If he continues to fight guys like Sosa, N'dou, Corley, Bruseles, Gatti, Mitchell and Judah, he for sure can retire unbeaten, and hopefully it is very soon.
According to boxrec it is a 1" height difference. If the old school Hopkins of 5 years ago were in the fight, I'd give Tarver no chance. But the Hopkins that gave away 2/3rd of each fight to Taylor, I don't like his chances. Tarver will lay on more of a beating than Taylor ever could.
Can Hopkins turn back the clock? That's the intrigue that might make me pay to watch the fight - to watch the legend, Hopkins. Otherwise, you would have to pay me to watch Tarver. I like confidence and showmanship, but only when it's backed up with a spectacular in the ring record.
If Hopkins wins, and RJJ wins, maybe these two will fight?
That the best reason I can think of for Hopkins to win a close, maybe hotly disputed, decision. Follow the money.
Tarver got beat by a Hall of Famer, and there aren't any others fighting at Lt. Heavy. There's no reason he can't do well against the other garbage fighting at that weight.
No doubt though, Tarver just lost all credibility and his next opponents will have a lot of confidence. From here on out, Tarver will not have easy fights. I don't think Tarver wants to work that hard any more.
Tarver may as well retire and accept that he will soon be forgotten. He can tell his grandkids about beating RJJ and hope they never heard of Hopkins.
if he had try to made it look like he was making weight then it would of been cheating
Er, so if Castillo hadn't tried to make weight it would not have been cheating? You might want to try that one again.
All that remains is to determine the appropriate punishment for wasting Coralles' time and costing him more than $1M.
I say that at no time in the last 4 weeks has it looked like Castillo would make weight, but we were lied to. Castillo could make 135, but chose not to because he would have had to have lost a little muscle mass. This was a choice by Castillo. He made the weight about one year ago, lost a fight, and now chose to not make the weight.
Maybe we'll again hear some more BS story in the next few days about interrupted training but that will be another lie.
i ment like the second fight, with the foot under the scale. this time the weight was there clearly no trying to hide it
I'm disappointed and need time for things to clarify. But right now, I'd fine Castillo the size of Coralles' purse, Coralles gets the money, and ban Castillo from fighting for one year (which in reality is a one or at most two fight ban) and ban him from fighting for any world title for 2 years. Basically, come down hard and let everybody know that this is not acceptable and you will be severely punished when you cheat the fans and disgrace the sport.
Good point!
... and there's more!
Even thinking about fighting DLH at 154 is insane. Hatton would need to be on crack to sign for that fight. DLH would land that sweet left hook and it's lights out for Hatton.
We may next see DLH-Tito at 154 or 160, if DLH fights again, and PBF-Hatton at 147.
PBF wasted the last 3 years fighting stiffs and didn't build up his PPV profile, so I don't see a good risk-reward option there for DLH. DLH can make as much money or more fighting Tito or Mosley or Vargas. We'll find out soon enough.
Nothing wrong with this post except for the fact that there isn't really an early storm with Hatton, it lasts for the full 12 rounds.
I hear you, but Hatton will be missing his target more than usual because PBF does have good defense. It's more tiring to miss than hit. If Hatton fights in a storm, he will tire and lose. I like his chances better if he walks down PBF and goes to the body when in close. But for some reason, I don't see the fight going that way. Plus, if the fight is in the US as is most likely if it ever happens, the ref will quickly break up the fighters when they get close which is a big advantage to PBF.
Hatton can win, but I see PBF executing a better flight plan and winning in the late rounds on cuts.
Weather or not Ricky wins this fight he is blowing any chances of a mega fight.
I think you meant to say - Hatton looks vulnerable, and this increases his chances of getting a megafight. If PBF doesn't win the DLH lottery, he will jump all over a chance to fight Hatton after what he saw tonight.
Hatton needs to go back to 140. He is out of his depth at 147.
If PBF had fought a higher level of opponents the last 3 years he would have been far away the #1 challenger to DLH. But he didn't and is now begging for DLH to notice him. DLH has so many great options for his last fight.
I'd like to see him go out with a revenge win over Tito, which will attract way more PPV buys than PBF who only got 350,000 buys for the Judah fight. Cripes, the meaningless Mosley-Vargas fight did way better than that and PBF-Judah was promoted like it was an Ali-Frazier calibre fight of the year. Too bad for PBF but he is not at the elite level for PPV, and his sequence of mediocre opponents was his own choosing. If he doesn't get lucky with a DLH payday, he can look in the mirror for the reason why.
In the PBF-Judah fight, PBF stopped using his lame left shoulder forwards defense because he knew Judah was fast enough to land left hands if he did that. With his improved defense, I think PBF can ride out the early storm against Hatton and then go to work and stop Hatton on cuts. But it's a close and very interesting fight and maybe one day PBF will fight a top 10 P4P opponent.
Judah was also stunned by Baldomir, but Baldomir might even be able to pack a bigger punch than Mayweather at 147. Mayweather can't even crack an egg.
