mokele

it was a great fight It was a great fight in spite of the poor or corrupt judging, and most of the credit goes to James Toney who knows just about everything there is to know about boxing. All young fighters should watch tapes of how Toney defends against big punchers without clinching like a coward. He uses angles, his gloves, shoulders, tucks his chin, moves his head and keeps his concentration. He also has a pretty good chin, which was tested a few times by Sam Peter. Actually I like both fighters. Peter is a big puncher but his technique is still poor, especially with his overhand right. It's a huge punch, sort of a giant rabbit punch, but it's not that hard to prepare for. Peter's jab is fair but he really doesn't have a big arsenal nor does he throw straight punches as often as he should. He's also vulnerable to eating a lot of jabs. The shorter Toney outlanded Peter by plenty from what I saw, especially with his jab. I think it's pretty clear now that Sam Peter will never be a great boxer, just a strong, durable guy with a big, clubbing punch.

the most corrupt major sport I know Boxing appears to me to be the most corrupt sport that I know, the only sport in which all too often the "winner" of a fight is not the man who performed the best. There are just too many examples of poor or corrupt judging, weak and poorly trained referees and promoters that in all likelihood can influence the judging of a fight. I will remain a boxing fan but a lot of my enthusiasm is gone. It's gotten to the point where only real boxing fans who know the history of the sport and understand the rules can remember who really won a fight, not who got the decision by corrupt or incompetent judges. Casual fans will never know in the case of close fights. It's a damn shame.

he ain't fighting Peter Well, for starters he commented on the Brian Minto-Billy Zumbrun fight, and mentioned that Minto is improving. That's true but Brian Minto is not world class in my opinion, and lacks the power to match his 220 lbs. Next Brock mentioned that he plans to avoid Sam Peter because they know each other too well, or something like that. If he came right out and said that he would duck Sam Peter I would chuckle. From what I saw tonight I wouldn't fight Sam Peter unless I had to or was paid a lot of money. The guy hits too hard and he's brutal. Peter doesn't mind clubbing a guy on the back of the head. His knockout of Julius Long was borderline a foul and I've seen him hit guys that were down too. Peter has great power and size but he's still crude. I think that Ike Ibeabuchi was better, the comparison being made since they're both from Nigeria. Anyway, Brock didn't make any profound remarks, just solid statements sort of like he boxes.

strong What do you guys think would happen if Peter faced off against some of the top fighters in the heavyweight division?? Peter vs Rahman Peter vs Valuev Peter vs Toney Peter vs Brewster Peter vs Lyakhovich Your thoughts?? Peter is too strong for Rahman or Toney. I would also favor him over Brewster and Liakhovich based on superior 1 punch knockout power. Valuev's size makes such a matchup uncertain, although my sense is that Peter's power is so huge that he could even hurt Valuev. If I were a betting man I would bet on Sam Peter against the whole lot of guys you listed.

didn't score it I didn't score it but I thought that it was an even fight. Freitas was the aggressor most of the time but he usually missed his overhand right that he was trying to land the whole fight. I certainly wouldn't say that Freitas stalked Raheem though as neither man really wanted to fight inside. Freitas often lunged in, either missing and tying up or else landing 1 shot and tying up. It was frustrating to watch. There were very few combinations and most of the punches were missing the target. Raheem tried to counterpunch but was only successful sporadically. There were many clinches and both men were at fault most of the time. Honestly I think that a draw was the proper result.

I don't get it Why would Trinidad want another fight with Mayorga? It makes no sense. If Tito came back I would much prefer that he trains really hard, gets back down to 154 lbs. and fights Shane Mosley. That would fill in 1 of the gaps in the rivalries between Mosley, De La Hoya, Trinidad, Winky Wright and Vargas. Personally I much prefer fights between guys who haven't fought before but are each skilled fighters and contemporaries. Mosley and Trinidad would make a great fight if Tito is willing to put in a few months of hard training. He could also challenge Vernon Forrest or Ike Quartey. Those would be good fights as well.

