Kostya should have won that fight by DQ. Hatton hit him very hard with an intentional low blow. Winning a championship on a move like that is pathetic. Kostya would have won the fight if it didn't happen. Kostya didn't say anything to take the victory away from Hatton cause he is such a good sportsman, but anyone who watched the fight knows that Kostya was the better fighter, and only lost due to a biased ref and a fighter having to resort to illegal blows to steal victory from Kostya.
Don't have the videos, but from the top of my head
a) Roy Jones vs Glenn Kelly (the hands behind his back KO)
b) Nate Campbell vs Robbie Peden KO
c) Kostya Tszyu vs Zab Judah
Michael Katsidis deserves a mention. Got the world title in an exciting fight against Graham Earl, and defended it in an exciting fight with Amonzat. Definately not more skilled then the fighters on the list, but he has become a world champion and both his fights this year were very good to watch. He comes to fight with that fight to the death attitude. Should meet some peoples criteria for fighter of the year.
I think it's pathetic that the thought of someone fighting 6 to 7 times a year gets comments like that. It's their job to fight. 6 times a year really isn't that many.
1 champ per division that has to defend his title every 8 weeks.
If champ is injured in a fight, next two fight for interim title. If he can't face the winner of that fight within 8 weeks, he forfeits the title.
Less weight divisions in the lower weights.
Give fighters a bonus if they win by knock out. i.e. they get 80% of their purse if they win by decision.
I think that neck strengthing exercises definately improve your chin. Often times its the head snapping back that causes your "brain to hit your skull" that causes the KO. Having strong neck muscles can stop your head snapping as severly, therefore preventing the KO. Thats a physical aspect.
If someone gets punched in the nose and goes down and thinks, "that hurt. fuck this. i'm staying down." thats a mental thing which is much harder to change.
To be a good boxer you need to master the jab, and have a couple of good power punches in your arsenal. Straight right and the left hook. Being able to effectively manouever your opponent to where you want him, time him etc. Everything seems so much easier when you master the basics. Adding upper cuts and right hay makers etc early on when training a fighter is almost unnessecary. Time and a place for them, but get the basics right first.
Few decent bets that got up:
$100 on Hopkins to KO De La Hoya in the 9th round.
$5,000 on Jones Jr vs Clinton Woods by KO
$500 on Williams vs Magarito
$500 on Malignaggi vs Ndou by decision
$500 on Klitschko vs Sam Peter by decision
$1000 on Mundine vs Green by decision
Worst bets
$1,000 on the 2nd fight between Nate Campbell vs Robbie Peden
$500 on Zab Judah over Cotto
$500 on Kostya over Hatton
I love betting on fights. Try to go for ones with half decent odds that I'm sure will win.
I really don't like his chancers against Sturm and Taylor. I think he could beat abraham quite easily. I think he could beat Miranda as well. Don't like his chances at super middleweight though. Kessler, Calzaghe, Mundine etc would murder him.
Unless you have 9 foot arms like winky, it leaves you open for body shots. Also, it's slower punching from your arms starting in that position, so if you aren't too quick, you won't land too many punches.
Very good style to use if you are ahead on points and you are coasting a bit, or if you've won the first 2 mins of the round and sort of want to ride it out.
Ten heavies who would beat him:
1. Vitali Klitschko
2. Wladamir Klitschko
3. Sam Peter
4. Lamon Brester
5. Nicolai Valuev
6. Shannon Briggs
7. John Ruiz
8. Hasim Rahman
9. Sultan Ibragimov
10. Calvin Brock
I'd favour Serguei Lyakhovich and James Toney over him as well.
I wan't him to take a crusier title before he's done.
That would put him at 5 weight class titles which would put him in a class that only Sugar Ray Leonard & Oscar De La Hoya are a part of .
And Thomas Hearns and Floyd Mayweather Jr
I don't think it was a punch in the balls. If it had, I think Pac would have moved his gloves onto the region to indicate to the ref it was a low blow.
Oh well,
Atleast it looks like I'll get good odds if it happens. I just can't see Calzaghe avoiding Mundine's power punches. I can see Mundine avoiding Joes quite easily.
He's very messed up in the head... Probably took a few too many clean shots from Tua. Even if he managed to lose the weight and work hard in the gym he still could not compete on the top level. He's done.
Kessler needs to look easy to beat for this to happen.
Taylor fought Hopkins twice, then winky wright. Saying that he only looks for easy fights is not a fair comment at all... I don't want to sway off the topic so I'll leave that there.
I think Taylor will clean out the middle weights such as Miranda, Abraham and Pavlik before thinking about Kessler and Calzaghe. He'll probably clean out the junior middlweights as well before taking on the super middleweights :-)
Amateur boxing is good for young fighters in that they get to fight a lot of different boxers, and get used to facing a lot of different styles of fighting. They'd fight a lot of quick boxers, a lot of sluggers, orthodox, south paws etc. It's best to get that learning curve over in the amateur's rather then in the pro's.
Amateur boxing really does put emphasis on just touching your opponent and getting out of there. A punch is a punch regardless of how hard it was thrown. If they transfer that style over to the pro's, obviously they are not going to be knock out artists.
I think that a boxer would be better off having 50 to 100 amateur bouts, and then having quite a few more easier fights early on in there pro career rather then having a lot of amateur bouts and hoping for an early world title shot.
Roy Jones was considered P4P #1 for many years. He had a bad run with Tarver and Johnson - however I do think he looked impressive in his last fight and could still beat most people out there from 175 down. Saying that Jermain Taylor is becoming one the most disrespected champions for choosing to fight Roy Jones is a very unfair statement.
Hopkins Twice, Winky Wright, Kassim Ouma
Besides Manny Pacqiauo, I can't think of a champion with a better list of recent opponents then that... Can't think of one that evens comes close to that...
I think that the only person from 175 down that would have a chance of beating Kessler at the moment is Winky Wright, simply cause I think Kessler would have problems landing shots through his top notch defence. I'd favour Kessler over him still.
He does well at super middle weight because he is such a large super middle weight. I think his fights would be a lot closer if he moved up to light heavy weight and didn't have that large size disparity.
I'd love to see Taylor fight Kessler. I'd also really like to see Hopkins fight Kessler. I can really see Hopkins "grow old overnight" if he fights Kessler and getting stopped. Kessler is on you the on whole time and with power - you need to be on your toes 3 mins for all 12 rounds.
I think that he is looking to have one or two more fights. I've met him a couple of times since the Hatton loss, and he insists he doesn't want to go out on a loss. I see him either facing Lovemore Ndou next, or trying to get a title shot at welter weight.
Marion Wilson fought somebodies...
http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=004537
Oliver McCall
Chazz Witherspoon
Oliver McCall
Samuel Peter
Hasim Rahman
Larry Donald
Oleg Maskaev
David Izon
Greg Page
Corey Sanders
Carl Williams
Ike Ibeabuchi
Orlin Norris
David Izon
Andrew Golota
Shannon Briggs
Kirk Johnson
Ray Mercer
Vaughn Bean
Andrew Golota
Tyrell Biggs
Francois Botha
Poor bastard is going to end up with some sort of super enhanced parkinsons diease from all the beatings he's taken.