Comments Thread For: The Beltline: Dillian Whyte, Joe Joyce and the eternal sunshine of the spotless mind

[1Eriugenus]

It is sad. Joyce was an intelligent young man, a graduate & an accomplished artist. If people around him had looked after him he would've quit after the first Zhang KO. When guys who pride themselves on a granite chin get KTFO that should be a red flag. I really like Joe, he comes over as an amusing, intelligent, self-aware young man, just like I would want my own sons to be, but I have a horrible feeling that he is stumbling forward into a very bad place.

[1Eriugenus]

Every so often Billeau2 pops up, posts something so obviously knowledgeable & intelligent that you wish you had said it, then vanishes again.

[1Eriugenus]

'The ref in the Dubois fight may have been trying but he did Joshua no favors. None of these guys have defensive skills! '

Actually, their offensive skills aren't exactly elite. Basically, if you take away Usyk & Fury you are left with a lot of guys who rely on being big, strong, muscular & that is it. The continuing presence of Joseph Parker should tell you how bad today's H/W division is. I mean, I like Joseph but if he had been knocking around with contenders like Ray Mercer, Tommy Morrison or Chris Byrd he wouldn't have remotely bothered the top 10.

[pollywog]

I like Joseph but if he had been knocking around with contenders like Ray Mercer, Tommy Morrison or Chris Byrd he wouldn't have remotely bothered the top 10.

Parkers chin is world class in any era.

[1Eriugenus]

Very few H/Ws have elite offensive skills, which is why Moses Itauma has caught attention. All too often,going back, H/Ws have settled for a jab & a huge right cross. Going back, the last H/W that could put punches together was Michael Dokes, & that was, seriously, 40 years ago. Dokes was one bad Mofo, he was money.

[1Eriugenus]

OK, I accept Evander wasn't too bad at stringing shots together.

[MulaKO]

Its their choice!

They know the risks. They have to accept the consequences...Short term gain for long term pain.

It's not something I'll watch though.

Yeah I get that but many of them , back in the day , were not the most educated people hence why they became boxers
Just like today , many boxers have a hard time letting go of the spotlight , mostly
Some just didn’t put away the coin they should of
And many just refuse to accept the truth making to late in time to get back
They should all have someone who they trust to speak the truth to them for their best interest
Kind of appointing a designated driver

[landotter]

I do wish more fighters were taught defensive strategies by their trainers early on. Simple, everyday stuff- absorbing shots on the shoulder, head movement, compacting your body and head against the ropes as opposed to leaning against the ropes, stretching yourself out and exposing yourself to open shots. I mean just simple counterpunching without opening up totally would have helped some of these HW. Even prior to the first loss, there were several posters on here pointing out that Joyce was a monster, but his fighting style was unsustainable. If freaking us hacks on a comment section, most of whom have never have gloves on ever, can make that connection, how can trainers and mangers not?

Joyce's decline is sad.

[thack]

The ref in the Dubois fight may have been trying but he did Joshua no favors. None of these guys have defensive skills! There is a reason why Lamotta (for example) SEEMED able to take punishment. He took a lot of the heat off the shots, as did many fighters who had underrated defensive skills.

Only in later years with the exception of the Hearns blowout did Duran get real credit for his defensive skills as many likened him to a good brawler in the early days , then it became admired just how good his defensive skills really were, full of defensive faints and split second moves to avoid bigger men like Barkley and Hagler and not to get caught by faster guys like Leonard.

[1Eriugenus]

People quote George Foreman like it is just a joke but he really nailed it: ‘boxing is like Jazz, the better it is, the less people understand it’. So true