Fitzsimmons Mokele, Dick Tiger is the epitome of tough. I need to see more of his fights. I had to choose between the pic of Tiger or 1 of Bob Fitzsimmons. After I get tired of looking at that pic of Tiger I'll switch to Fitz. I read several articles off the internet about Dick Tiger, and saw a portion of his fight with Jose Torres. Other than that I don't know much about him. From what I've seen though, he represented many of the finest qualities you could hope for in a fighter: courage, consistency, stamina, an indomitable spirit, humility, a willingness to learn. Too many modern fighters are sadly lacking in those qualities.

it depends on who he's fighting Peter's carrying TOO MUCH weight. He needs to be around 225 or 230...235 MAX, IMO. If Sam Peter fights Wladimir Klitschko again or another tall outside boxer who runs from him and ties up on the inside he needs to be in fighting trim in order to track them down without tiring himself out. However, he didn't look flabby to me in the fight against Julius Long. He knew that Long couldn't effectively run from him. That's not even Long's style anyway in spite of his height and reach. The extra weight didn't seem to hurt Peter. I just looked and Sam Peter's weighed over 240 for almost his entire boxing career. Maybe 240 to 245 lbs. is about right for him. Although Danny Williams should slim down, he's weighed between 260 and 275 lbs. for all of his last 8 fights and won 6 of them. Williams is about the same height as Peter. Maybe guys are just getting bigger in the heavyweight division these days. I remember when people called Sonny Liston big at 215 to 220 lbs. Now that's viewed as a small heavyweight!

looked at the Povetkin clips This Povetkin is way good, a serious stalker with excellent handspeed and decent power. I looked at the clips against Cerrone Fox, John Castle, Mohammed Ali Durmaz, Richard Bango, Stephane Tessier and Willie Chapman and was impressed. Povetkin: http://boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=318081 beat Ahunanya although I didn't see the fight. Povetkin's physique isn't anything special, but once he starts to fight you can see all the talent right away. His left hook is serious and he has a great overhand right and right uppercut. He gets excellent leverage on his punches. It won't be long before Povetkin is right in the mix in the heavyweight division, less than 2 years for sure.

spectacle Boente told SecondsOut: "I really don't know if that (fight with Valuev) is such a big fight outside of Germany. Valuev is lucky his fights haven't been shown in the US because he hasn't really been winning them. If he fought in America or on HBO the way he fought against John Ruiz or Larry Donald (his last two fights) he would be booed and booed from the second round. He is not exciting or interesting to watch. "The fans around the world would not accept that sort of a fight, I don't think." That's what I was afraid of hearing, that Valuev is pereceived as boring and that he pretty much stunk up the ring against Ruiz and Larry Donald. That might be true, but I'm of the opinion that Valuev would be a difficult style matchup for Wladimir Klitschko, since Wladdy couldn't just stay outside the whole fight and dominate Valuev with his jab and reach. In order for me to really feel like Wladdy is a great fighter I have to see more versatility from him. I need to see him do some inside fighting, learn to move his head and stop holding all the time on the inside.

reasonable idea The notion of a super heavyweight division is reasonable to me. The only question in my mind is at what weight to start. Should it be 240 lbs.? How about 250? 260? I don't know. Most people resist it for a few reasons: (1) There's no historical precedent. (2) Most giant guys are lousy and inferior to much smaller heavyweights. There aren't enough good big men to keep people interested. (3) There are too many weight divisions already. Argument #3 is not convincing for me. There never used to be junior middleweight or cruiserweight divisions but people are not clamoring for their removal. Argument #1 doesn't cut the mustard for me either. Most professional sports have been modernized in many different ways over the years. That means that the main argument is #2, which is a difficult one to deal with. Throughout most of the history of the heavyweight division there have never been any super heavyweights good enough to beat the better normal-sized ones. I researched this issue, and from the years 1920 through the 1950s I only found a few that were even world class: Abe Simon Buddy Baer Primo Carnera Jess Willard George Godfrey Jose Santa However, today there are many more. Using 250 lbs. (at some point during their career) as the standard the following can be said: Near the end of his career, Lennox Lewis was a bona fide super heavyweight at 250+ lbs. Vitaly Klitschko always weighed over 240 lbs., and often weighed close to 250. Jameel McCline is definitely a super heavyweight, along with Tye Fields, Danny Williams (although if he were in really good shape he would weigh less than 240), Valuev, Timo Hoffman, Matt Skelton, Ray Austin, Lawrence Clay-Bey and others. Hence there seem to be enough guys to make a serious division out of men who weigh in excess of 250 lbs. The guys that I listed are only the better ones. You can be sure that there are hundreds of big guys like that who occasionally box professionally but who aren't world class. If there was a super heavyweight division, smaller men should be allowed to participate if they wanted to. Guys like Rahman, Maskaev, Brock and others are good-sized guys who usually weigh over 230 lbs. but rarely over 240. They could challenge guys like Valuev, Tye Fields, etc. easily, and often win.

