I think if Cotto's strategy is to stick and move, then he can outbox Canelo. If he does that well enough he can possibly make Canelo look bad enough to get the decision. If he decides to stay in the pocket and have a shoot out. Canelo can make Cotto suffer. I think this fight is all about who is better prepared mentally to stick with their game plan. Oh and the judges have to be on their best behavior.
Loma is a solid fighter. But I don't think he will make it huge as a pro. I see a lot hype around his amateur record but success as a pro is different. I get that he is learning as he goes but I just don't see him being our next generation great from what I've seen of him so far. He clearly beat Russell though.
No. He will lose as long as he doesn't start choosing his opponents more carefully. If he doesn't, either Cotto or someone with decent skills, some pop, and a chin will beat him.
Canelo beats the brakes off Cotto. I'm sorry.
Had to state that.
I don't post much so if the fight happens I'll be able to look back and remind you that you said that. I'm no Cotto fan either...but Canelo is a B level fighter at most. He's 23. His career will be over by 28-30...
Why are ppl so obsessed with seeing GGG move down or up to fight a big name? How about we see him fight Quillin and Cotto before we send him up in weight class to get beaten by Ward. Why would I want to see GGG fight a small Mayweather who can barely make 150 fighting at 154? It's not always about the names. It's about decent and fair fights.
If Pac wins via Split Decision, Floyd will not fight him. If he loses, Mayweather might consider.
Floyd isn't going to fight anyone coming off of a loss.
When Floyd was "pretty boy," he was in that same realm I feel Spence will be in for sometime. He was calling out all the big names, fighting whoever wanted to fight him, making it look easy and entertaining in the ring. But he was too clean, family man, well mannered, no tattoos, great all American Olympian, an inviting smile. His great boxing and matchups still wasn't enough to propel him into superstardom. He became increasingly angry and frustrated with the business and probably issues outside of boxing.
The more he became frustrated, the more he realized that his good boy, pretty boy persona wasn't going to cut it. The end of the Golden boy era especially as American society became more and more infactuated with reality television and ratchetness. Thus the birth of money Mayweather. The perfect pairing of his change with the change in what America viewed as entertainment.
I truly believe Spence will end up following a similar path. Maybe not as extreme as money May, but Spence will get meaner and angrier (especially when he isn't given his due credit or matchups), more confident, and more entertaining. Only question is, will his persona match up with whatever cultural shift America makes again in the next 5 years. Time will tell.
Its probably more around 10lbs
In such a short period, for a guy who clearly isn't genetically gifted as say a Bradley for example & in such a cardio heavy sport as boxing. Yes I do question it.
Lets not go on as if he has just put it on, hes cut as well. We all know when you cut you lose muscle tissue regardless of your diet, training etc
Its not easy to put on say 6lbs all whilst lowering bodyfat regardless of age. He is 27 not a teenager.
Most men reach peak muscle maturity at around 30. As a trainer, physical therapist, and a work out junkie there's is nothing shocking about how he looks. If I had a year off from work like Khan did...5-8lbs of lean muscle would be very achievable(even with the cardio load of a boxer). It baffles me how so many ppl on these forums talk **** about boxers physiques when they have no clue about how the body works from the cellular level on up.
Nothing suspect about it. He's probably fighting at his ideal weight now. Plus he had a year lay off and said he spent 8 months in the gym, as well as, working hard at putting on good weight. A lot of these boxers starve and kill their muscles with the extensive cardio they must do. This minimizes muscle hypertrophy. The moment you hydrate and maintain better nutrition, you're body welcomes it and wallah...increased muscle cell volume and shredded after reducing water retention during fight week!! No big surprise to see him looking the way he does all natural.
Cotto came in 155 on the scales... he knows his limits as does anyone who has half a brain.. GGG is far too much for Cotto to take on he is not going to hold it hostage just simply vacate...
Exactly. If I was Cotto's team I would avoid GGG. As a fan, I wouldn't even want to see that match up. It would be like the first cotto-margarito fight except no plaster in GGG wraps. Cotto would get off great work and move but as soon as GGG lands (a real middleweight), cotto will be on his knees or back.
Cotto has nothing to prove, fight canelo or even quillen and/or vacate. No need in getting massacred by a real middleweight for legacy. Get your paydays and get out without further damage. That one margarito fight was so brutal to watch. I can't imagine the damage that was done physically.
If FM wins people will always watch him again....everyone wants to see the fight where his undefeated record goes out the window....if not this fight maybe the next.
The tough talk, tough guy thing always seems forced with Keyshawn. When I saw him crumble in front of Andy Cruz a few months back, I saw him for who he was. He’s the opposite of Terrence Crawford, the boy builds confidence only when he’s in his comfort zone.
I hope he gets his head together but I also wouldn’t mind if Top Rank sat him down or dropped him.
TOP rank lost a ton of money in just this one night.
Eye tests don’t work in boxing. Pump the breaks on these 19-20yr olds. We only get one young phenom every 15-20yrs at that age. Everyone else takes time!!!
