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Somehow this Nicholas Walters interview slipped through the cracks. See here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsFQmCELTPQ. Probably because SecondsOut made the mistake of not even labeling it an interview. But everyone said Walters just plain quit out of frustration, that he was mentally flustered. It's the same thing they said about Golata. But I have always believed the mental side of these things can be overrated. Commentators like to talk about it because they are always trying to dramatize everything, make it into a story. One guy just being stronger or faster or more skilled isn't interesting enough, so they like to add multiple other storylines. Sometimes they are legitimate, if there are emotions involved from rivalries outside of the ring, but I think specifically in terms of why boxers either give up or start fouling like Golata, it usually has a lot more to do with fatigue and being hurt.
If you feel like your legs are about to give out and you can barely stand or breath, and there is another man trying to punch you, that's a much more pressing reason to quit than "he's hard to hit, this is frustrating for me. Darn."
When Walters 'No mas'd vs Lomachenko, I said at the time, he must have just been a lot more hurt from all the clean shots to both his head and body than he let on. Then only a week ago, this old interview from after the fight showed up. Here is what he said:
(In response to Interviewer saying it's a difficult situation for a boxer's reputation with fans when he stops the fight without being knocked out or hurt) "I wouldn't say that I wasn't hurt. (How were you hurt?) Yeah! You wasn't watching the fight? You was sleeping? You was watching the fight? Didn't you see the last round? How you see the last round? (I mean I felt he dominated every round, but...) Every round. (...was there an injury that you suffered, or did you feel like you couldn't continue because you weren't able?) Listen man, he was catching me clearly in the last round. I barely made it through the last round. Did you see that? I barely made it through the last round. It would be crazy for my corner to send me out after I barely made it to him [inaudible]. (What were the difficulties that you having at that point?) I was out of range, I wasn't finding my range, and every round he was getting better and better each round, and then in the 7th round, he caught me with good body shots, he caught me with good head shots, everything..."
Do you think this means Lomachenko has more power at 130 than people realize? My opinion is part of it is that his power is overrated, but another part is that Nicholas Walters skills are overrated, and his big win against Donaire was against a past prime fighter. But I also believe that Donaire was also mostly past his prime when Rigo fought him, too. So it will be very interesting to see what happens December 9th.
If you feel like your legs are about to give out and you can barely stand or breath, and there is another man trying to punch you, that's a much more pressing reason to quit than "he's hard to hit, this is frustrating for me. Darn."
When Walters 'No mas'd vs Lomachenko, I said at the time, he must have just been a lot more hurt from all the clean shots to both his head and body than he let on. Then only a week ago, this old interview from after the fight showed up. Here is what he said:
(In response to Interviewer saying it's a difficult situation for a boxer's reputation with fans when he stops the fight without being knocked out or hurt) "I wouldn't say that I wasn't hurt. (How were you hurt?) Yeah! You wasn't watching the fight? You was sleeping? You was watching the fight? Didn't you see the last round? How you see the last round? (I mean I felt he dominated every round, but...) Every round. (...was there an injury that you suffered, or did you feel like you couldn't continue because you weren't able?) Listen man, he was catching me clearly in the last round. I barely made it through the last round. Did you see that? I barely made it through the last round. It would be crazy for my corner to send me out after I barely made it to him [inaudible]. (What were the difficulties that you having at that point?) I was out of range, I wasn't finding my range, and every round he was getting better and better each round, and then in the 7th round, he caught me with good body shots, he caught me with good head shots, everything..."
Do you think this means Lomachenko has more power at 130 than people realize? My opinion is part of it is that his power is overrated, but another part is that Nicholas Walters skills are overrated, and his big win against Donaire was against a past prime fighter. But I also believe that Donaire was also mostly past his prime when Rigo fought him, too. So it will be very interesting to see what happens December 9th.
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