Raheem has a unique style One thing that Zahir Raheem does that's unique is that he crouches and then lunges in and ties up sometimes. It's ugly to watch and doesn't help him at all. Marciano used to crouch but that was before he came in to throw punches, not to tie up! Raheem is not a short man for the lightweight division either. Crouching is usually a technique used by shorter fighters to make it difficult for their opponents to land any good shots except on top of their head. Maybe it's too late for Raheem to fix that flaw in his style. It's hard to say unless you're his trainer. Raheem is usually on balance otherwise. He's a good athlete although he doesn't have a lot of punching power, and counterpunches well against most opponents. I think that his counterpunching was effective enough that the fight with Freitas was even, and a draw seemed like the proper result to me. Freitas often lunged in, missing his overhand right, and both men fell into a clinch. It was awkward and frustrating to watch. Raheem's clinches do not help him. Wladimir Klitschko's clinching might sometimes save him from getting hurt, and Ruiz's clinches are annoying to watch but they are effective against a lot of his opponents, but Raheem's clinching doesn't seem to have much purpose except to avoid inside fighting. He was trained in Philadelphia so you wonder how he got into that habit of tying up on the inside so much. Most Philly fighters learn to fight inside, going to the body, covering up and using angles. I like Raheem as a man but his style isn't any fun to watch.

never "hoid" of it In all of my 40 years or more as a boxing fan I've never heard of a fighter quitting in the middle of a fight because of the call of nature. That's surprising because some fights in boxing history have taken an hour or more, anything 15 rounds or longer. In the old days of 15 round fights, if you include introductions, directions from the referee, etc., a guy could be hanging around in the ring for close to an hour and a half since he last relieved himself. You can't tell me that nobody before this has had this type of problem! Anyway, it makes me wonder whether there ought to be a special circumstance rule that allows a fighter 1 bathroom break during a fight. They do such things in tennis and similar sports, so why not boxing? Of course that could be opening a can of worms. A fighter in trouble could take a phony bathroom break in order to clear his head, or else some other type of monkey business could happen in the bathroom. I need to think about it a little longer.

I hope you're right for the sake of boxing WHAT IF ? Wladimir Klitschko - vs - Sergei Liakhovich Wladimir Klitschko is a fine boxer for a big man but he lacks what his brother Vitali had. An iron constitution. This is a trait that Sergei proved he had when he fought and beat a very tough boxer named Lamon Brewster. If they fight, Sergei is going to out gut Wlad. He will enforce his will on Wlad. Klitschko is a front runner. Once he reaches a " danger" point, he has a tendency to abandon his fight plan. In essence he panics. He loses focus and he allows his skills to diminish under duress. This is why he lost to Corrie Sanders and Brewster. He could handle Chris Byrd because Byrd posed no serious danger of hurting him. A bold Wladimir Klitschko is a hard fighter to beat. Hurt him and take away that boldness he becomes a rather ordinary boxer. Sergei can and will do this to him. Sergei has the tools and has been tested under fire. Sergei will win this match. Man, I hope you're right for the sake of heavyweight boxing. Liakhovich is a tough man, willing to go to the trenches and gut it out if he has to. He's not only a good fighter, but a warrior and entertainer as well, someone who produces fights that we can all remember fondly and that does credit to the sport. Wladimir Klitschko is not a true warrior from what I've seen, since he cannot or will not fight on the inside, and it's gotten much worse now that Emanuel Steward is his trainer. Steward produces winners from tall, athletic boxers like Wladdy and Lennox Lewis, but unfortunately for fight fans he apparently teaches most or all of them to just tie up inside. This exploits a lax attitude that many referees have towards strategic holding, that is, holding done by a fighter because he doesn't want to fight in close. I hate Wladdy's "sniper in the tower" style because it represents an incomplete style of boxing, 1 that takes away from the inside fight game. Maybe it's the only reliable way for guys who panic or who have a weak chin to fight, but in my view guys like that do not belong as world champions!

