Could it be that the left hook to the body the most effective and under-utilized punch in the sport? It seems as though every thread involving body punches always end with, "it's a shame he didn't continue to aim for the body."
Seems like someone who has success with body punches early in a fight either completely gives up on them from that point on, or their opponent begins covering up. If anything though, Maidana seemed even more open for body shots as the fight wore on...
It looked like he had serious punching power against Ponce de Leon, but when he fought Marquez, it almost seemed like he wasn't able to hurt him with any punch he landed. I found this odd, so I'm not sure...
Wait, is the main event at 11pm or at 9pm? I thought it would be like an HBO card with the main fight starting at 11pm, but with the undercards starting at 5pm....
9pm or 11pm?
Roy seemed to be in his comfort zone whenever he was able to dictate the pace of the fight. I haven't seen all of his fights, but from what I've seen, the opponents who applied pressure to Roy were fighters who didn't have the handspeed or head movement necessary to get within short range and make him uncomfortable or give him problems.
Calzaghe seems to have been a guy that would apply pressure to Roy in a way that would make him uncomfortable, even in both fighters' respective "prime" periods. It's quite apparent that Roy was incredibly fast during his prime, whereas when they actually fought he was above-average fast, but not close to his former speed. Calzaghe rushed in and didn't show any respect for his speed, power, skills, etc.
With that said, Roy lacked basic boxing skills. All he needed to do was find an opening, throw a right or left and consider the fight a wrap. When his speed diminished, he didn't really know how to deal with adversity, such as in the Calzaghe and Danny Green fights.
I've mostly seen the highlight reels of Roy, so this is all said with a limited knowledge of his career.
Boxer/Brawler
As I've said before, Cotto is a boxer/brawler. He just confirms this in the video:
"My fighting style, I think, is a mix between a boxer who have to box and avoid punches, and a boxer who has to put pressure on your opponent."
There you go. Boxer/brawler. Not a boxer/puncher.
Accuracy of power punches makes Cotto a puncher. A brawler has power but not much accuracy. Right?
Well, not quite. Accuracy of power punches makes Cotto a boxer. This is where the term Boxer/Brawler applies to Cotto. He's a brawler in that he is an inside fighter who can box from the outside to either outpoint his opponent (Cotto/Mosley) or get closer and break them down (Cotto/Jennings, Cotto/Gomez).
Marvin Hagler was also a boxer/brawler who (most famously) fought Tommy Hearns, who was a boxer/puncher. If you look at that fight, you'll see the difference.
Think of these examples:
Antonio Margarito = Brawler
Miguel Cotto = Boxer/Brawler
Floyd Mayweather = Boxer
Paulie Malignaggi = Boxer
Mike Tyson = Brawler/Puncher
Kermit Cintron = Puncher
Arthur Abraham = Puncher
Kelly Pavlik = Boxer/Puncher
Shane Mosley = Boxer/Puncher (Early On) -> Boxer/Brawler (Present Day)
Sergio Martinez = Boxer
Paul Williams = Boxer/Brawler
Sugar Ray Robinson = Boxer/Brawler/Puncher
I think it's becoming clearer that most everyone in the business end of boxing knows that PEDs are being used by at least one or more high-level pros and they stand to lose revenue and just money in general if all the PED stuff is exposed to the public. This is probably why Floyd is being ostracized for lobbying for olympic-style testing, not taking into account what his motivations are.
If the fighters are exposed for using PEDs, is the general public going to continue to contribute to these record PPV sales? Even if a fighter such as Pacquiao were to be exposed for taking PEDs and wasn't completely banned from fighting, PPV numbers would drop drastically and everyone who has something to gain from those high numbers would lose money. Anyone who has money invested in boxing has too much to lose by allowing olympic-style testing, which is why we're seeing so many roadblocks and nonsense from Arum and the rest of these clowns.
1) Martinez moved up in weight to beat Pavlik.
2) Martinez knocked out Paul Williams, a P4P fighter and top welterweight at the time.
3) Martinez knocked out an undefeated Sergei Dzinziruk, who currently has one of the best jabs in boxing (Martinez outjabbing Dzinziruk, by the way, doesn't diminish Dzinziruk's jab. Having a great jab has nothing to do with avoiding the other fighter's jab, remember.)
4) Floyd fought JMM out of JMM's weight class and was over the weight requirement himself.
5) Floyd beat Shane Mosley (who has trouble with pure boxers) by decision.
Seems like a good argument to give Sergio the second spot.
I do remember seeing Emmanuel and Miguel trying on the gloves and Steward saying something to the effect of, "Well, if those are the ones that you're more comfortable with, we'll use those." Not sure how much of that was for the cameras...
Thanks for clearing up the Martinez / Everlast question. It seems as though Everlast could make signature models of shoes, maybe one or two of the top guys (Pacquiao, Cotto, etc.) and offer those to the general public. From a business standpoint, I have no idea how cost effective that would be, but the shoes would probably sell out in no time. I've got a million questions, but it seems as though there isn't much interest in the equipment side of boxing on here (hence the sarcastic responses).
Max Kellermann compared Nonito Donaire to Roy Jones. Then, he compared Sergio Martinez to Roy Jones. Now he's comparing Yuriorkis Gamboa to Roy Jones.
It seems like they're doing this for Roy's benefit, and to add excitement to the fights. I wouldn't pay much attention to it.
Juanma looked like he was two divisions higher than Gamboa when they stood next to each other. Gamboa is more skilled, but if/when they meet up, Lopez is going to have the size advantage a la Cotto vs. Margarito.
Didn't Corley get knocked down something like ten times in his last fight? I stopped counting after awhile...
Morales could have won the fight up to the 11th round. After the 12th, Maidana seemed to lead on points convincingly enough. That being said, it would have been great if they'd given the fight to Morales. Maidana was throwing punches on almost every break and Morales was outboxing him.