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After watching this fight and seeing how it all played out, I can remember only thinking one thing before the scorecards were read.
I want to see both fighters again. In a sense, it's a good thing that it was so close and that Campbell got the nod.
I personally got the feeling that Campbell felt the effects of being weight-drained, so I doubt this was the best he can do at this stage in his life. For Funeka, I still don't know of many 135 pound fighters that want to face a 6'1" Lightweight. So keeping him around after that showing will be difficult, but I'm sure fans will want to see it. He's a very skilled fighter.
It's not all sunshine, however. There are problems for both. For Campbell, he's not getting younger. Anytime an older fighter is FORCED to move up because he's body is BEGINNING to let him down, you have to be weary. However, he's still a skilled fighter. He can take a punch, can crack and is a pretty fast guy. There's also the chance that his sluggish nature during portions of the Funeka fight had a lot to do with his weight issues.
With Funeka, he's too dangerous, with not enough reward. Hopefully, one of the governing bodies out of the three that were up for grabs on Saturday, allow him to be a number one contender, so he can either get in line with number 2 or get a shot soon enough. Because otherwise, I can see a lot of fighters ducking him and having the excuse of, he was beat by an old, out of shape guy already.
The upside is that he's an exciting, busy, hard combination punching fighter who CAN take a shot to the head AND body and is also slicker than meets the average eye.
With Campbell, he has some nice options at 140 to choose from. There's an interesting match-up with Ricardo Torres. Or Juan Urango for a minor title. He could establish himself against guys like Victor Ortiz or Paul Malignaggi. Or, he could go for the big guns in Ricky Hatton or Manny Pacquiao. Either the winner or loser of their upcoming fight.
It remains to be seen how be fights at 140, so I'll hold back on determining how he'll fair up there.
For Ali, he's got a LOADED division that helps him. With so many names out there, it COULD be easier for somebody to HAVE to face him eventually. The one bad thing is that 4 of the top 10 names in the division are tied up in a Golden Boy tournement. The good news is that The winner of Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz is still out there. Both fights being intriguing. He could also take on a guy like David Diaz in the meantime and fight the winner or runner up in the 8 man tournement. Possible could face Barrera if he gets passed Khan and then could set up their fight for a vacant title. (However, if Barrera/Khan is for a title, I'm sure both fighters shy away from Funeka.)
Regardless, this is a pretty interesting situation.
Vote. Discuss. Disagree. So on and so forth.
I want to see both fighters again. In a sense, it's a good thing that it was so close and that Campbell got the nod.
I personally got the feeling that Campbell felt the effects of being weight-drained, so I doubt this was the best he can do at this stage in his life. For Funeka, I still don't know of many 135 pound fighters that want to face a 6'1" Lightweight. So keeping him around after that showing will be difficult, but I'm sure fans will want to see it. He's a very skilled fighter.
It's not all sunshine, however. There are problems for both. For Campbell, he's not getting younger. Anytime an older fighter is FORCED to move up because he's body is BEGINNING to let him down, you have to be weary. However, he's still a skilled fighter. He can take a punch, can crack and is a pretty fast guy. There's also the chance that his sluggish nature during portions of the Funeka fight had a lot to do with his weight issues.
With Funeka, he's too dangerous, with not enough reward. Hopefully, one of the governing bodies out of the three that were up for grabs on Saturday, allow him to be a number one contender, so he can either get in line with number 2 or get a shot soon enough. Because otherwise, I can see a lot of fighters ducking him and having the excuse of, he was beat by an old, out of shape guy already.
The upside is that he's an exciting, busy, hard combination punching fighter who CAN take a shot to the head AND body and is also slicker than meets the average eye.
With Campbell, he has some nice options at 140 to choose from. There's an interesting match-up with Ricardo Torres. Or Juan Urango for a minor title. He could establish himself against guys like Victor Ortiz or Paul Malignaggi. Or, he could go for the big guns in Ricky Hatton or Manny Pacquiao. Either the winner or loser of their upcoming fight.
It remains to be seen how be fights at 140, so I'll hold back on determining how he'll fair up there.
For Ali, he's got a LOADED division that helps him. With so many names out there, it COULD be easier for somebody to HAVE to face him eventually. The one bad thing is that 4 of the top 10 names in the division are tied up in a Golden Boy tournement. The good news is that The winner of Juan Manuel Marquez and Juan Diaz is still out there. Both fights being intriguing. He could also take on a guy like David Diaz in the meantime and fight the winner or runner up in the 8 man tournement. Possible could face Barrera if he gets passed Khan and then could set up their fight for a vacant title. (However, if Barrera/Khan is for a title, I'm sure both fighters shy away from Funeka.)
Regardless, this is a pretty interesting situation.
Vote. Discuss. Disagree. So on and so forth.
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