he's versatile De La Hoya is a versatile fighter, an all-around skilled guy who can box outside or stand his ground or stalk an opponent. It depends on who he's fighting and what stage of the fight you're talking about. when Oscar thinks that he's built up a points lead and he's fighting a guy that's tough and will likely go the distance, he boxes and tries to win on points. If he's in a tough scrap he can stand and slug if necessary. Personally I think that Oscar is a respectable warrior. The fact that he's courteous and doesn't do any trash-talking before fights doesn't mean that he's not a real warrior. He did a bit of holding in the 2nd Mosley fight but that's 1 of the few in which he tied up inside. Usually he boxes outside and also fights inside. He doesn't usually run from anybody. when Oscar feels the need to run from an opponent it will be time for him to retire.

nobody could have taken that shot But Jeremy's chin is weak, I mean really weak. Jeremy Williams' chin is a bit weak but I think that very few boxers could have taken the left hook that Peter hit Williams with. Maybe Nikolay Valuev in the early part of a fight (when he's still full of energy) could take giant punches that way because of his size, and maybe the thick-necked, iron chinned David Tua could take a shot like that. I'm struggling to think of anyone else that could take such a punch.

he does a lot of things wrong I was hoping to see a more talented fighter in JD Chapman because of his glossy record but mostly all I saw is a big guy moving around the ring, sometimes going straight back with his hands down, and even turning away from Hicks after he was chased down to the ropes. Hicks was out of shape, and that's a flattering assessment of his condition. Chapman has a bit of power but nothing special for a man that big. Remember Gerry Cooney? He was better than Chapman, much better. Maybe Chapman can improve but I didn't get a good impression at all. After watching a guy like Alexander Povetkin fight, Chapman looked like a bum. Of course that's being a little harsh but I'm sick of big heavyweights that don't have skills.

175-200 Now that there's a 25 pound range for the cruiserweight division I think that it deserves far more attention than it traditionally has received. In the "old days" you had guys like Billy Conn, Ezzard Charles and Bob Foster fighting heavyweights while they still were light heavies, but now you have world class cruiserweights weighing in the 190-200 lb. range, a typical weight for a heavyweight until the late 1960s. In my opinion, the very best cruiserweights in the world could beat most of the heavyweights around right now, even many in the top 20. 2 of the younger ones that I'm thinking about are David Haye and Steve Cunningham, guys who train down hard to stay below 200 lbs.

yep saw it on TV I saw the fight on TV. I remember that afterwards, Don King tried to make a fuss about Douglas receiving a long count when he got knocked down by an uppercut earlier in the fight but that controversy was eventually muffled and forgotten. Tyson was not his usual self that night. He didn't seem to have his usual energy or aggressiveness and couldn't work his way inside of the Douglas jab or get off first. Douglas also tied him up inside which I didn't like, but most of Tyson's opponents did the same thing.

not popular at all He was not popular at all, especially in Zaire. Before the fight with Ali, the boxing fans over there used to say "Ali, bomaye!" meaning "Ali, kill him". If you only saw the more recent version of Foreman you saw a changed man, someone who had been a preacher for 8 or 9 years and then returned to boxing. The young Foreman was sullen, humorless and surly. Boxing fans admired him for being something of a "monster", an extremely strong man with heavy hands and a killer instinct. I was around back then and remember him well. I saw his fights with Frazier (1 and 2), Lyle, Jose Roman, Ken Norton and Jimmy Young when they occurred. Even though he was without personal charm I rooted for him anyway. He was a big puncher and always fun to watch.

better a few years ago Sharmba Mitchell looked pretty good in his last fight against Jose Luis Cruz, but he didn't dominate the fight and some people thought it was even or that Cruz won by a shade. Cruz is slow, especially on his feet, and Margarito is better than Cruz in almost every way. If Margarito fought Mitchell today it wouldn't be close. Mitchell would be running and grabbing a lot just to survive. He can't hurt Margarito and he's also shorter and not as good a puncher. It sounds like a mismatch to me. A few years ago Mitchell was faster and might have had the legs to stay away better, but nobody has successfully fought Margarito that way yet that I've seen.

