Damian Hooper

[BennyST]

I've seen most of his fights, and while I had a fair bit of hope during his amateur days, what I've seen so far doesn't bode well.

He's fighting cream puffs and yet he's already been hurt in numerous fights. His last fight was a ****ing disaster. He kept getting caught with the same shot, from some Korean hack, and getting really shook up. I was sure he was getting stopped about three times during the fight. Not only that but in one of his older fights, he came in against another hack, and got dropped hard in the opening round.

He's got the ability, but whether he has the right mindset, the right discipline and the right patience remains to be seen. It also looks as though, a bit like Willie Kickett unfortunately, while he might have the speed, skill and ability, he lacks the chin and a good punch.

The patience and mindset seem to be lacking too. He should have boxed the Korean dude stupid. He had a massive height and reach advantage, the speed to make the guy look stupid, and the ability too. And yet he would get into these pointless exchanges and caught with big counter shots. He could have stopped the guy if he had sat back, been more patient, used his reach and jab and set the guy up, and walked him onto shots. Instead he was getting set up and caught.

So, what do you ****s think?

Edit: I tell ya what though, Aussie boxing is really in the ****ter. We've had some good looking prospects lately, Kickett, Omotoso, Zappa, Dib, Tomlinson....and all are basically turning out, or already have turned out, to be sorely lacking. We've got nothing looking good for the future. With the imminent retirement of the little legend Vic, what's next?

[RAV3N]

I havnt been paying much attention to aussie boxing after watching kickett throw it all away.

He had great potential but got dropped in his first loss and it was all down hill from there.

The only real boxer we have now is Geale and I dont think he is good enough to beat the top guys in the MW division.

You are correct, it seems that we dont have any new prospects in boxing, any athlete is choosing to play AFL or NRL.

[Suckmedry]

To be honest I think theres something wrong with how we are taught to box over here. Our guys can never cut it technically, even if they look like good boxers at domestic level they will get smashed as soon as they step up.

I think if aussie boxing is going to have another good fighter he will have to be a puncher

[RAV3N]

The problem is that we have no world class trainers or gyms to go to.

Our best chance probably is a puncher with a good chin.

But with our population, boxing popularity and amateur comps I highly doubt that we are going to produce any A grade boxers any time soon.

[BennyST]

Geez....three replies in a month. This place is devoid of aussies. I guess that's another reason boxing is so ****e over here.

Anyway, I do agree with the trainer thing. The great Aussie trainers, and we had quite a few back in the day, are really all but gone. We don't have many great technique trainers. Fenech is probably the best today in terms of teaching technique, and he's actually underrated in that department, but there's just not many at all.

After watching Brendan Smith with Kats....:non ono:

I don't even know what to say about that guy. Just hopeless as a trainer and never the right thing to say.

What the **** has happened to Omotoso lately anyway? He's been out since close loss to a guy that is now world champion for well over a year now. whats up with that?

[RAV3N]

I dont even know any proper boxing fans, all are just casuals and more likely into the UFC as it appeals to the casual fight fans more in Australia.

Well if Kats could of had just a small amount of boxing skills he would of went a lot further but it was also his choice to stay with the same crap trainer all that time.

Omotoso has fallen off the face of the earth it seems, his last fight was over a year ago.

[Suckmedry]

I dont even know any proper boxing fans, all are just casuals and more likely into the UFC as it appeals to the casual fight fans more in Australia.

Well if Kats could of had just a small amount of boxing skills he would of went a lot further but it was also his choice to stay with the same crap trainer all that time.

Omotoso has fallen off the face of the earth it seems, his last fight was over a year ago.

So true with katsidis. If he moved his head a bit and had a tighter guard he might have won the casamayor fight, and he did drop JMM

[RAV3N]

So true with katsidis. If he moved his head a bit and had a tighter guard he might have won the casamayor fight, and he did drop JMM

That is true, if he worked on having at least some sort of defence he would have done much better and he could of worked on his right hand a bit more too.

[Suckmedry]

That is true, if he worked on having at least some sort of defence he would have done much better and he could of worked on his right hand a bit more too.

Yeah definitely. Kats had the tools to belong at the top. Not technically but he had the balls and the heart to hang with good fighters, or at least make it a damn good fight to watch and at the end of the day thats what we all pay for.


So my theory is that the next good Aussie hoping to do something has to be able to punch. Theres a couple decent young guys i remember from the amateurs go pro, as i remember one of them can really fcking punch (and hes a 135/140lber i think) and thats the ultimate equalizer in this sport, so its a guy like that whos gonna maybe carry some hope for us. His name escapes me atm, but i think he may be the national lw champ?

A dude like Hooper can box like a crazy c*nt , fast as hell, long, so talented but i just dont think we've got the sparring opponents or fight opponents here for a guy to really perfect a style like that, idk its just what im seeing lately.

Perfect example is when will kickett fought Adrien Broner when Broner was a prospect. Now Kickett is just as talented as Broner imo, not power wise but he had the movement and the tools to beat a guy as stationary as Broner. And he troubled him slightly for a little before Broner just adjusted and knocked him the fck out. You could just see the difference in ring genralship between them because Broner would have been in there countless times against guys just as or more talented, while Kickett fighting over here would nearly always be the more naturally talented fighter, without a doubt.

[RAV3N]

Yeah definitely. Kats had the tools to belong at the top. Not technically but he had the balls and the heart to hang with good fighters, or at least make it a damn good fight to watch and at the end of the day thats what we all pay for.


So my theory is that the next good Aussie hoping to do something has to be able to punch. Theres a couple decent young guys i remember from the amateurs go pro, as i remember one of them can really fcking punch (and hes a 135/140lber i think) and thats the ultimate equalizer in this sport, so its a guy like that whos gonna maybe carry some hope for us. His name escapes me atm, but i think he may be the national lw champ?

A dude like Hooper can box like a crazy c*nt , fast as hell, long, so talented but i just dont think we've got the sparring opponents or fight opponents here for a guy to really perfect a style like that, idk its just what im seeing lately.

Perfect example is when will kickett fought Adrien Broner when Broner was a prospect. Now Kickett is just as talented as Broner imo, not power wise but he had the movement and the tools to beat a guy as stationary as Broner. And he troubled him slightly for a little before Broner just adjusted and knocked him the fck out. You could just see the difference in ring genralship between them because Broner would have been in there countless times against guys just as or more talented, while Kickett fighting over here would nearly always be the more naturally talented fighter, without a doubt.

I think that if someone in aus has a huge amount of boxing talent then they need to go to the US while they are young and train at one of the good boxing gyms over there to get quality training and sparring.

You cant even get decent amateur experience in aus which is another bad factor.

Like you said, the only hope we have of producing an A grade boxer is if he has great natural attributes like power or a great chin, etc.