I like Paul Smith but since losing to Ward he has fought three mismatched 6 rounders against journeymen and all of them above 168 lbs so I don't see how he deserves a "world title" shot without fighting a 10 or 12 round eliminator against a ranked fighter. Unless he held a top 15 ranking simply by being active then I suppose it could be passed off as a voluntary title defence.
Here's the title list if you are a World Champion:
-WBA Super
-WBC
-IBF
-WBO
and then the paper world champs
-WBA Regular
-IBO
The UK could hold 5 out of 6 of these belts if Paul Smith wins the WBA regular and his brother Callum Smith wins the WBC in their next fights. If that happens with Groves WBA Super, Degale IBF and Eubank IBO that would be a great achievement for British Boxing. Best Country in the World for Boxing.
Come on the Smith brothers bring back the belts!
It can be very hard for boxers to get chances and opportunity's for titles so I won't be criticising Smith for taking this shot, Eddie Hearn is delivering for his fighters. If he wins then Groves or Eubank is a viable big money fight for him next. Go on lad you can do it !
Looking forward to this first step up but yeah it's been a bit boring watching him against mismatched opponents and then being ranked no.1 or no.2 in the WBO without ever fighting a competitive fight.
If he was ranked no.10 then I think it wouldn't be so annoying but yeah I'm hoping for some step ups this year but he's being managed well so far, the LHW division is no joke. Maybe they're waiting for the Kovalev if he still has the title in a year and is 37 but there are no easy world title fights at 175.
Pac-man go, Broner does have a chance though but it's a good test to see if Pac is still elite at WW, we shall see, I certainly want him to be that's for sure
Nice comment
Pacquiao has falling off just slightly and I mean even at this age and level PAC is still 3rd best 147 I see on beating everybody but Spence and Crawford. Though I think it'd be a game fight vs Spence til the late rounds then Spence power would take over. I think it's due to Asians in there own country seem to age slower than white people like there 40 is like 35 in Western culture.same with some blacks. Plus today's athletes like Tom Brady drew Brees showing they still elite level at 40 41 it's very possible to be elite up to 42. I hope Mayweather rematch pacquiao. That fight would be lit especially doing an undercard Porter vs Thurman gervanta vs leo santa Cruz Joyce vs breazeale hell yeah that **** would sale 2.5m r 3m I don't see 4.4m
Nice comment and I agree Pac is top 5 in WW division and will be for another 12 months I'd say
That would be a sick card also
You have the multiverse to choose from and this is your pick? Why not go to the universe where there was a planet full of gorgeous women who had a legend about a man called Clegg that would one day arrive and be made emperor of the universe and given a massive yacht, a magic sword, a talking unicorn called Mr Squiggles and more money than he knew what to do with? Instead you settle for the no HW fights for Bellew world. You're doing it all wrong. :no:
It is a ridiculous matchup though.
LOL this kills me, Bellew was very smart calling out David Haye and after a carefully guided cruiserweight run thanks to Eddie Hearn he got the vacant WBC title in a tough matchup, since then he has used his marketing head well. He will only fight once more at HW and will get KO'd in the process of biting off more than he can chew.
Caleb Truax is in a position of power, sell the belt to the highest bidder.
Hopefully the rematch gets done but someone needs to get DeGale to up his workrate significantly and not to get stuck on the ropes, because he's taking damage fight after fight currently and not winning the majority of rounds with this style IMO.
Come on Chunky !!!
You are totally correct, however....
Haye grossly underestimated Bellew in the 1st round, loading up and looking for the big shot. When he realised that it was going to be more of a challenge to hit Tony he started to box better and won every round convincingly until his injury.
If he takes the sting out and boxes, the opportunity to KO Bellew will open itself up and he will take it this time. Hopefully he rides into the sunset after this. I have no interest in seeing him get pummelled by AJ in future.
I agree entirely however that 1st round was possibly one of the worst displays of boxing I've ever seen from Haye, dare i say it he looked like a shot fighter in comparison to his old self.
He looked better up until the Achilles injury but still lacked the speed of old and his stance dragging that back foot around instead of bouncing on his feet particularly worries me.
He probably retains enough speed to still trouble the bigger HW's of the division but only a really good performance finishing with a KO will get him a shot at AJ.
By which time he'll be closer to 38 years old so...
Somehow I fancy Fury's chances of beating Joshua after that performance.
However Wilder is different ball game, he can actually move on the backfoot and lays traps but still I feel a good performance from Fury on December 1st win or lose
hurry up then
Haye must somehow secure a fight with the winner of Parker vs Fury. Grab that belt and then he can fight AJ.
You know that, hopefully he has a deal on in the background, probably would be best purse for fury or parker anyway unless they unify.
