Light Heavyweight Landacape

[TrillScottHeron]

It didn’t occur to me until earlier today that the LHW division is very interesting at the moment. Especially when considering what happened this past weekend. Currently we have four champions: WBC Adonis Stevenson, WBO Eleider Alvarez, WBA Dmitry Bivol, and IBF Artur Beterbiev. None of them are young, except maybe Bivol, and all have their flaws that can be capitalized on. There is a collection of contenders: Badou Jack, Sergey Kovalev, Oleksandr Gvozdyk, Marcus Browne, Damien Hooper, Anthony Yarde, and Callum Johnson. In my opinion there is not much of a skill gap between these guys and I believe all those belts are there to be took on the right night. Who do you guys see rising to the top of this division? At the moment Bivol is the only one talking unification, which make sense with him being the youngest (hungriest). All the older champions seem content with just getting the bread and acclaim that comes with being called champion, yet don’t want to put in the work to be called the best. The real enemy in boxing is these sanctioning bodies, the only real power they hold is the attention we give to the fighters holding their titles. If you can’t look at a certain division and say that so and so is the definite best there, then what’s the f^ck!n point? Anyways enough ranting.

Tl;dr: Who will unify Light Heavyweight? Also check this video out.

[Shinkyokushin92]

Out of the 4 champions, I have Bivol and Alvarez as the most skilled/well-rounded and would pick them over Stevenson or Beterbiev. I think Gvozydk is overrated and haven’t been impressed with him lately.

[TheBigLug]

Anthony Yarde? seriously?

He's arguably not even in the top 3 LHW's in the UK, never mind on the world scene. I'd pick Johnson and Buatsi to beat him.

Everyone in the British game know that Yarde is chinny and it'll be exposed when he fights someone decent that can crack. That's why he's being kept away from anyone that can punch a bit.

Even if you rate Yarde, he's wayyyyyyyyy off world level now.

[TrillScottHeron]

Out of the 4 champions, I have Bivol and Alvarez as the most skilled/well-rounded and would pick them over Stevenson or Beterbiev. I think Gvozydk is overrated and haven’t been impressed with him lately.

I agree. Yet I wouldn’t argue with anyone saying Beterbiev is the best, he is just too inactive for me. Stevenson has the best resume/cv hands down, and experience has to count for something.

Anthony Yarde? seriously?

He's arguably not even in the top 3 LHW's in the UK, never mind on the world scene. I'd pick Johnson and Buatsi to beat him.

Everyone in the British game know that Yarde is chinny and it'll be exposed when he fights someone decent that can crack. That's why he's being kept away from anyone that can punch a bit.

Even if you rate Yarde, he's wayyyyyyyyy off world level now.

Man, miss me with that bullchit. Only people arguing that are Matchroom/Eddie Hearn fans. Callum Johnson has fought no one besides Buglioni, and that TKO was one of the many suspect UK stoppages. And while I like Joshua Buatsi, he is nothing more than a prospect right now. Yarde’s trainer was spot on when he said Hearn’s marketing plan is to mention his fighters names with actual contenders in hopes of building their profile. I wasn’t even going to respond to you, because I’m fairly certain your just trolling. But f^ck it, I’ll take the bait. Who is this other LHW you believe to be better than Yarde?

[TheBigLug]

I agree. Yet I wouldn’t argue with anyone saying Beterbiev is the best, he is just too inactive for me. Stevenson has the best resume/cv hands down, and experience has to count for something.



Man, miss me with that bullchit. Only people arguing that are Matchroom/Eddie Hearn fans. Callum Johnson has fought no one besides Buglioni, and that TKO was one of the many suspect UK stoppages. And while I like Joshua Buatsi, he is nothing more than a prospect right now. Yarde’s trainer was spot on when he said Hearn’s marketing plan is to mention his fighters names with actual contenders in hopes of building their profile. I wasn’t even going to respond to you, because I’m fairly certain your just trolling. But f^ck it, I’ll take the bait. Who is this other LHW you believe to be better than Yarde?

I'm certainly no Hearn fan many of my posts on here will confirm that. Buatsi for me just looks way better than Yarde in every way except maybe Power, great balance, fundamentals, punch selection, calmness in the ring. I just think he would have way too much talent for Yarde, regardless of who promotes him. I'm not as pathetic as some on here that favour fighters depending on who promotes them. I'm just a fan of boxing itself.

Johnson v Yarde might be a good measuring stick really. From what many have heard from a lot of people around the gym's and whatnot, Yarde can't take a shot. If that's true and Johnson caught him, he'll finish him. Johnson is accurate and can crack.

Anyway, i wasn't putting Yarde down at all. To me he looks like what he is i.e a fighter with no real Amateur experience that is learning on the job, but he's a very athletic guy with a good punch. I just think right now his lack of experience would be obvious once he fought a good level fighter with experience. My point wasn't saying he is no good, i'm saying he's still a raw novice in some ways and way off world level. It's a bit like Ohara Davies, he didn't have much amateur experience but looked (and is) a dangerous fighter and was knocking out guys left right and centre. Soon as he got in with a well schooled fighter, he was out of his depth. That's not to say Davies and Yarde aren't dangerous fights for anyone, they can crack but if all you have is power to rely on against a real well schooled fighter, you are out of your depth already.

Buatsi might have had less pro fights, but he's the far more experienced and well schooled boxer and it shows in how they fight.

[TrillScottHeron]

I'm certainly no Hearn fan many of my posts on here will confirm that. Buatsi for me just looks way better than Yarde in every way except maybe Power, great balance, fundamentals, punch selection, calmness in the ring. I just think he would have way too much talent for Yarde, regardless of who promotes him. I'm not as pathetic as some on here that favour fighters depending on who promotes them. I'm just a fan of boxing itself.

Johnson v Yarde might be a good measuring stick really. From what many have heard from a lot of people around the gym's and whatnot, Yarde can't take a shot. If that's true and Johnson caught him, he'll finish him. Johnson is accurate and can crack.

Anyway, i wasn't putting Yarde down at all. To me he looks like what he is i.e a fighter with no real Amateur experience that is learning on the job, but he's a very athletic guy with a good punch. I just think right now his lack of experience would be obvious once he fought a good level fighter with experience. My point wasn't saying he is no good, i'm saying he's still a raw novice in some ways and way off world level. It's a bit like Ohara Davies, he didn't have much amateur experience but looked (and is) a dangerous fighter and was knocking out guys left right and centre. Soon as he got in with a well schooled fighter, he was out of his depth. That's not to say Davies and Yarde aren't dangerous fights for anyone, they can crack but if all you have is power to rely on against a real well schooled fighter, you are out of your depth already.

Buatsi might have had less pro fights, but he's the far more experienced and well schooled boxer and it shows in how they fight.

Hey, styles makes fights, so I guess anything is possible on the right Saturday night.
Like I stated “I like Buatsi as a prospect,” and I apologize if I offended by assuming you were a Hearn zombie. I just lump fighters into four categories (Prospect, Contender, Champion, and Journeyman) and i expect them to be matched accordingly. At the present moment I don’t see them on the same level.
I agree with you though that Johnson/Yarde would be a great scrap to see where both actually are. But, Matchroom believes Johnson is ready for world level off the back of a forced TKO (which I notice, you didn’t debate) Against the hard hitting Beterbiev of all people at that.
I’m from Texas, so I wouldn’t know what UK gym gossip is being spread about Yarde. I can only go off what I’ve seen, and Yarde is actually stopping his opponents. While the other UK LHW’s are either being matched unevenly (Johnson, Burton, Summers, and Conley) or are still Prospects (Buatsi & Ball)