The PBF punches that tore up Gatti will KO glassjaw Judah. Assuming PBF can land them :)
The only way for Zab to win is by KO. Even if he is competitive and it goes 12, the judges will favor PBF. If Zab comes out with a "must get a KO" attitude, we could have a great fight for a few rounds and even an upset. But it's a long shot.
I am going with Taylor. Winky has a counterpunchers mentality and Taylor has a great jab and can create openings. If Taylor had not tired against Hopkins, those fights were heading for blowouts. Winky doesn't have the mental or physical strength of Hopkins though and Taylor should have more energy late in the fight that he did against Hopkins.
Taylor needs a conditioning coach worse than anyone in boxing. If he has got that problem fixed, and shame on his team if they haven't made that a top priority, Winky will be knocked around the ring like a billiard ball and will be busy on his defense all night long.
If Taylor gets tired early again, it will be a close 12 round decision and can go either way. Taylor appears to have the magic touch with getting the benefit of the doubt from the judges, so I'd still pick Taylor but it will be a controversial decision.
For the sport, I hope Taylor wins. Winky is a dud and doesn't excite the fans. Taylor is the future. A well conditioned Taylor can make this an easy fight. But if Winky pulls it off, all credit to him.
Would that put taylor #1 on the P4P list? or does he still have to wait for PBF to lose?
I'm waiting for PBF to beat someone in the top 10 before I put him in the top 3. If Taylor can beat Hopkins, Hopkins, Wright he is in very strong consideration for #1. If he beats Wright convincingly, he is #1. If it's a close split decision kind of fight with Wright, then still in the top 3 but probably not #1.
PBF appears to have the skills to rule the boxing game for a while, but he is barely a blip on the PPV scene. He ought to be bigger than ODLH already, with unified belts, not fighting a string of bums and promoting the Judah fight like it's better than Ali-Frazier 4. We aren't that gullible, but he is still young and has plenty of time to justify his fans accolades.
Winky sucked against Soliman, big time, and maybe the flu is the reason.
Wright has to be at his best this time. He just saw what happened to Tarver - going from self annointed "best light heavyweight" to concensus "worthless bum" in one fight. If Taylor does well, Wright's prior career will be downgraded e.g. Mosley was shot and fighing way over his best weight, Trinidad was retired already, yadadada.
Taylor just beat a very strong hall of famer - twice. Ugly fights, but if he hadn't tired, he was running away with both fights.
The only question mark in my mind is the stamina of Taylor. If he has it, he wins beyond any doubt. Even if he tires as he did against Hopkins, Winky hits as hard as my granny and Taylor wins a close decision.
Taylor wins.
PBF is the Kiss of boxing. Meaning, he cares more about the money than his legacy. There is no other way to explain his selection of opponents the last 3 years.
It's cool, enjoy it or be frustrated at what might have been. When PBF retires, he might regret the missed opportunities to become a mainstream superstar, one that fought the best and won over fans. There is a reason that Tito, Vargas, Barrera, Morales, Pacman, Mosley, ODLH etc. are very popular. They consistently fight the best and challenge themselves.
Anyway, PBF is young and still has time. Hopkins fought nobodies for years and then outsized Tito and ODLH to boost his resume.
Taylor has a great jab, but was very cautious against Hopkins. Against the featherfisted and even more cautious Winky, I'd expect to see Taylor coming with more jabs and taking more risks. Winky has a great jab too, but his is a soft jab whereas Taylors will knock Winky backwards.
It's a close call, but I'd have to go with the future of the sport, Taylor.
Vargas did way better than I expected, but still lost. He ate way too many right hands, and if Mosley had a bigger punch at this weight, it would have been over early.
It was a good stoppage. All the extra pressure on the eye can't be good. Vargas is better off to lose and fight another day than get a detached retina or worse. It's disappointing to see a fight end like that, but Mosley won fair and square.
Something needs to happen to deter this in future.
Give Roger a two year ban from ringside, and take a close look at how Zab rushed across the ring and starting throwing punches. He needs a beat down too. PBF fought and behaved superbly. Who cares what the IBF does, they are corrupt to the core and must have missed the part where Baldomir beat their "champion".
I don't agree that a "real champion" or whatever has to win belts at multiple weights. Hagler stuck to one weight and was a great champion, far ahead of many multiple weight champions. If Hatton decides he is best suited to the 140 division and stays there, more power to him.
A guy that relies more on speed, such as PBF, can more easily move up and box. Hatton relies on strength and if that doesn't follow him to 147, he needs to stay at 140. It's smart of Hatton to know his limitations.
Hatton got a surprise in his first fight at 147, but winning a world title in his first figtht at the weight isn't exactly a disgrace now is it? It was a typical grinding fight, it just didn't work as well against a stronger guy than he's used to. The fight was close and the decision could have gone either way IMO.