I'm sure WBO rules state you must have a win as your last fight to challenge for a world title, Liam Smith had to have a quick 4 rounder before his interim-title fight to get round this. Though Lomachenko's last opponent Marriaga had a loss before his title challenge so....
I wouldn't mind a couple of 4,6 or 8 rounders for him on his Dave undercards though he would never do that.
It'll be very interesting to see what he does, I was hoping at 35 when he had his comeback he would be a champion by now, but turning 37 how on earth can he win and unify the titles in time before father time says no. It already may have, I hope before he turns 38 (13 months time) he gets the Joshua fight or at least tries to do something of note, him fighting Bellew really annoyed me and karma got him for that money grab.
due respect
A few years ago Beterbiev was this hot prospect that seemed 1 or 2 fights away from becoming a hot contender. Now he's fighting a part time sausage dude? What happened?
Beterbiev has done as much as he can, fighting the best willing available contenders to now get a vacant title shot.
Remember since the Ward-Kovalev fights and Ward's decsion making having tied up 3 belts for over a year and Stevenson unwilling to risk his belt, top contender's have been on hold.
Beterbiev has been patiently waiting in the wings, some great fights at LHW to be made in next 12-18 months, hopefully they'll get done.
Kovalev (WBO Champion - soon to be)
Beterbiev (IBF Champion - soon to be)
Bivol (WBA Champion)
Adonis Stevenson (WBC Champion)
Top contenders
Gvozdyk
Badou Jack
Sullivan Barrerra
Anthony Yarde (UK Prospect)
If none of these fight each other in 2018 then i will be very unhappy
Final eliminator for WBO no.1 ranking
So why's this for some WBO B/S instead of Liam Williams's Lonsdale belt??..
Because this is a Final eliminator for WBO no.1 ranking, if Liam Smith makes the weight and does the process properly this time, it should be a great scrap. I think Williams has the edge in combinations but Smith has a better inside style.
This is a World title eliminator fight so British title not relevant. At 154 lbs there are some monsters so this WBO route really is the best chance to win a world title for both fighters. Smith won the vacant title and lost it to Canelo, anyway the loser of this fight will find themselves at the back of a long queue of contenders in the 154 division. Good luck to both but i'm saying Williams just on points but don't be surprised if there is a KO from either fighter. Great Fight looking forward to it.
Felix Diaz 19-2 Boxrec #15 The most well known guy in there and gotta be the favourite. Maybe age catches up to him as he's 34 now but looks a level above the rest.
Lawson 26-1 #67 I might rewatch his loss to Bizier I remember it as a decent scrap.
Van Heerden 25-2 Not a big puncher but physically strong and good fundamentals. Not world class but I thought he boxed well vs Matthew Hatton and his loss to Spence is no disgrace). Inactive since 2016.
Radhzad Butaev 8-0 #68 Never seen him fight
Brad Solomon 27-1 #45 Lost to Ponomarev in an ok fight.
Timo Schwarzkopf 18-1 boxrec #37. His loss to was to Yigit at 140, his best win on paper was over Junior Witter but reports said that was a robbery.
Derrieck Cuevas 16-0 #134 Not seen him fight, appeared on a Cotto promotions card but not sure if he's signed to them.
Baishanbo Nasiyiwula 13-1 Ranked #76 at 140
Curious to see if a few of these names I've not heard of will be a bit special, or more likely just good to watch and coming in determined and hungry. We all knew with the low cash rewards on offer that it wouldn't be big names but we might see some good fights come from it.
Excellent breakdown of the contenders
However cringeworthy leeds fans can be (Warrington also) you'll always get a fighter with lots of heart from the northern counties of England and the city actually back Warrington and are some of the most passionate in the UK. Warrington literally sells out the local 13,500 indoor venue every time he's fought there, this is the 9th time he's headlining at that venue. That's very impressive, for that I commend the Leeds fans and despite their loutish behaviour at press conferences people from Leeds are genuinely nice people but like most northerner's love a good scrap so if you go against one of their own then they will try and give their man that extra 1% by being loud and very annoying. Every little helps, atmosphere there will be great for a boxing match, I'd love to go to a boxing event there one day
lol
If they've settled their differences than congrats to them.
However I just hope she doesn't hug him too hard. She might shatter his chin.
lol that killed me hahaha...........
Maybe we will see
Fowler's gonna destroy these two bums, Fitzgerald and Cheeseman. Put your house on it
Tbh despite Fowler's obvious power, I feel Cheeseman will win most the rounds.
I feel like I saw a flat footedness about Fowler in his early pro fights that most big punchers tend to have because they usually plant their feet more and I really like Cheeseman's angles, however, in the last couple of fight's he does seem to maybe have more than just a plodding style but I favour Cheeseman (boxer over puncher in the rock, scisssors, paper of styles)
As for v Fitzgerald I think that Fowler would stop him and be too strong.
