Few observations from last night

[Sugar Adam Ali]

1. Felix verdajo is the truth,, best prospect around today, his skill set, fundamentals, shot selection are very impressive for such a young fighter, He looks like the goods, and everyone should have them on their radar

2. Zhou shimming is never going to be a world beater, but he did look much improved in his 3rd fight,, I like his progress and at 32 years old he gonna be pushed quickly.. Look for the zhou-ali raymi showdown in summer of 2014

3.Andy Ruiz- People were hyping him up to be the next great heavy, LOL i actually watched him live for the first time, and that dude is a shorter version of aerrola, He has some skills, can take a punch, but in no way shape or form will that little fat butterbean ever be a top 5 heavy,, I cant believe some were saying andy ruiz future champion,, you should be ashamed of yourselves, this dude has no chance vs anyone remotely good

4. good performance by gradovich, i would like to see him vs lomochenko, alot of good fights to make at feather with donaire, salido, lomo, grado,'etc

5. Manny looked good but he has really slowed down,, after about 4 rounds, all his combinations were just really fast straight sharp arm punches, with little power on them, he didnt look like he has the explosiveness anymore that he once possessed.. Still a top tier fighter, but has def lost a step, and doesnt make sense that everyone is hyping him up again,,, The only good thing about the fight was manny's chin is ok, and he seemed to not have any ill effects from the jmm ko.. But to think he is going to start dominating again like its 2009, that is not going to happen,, manny is an aged fighter

[lfc19titles]

tbf adam, its only natural pac has slowed down and his stamina has declined a bit

I would say he is at around 90 percent of his best but thats due to his age, it always happens, pac won't be the same destructive animal because he does not have the physical tools but if he fights smarter, he can easily become p4p 1 and beat anyone at 147

its natural, its like floyd snr, what he said about floyd, he has slowed down and physically has declined, we can all see that, but because of his brain, he stays near the top, both guys are at like 90 percent of their best, I just hope both get it on soon

[CubanGuyNYC]

1. Felix verdajo is the truth,, best prospect around today, his skill set, fundamentals, shot selection are very impressive for such a young fighter, He looks like the goods, and everyone should have them on their radar

I think it's a little early to call Felix "the truth," but he is a nice prospect.

2. Zhou shimming is never going to be a world beater, but he did look much improved in his 3rd fight,, I like his progress and at 32 years old he gonna be pushed quickly.. Look for the zhou-ali raymi showdown in summer of 2014

I think Shiming is way overhyped to exploit the potentially massive Chinese market.

3.Andy Ruiz- People were hyping him up to be the next great heavy, LOL i actually watched him live for the first time, and that dude is a shorter version of aerrola, He has some skills, can take a punch, but in no way shape or form will that little fat butterbean ever be a top 5 heavy,, I cant believe some were saying andy ruiz future champion,, you should be ashamed of yourselves, this dude has no chance vs anyone remotely good

Missed this one...was busy getting my drink on.

4. good performance by gradovich, i would like to see him vs lomochenko, alot of good fights to make at feather with donaire, salido, lomo, grado,'etc

Saw parts of this and the first Dib fight. Gradovich is a tough cookie, but Dib is weak.

5. Manny looked good but he has really slowed down,, after about 4 rounds, all his combinations were just really fast straight sharp arm punches, with little power on them, he didnt look like he has the explosiveness anymore that he once possessed.. Still a top tier fighter, but has def lost a step, and doesnt make sense that everyone is hyping him up again,,, The only good thing about the fight was manny's chin is ok, and he seemed to not have any ill effects from the jmm ko.. But to think he is going to start dominating again like its 2009, that is not going to happen,, manny is an aged fighter

I agree that Manny didn't look as sharp as he has in the past, but I thought he landed with plenty of power. Rios's head is made of cement, and Pacquiao chose to play it safe on not go for the late KO.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

tbf adam, its only natural pac has slowed down and his stamina has declined a bit

I would say he is at around 90 percent of his best but thats due to his age, it always happens, pac won't be the same destructive animal because he does not have the physical tools but if he fights smarter, he can easily become p4p 1 and beat anyone at 147

its natural, its like floyd snr, what he said about floyd, he has slowed down and physically has declined, we can all see that, but because of his brain, he stays near the top, both guys are at like 90 percent of their best, I just hope both get it on soon

Totally understand where your coming from, and totally agree,, I just mentioned manny because alot of posters think he is back and it was a great performance and all the hype has returned, but if you watched closely you could see that his power and explosiveness was gone and most of his combos were arm punches without much power on them,,
He is still better than everyone not named floyd, jmm, ward, rigo,,, i just dont think he is the same fighter like so many posters are saying. The hype for manny has returned but im not buying it,,

during the 3rd round, i actually thought rios would have a good chance of walking manny down and beating him up over the course of the fight, but once manny started boxing off the back foot, rios showed his limitations and could make no adjustments

[Humean]

I agree with all but #5. Pacquiao was landing a lot with power and his speed looked damn fast to me throughout. Also worth noting that from what I gather Rios was 9 pounds heavier on the night, 6% of Pacquiao's own body weight heavier. Combine that with a strong chin and the fact that Rios had his chin tucked into his chest all night behind a high guard and was not exchanging at all then it really isn't a surprise that the stoppage never came.

