How did he beat so & so..

**dannnnn** · 03-23-2022, 06:04 AM

Interesting topic this, offers some good food for thought.

I suppose one that comes to mind for me personally is Jermain Taylor beating Bernard Hopkins twice in a row and ending his lengthy reign atop the middleweight division. I know Taylor was undefeated and on the rise at the time, but it was still surprising and has become even more so with hindsight considering how Taylor's career panned out afterwards. Both fights were close but clean wins. No controversy, injuries, excuses, etc. The better man won on the night both times, and yet from then on Taylor looked forever underwhelming.

I'm not sure what it's truly indicative of, whether it was just a bad style match up or what, but it does make me wonder had a young talented middleweight prospect appeared on the scene sooner, would Hopkins' long title reign at 160lbs have been quite so dominant?

**Silence** · 03-23-2022, 06:23 AM

Derevyanchenko vs Lil G
I expected ez win for Lil G. Derev beat him and got robbed. Lil got hospitalized.

**PBR Streetgang** · 03-23-2022, 07:12 AM

One series of four fights that stands out for me is Vernon Forrest versus Shane Mosley and subsequently Ricardo Mayorga and Vernon Forrest.

I was pretty stunned that Forrest handled Mosley fairly easily in back to back fights proving it wasn't a fluke. I assumed some of it was a bad style matchup for Sugar although I could see Vernon was a quality fighter.

When Forrest got smoked by Mayorga in the first fight, I thought it was a fluke but he chased him around the ring in the rematch and won that.

**The Big Dunn** · 03-23-2022, 07:15 AM

Originally posted by PBR Streetgang

One series of four fights that stands out for me is Vernon Forrest versus Shane Mosley and subsequently Ricardo Mayorga and Vernon Forrest.

I was pretty stunned that Forrest handled Mosley fairly easily in back to back fights proving it wasn't a fluke. I assumed some of it was a bad style matchup for Sugar although I could see Vernon was a quality fighter.

When Forrest got smoked by Mayorga in the first fight, I thought it was a fluke but he chased him around the ring in the rematch and won that.

Came in to discuss this series as well.

**PBR Streetgang** · 03-23-2022, 07:21 AM

Originally posted by The Big Dunn

Came in to discuss this series as well.

Ahh, Big Dunn...which matchup or both? I was more shocked by Mayorga winning. Both were surpising to me.

**PBR Streetgang** · 03-23-2022, 07:27 AM

Another one that I couldn't understand was Iran Barkley beating Hearns. I was a little young at the time but still followed boxing enough that I felt that was a shocker.

**The Big Dunn** · 03-23-2022, 07:32 AM

Originally posted by PBR Streetgang

Ahh, Big Dunn...which matchup or both? I was more shocked by Mayorga winning. Both were surpising to me.

Definitely Mayorga. Forrest looked so much bigger than Shane and seemed to have such a longer reach.

Mayorga I figured was just there to get a check.

**STREET CLEANER** · 03-23-2022, 08:05 AM

Originally posted by PBR Streetgang

One series of four fights that stands out for me is Vernon Forrest versus Shane Mosley and subsequently Ricardo Mayorga and Vernon Forrest.

I was pretty stunned that Forrest handled Mosley fairly easily in back to back fights proving it wasn't a fluke. I assumed some of it was a bad style matchup for Sugar although I could see Vernon was a quality fighter.

When Forrest got smoked by Mayorga in the first fight, I thought it was a fluke but he chased him around the ring in the rematch and won that.

Forrest and Mosley met a few times in the amateurs and Forrest knew him very well. Mayorga was awkward and for some reason Forrest couldn't adjust to him and his power. A guy with so much skill could not get out of Mayorga's range.

**STREET CLEANER** · 03-23-2022, 08:08 AM

Originally posted by dan_cov

Which fights do you look back at and think how the **** did a certain fighter lose to another? i.e Khan vs Maidana seems a popular one.

A recent one for me is Josh Taylor vs Regis Prograis now I actually picked Taylor in that one but the more I look back at it the more I am like how did Prograis manage to lose to this guy? Not even in the aftermath of the Catterall fight which certainly does make me question it even more.

Taylor is more accomplished, better resume, taller, longer and so on but I feel Prograis is just a better fighter and someone that should be beating Taylor

Khan gets hurt with a punch that he doesn't see. Even when he was getting hit by Maidana he was seeing the punches coming in. That knockdown took some out of Maidana for the rest of the fight.

Taylor simply was able to adjust a bit more and had one more gear. He was looking weary at the end of the fight but had done enough to get the nod. He can't be judged by his last fight because like Teo Lopez they thought that it was a lesser opponent and want to KO right away and when that don't happen...

How did he beat so & so..