So KO win against Fitzgerald
Pts loss to Cheeseman
I am going to have to watch this fight now and try and score this from a neutral point.
I think Golden boy have a good relationship with WBO just like Bob Arum and Frank Warren. WBO world title holder's tend to be allowed a lot of voluntary defences also which helps keep the belt for long time.
2 and a half year shoulder injury
I was once a pretty big fan of David Haye. Around the time he stormed through a load of Euro bums then unified the Cruiserweight division. My dad and brother were Enzo Maccarinelli fans, which made it more of a lively affair. He's been shot now about five years. There was no shame in losing to Wladimir Klitschko, but it all went wrong for David thereafter. After getting himself banned and then fighting with a Luxembourg boxing license, he was never the same. He should have not got drawn in to the Dereck Chisora debacle, and maybe chased a fight with Vitali Klitschko before retiring. He's done nothing since Wlad to enhance his resume.
He was meant to fight both Klitschkos, he had to withdraw against Vitali in 09/10ish with a back injury then eventually got in with Wlad in 2011.
Fought Chisora in 2012 then Vitali wouldn't agree to arrange another fight.
2013 - Massive shoulder injury plus a cut and something else cancelled 3 fights Charr and Fury x2
2014 - INJURED
2015 - INJURED
2016 - 2 warm-up fights by May then does nothing for rest of year (could've fought for WBO vacant title)
2017 - Bellew loses via achilles injury, Bellew 2nd fight
Wastes a year on Tony Bellew, I truly believed he would come back to defeat Joshua and Wilder etc but without that WBO belt it's gonna be hard to negotiate a big HW fight. I believe an elite athlete can still achieve greatness at 37 - 38 years old.
But when you start to get 39 years old and 40 years old it's a lot harder to do and will any big heavyweights want to fight him in the next 12 - 18 months ?
Totally agree
The Asian market has been Bob's white whale for years now. Bob tried through Zhou Shiming, Ryoto Murata, and now Singh. Honestly I don't understand why other promoters are ignoring Asia. Imagine the dividends if you were to create a boxing star from China or India with their 1.3 billion plus population.
The Asian market could be so big, maybe now with all the new apps and streaming services etc a promoter will take a lead over there, seems crazy that China and India haven't been tapped into yet. I mean a promoter should invest in highly populated parts in the amateur infrastructure and in 10-15 years you'd be guarenteed at least a few world level contenders coming through for their respected countries to rally behind.
A tune-up fight for DeGale, I think an upset may be on the cards though Degale is the best SMW he isn't fully performing for 12 rounds recently. Motivation I hope he's up for this, I want to see him win by KO or TKO within first 6 rounds to stake a big claim here.
Great fight matchup, the guy has no.6 WBC ranking so if Brook wins then he is legit a top 15 in any organization therefore he can get voluntary title shot with the WBO against the winner of Sadam Ali and Liam Smith which will be a mandatory title defense. Brook if he wins this could well become a two weight world champion, he is in a great position all due to Canelo and Cotto vacating and Liam Smith grinding hard to get a mandatory. i'm sure Ali would like to cash in on the UK money also so win-win for Brook and he can beat both.
Doesn't have to go through the monsters of the division to get a WBO shot, go on Kell you can do it!
Whoever in his management team made this match-up obviously does not know boxing or wanted to cash in on their fighter on HBO, maybe they got their investment back or something from the TV money because stylistically he was never going to in this fight.
To put a 21-0 brawler who has a world ranking in with a capable outside fighter with a good record was a bad move.
Obviously the TV money was decent enough to take the risk but wow the disparity in foot and hand speed was crazy, what a mismatch.
This judging was fair
Home cooking at its finest.
The 3 blind mice scored it 116-113, 117-112 and 116-114 for Crolla. :bsflag:
Both fighters promoted by Hearn so I don't agree this time and I personally had it 116-113 for a Crolla in, his bodywork and workrate overcame a quite tentative cautious Burns who only in the 12th round did it look like he was fighting a so called world title eliminator and threw some 4 or 5 punch attacks. Burns lost it on work rate, if he let his hands go more he probably could of won but nah he lost with wrong tactics. I think he would be the fighter to make adjustments in a rematch though, I think it's a good retirement fight for both of them later on then maybe a trilogy?
I see it like this
6-12 months first time
2 years second time
4 years Third time
Life ban Fourth time
Canelo had low amounts of clenbuterol in his system and had over a dozen clean tests before the rematch. And dozens and dozens of clean tests in his career. While I doubt his explanation with only one substance and his first time I can accept a 6 month ban. What was a joke that the richest boxer on earth didn't even get a fine which shows that Nevada clearly favoured Canelo. Boxing politics.
