Obdeboondocks

I really hope a guy with this much star power can be heavyweight champ. I'm not saying boxing needs more Hayes but the division is in need of his charisma if anything else to bring more non eastern european viewers back.

YES YES YES, throw in a veteran, just not hatton, trying to comeback and we'll be all good.

I think i like the round robin approach more though, you'll get the best out of each fighter and with this tourney most of the guys are young and can develop right before our eyes.

Margarito was the only guy that was competitive with him, he either whooped or kod everyone else. When he lost to Margarito 2x i thought he was done mentally. Now that we (more importantly Cintron) knows about the handwrap controversy, i see a lot in The killer.

See, that's what I think people don't get. If Pacquiao just goes in and out, eventually Cotto's going to time him and catch him. He knows how to adapt in a fight. When Pac gets in trouble he brawls, that's just his style. The illusion I think people have is Cotto being shot or too slow and Pacquiao just overwhelming Cotto. But how much of that is reality? in regards to cottos skills... i agree that cotto has a really good chance of bringing out that warrior brawling mentality of pac. This is going to be forced and is inevitable. Im looking forward to this since both are really fun to watch. however although a pac fan im realistic and i know that this is when cotto has the best opp to hurt an unproven welter. if this happens early on (say 3-4), cotto has the advantage. it seems to be that analyzing the imperative of "when" not "if" the war happens will define a winner. Say the war is felt early on, then cotto gets the advantage of having a more predictable pac and like marquez the first time around, he might have to eat some early left hands to learn the timing for the middle-late rounds. this is the bigger "if" that comes after the "when" however, if cotto can really get the timing. if cotto does not 1) bring out a war early on and more importantly 2) get the timing of pac's speed early on, pac's speed (which i said would be his best thing going for him) will continue to be the defining factor and a war forced later on might just be that, too late. to me the task of getting into a war early is the only way cotto can do this not just because of his physical advantage, but because of his recent mental butterflies in rounds 9 and on. and personally im still not necessarily sure about cotto getting pac's timing down as early as he should since stylistically he really isn't a counter punching timing oriented fighter, but more of a lead -left handed -fighter- straight on kinda guy. like i said though, all this theory talk is fun till the fight. i really cant wait to see what actually happens.

of course speed isnt the sole reason pac will win, although it is a damn good one. speed frustrates for the first few rounds and by the 8th or 9th round of in and out attacks, its over. Pac did this with DLH, and pulling the trigger is impossible when speedy+stinging punches disrupt you. although he's a different fast handed warrior than before, he is one for the better in a division that could knock him the **** out if he isnt. The way pac was competitive against Barrera, Morrales, and Marquez is another reason hell win. These guys (barrera and marquez in particular) might not have had the power cotto had, but they were more skilled. having these fights to look back on will help. I just hope pac comes to LA already and picks it up a notch because all of this theory talk is shit if hes not 100%. thats how much of a step up beating cotto requires.

with all things considered I had Froch with the toughest schedule as of now. But then again he can look like a million bucks if he beats just one of the next two. Hell be a shoe in if he beats just one of the two. however, I highly doubt he can get any more points. However, there are two other very tough schedules. Coming off of a loss will be tough for Dirrell against Abraham, although i think style wise Dirrell has a good chance of pulling the decision if he punches more often. Still he is coming off of a close loss, and this high pressure for a win might be too much for the young one. After fighting Ward, away from his home turf and in Oakland Ward's backyard (somewhat difficult), Kessler will have to fight back to back fights against Froch (More difficult) and Abraham (most). This is very similar to Froch's schedule. The only reason i said Frochs schedule would be more difficult is because i dont think much of him. Abraham has the easiest considering ko bonus point. Too early to call (Kessler still has to fight Ward) but in theory, he can lose both fights and still have a good chance to the next round. I don't think he will lose both but i am saying this because Abraham's fight with Dirrell is stylistically out of his favor while the mismatch of height and reach is out of his favor with Froch. I just like how no one has the "easy" schedule so to speak. Challenges for everyone. My most anticipated fights: The andres Kessler Froch Taylor Ward lol to my rant, this tourney is just that awesome.

this is why i enjoy the tourney style so much. Froch isn't going to be able to pull this bullshit in the next group fights. The Froch myth will be unveiled sooner than later more specifically his roy jones jr technique. it worked for roy because he was athletically sound and gifted, i dont know who hes fooling with the wide hooks and lack of hand speed.

hes winky with the bombs to back him up which is a very good thing. coming from europe im sure you know how winky's defensive shell would frustrate his opponents but in the us he hasnt gotten the right decisions sometimes. this guy will be more popular than winky though because of his intent to ko. us americans love that mentality.

great idea but id replace manny with berto because regardless of the cotto matchup manny belongs at lightweight.

this is going to be wild. styles make fights, they make wars too. arreola is not going to give up, he either knocks or dies trying. im going for arreola to win by ko in 4.