just a good, clean fight Most of all I would like a competitive, clean fight in which both men give a good account of themselves. I would like to see Byrd defend himself well, fire back effectivly when he gets the chance, and force the fight sometimes. I would like to see him pick the right times to throw the hardest straight left hands he's capable of at Wladdy's chin to see if the bigger man can take it. I would like to see Wladdy use his heavy jab and left hook to keep Byrd on the outside, and fire the big straight right hand sometimes to test Byrd's defence and alertness. I don't want to see Wladdy clinch on the inside, although I think he will :mad: . I don't mind if he rests inside occasionally and lays in a bit (like Audley Harrison did against Guinn) as long as he pulls out and starts firing off the jab. Tying up Byrd's arms is not a manly thing for a 6'6", 245 lb. man to do against a much smaller guy. We will have to see. I think Byrd is a substantial underdog, and so I'm hoping that he gives a good account of himself. If Wladdy starts clinching I will root for Byrd. If Wladdy fights like a man on the inside, let the best man win!

How could this guy be 24-2??? Taurus Sykes looked awful tonight in losing to Derek Bryant. Maybe he's already a shot fighter. If this is how he usually looks you wonder how in heck he got a 24-2 record. He can't punch, has awful technique and can't defend on the inside without holding. He looked like a bum to me.

sorry about that! dude, I just wanted to say, that the gloves rocky is wearing in your avatar, are the biggest god damn things i ever saw. it's like he stuck his fists up two calves' asses Sorry about that! I was happy just to have a pic of the rock. I don't know what's with those gloves either.

don't like Whitaker's style Pernell Whitaker was a clever, crafty boxer, but I found his style to be frustrating to watch, rather ugly in fact. He used his right shoulder, did a bit of pushing and clinched at just the right times to avoid getting hit with a clean shot. His style was based mostly on frustrating a clean, classical boxer such as De La Hoya or Julio Cesar Chavez. Whitaker was a cutie rather than a warrior, and though successful, was a negative fighter. He almost never fought on the inside, and few if any of his fights could be called great. He used the tools that he had to win fights, but for fans like me he was a failure as an entertainer and I usually rooted against him. That being said, I suppose that I would go with the judges in awarding De La Hoya the victory by a small margin, around 3 or 4 points or so. Maybe I'm biased but it's hard not to be in such a matchup. I know that compubox had Whitaker landing a few more punches, but not the big ones.

that might not be an insult Kellerman might not have meant that remark as an insult, but rather as recognition that De La Hoya is wise about the fight game. Everybody knows that De La Hoya is better at 154 lbs. than at 160. The man started out as a lightweight! Roberto Duran was similar. He started as a lightweight and nobody claims that he was as effective at middleweight as when he was lighter.