I had suspicions before the 1st GGG fight cuz he looked so ripped but even so first time offence and benefit of the doubt I can just about accept the 6 month ban.
For other named fighters such as Dillian Whyte, he got a 2 year ban on a 1st time offence even though he proved it was from a supplement and own negligence. That was harsh but being only 1 of 3 men to beat Joshua in the amateurs the UK authorities had to slow down his main rival rather than give say a 9 month ban which would be fair. Boxing politics again.
For Lucas Browne who popped in Chechnya and essentially proved it was a setup job by Chagaev's guys (who messed around Oquendo also hence this stupid WBA Regular nonsense) still got a 6 month ban and stripped of his title despite what seemed innocence.
Then Browne accidentally drinks the wrong supplement shake at the local gym and gets popped again just months later and gets a 6 month ban again (doesn't make any sense, mainly due to either the local state deciding the ban or the WBA or WBC.
Povetkin gets banned for a year by the WBC but continues fighting anyway for WBO sanctioned ranking titles, that was a load of nonsense. Boxing politics.
Luis Ortiz gets popped and WBA ban him for a year and take his no.1 ranking but the WBC let him off after a farce investigation and he then fights Wilder a few months later anyway.
The WBC defend any Mexican boxer also regardless of the situation and the WBO after the Povetkin shambles lost a load of credit to me.
Then you have the WBA with their "regular title" bull****.
The only decent organization it would seem is the IBF who enforce their mandatories and don't give a n0.1 ranking unless you've beaten another top 10 fighter.
Can someone remind me why I love this sport?
very good summary
He always wins a couple of rounds, looks good in glimpses then coasts believing he has the fight in the bag, then inevitably gets caught repeatedly on the ropes and outworked. Not the smartest fighter, could do much better with his talent.
I concur with you sir
If he fights again on May 5, then what happens with the rest of 2018? 7 months to do what exactly? Father time is ticking David, though i do believe if he can stay fit he beats everyone in HW division, whether he has the time to do that even if he stays injury fee is another matter
lol
Haye's body is falling to bits, like that scene in Terminator 2 where the T-1000 gets frozen and keeps trying to walk forward but bits of it keep breaking off.
Whilst this was very funny, I have to reprimand cuz the Hayemaker is coming back for all the belts. Oh wait sorry that's what he told us about 3 years ago "whoever's got the belts", instead has wasted a year on Bellew and made Bellew a very rich man. Haye wants a quick finish here so he can swoop in on the WBO belt with Parker but Joshua will get to Parker then will have Wilder and Fury and any rematches or mandatories as well. David Haye out in the cold, why listen to Bellew back then, should of picked up WBO belt then went after Joshua but no he wouldn't please his fans, i'm beginning to lose faith.
Catterall has been protected at times (hence relinquishing British title) thus far, he should have enough to beat O'Hara but power punches are usually the nemesis for padded records, that said O'Hara was lacking intelligence versus Josh Taylor he repeatedly loaded up and then gassed out and quit after being dismantled, he had no feints or movement to try and land anything big and would telegraph every time he threw.
I've got a £100 bet with my mate, I'm team Jack Catterall he's with team O'Hara Davies.
My only worry is despite his silky footwork Catterall has no guard and generally keeps his hands low and against a puncher that will be dangerous. Looking forward to it though.
Saunders needs a big performance here, he is on a run of 2 training camps back to back for the first time in years and the first time for a quick turnaround at World Level, two fights in 3 months, I hope Ingle knows what he's doing I would of had a 4 month camp to properly prepare for Lemieux specifically rather than a quick 6-7 week camp, GGG-Canelo isn't until May so no unification match just yet. I guess the date on HBO Tv with the money is paying Saunders well enough though he did say he wanted to fight in December and be more active. If he beats Lemieux then another quick voluntary in March against a No.9 ranked opponent or something (Similar to what Horn is doing with Corcoran waiting for Manny)
If your a champ and beat the mandatory challenger every year then 1 or 2 easy voluntary defences is normal practice waiting for big fights. Saunders done nothing while waiting for Golovkin and now has his 2nd Mandatory in a row against a puncher after a very poor first defence against Akavov and then a decision against Monroe who didn't fight to win for some reason. Willie Monroe and Hughie Fury were very very disappointing in their defence only tactic, How you ever gonna win a world title on a jab alone?? Anyway I hope Billy Joe Saunders finds another gear because Lemieux will come to fight unlike Monroe. Let's go champ
When Paulie spat at Lobov and the promoter standing in between them starts wiping his face after being covered in spit. Hilarious ha ha.
I am genuinely looking forward to this fight, going to have to buy this from uk somehow