Let's hear it. Who are YOU favoring for the SMW tourny?

[Chollo Vista]

Cox was a decent amateur and the type that looks better in the gym than under the lights IMO
He started his career bright and knocked out a few journeymen then went off the rails and fights as if he's a huge puncher which he isn't, he wasn't even at MW.
He's really hot-headed too and when he can't get a guy out of there tends to just swing for the fences and use a barrage of dirty tactics completely abandoning his basics. I wouldn't be surprised if he gets DQ'd.
I like the fact he's an actual real nutjob inside and outside the ring but I am yet to be truly impressed by him and he's certainly yet to live up to his potential and at 30/31 I highly doubt he will now.

Interesting assessment...

You're really not impressed by Yildrum, huh?

You don't think Brant will beat Braehmur?

[Citizen Koba]

Regarding the unknowns:

Cox seems to be a good body puncher coming from the southpaw stance. He also punches in volume.

Brant possesses one punch KO power.

Skolund is a toe to toe slugger

Yildrim seems to remind me of Khurtside a bit. He's a mix between him and GG in a sense that he has a really good left hook to the body. No real jab and very slow, but can go to the body and chop you down. Not sure what his chin is like

Braehmer seems to be the weakest of the bunch, imo

I've also seen highlights of Smith. From what I've seen, he looked to be pretty good.

Once I see how the brackets are officially laid out, I can make a better prediction.

From the few highlight vids I've seen, Smith should beat Skolund. Not sure how Groves vs Cox plays out yet for I'm giving Cox a good shot. Brant should beat Braehmur from the 2 minutes I've seen of Brant.

Yildrim should beat Abraham if he fights him and possibly beats Eubank as well. I'll know more after I see Abraham vs Eubank

These are my initial thoughts in the quarterfinals

I'll have to do a little more work of my own, man. I don't know a thing about Brant, but a national champ and regional GG winner means he probably ain't to be sniffed at. I'll have to watch some footage though. Braehmer is a very canny boxer despite his utter failure to take on many challenges through his career. If it weren't for his age and the fact that he ain't fought at 168 for a decade I'd give him a decent chance to win the tourney. As it is - well if Brant can beat Braehmer convincingly he'll be in there with a really good shot for my money. Skoglund I like but like you say may be a little scrappy. Of the Brits clearly Groves is the most proven by a margin, but I think we've seen his best. It wasn't long ago that we saw him struggling for half a fight against Chudinov, though his final rally tells us that at least he's still game. I'm not favouring Groves but realistically he's the guy to beat - the guys to beat him are Smith and maybe Eubank. Chris should get past Abraham, but it's still a risky fight - Jr leaves himself wide open on the offense and although Abrahams a shadow of his former self, he still looks for that counter out of the high guard... young Chris will have to be careful there. Cox has very little experience of even top flight domestic fights and I think he's out of his depth here, although I do like his style.

Yildrim is a bit of a wild card here - utterly lacking in finesse but seems to be a real handful in the ring - guys just gonna keep coming which makes him dangerous to any of the other guys in the comp. Eubank vs Yildrim would be a war I think.

My favourite? Probably Mundo. He still ain't really proven at the top level, but I think he's the class in the tourney. Tough call though - I'd expect his greatest challenge to come from Groves but if he can overcome the Saint's greater experience and sheer bloody mindedness I think he can win the tourney.

[dan_cov]

Interesting assessment...

You're really not impressed by Yildrum, huh?

You don't think Brant will beat Braehmur?

Not really he's fairly solid but I see no X Factor. I can see his relentlessness causing some problems but he's so slow, ponderous, doesn't generate any real snap on his punches. I reckon he'd give Groves a stiff test he does remind me a bit of the guy who just fought Groves actually. Super limited but tough and pressure is always hard to deal with. No way he beats Smith, Eubank Jr would chew him up on the inside.

Hard to say what Braehmer has left and the weight cut but I don't for the life of me see him losing to a career MW whose been as uninspiring as Brant. I have no idea what his amateur career was like but he looks rather inexperienced to me and has some horrible tendencies of squaring himself up, his guards practically shoulder width wide, drops his left when he throws his right and vice versa. Braehmer comfortably I would of thought.