Opinions on Boxing

[Clegg]

Left Hook is a very smart guy.

Did you ever see Guzman at SBW? He was a different fighter back then, very aggressive and hard punching. I don't think him fighting Pac was ever discussed by anyone back then, but that could've been a great fight. I'm not sure how good Guzman, Pac and JMM will be at LW. They are all going to be facing naturally bigger guys in their next fights and I think at least one of them will lose. I think Pac has a good chance of beating Diaz by KO/TKO though.

[the_godslayer]

You might be right. You're a Brit and I 'm from the states so you are in a better position to judge Joe's skills than I am.

Keep in my mind the only Calzaghe fight I saw before Lacy was the Eubank fight but I thought Eubank was past it.

The Lacy fight I saw on HBO and that's the fight that made me say , "Oh **** Joe has some skills!" Before that I didn't follow him much. The Kessler fight was a very good showing as well.

Don't get me wrong I think Joe is good and he'll be in the HOF. The problem is that even though he beat Bernard decisively (it was not a close fight B-Hop guys! B-Hop didn't do enough!) the fact that Bernard kept catching him with counters made me doubt his ability against the other greats like Roy and Toney. Roy was much better and a stronger puncher than Bernard and Toney was great at slipping punches and countering with booming right hands.

But as some of you Brits have pointed out Joe is old and no longer in his prime as well , so tough to judge.

The fight that made me sit up and take more notice of Joe was actually the Byron Mitchell fight (dont get me wrong id seen most of Joes fights anyway but just because im an avid boxing fan more than anything) against Mitchell Joe actually showed some heart and guts, i seriously thought when Mitchell put him down that it was over but Joe came storming back to force a stoppage victory ..... superb IMO.
Joe against RJJ prime for prime is a very very close call IMO, you hear rumours that the top fighters didnt want to face Joe while he was younger and fitter (Steve Collins, RJJ et al) but thats all most of them are, rumours, for me, i know Joe has a reputation for slapping but its the volume of his work that has won him his belts.

[eazy_mas]

I disagree about Hopkins statment

Is the MW era he era is weak or you dont know the people who is fighting there?

come on nobody knew many fighter on MW intell Oscar and Tito started fighting at MW.

[Left Hook Tua]

Left Hook is a very smart guy.

Did you ever see Guzman at SBW? He was a different fighter back then, very aggressive and hard punching. I don't think him fighting Pac was ever discussed by anyone back then, but that could've been a great fight. I'm not sure how good Guzman, Pac and JMM will be at LW. They are all going to be facing naturally bigger guys in their next fights and I think at least one of them will lose. I think Pac has a good chance of beating Diaz by KO/TKO though.

Guzman is very talented. I saw him fight Agapito and looked very good considering Sanchez gave Manny all sorts of problems , though getting hit in the balls and headbutted multiple times would give anyone problems.

The problem with Guzman is I don't know too much about him. Aside from Soto , Sanchez and Barrios (who lost to a few named guys) I don't really know too much about his opponents.

I know Guzman had power in the amateurs and at 122. They do call him little tyson but i don't think he's had a ko in like 4-5 years. He obviously has excellent boxing skills but I don't know about his chin and how well he can take a punch from Manny. Manny has dropped some pretty durable guys. How many times have you seen Erik or Juan Manuel get knockdowned?

Manny is tough to figure. He takes out Marco but can't do it 4-5 years later on when Marco is even older. He can't take out Larios but in the next fight ko's a super durable Erik. He smoked Ledwaba and Julio but has problems with Agapito.

Manny is a slugger and sluggers are usually easy pickings for a technical boxer. Technically speaking Joan should beat him. The problem is Joan would have to take it the distance and I don't know if he can go 12 rounds without getting caught. Manny has awfully fast hands which is rare for a slugger and he comes at you from weird angles because he's awkward and is coming from a southpaw stance on top of everything. I just don't know how Joan would take a straight left from Manny because in 12 rounds , with his hand speed and great stamina and work rate , you know Manny is gonna catch him with something.

[Left Hook Tua]

I disagree about Hopkins statment

Is the MW era he era is weak or you dont know the people who is fighting there?

come on nobody knew many fighter on MW intell Oscar and Tito started fighting at MW.

Tito only had 3 fights at 160 before he retired the 1st time. Joppy , Hopkins and Cherifi.

Oscar had 2 fights at 160. Sturm and Hopkins.

When Tito jumped at 160 , the other 2 champions were Joppy and Holmes.

I do not rate Joppy and Holmes too highly at 160. After they moved down to 154 they didn't impress there either.

Who was the best fighter Hopkins beat during his title reign before Trinidad , a natural welterweight? Robert Allen? Keith Holmes?

The most impressive name on there for me was Glen Johnson at 160 considering how solid Glen was at 168 and 175.

Hopkin's most impressive win is still Felix Trinidad but with 20/20 hindsight not so impressive. 2nd for me is Tarver but that was at 175.

Besides I don't even rate Tarver that highly. See my problem?

[Live Dog]

As a fighter I rate Tarver pretty high. As a person I rate him as a douche.

[Shalafi]

I don't know about all of that pare.

[Left Hook Tua]

The fight that made me sit up and take more notice of Joe was actually the Byron Mitchell fight (dont get me wrong id seen most of Joes fights anyway but just because im an avid boxing fan more than anything) against Mitchell Joe actually showed some heart and guts, i seriously thought when Mitchell put him down that it was over but Joe came storming back to force a stoppage victory ..... superb IMO.
Joe against RJJ prime for prime is a very very close call IMO, you hear rumours that the top fighters didnt want to face Joe while he was younger and fitter (Steve Collins, RJJ et al) but thats all most of them are, rumours, for me, i know Joe has a reputation for slapping but its the volume of his work that has won him his belts.

You know what? I totally forgot about Byron Mitchell. Byron was a solid fighter and was top 10 at 168 for several years. Everyone just talks about Lacy and Kessler that I totally forgot about him. He was ranked as high as #3 by The Ring just behind Sven Ottke and Joe.

Calzaghe fan boys should bring up his name more. I heard them mention Manfredo for god's sake but not mention Byron.

How highly was Byron ranked at the time when Joe beat him? I remember he was up there in the 168 rankings for a long time.

[Left Hook Tua]

I don't know about all of that pare.

we can't always agree shalef.

your ALLY in one thread is your ENEMY in the other!!!

now just lie and vote Tua is smart! ha ha ha

[Shalafi]

we can't always agree shalef.

your ALLY in one thread is your ENEMY in the other!!!

now just lie and vote Tua is smart! ha ha ha

You are cool in my book though, you are the coolest pinoy in the boxing scene pare.