I don’t know how much more clean cut and humble you can expect a man who fights for a living to be. I mean seriously people, ES is special. Hell, it may take his entire career to convince people who love to find hate in just about everything.
The guy can’t hide it. There is no facade or marketing scheme. He’s a middle class black kid with Jamaican parents that has manners and respect. But a fight in him as if he came from the depths of struggle (like many great fighters). Give the kid a chance and the benefit of the doubt. Give him the opportunity to clear out his division and also learn how complicated it is to get the fights he needs. Even after he clears out the division including Crawford, people will still cast doubt.
You couldn’t build a better American representative for boxing in a lab.
I think Golden boy will again pump the brakes on Vergil. I expect him to have one or two well matched fights to help him not only go the distance and build his late fight experience, but to also mend his shattered confidence.
After tonight, Vergil will not be the same. Now is that time for us lower our expectations on Virgil and his next big named opponent. Look for a few gatekeepers at 154 to get a shot to share the ring with Vergil.
I had Jared losing to anyone of these big guys. Been saying that since I first saw him pop up, he’s too small for heavyweight.
Secondly, the switch to Sugar Hill 4 weeks ago cemented me betting on him losing by KO. You’re the much smaller guy against a slick juggernaut, you don’t need to worry about offense and being on the front foot. You get ya stamina up and stick and move the whole fight.
I wish the man well but I think knowing how fragile he was mentally regarding the sport and why he’s in it, we can’t be surprised if he doesn't box again.
I originally felt this was a lot tougher than anticipated & while it still might be, the more I see of Madrimov the less impressed I've become.
There is a lot too like but I see a guy who has stamina issues. I just can not pretend this guy doesn't have obvious stamina issues. I've not seen him badly hurt from body shots but I don't like the way he reacts to them and if Crawford is underrated anywhere its his body-punching ability, I think that is a very underlooked aspect of his game.
Lot of lunging & he leaves himself wide open at times, gloves by his balls. It makes me wince a little seeing it. He might get away with it at a certain level but someone like Crawford will walk him into nasty counters.
I think he starts well might even be ahead at the halfway mark but I just don't see Crawford not finding his timing after a few rounds and not breaking him down somewhere in the second half of the fight.
More versatile, longer, better fundamentals, better timing unless ring rust is a factor and for me its his bodypunching and counterpunching ability that wins this.
I have Crawford late stoppage but I think its a good fight and despite not having the accolades I feel it would be one of Crawfords best wins.
Madrimov is a lot better and far more dangerous than Porter & the likes.
He's a good fighter I just feel there are too many holes in his game and while good he is one-dimensional. He's very good at his style, its effective (at a certain level) but there is no plan B.
Honestly credit to him because I think Madrimov is easily a guy that could be avoided and Crawford would get a lot more credit in taking on many much worse, less risky foes.
I agree with you for the most part. I think Bud will make this fight look easy though. Madrimov is European athletic and choreographs his lunges and leaping punches. He does the same thing over and over, especially the leaning to the left side as part of his defense. Similar to Spence and Andrade.
Look for a check hook or uppercut, an over hand right hook on Israil’s way out, or some combo of the two.
Madridov doesn’t have the stamina or professional IQ to keep up with a damn near 37yr old rusty Bud.
Bomac picked the perfect opponent to combine Buds last three opponents. The southpaw and left leaning tendencies of Spence, the awkwardness of the Eastern Euro herky jerky style of David Ava, and the lunging/leaping of Porter.
Where I disagree with you is Bud won’t get any credit for beating a 10 fight pro especially because of how he will outclass him down the stretch. No one cares how many amateur fights he had.
Showcase fight and easy capture of a 154 title.
Shakur is too defensively minded. He probably also suffers from thinking too hard! He can’t throw sustained combos nor can he use footwork to transition quicker from defense to offense.
He’s not going to be able to stop Artem level fighters if he won’t risk putting together punches in bunches. And he doesn’t have the power despite being very accurate.
madrimov is no joke. i think its close to a 50-50 fight. if i pick madrimov for the upset crawford will probably kick his ass, so im not sure. but madrimov is no cherry pick at all for his first fight at 154 i am surprised by it and i wonder if crawford and his team will underestimate him
to put it another way, i think madrimov is a way bigger challenge than spence and that was when we had higher expectations for spence.
Only thing he has going for him is his awkwardness and Euro level athleticism. Bud will time him and hurt him several times down the stretch. Look for Bud to fight on the backfoot for a while to drain and catch his distance. At about 7-8 he’ll turn it up on him and outclass him.
Haney is growing on me. Taking this fight either means they are confident they get beat Regis to the punch all night or they just let their nutz hang. I think there will be some rough spots but overall maybe a 9-3 or 8-4 split, Haney by UD.
We can’t underestimate the confidence he gained fighting Loma and YOUTH. When I was his age, I thought I could run through walls…I can’t imagine if k was a successful pro boxer. It’s an intangible that goes a long way. Elite boxing is about as much about confidence as it is anything else.