Any interview in English with Pac is ****ing awkward. the interviews are so awkward that the same people cheering for his ko victories are rushing out of the exit whenever he speaks.

Aside oh yeah i really enjoyed the fight too. A class act and despite the hardships (Froch's tactics would not have been allowed anywhere else) Dirrell showed he belonged in this tournament. I am rooting for him, although Abraham's style is conducive to Dirrell getting hurt possibly losing. As you can see I enjoyed watching him be a real champ, despite the scorecards. The potential he has includes being a better champion than froch later down the line. Listening to him in the interview, one senses that he knows hell be champ in due time.

Score Round 1 10-9 Froch Round 2: 10-9 Dirrell Round 3: 10-9 Froch Round 4: 10-9 Dirrell Round 5: 10-9 Dirrell Round 6: 10-9 Dirrell Round 7: 10-9 Froch Round 8: 10-9 Froch Round 9: 10-9 Dirrell Round 10: 9-9 Round 11: 10-9 Dirrell Round 12 10-9 Froch 113-115 For Dirrell Some key rounds for me, obviously the 10th. With the deduction, I felt Dirrell made a purposeful and obvious offensive attack for the tie. He knew ever point mattered. The first two rounds are toss ups, but dirrell's boxing should have been prevalent to everyone judging in the middle rounds. As the first two rounds were toss ups, the last two were hard for me to decide as well. Notwithstanding the whitaker-esque defense in the last rounds, he Dirrell didn't end strong.

I'm rooting for Manny Pacquiao so my advise to Bob Arum is to get Money Mayweather!

It dont matter if you are a die hard Floyd fan & Pac hater or vice versa. Set the game plan for "both" guys and be real about it. Lets not make no clown thread saying "run run run" or whatever. If you seriously mean that because you think he has to stay on his bike due to Pac's pressure then fine but dont just say it just to say it. as you can see i enjoyed this thread. Considering NSB's "characteristics", it was the first real boxing talk i delved into in a long fu cking while.

what i see as pac's strategy 1) Don't be afraid to flurry- Mayweather's shoulder roll is a great defensive position, but it is solely that, a defensive position impossible of any counter attack. Granted Mayweather gets his counterpunches in but they are usually in response to one or two punches thrown at him. The strong defensive position that he gains hinders money from responding to pacquiao's three to five punch combinations. However pac must force may into this shell by throwing in bunches. A good example would be Mayweather's fight with De la Hoya; although not damaging, Oscar's combinations against Mayweather's shell scored him points, enough for a split decision loss. My point on when he should flurry is specified on point 3. 2) dwyer70905, a betting expert that i respect brought up the important fact that Mayweather is not a southpaw switched orthodox fighter the way cotto and dlh was. Therefore, he was not going to have his power hand be inhibited by a lead punch (something pac has capitalized on all left handed orthodox fighters in the past). By not needing to reload so to speak on his left, mayweather can pick off pac's charging attack with his own left without having to sacrifice important power. mayweather's lead left hook as a result will be less powerful, but quicker than dlh or cotto's (hatton hitting the turnbuckle is a clear example of the quick, accurate left mayweather is capable of). With all that being said pac then needs to worry less about slipping and more about blocking. keep the hands up! although not too profiled for keeping his hands on the defensive, pac needs flurry in smaller bursts than before and keep the hands up at all the other times. if pac is going to slip may's left hook the way he did hatton or cotto, he'll be more in a position (head in a downward position and open) to get hit by mayweather's real money punch (the right). Pac has to time when the right is coming in by blocking all subsequent punches and slip after the right is delivered. This is a tricky left, a left that is used on the defensive more so than an offensive weapon. May can very will win this fight if pac keeps his hands down (like he usually does to throw punches). if pac keeps his hands up while he is flurrying, mayweather's defensive left won't be as annoying as it was to castillo or hatton. 3) Be smart and patient by pulling off a sugar ray-hagler flurry. I said before that pac needs to flurry but it is important that he does this less often than before and at the right time. May will catch pac's nuances and habits before the third if pac floors it to 120mph. But Pac has a high iq as well, and with roach by his side, it is possible that they can formulate a game plan before the fight and adjust it during the fight as well. In order to get the information they need, pac cannot flurry like he did before, he has to exhibit more patience. But lets be realistic, pac is a fighter-puncher first not a boxer. He won't do this forever. for the first three to four rounds, pac needs to be patient and if he gets hit while waiting so be it, he has the power to be able to steal rounds in the last minute like he did against cotto by kd's (ala rounds 3 and 4) or points (hence sugar ray-hagler flurry). If this attempt to steal rounds works, roach should be able to find the information they need to attack more often in the latter rounds. This fight is really intriguing in the sense that it is a new type of challenge for pac. This fight isn't about size as it was with Oscar or strength as it was with hatton or toughness as it was with cotto. In this fight, mayweather might not cut pac like morales did, or get into a war like marquez did. But Mayweather won't need to, he just has to win. With all things considered, Mayweather is the favorite to win because his boxing gifts+intelligence are on paper more than enough to stop a punching machine in pac. Pac needs to be a smarter man, because if not mayweather certainly will be and will certainly pull of a ud.

