Comments Thread For: Teofimo Lopez Jr. seeking title unification with Isaac Cruz

[billeau2]

bro this is the problem. No one thinks he beat tank. No one. He lost almost every round. Good fighter lots of heart but he’s not elite as much as his cutting supporters want him to be. Put him against prograis and watch what would happen. Haney rygar shakur teo even catterall and Taylor would beat him

Actually a lot of people think his fight with Tank was a draw, or even that he won.

None of these guys are truly elite! They are coming up. If the world ended tomorrow and then started up again in ten years, what would people say about Tank? "never beat a truly decent scalp at his own weight." None of these guys has really distinguished themselves, though when we look at Davis he seems to have special talents... Haney beat Loma... Again though watching the fight tells a more complex story than Haney "winning."

lets compare to Roy Jones: Jones did not "beat" Toney and "Hopkins" He dominated those fights! There was no need to ask a judge anything. Andre Ward did not "Win" the super Middle weight tourny, AS AN UNDERDOG... He beat the crap out of every fighter he faced in that Round Robin. That is elite...

You seem to me to be singling out Cruz for the same situation all these guys are presently in at the moment. None of them has done more, or less than Cruz... Some guys like Rollie? they already showed where they are... Even Matias... I mean Haney lost to Ryan a loss does not really mean a terminal situation, depending on the nature of the loss.

[billeau2]

Ima interject here. Not a Cruz follower at all. And I think you're right about levels. But look at Kambosas Jr. He's clearly a level below top guys in his weight. However, when he brought that angry fight to Lopez, it was curtains. So that's a possibility at the very least.

How can you, or anyone talk about "levels?" Out of this heet: { kambosa, Matias, Haney, Teo, Ryan, Cruz, Shakur} (may have left someone out lol...) who has distinguished oneself as heads above the rest? Like for example, when Lewis was at the top of the heavyweights... Or when Jones, Ward, Canbelo rule/ruled the roost?

What levels do we know about Cruz? The closest thing we can say is that Haney dominated Kambosas, and that Ryan dominated Haney... But so what? Neither of these guys has done anything go be the best of the group... And if cruz can be taken apart, then we will know, but to date he has not been.

Levels have to be established, even with a talented young fighter like Ennis who obviously is a killer. Crawford dominates... He does not WIN his fights, he asserts himself and shows a different level of execution...

[LAchargers373]

Actually a lot of people think his fight with Tank was a draw, or even that he won.

None of these guys are truly elite! They are coming up. If the world ended tomorrow and then started up again in ten years, what would people say about Tank? "never beat a truly decent scalp at his own weight." None of these guys has really distinguished themselves, though when we look at Davis he seems to have special talents... Haney beat Loma... Again though watching the fight tells a more complex story than Haney "winning."

lets compare to Roy Jones: Jones did not "beat" Toney and "Hopkins" He dominated those fights! There was no need to ask a judge anything. Andre Ward did not "Win" the super Middle weight tourny, AS AN UNDERDOG... He beat the crap out of every fighter he faced in that Round Robin. That is elite...

You seem to me to be singling out Cruz for the same situation all these guys are presently in at the moment. None of them has done more, or less than Cruz... Some guys like Rollie? they already showed where they are... Even Matias... I mean Haney lost to Ryan a loss does not really mean a terminal situation, depending on the nature of the loss.

I agree with the fact this era is a joke people talk about bumchenko and GGG like they are Floyd/manny/hopkins. I rate teo highly tho. I also rate tank pretty highly but he kinda on borrowed time as he does lose a lot of rounds. He just didn’t lose them against Cruz lol. I’d love to see Matias vs Cruz vs prograis. Any combination of these 3 will make an WXCELLENT fight and someone getting knocked out

[BustedKnuckles]

man Lopez shouldn’t have even been fighting.

https://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/...ught-air-chest

With teo tho it’s a lot in his head. When’s he’s happy and into it he’s the best at 140

I don't get into speculation about whether fighters should have fought. Otherwise I'd make excuses for Loma not fighting for the first 6 rounds vs Teo. I judge based on how they fight when they fight.

