NSB PICK EM 2020 #1 and #2. 11th January 2020

[The plunger man]

The plunger man

Hart, Decision, Wide
Munguia , KO, Late

[MulaKO]

Well goddamn. Welcome one and all to the 2020 Pick Em, and let's hope its as much fun as 2019, really looking forward to welcoming back the old players and gettin to know the new...

Normally I'd rattle on for a few more paragraphs about what an honour it is an all that - y'all know how much I like the sound of my own voice.

But today I'm just gonna jump right in and christen this baby just cos I can:

KOBA

HART, DEC, CLOSE
MUNGUIA, KO, MID

...and also cos I just spent close to 3 hours putting the masterthread and this Pick Em together without a break and I'm going cross eyed staring at my screen.

Ima grab a beer, man. Grab a beer then go bed...

Wecome to the game and kind regards to you all.



K

Just wondering what your feelings were for not including the man called t-rex
Is it cause the Croat is a big underdog
I think she actually has a lot of incentive to win

[Citizen Koba]

Just wondering what your feelings were for not including the man called t-rex
Is it cause the Croat is a big underdog
I think she actually has a lot of incentive to win

I could have done, man, I pretty much insisted on Shields vs Hammer last year, but basically it's too much of a mismatch.

How Ivana got ranked to fight for two vacant tiles I do not know... she seems like a gutsy kid and her backstory is a rough one, and I'm sure she'll give her all, but best I can tell she's never even beaten a single fighter in the top 10 of any of the 3 divisions she's technically fought in, and we ain't talking like these are exactly deep divisions either. Kid even says herself that she's really a Welter and the only two times she ever stepped up at all she got KOd and 10 - zeroed.

I do want to include women's fights - if you ain't seen my opinions on the womens sport I'm sure you will - and want to encourage people to support 'em, but it's a hard enough sell even when it's an elite ladies match up.

There was another, more practical reason of course, which is that I didn't get my shit together to get the masterthread up on Monday night -as I was originally hoping- which meant I would have been cutting it kinda fine to give everybody to make the picks for a Friday fight. I had been kinda toying with the idea originally but that was the final nail in the coffin.

EDIT: Now that is more than just fishy. I've had to dig a just a little and it seems that the both the WBC ladies champ - Ewa Piątkowska and the WBO Champ Gabriels (who still holds the WBA) were quietly shunted out of the way at some point during 2019. Neither have lost a fight in that timeframe and Gabriels was specifically told she'd keep her 154 WBO title even if she lost to Shields at 160.

http://www.womenofboxing.com/hanna-gabriels-granted-approval-by-wbo-to-face-claressa-shields-on-june-22nd-without-being-stripped-of-her-jr-middleweight-crown-if-unsuccessful/

https://www.wbaboxing.com/wba-female-ranking#.XhkW3yPgouU

https://boxrec.com/en/proboxer/643499

Hanna of course already dropped Claressa at the higher weight and Ewa is undoubtedly considered a far more accomplished fighter than habazin ever was...

Yeah. So. Two well regarded champions bumped out of the way to clear the path for the unifed 160 champion to come down to pick up two titles against a chick who ain't even in the 154 top 10 per Boxrec. go figure. Hope Hannah and Ewa got paid for that ish at least.

[MulaKO]

I could have done, man, I pretty much insisted on Shields vs Hammer last year, but basically it's too much of a mismatch.

How Ivana got ranked to fight for two vacant tiles I do not know... she seems like a gutsy kid and her backstory is a rough one, and I'm sure she'll give her all, but best I can tell she's never even beaten a single fighter in the top 10 of any of the 3 divisions she's technically fought in, and we ain't talking like these are exactly deep divisions either. Kid even says herself that she's really a Welter and the only two times she ever stepped up at all she got KOd and 10 - zeroed.

I do want to include women's fights - if you ain't seen my opinions on the womens sport I'm sure you will - and want to encourage people to support 'em, but it's a hard enough sell even when it's an elite ladies match up.

There was another, more practical reason of course, which is that I didn't get my shit together to get the masterthread up on Monday night -as I was originally hoping- which meant I would have been cutting it kinda fine to give everybody to make the picks for a Friday fight. I had been kinda toying with the idea originally but that was the final nail in the coffin.

It’s all good
And yes it is a big mismatch without doubt
Did you hear of the passing of drummer great Neil Peart
It’s a sad day

[Citizen Koba]

It’s all good
And yes it is a big mismatch without doubt
Did you hear of the passing of drummer great Neil Peart
It’s a sad day

Goddamn. I hadn't heard. One of the sad things about getting older is watching your heroes fade and die. RIP.



Have a look at the EDIT I just put into my post above if you want to hear about some proper shady doings though. I mentioned I couldn't fiugre how Habazin got ranked... well, check this Gabriels and Piatkowska the incumbent WBO and WBC champs just... stopped being champs at some point during the second half of last year best I can tell. Didn't lose, didn't retire, didn't change division, just quietly weren't champs anymore.

Can't tell me that ain't deeply dicey.

[NC Uppercut]

I’m shocked we don’t have more players so far...,maybe it’ll be manic tomorrow

[BLASTER1]

BLASTER1
HART WIDE DEC
MUNGIA k/o MID

[MulaKO]

Goddamn. I hadn't heard. One of the sad things about getting older is watching your heroes fade and die. RIP.



Have a look at the EDIT I just put into my post above if you want to hear about some proper shady doings though. I mentioned I couldn't fiugre how Habazin got ranked... well, check this Gabriels and Piatkowska the incumbent WBO and WBC champs just... stopped being champs at some point during the second half of last year best I can tell. Didn't lose, didn't retire, didn't change division, just quietly weren't champs anymore.

Can't tell me that ain't deeply dicey.

Yeah it’s been a sad day here in Canada
They’ve been playing Rush all day on the local rock station

For sure there’s something going on behind those scenes lol
They probably can do what they want since there is not much attention towards women’s boxing

[FinitoxDinamita]

FinitoXDinamita

Hart Dec Close X2
Munguia KO Midrounds X2

[CauliflowerEars]

I’m shocked we don’t have more players so far...,maybe it’ll be manic tomorrow

I'm a bit surprised as well.
Something going on. I checked out Koba's link for 2017, and the Leaderboard says, "Top 100 Scores". You tellin me in that in 2017 there were over 100 players active in the PICK EMS ?
I imagine we'll pick up several more by the end of January, but Hmmmm ...