Round 6 summed up the fight for me. Airich was about to get knocked out then his promoter rings the bell when there's still 1:35 left to go in the round!
Unbelievable.
Did you see all the guys in suits running around the ring at the end barking orders and with concerned looks on their faces, as though perhaps they had just lost a lot of money...?
Well dodgy it was.
Jones is the best, but if we're saying most 'complete' I think I might go for Toney. His offensive and defensive skills were both excellent in his prime. I'd say he was better than Jones or Calzaghe defensively, and whilst perhaps not as fast or flashy offensively as either he could certainly be just as effective.
Lennox and Holyfield were definitely better, but they too fought some low energy, two sandbags leaning on each other type fights, including against each other. It is the way of the HWs and I think Wlad gets far too hard a time.
throwing the race card about shame
it aint my fault your hero was hitting thin air and looked absolute garbage against a 43 year old man i dont like Calzaghe cause he just aint that good lol
Hmm. Thing is that Calzaghe is very good. Since you're boxing opinion is usually so smart it does surprise me that you don't rate him.
Lewis was very close to over the hill when he retired, struggling badly with Vitali before the cut stoppage. If he came back and fought Wlad he would lose a decision, probably quite one sidedly. Its not just a matter of training, age is age and it can't be escaped.
I really haven't seen a huge amount of Judah, but from what i have seen I would say that for all his natural gifts, he wasn't actually that talented as a boxer. Yes he was incredibly fast and athletic, but when it came to technical skill beyond this I think he was lacking. One thing I've repeatedly noticed is that he looked awesome when on the offensive but immediately after finishing any attack he would seem a little short of ideas on what to do next, where he should move to, how he should position his body etc, and it made him vulnerable.
Doubtless he could have achieved more, but like Naseem Hamed and even Roy Jones he was so reliant on what he could do that he neglected to focus and improve on what he couldn't. You might say he was almost the flipside of Floyd Mayweather, a fighter of similar natural talent but also one of the best schooled there has ever been. Whether Zab's failings were a result merely of neglect or, more seriously, a result of inability is a question I don't really know the answer to.
not even close
Abadger does Ricky make u feel embarrassed to be a Calzaghe fan because he is so biased
do u feel he is one of the main reasons Calzaghe is disliked so much on this forum
Not really. I feel that Ricky is simply a response to a tide of idiotic abuse. A lot of what Ricky posts is no more unreasonable than the flip side. It is taken for granted by many on here that Toney and prime Hopkins whoop Calzaghe's arse, I feel he beats both, so does Ricky, he just doesn't argue it the way I do.
I think if you really wanted to end it you'd have been better off not posting it, but since you did, I will suggest that this is an issue that will forever be split along cultural bounds. There is really little to choose between these two, their careers are alarmingly similar.
On talent Judah,Taylor,Winky,RJJ makes P4P.
Not anymore. Talent is only 'real' if you can execute it, which Judah could and can not, he had speed but wasn't actually that good a boxer. I don't actually agree that Taylor is that talented to begin with, but even if we say he is, he is another guy who can't make it count, at least for the time being. Winky and RJJ used to be able to, but are a bit old now and can't do what once they could. Kessler can execute his talent IMO to the point that I think he beats anyone else at SMW except Joe, I don't think a single one of the fighters you list is good enough to win a world title anymore, though perhaps Taylor might prove me wrong.
Cotto is the best call. Pavlik I think is still pretty green and needs to improve his boxing, I could imagine quite a few boxers giving him trouble because of this.
I'm pretty sure Margarito is on the slide.
Abraham looks fine and shouldn't really be able to use age as an excuse but the way he relies on explosivity after long inactive periods is, I think, a young mans game and what is he 30?
Pacman's style too requires youth which is getting away from him now.
It is a combination of Joe's semen and sweat with a drop of Enzo's piss.It is a lethal dose unless you are part Sardinian or have SAD syndrome:bottle:
What is this SAD syndrome thing I keep seeing. I know what the syndrome is, but do you guys think all we Brits have it or something? Not saying we don't mind, in fairness Britain can be a very depressing place to live.
Simple question.
:peeright:"peeleft:
Mayweather is more elusive. RJJ was very hard to tag on the chin in the centre of the ring, but would often allow opponents simply to swing and hit him when he was on the ropes.
lololol he's a man! he barely survived the power punching of bernard hopkins watch out lololol.
So just so we're clear you think the idea that Joe will not be KOd by Pavlik is laughable?
u are joking Calzaghe was respected after he beat Kessler then Ricky came and changed the whole Land scape trust me
Ricky is the reason people have turned on him
Maybe. As a Calzaghe fan I guess I just find Ricky pretty funny.
I feel sorry for Ricky Hatton he will never the respect for beating Kostya. Excuses will always be made for him. Retiring in the stool what a shit way to end your career.
On some HBO broadcast i watched, maybe Cotto v Oktay Urkal, the commentators were discussing the fact that European and Russian boxers (but not brits) are much more willing to quit if they feel they are hurt or are just going to continue getting beaten, and that this is regarded by them a "no big thing". I have no idea if this is really true or not, but thinking about it it does actually make sense. Boxing is a sport and if you know you can't win or are risking your health then its is actually somewhat retarded to continue fighting to the bitter end. You may feel it 'proves your heart' or something, but what does that even really mean? You still lose, so is it not actually braver to just admit it to yourself and move on?
OK, so the promoter maximises the earning potential of the fighter, thats cool. But it still remains that without the boxer there would be nothing to promote.
In effect a promoter is really an employee of the boxer, an agent if you will who gets a cut for putting the boxer in good matchups.
I suppose at the end of the day its a symbiotic relationship, with both being neccessary to each other.
Hatton should fight Malignaggi and then fight Pacquiao if he can get the fight. He would have a good chance to beat Manny and amongst casual fans at least, his stock would skyrocket.
After that I'd imagine he might want to coax Floyd out of retirement for a rematch, or failing that meet Oscar. Both fights would be bullshit though, so I wouldn't mind seeing him in with Cotto, even though he'd lose.
Alternatively he could just beat Malignaggi, Bradley and Witter.
You people are ridiculous. Yanks are ultra-competitive and critical towards any good fighter from Europe and Britain in particular. Hamed was an awesome boxer, it is there for all to see. You'd have to be dumb not to see it. Another dumb thing is the way so many of you assume literally that any fighter you have not personally heard acclaimed as great in one of the HBO main events you watch each year, he is a bum.
You all need to stop focussing on resumes, so much, because it is you guys who wind up 'exposing' yourselves. Its funny in a way. You know nothing about a boxer but want to say he is shit, so you look at his list of opponents, know nothing about them so you say they are shit in order to prove your point. The funny thing is not when you are wrong about the boxer, or wrong about his opponents, but that you only do this in the first place to cover up the fact that you have next to no idea about how to read a boxing match or a boxer! Try looking at what a boxer can actually do in the ring instead of being blind slaves to statistics. That is how you become a boxing fan and not a fanboy.
dumbass emmanuel steward messed with his style too much. his "stupid" acts when he was fighting made him so dangerous and unpredictable. his "clowning" made his opponents wary and timid.
i loved to hate the guy back then. i remember i was praying for marco to kill him and shut that "clown" up.
but seeing people dismiss him is sad......and it takes away from one of Marco's greatest victories.
He was a big favourite against Barrera I believe. People forget how good he actually he was, and how much talent he had. One of my favourite boxers.