I also don't see any difference between Teo's mental outlook falling short in a fight and somebody else's footwork or defense falling short. It's all part of the fighter.

You could take any common fighter and list a bunch of things that he could do better to win every fight. "He'd be great if" or "he is capable of greatness" is not the same as being great.

[BustedKnuckles]

How can you, or anyone talk about "levels?" Out of this heet: { kambosa, Matias, Haney, Teo, Ryan, Cruz, Shakur} (may have left someone out lol...) who has distinguished oneself as heads above the rest? Like for example, when Lewis was at the top of the heavyweights... Or when Jones, Ward, Canbelo rule/ruled the roost?

What levels do we know about Cruz? The closest thing we can say is that Haney dominated Kambosas, and that Ryan dominated Haney... But so what? Neither of these guys has done anything go be the best of the group... And if cruz can be taken apart, then we will know, but to date he has not been.

Levels have to be established, even with a talented young fighter like Ennis who obviously is a killer. Crawford dominates... He does not WIN his fights, he asserts himself and shows a different level of execution...

I see Cruz as a pressure fighter with short reach who relies on some wild hooks for power shots. I know its an oversimplification, but Im being basic here. That may take him to the top in this current division, but I personally don't see that particular mix of attributes to be as potentially successful as others.

Nonetheless, the point of my post was that he may be able to beat Teo with that pressure, because Teo couldnt handle that heat from Kambo, and I've never been sold on Teo.

[billeau2]

I agree with the fact this era is a joke people talk about bumchenko and GGG like they are Floyd/manny/hopkins. I rate teo highly tho. I also rate tank pretty highly but he kinda on borrowed time as he does lose a lot of rounds. He just didn’t lose them against Cruz lol. I’d love to see Matias vs Cruz vs prograis. Any combination of these 3 will make an WXCELLENT fight and someone getting knocked out

They are all talented, but flawed... But then again that is probability which tells us that when a man is put into the light, with all the good and bad exposed, most will succumb to their flaws over time. This being the nature of any game where you have an elite percent, looking for any edge, and ready to exploit it.

Teo is indeed very good. At his best he is big for the weight (140 at least), strong, fast, technically accomplished and willful. But he has that mental fragility... Like Klitsko always seemed to have. Can he overcome it? And then these guys start to get bigger. In Peter Pan land one can always be young, but Haney like Broner, may never find a weight where he can maintain dominance...

Tank has a few problems. He is coming into his twilight having not cleaned out his division. Pretty soon he loses a step. He just never considered legacy as an issue. He loses rounds against decent fighters... Can he do this against elite guys like Loma? Think what one will about Loma, but given six rounds remaining, if he was winning against Tank, I doubt he would fold like Martin. Even a strong guy like Teo, would he fall down against Tank? If they could fight at 135/140?

Cruz may be too small for Prograis, depends if he gets bigger. Hard to say.

[billeau2]

I see Cruz as a pressure fighter with short reach who relies on some wild hooks for power shots. I know its an oversimplification, but Im being basic here. That may take him to the top in this current division, but I personally don't see that particular mix of attributes to be as potentially successful as others.

Nonetheless, the point of my post was that he may be able to beat Teo with that pressure, because Teo couldnt handle that heat from Kambo, and I've never been sold on Teo.

If any of these guys don't get bigger and can stay at their weight in their division this would be an unheralded, huge advantage. Teo is too big for 135 and Cruz appears to me to be a perfect 135 pounder. What would concern me would be Teo's size if they fought at anything north of 135.

Cruz doesn't get hit a lot, but, I have noticed that he does not use as much head movement as he did in earlier fights... Teo in beast mode, bigger and stronger would be a great scalp for Cruz.

[LAchargers373]

I don't get into speculation about whether fighters should have fought. Otherwise I'd make excuses for Loma not fighting for the first 6 rounds vs Teo. I judge based on how they fight when they fight.

I also don't see any difference between Teo's mental outlook falling short in a fight and somebody else's footwork or defense falling short. It's all part of the fighter.

You could take any common fighter and list a bunch of things that he could do better to win every fight. "He'd be great if" or "he is capable of greatness" is not the same as being great.

He’s pretty good for his age