I haven't seen anyone mention that Rico should have been up 7-3 going into the 11th, but due to the open scoring, he knew he needed to win the last 2 rounds to salvage a draw. If the fight was judged fairly, would Rico have pressed as hard as he did in the 11th and left himself open for the uppercut?
Questions about Dubois have long been answered. He's a big punching, chinny heavyweight who's a bit of a front-runner with a great jab.
Outside of the two knockdowns, there was never a point in the fight where Wardley had control. He was consistently getting pushed back, out-struck, and just looking for one overhand right. He eventually tried to mix in the uppercut later in the fight, but was too gassed and hurt to land it with any significant power.
Outside of his three losses, we've never seen Dubois in a position to have to wrestle back control after continued unsuccess.
Whatever controversy that was leftover from first fight was resolved in the rematch.
Dubois can fight Parker. If the Itauma team is ready to take that leap, then Dubois vs Itauma would be good too.
Benavidez has, for a long time, been one of the best fighters in the sport. At the very least, he's bound for the Hall of Fame, so he has already had a great career.
Oh wow, really? Didn't know that.
And it's not a suicide? That's crazy.
Basically, the coroner said Hatton may have hung himself, but he's not sure he was trying to kill himself.
Glanton was beat up by CBS. Are you alright in your brain? Glanton is maybe the worst opponent they could have picked. Better drag a B level 175 pounder like Yarde up.
The average person doesn't care if it Glanton, CBS, Yarde, Jack, or Billy Joe Saunders getting KTFO, they just need a reason to think Opetaia is the man at 200lbs.
If Zuffa's main goal is to consolidate boxing and only have one championship recognized by the public as the one that matters, then showcasing Opetaia is what their goal should be. It's the only fighter they have who has a legit claim to being the true champion of their division.
The B fighter just needs a decent enough resume and the look of being a threat, and Opetaia has to do to them the same thing he did to Nyika, Zorro, and Cinkara.
Then you focus on the big fight, which the only option is potentially Benavidez, because that's the only person around that weight class that draws mainstream buzz in Western countries.
"Judge me in a year ..." - maybe, but the signs aren't promising - create competitions in the different weight classes - start with the 16 best prospects contenders and have them all fight on the same card or maybe split over two cards. Sign up those fighters - put the 4 semi finalists on a Ring card for more exposure" - just ideas - but instead we have Glanton vs Opetaia
I don't see how having 16 prospects is going to legitimize any championship that Zuffa presents, and there's no way to sign the 16-best cruiserweight prospects.
Zuffa has made the right choice in legitimizing their Cruiserweight Championship by signing the man everyone considers the best Cruiserweight and the Lineal Cruiserweight champion. Now comes the proper branding. If they call their Championship the Zuffa Cruiserweight Championship, then it's dead on arrival. They should call it the Undisputed Cruiserweight Championship. I'm assuming Ring Magazine is going to make their title the official Zuffa title, but we'll see.
Brandon Glanton is a good opponent to start with; he's credible, he's tested, and hopefully, he comes to fight, but Zuffa needs Opetaia to win, and they need him to win by a convincing knockout to further legitimize himself as a "killer" champion.
But to fully legitimize their championship, they need Benavidez to defeat Ramirez, get Benavidez to sign with them, and then have Benavidez face Opetaia.
SilverMiles
Murtazaliev, KO, Late
Carrington, Decision, Close
Ortiz, Decision, Close
Williams, Decision, Close
Lopez, Decision, Close
Zayas, Decision, Clear
Gvozdyk, KO, Late
Butaev, Decision, Clear
Torres, KO, Early
It's not Vinnie's fault, but his name is the reason many don't believe in the IBHOF's credibility. With the current criteria, Jake Paul will be selected in the first year of his candidacy.
In reality no one really cares, only a few spastics online.
Few things I would like to share:
1. O'Shaquie may have won the first fight again Robinson but he lost the rematch so they are rightfully 1-1 against one another.
2. Fulton started to believe his own hype again but Fulton is a well schooled boxer/puncher but has no quality that really stands out.
3. When you move up in weight, you better have some type of standout ability to make up for the size difference. Inoue is explosive, quick, and powerful. That's why he was able to move up and abuse Fulton the way he did.
4. It's no surprise that the bigger boxer was able to dominate the smaller boxer when the smaller fighter brought nothing else to the table.
5. Fulton assumption about O'Shaquie is correct, once O'Shaquie faces an top 25 pfp talent, he'll be whitewashed. Fulton just isn't that elite talent.
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He is 10-0. You want him to rush to fight Bivol and Beterviev? As for the "cherry-pick" label that wildly gets thrown around, have a look at who AJ fought in his 10th fight. Or perhaps any of the greats you like? Did they "cherry-pick pensioners to beat up?
Why should the measurement be number of fights and not how long he has been pro? Joshua was fighting other contenders by the beginning of his 3rd year as a pro. Also Joshua was young and had a less extensive amateur career.
Whitaker has taken a step back in competition after the Cameron fight. He should be fighting guys like Lyndon Arthur and Kalajdzic at this point.
He should by the end of next year be fighting other young contenders like David Morrell and Imam Khataev.
Max Kellerman compared an undefeated Jorge Linares to Roberto Duran once. A top 15 ATG. He's an expert analyst who knows more about boxing than the average hardcore fan. He was dead wrong. Cut Larry some slack.
Linares rolls with punches just as well as Duran did unfortunately he doesn't have skin meant for a combat sport nor the grit Duran had.
But Max was somewhat right on when commenting on Linares ability to roll with punches especially from mid range but he's not as good rolling with punches on the inside.
not saying i agree but manny had 2 draws and a loss from 2000-05.. anything is possible lol
Difference is Manny lost to an ATG in a close fight and drew with an ATG in a fight that should have been scored in his favor (judge admitted to screwing the scoring up.)
Plus Manny had done so much more in those five years like beating ATG MAB. It isn't possible for Broner to be FOTD he has yet to even beat a HOF yet alone an ATG.
Well Pacquiao did lose in 2004 to Morales and had a draw with Marquez so he still has time.
LMAO, who I'm I kidding Broner has absolutely no chance and never did. Dude lost to Porter, Maidana, Pounce, and Quitenro already. Fuqing three division champ my arse.