in response to the threadstarter, looking back at that fight, i always remember the result (oscar getting hit in the body) and didn't take everything into consideration. I was very biased towards him for the rest of his career, and now that you brought it up he does deserve more respect for fighting a bigger man that was the best mw around since hagler.

i have class soon, so ill post pac's strategy later 1) feint- mayweather's boxing iq is so high because he watches his opponents very well. his eyes are patient and keen at noticing habbits and nuances. This is not necessarily for a counterpunching opp, but to get the rhythm to dance and dodge (i mean this in the most positive way, defensive styles are awesome imo) for the latter rounds. by feinting, he can provide his eyes with reactions of pac that don't necessarily need a punch thrown. he can't do this long though, pac will catch on at least by the end of round 2. 2) Lead right- bread and butter for scoring the points, maybe even hurting pac. morales was pac's last opponent who is a master at this punch and he beat him convincingly the first time around. mayweather doesn't set up his right with a 1 partially because his opponents were exruciatingly slow compared to him (gatti, marquez, baldomir). although i think he's faster than pac the difference isn't as much and i do think he will have to mix the sole lead right with the 1-2. has to hit and run though, pac has heat. 3) trap pac in a corner- this is going to be dangerous if he tries doing this without establishing the first two things. although his shoulder roll is the best of the business, so is pac's offense and money needs to get the timing and habbits of pac (by first feinting and second scoring) in order to pull this off. if may is successful at defending pac's punches in a corner, pac's chances to land will be diminished that much more. i see this in combination with the lead right landing as points in the bank for money's success. mistake on #3, I meant "set up a trap for pac to fall for in a corner"

mayweather's stragety now i have class soon, so ill post pac's strategy later 1) feint- mayweather's boxing iq is so high because he watches his opponents very well. his eyes are patient and keen at noticing habbits and nuances. This is not necessarily for a counterpunching opp, but to get the rhythm to dance and dodge (i mean this in the most positive way, defensive styles are awesome imo) for the latter rounds. by feinting, he can provide his eyes with reactions of pac that don't necessarily need a punch thrown. he can't do this long though, pac will catch on at least by the end of round 2. 2) Lead right- bread and butter for scoring the points, maybe even hurting pac. morales was pac's last opponent who is a master at this punch and he beat him convincingly the first time around. mayweather doesn't set up his right with a 1 partially because his opponents were exruciatingly slow compared to him (gatti, marquez, baldomir). although i think he's faster than pac the difference isn't as much and i do think he will have to mix the sole lead right with the 1-2. has to hit and run though, pac has heat. 3) trap pac in a corner- this is going to be dangerous if he tries doing this without establishing the first two things. although his shoulder roll is the best of the business, so is pac's offense and money needs to get the timing and habbits of pac (by first feinting and second scoring) in order to pull this off. if may is successful at defending pac's punches in a corner, pac's chances to land will be diminished that much more. i see this in combination with the lead right landing as points in the bank for money's success.

Side comment: how the recent posters haven't actually given you an answer.:sad:

tune up for both first.

Hard2Kill :lol1::lol1: that ear looked pretty gross though. is that his weak spot?!?!?!

taylor is finished, and cotto can still be a champ. cotto needs to drop santiago though, if he doesn't, his career is all but finished.

lol that must suck. as you know you slept through fights that weren't sleepers. imo whats worse would be having to go to a live event at that time (a la froch dirrell?), not because one would fall asleep i think the adrenaline would keep one awake, but because it would be 4 by the time you get home.

Christine Mendoza beats out all those fugly biches. cosign cosign

are yall still bickering over this shit, the fights today.

as a pac fan i cosign. the fight was great, we said pretty much all there was to say about it.

good point although i didn't realize it yesterday (screaming, drunk). although i love lampley's "colorful" play by play, it helps to just have an objective play by play especially in the beginning of the match where the guys themselves are just getting warmed up.

this theory makes sense in the most basic sense. these fighters' records must be looked at on all angles though and if we objectively look at who manny beat and who may beat, there shouldn't be a question about it. but then again we can just have them fight each other in late spring.