Rios was such a disappointment, the fact he didn't ever really make much of an effort to win, not even in the final round. Robert Garcia is supposed to be a great trainer, what was the gameplan and why has Rios not improved one bit in the last few years?

[onechance87]

to early to call felix the truth.Its real easy to look good against
a midget.Suprise he didnt take him out.Seems like he dont really
got no power.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

I think it's a little early to call Felix "the truth," but he is a nice prospect.

I havent been that impressed with any prospects in about a decade, probably not since cotto circa 02-04,, Felix looks to have all the tools to be elite, his toughness will always be a question mark till he fights top guys, but as far as any prospects go today, felix is the cream of the crop

I think Shiming is way overhyped to exploit the potentially massive Chinese market.

Yes he is way overhyped, but not his fault, the chinese fans love him but i think once he fights on the world level he will be exposed and beaten, but i do give him credit for improving. He looked much more like a pro last night than in his previous 2 outings

Missed this one...was busy getting my drink on.

It was a very entertaining fight, but andy ruiz is basically a shorter fat arreola,, he will beat some guys but like arreola he will lose to the adameks, stiverne, klits, etc
The boy has alot of jiggles on his belly

Saw parts of this and the first Dib fight. Gradovich is a tough cookie, but Dib is weak.

Gradovich is a very tough cookie, reminds me of rusaln minus the power. Dib showed alot of heart last night but im glad he lost and removed from title shots, that will open up some good fights like donaire vs gradovich

I agree that Manny didn't look as sharp as he has in the past, but I thought he landed with plenty of power. Rios's head is made of cement, and Pacquiao chose to play it safe on not go for the late KO.

He did land some power but mostly it was one shot, and not in combination that manny use to do,, The manny that fought margs would have wrecked rios badly.. Manny still has the handspeed, but not the explosiveness,, I have seen manny drop the granite chin mosely with one shot, and last night he teed off on rios and could barely make rios take a step back.. Good performance by manny but he has def lost that explosiveness that made him such a killer

[Dr Rumack]

Fully agree on Pac. I was surprised to see all the talk about him being dazzling and brilliant. Rios clipped him pretty frequently in the early rounds and Manny didn't look at ease with the pattern of the fight.

Provided his chin held up and his legs were somewhat there he was always going to box the ears off Rios. And it's far from meaningless that both his chin and his legs were up to that task. But no he's not 'back' as so many headlines screamed this morning. The manic energy and rhythm, and the explosiveness in both his legs and upper body isn't what it once was. No surprise really. He's 34 and has had 60+ fights. The decline we're seeing is inevitable.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

I agree with all but #5. Pacquiao was landing a lot with power and his speed looked damn fast to me throughout. Also worth noting that from what I gather Rios was 9 pounds heavier on the night, 6% of Pacquiao's own body weight heavier. Combine that with a strong chin and the fact that Rios had his chin tucked into his chest all night behind a high guard and was not exchanging at all then it really isn't a surprise that the stoppage never came.

Rios was such a disappointment, the fact he didn't ever really make much of an effort to win, not even in the final round. Robert Garcia is supposed to be a great trainer, what was the gameplan and why has Rios not improved one bit in the last few years?

Margs was much heavier and so was shane,, i dont think the 9lbs was that big of a difference,, Manny def still has the handspeed, and he still can pop one hard shot, but i thought after 4 rounds his combos were just arm punches, they were fast accurate and straight shots, they just didnt have any pop on them, When manny hit hard it was usually just one shot at a time, but when it was more than one punch his power seemed to not be as strong, and yes rios has a great chin, but so does margs, and shane and manny badly hurt both of those guys and both much bigger than rios. Manny looked to be a speed demon, but his lack of explosiveness is causing his power to level off after a few rounds

to early to call felix the truth.Its real easy to look good against
a midget.Suprise he didnt take him out.Seems like he dont really
got no power.

Maybe alittle early to call him the truth, but he is the best prospect i have seen in a long time,, I love his shot selection and technique... I think in about 2-3 years him and crawford will both be high on p4p lists.. Not sure about his power, sometimes you face some midget, but that midget is tough as nails and goes to decision vs anyone, that is why they get fights like these because they can give felix rounds.. That chinese dude came to win and had huge heart, i think that was more of a factor than felix' percieved lack of power

[Fetta]

My household the talk is about Froch receiving a gift