Antoine Douglas demise: bad match making or wasn't ready?

[glenn mcrory]

Just like Imam, and Ali...
Simply not good enough.
Their best wins are Maldonado, Abregu, and Cornflake.
Simple overhype.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

This is boxing, not mma,,, so fighters get matched soft forever and then finally fight a guy with a pulse.. Nearly impossible to tell if the guy will improve like a young manny or disappear like a mike jones

[MindGame]

I don't think they were ready for this style at all... Sam Solomon is a pressure fighter with soft power... His game is to overwhelm his opponent with punches in bunches, death by 1,000 paper cuts... (See Solomon vs Winky Wright)

Khurtsidze is a pressure fighter looking to take your head off, with the power to do it.... Douglas could easily exchange with Solomon, but not with Khurtsidze.

This fight reminded me of Bobby Czyz vs Andrew Maynard light... (Minus Maynards hot dogging attitude.) Older veteran cast as a gate keeper takes down the young lion looking for a title shot soon...

[daggum]

he didn't clinch every time khurts got close. bad "boxing"

[FlatLine]

He lingered on the ropes way too long, didn't use his footwork and let himself get beat on. He had the tools to win the fight but fell into Khurtsidze game plan over and over again. He showed a flash of his footwork at only a few brief times in the fight but staying on the ropes repeatedly was one critical mistake that Douglas made almost habitually in the fight. It was insane how much his back touched the ropes that night, I'll be surprised if he didn't go home with rope burn.

Khurtsidze fought brilliantly though, he kept up a high pace, high intensity for all 12 rounds and fought an excellent, inspired fight.

Mad credit goes to Douglas for showing a hell of a lot of heart when a lot of fighters would have just quit half way through the fight. Tough night that he should learn from and improve, as hundreds of other boxers do each year in defeat. 99% of boxers lose at various points in their careers, it's normal and a necessary, beneficial part of the learning process for most. Douglas is one tough dude with a lot of potential.

[SkillspayBills]

**** promoter. I remember........Todd Debouf(?) said that if a prospect loses before you can make money from him it's the promoters fault.

[boliodogs]

I think he just wasn't good enough to beat that tough guy. I don't think it was bad match making. If they were planning for Douglas to get to the championship level then sooner or later they have to risk fighting better fighters. Douglas had never lost a fight and was favored to win. Not every promising prospect is good enough to make it to the top. Ali showed that he is probably not good enough to make it and now Douglas has shown that he probably doesn't have what it takes to be a champion either. Every fighter wants to be a champion but few ever become one. Even with 4 champions in each weight class it is not easy to be a champion.