Emanuel Steward Why the heck was Wlad holding Byrd? Wlad was holding the little guy there so many times! I was very upset at that and kept shouting "Stop holding him" during the middle rounds! I'm under the impression that Emanuel Steward has taught Wladdy to simply tie up inside, not to cover up or fight in there. Manny has a long history of teaching his tall fighters to do that. It's well known that he coached Lennox Lewis to hold Tyson early in their fight. I believe that long ago he coached Hearns in a similar manner, and also Milt McCrory. I'm not claiming that Manny Steward is a bad trainer, but he's a trainer that exploits a lax attitude on the part of many referees who tolerate a bit of holding from otherwise clean fighters such as Wladimir Klitschko. Holding, clinching , tying up inside has always been a part of boxing, and in fact the enforcement of the rule against holding is better today than ever before, but still not as good as it could be. If Manny Steward had been Wladdy's trainer before his fights with Brewster and Corrie Sanders there's a good chance that he never would have been knocked out by those guys. I might have hated him for doing it but Wladdy would in all likelihood have just held like crazy as soon as he got a little bit stunned, and never been hurt bad enough to get knocked out. Personally I think that holding on the inside ruins fights and makes me disgusted at the whole sport sometimes, but let's face it: if referees don't quickly warn fighters who do it and also take points away for holding, fighters will do it who either can't fight on the inside (Akinwande, Jermain Taylor, Fres Oquendo), or who feel that their chin is too fragile to take the heat in there (John Ruiz). As fans there's nothing that we can do about it except to support true warriors who have a complete set of skills including an ability to fight inside, and to shun fighters who don't. That's a little bit like what's happened to Henry Akinwande: http://boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=002011 who has only lost 2 fights but who few boxing fans know or care about. I don't think that will happen to Wladdy, but I can't in good conscience support a fighter who lacks such a basic skill, even if he's successful. If referees took the Marques of Queensbury rules of boxing more literally, fighters like Wladdy and trainers like Manny Steward would have to face up to the task of dealing with the inside fight game. http://www.answerbag.com/a_view.php/13242 : The Marquess of Queensbury Rules: 1. To be a fair stand-up boxing match in a 24-foot ring, or as near that size as practicable. 2. No wrestling or hugging allowed. 3. The rounds to be of three minutes' duration, and one minute's time between rounds. 4. If either man falls through weakness or otherwise, he must get up unassisted, 10 seconds to be allowed him to do so, the other man meanwhile to return to his corner, and when the fallen man is on his legs the round is to be resumed and continued until the three minutes have expired. If one man fails to come to the scratch in the 10 seconds allowed, it shall be in the power of the referee to give his award in favour of the other man. 5. A man hanging on the ropes in a helpless state, with his toes off the ground, shall be considered down. 6. No seconds or any other person to be allowed in the ring during the rounds. 7. Should the contest be stopped by any unavoidable interference, the referee to name the time and place as soon as possible for finishing the contest; so that the match must be won and lost, unless the backers of both men agree to draw the stakes. 8. The gloves to be fair-sized boxing gloves of the best quality and new. 9. Should a glove burst, or come off, it must be replaced to the referee's satisfaction. 10. A man on one knee is considered down and if struck is entitled to the stakes. 11. No shoes or boots with springs allowed. 12. The contest in all other respects to be governed by revised rules of the London Prize Ring.

many great fighters have been knocked down a lot Any guy who gets knocked down everytime he gets hit with a decent shot will never be a great fighter in my view . Floyd Patterson and Ezzard Charles were knocked down many times during their careers and knocked out a few times but I still think that they were great fighters. I don't think that Wladdy is a great fighter because he has shown a total unwillingness to do any fighting on the inside, far less even than Lennox Lewis, who could fight in close if he wanted to or needed to. Wladdy used to cover up a bit inside but now all he does is hold. Emanuel Steward has probably taught him to fight that way. If Wladdy ever learned the inside fighting game I would have a lot more respect for him and like him a lot better too.

Estrada tired Estrada just got tired the last 2 or 3 rounds, maybe because of the body shots he had been taking. He kept hanging out in what Teddy Atlas called "no man's land", on the outside but not far enough outside to stay away from Cintron's jab and right hand. Earlier in the fight he was moving inside much better and I had the fight about even after 7 rounds. Cintron's conditioning held up well and he slowed Estrada down with right hands to Estrada's body. Listening to the post-fight interview though, I had a sense that Cintron confuses easily and that he needs constant guidance. In spite of his strength and almost ideal body type for boxing, I wouldn't pick him against Mayweather or Margarito in a rematch. He was the better man tonight though!

don't like Rahim's style I saw the Eric Morales vs. Zahir Raheem fight and I immediately didn't like Rahim's style. He's fast and has some boxing skills, but he's a bit like Pernell Whitaker in that he frustrates opponents rather than dominating them. He doesn't fight much on the inside but prefers to clinch, which I'm sick of in the fight game today. I know that Freitas ran a lot in the Corrales fight but he didn't clinch when Corrales caught him, and usually is a lot more aggressive than that. In my opinion he had the wrong fight plan against Corrales and should have stood his ground like the way Jose Luis Castillo did. Freitas can punch. In my opinion he will bounce back and beat Rahim, although it might be a frustrating fight to watch, with Rahim running and pecking away, landing soft, harmless flurries in an attempt to impress the judges. I hope that Freitas catches him and unloads on him, but we'll just have to see.