If we are to apply similar criteria to assessing fighters i.e. quality of opposition and what have you done lately, where would you rate PBF for example? His last 3 years have been pretty slim pickings for fight fans. Shouldn't he be in his prime and unifying divisions and seeking out top P4P opponents? Why the 140 division leapfrog, then fight a welterweight who got beat last time out and pretend it's in the class of Ali-Frazier I?
Hatton has Tszyu, Maussa and Collazo in his last 3 fights, not too shabby. We definitely need to see more of Hatton to see where he really fits in the P4P picture, but use the same criteria for others too. I don't see Hatton ducking anyone, but I do believe he should go back to 140 where he has a strength advantage.
Collazo says that Hatton PROMISED him a rematch. Hatton, after the fight, said he would fight him again, but didn't say when. There was no promise to fight him next, if that's what Collazo believes Hatton said.
Anyway, was the fight that great that we need to see a rematch? It wasn't quite as good as the first Coralles-Castillo fight now was it? It was a close decision and I'd watch a rematch, but it's not a fight that I greatly anticipate.
He'll be great if/when he beats all the great fighters that are out there is his weight range, and not before.
I do believe he is coming around and knows the clock is ticking. The dude is 29 and still looking for his first megafight. The promotion for PBF-Judah was if he thought it was twice the fight Ali-Frazier was.
Get real. Fighting Baldomir's seconds isn't good enough, and the HBO crew, especially Lampley, need to stop cheerleading and demand more from PBF. The chumps elevating him to P4P #1 based on what he might be able to do are part of the problem. Surely we want to see the best and most competitive fights, or maybe we just forget about that and use paper and pencil and equations to determine who's great?
DLH lost 2 out of his last 3 fights, and the Sturm win was a gift, so he's really faded and way past his prime. Probably he can still beat Mayorga who is not and never was an elite level fighter.
Do I blame PBF for looking for the biggest $$$'s for the least risk? Of course not, but I don't respect it and it's not what any boxing fan should wish for.
What's more exciting - watching Floyd count his money or watching
Floyd fight the top contenders? If you can't figure that out, maybe televised golf is more your game.
Until PBF gives me a cut of his purse, I'll more interested in what happens inside the ring than at his bank.
DLH has done squat lately (loss to Mosley, loss, er, win against Sturm, loss to Hopkins). Looking good against Mayorga will mean nothing - remember how good Tito looked against Mayorga, and what happened in his next fight? If a DLH loss against Mayorga will mean he doesn't fight PBF, I'm all for it. But PBF has shown such interest in the money that I could see a DLH fight still happening because unless DLH gets totally blown out, he still offers the most PPV $$$'s for banker PBF.
If you enjoy watching a fighter count money, PBF's your guy.
It would be good for boxing if DLH fought PBF - and PBF won. It's DLH's last fight, and boxing needs a new megastar to emerge. PBF should be that guy. It's a shame PBF has been protected and isn't there already. He is 29 and still hasn't had one defining fight.
For DLH, he doesn't need the money and is fighting for a legacy, and doesn't want to go out with a loss in his last fight. PBF seems a bit too risky. I'd say that right now someone is on the phone with Trinidad and offering him $10M for a fight at 154. DLH-Trinidad will generate more money than DLH-PBF. PBF is virtually unknown outside of hardcore boxing fans. Trinidad is a legend.
Trinidad has it only from general peurto ricans really anymore. All the general fans who watched Tito saw him fight winky wright, and watched him get treated like a punching bag. PBF has a lot more pull then most of you give him credit for, a lot of general fans know him, and know hes the best there is right now. Why not see oscar vs the best?
It's not about which fight you or I would most like to see, but which is most likely and why. People will forget Tito-Winky in a heartbeat and sell out a DLH-Tito fight and buy the PPV. Forgetting for a moment which fight has more significance, which is obviously DLH-PBF, a DLH-Tito fight has a lot more to excite the casual fan. Revenge, national pride, KO potential, two legends near the end of long careers looking to settle the score after the controversial scoring of the first fight. It's got it all, even I can sell it. If DLH fights again, and I think he will assuming he heals well, they will offer Tito so much money he won't be able to refuse.
Even Mosley - Vargas did huge PPV numbers - 450,000 buys, and who really cared about that? DLH-Mayorga will surely top 500,000 when the numbers are announced.
PBF-Judah did only 350,000. Sorry, but the PPV numbers just aren't there yet for PBF.
even the most idiotic boxing fan knows pbf and what he can do in the ring :rolleyes:
Hard core fans ALONE don't generate big PPV $$$. You have to get the casual fan to watch. DLH has it - PBF does not but is getting close.
Trinidad has more mojo than PBF and will make for an exciting fight. Plus there is the revenge factor, and Tito flat out has way more fans than PBF.
Cotto will cut off the ring and go to the body early, then in the mid rounds a worn out Paulie will be open for heat shots and will fold. Paulie doesn't have the power to keep Cotto off.
I'm not the biggest Cotto fan, but this is a mismatch. Paulie's manager should be prosecuted for incompetence.