of back and forth action within the same round. Either Provknikov dominated the round or Bradly dominated the round I thought.
I'm not sure how comfortable I am calling Barker-Geale fight of the year, but I found it to be the most competitive entertaining fight of the year.
Ditto on all your analysis that's why Jones vs Lebedev is top spot right now for me.