Boxing

[Daniel 7]

Yep, that put me right off even streaming it

[Mike]

It's dreadful, one of the worst PPV's ever. Eddie Hearn is a scumbag.

Bellew - Cleverly is a good fight, allbeit a domestic fight which shouldnt headline a PPV but a good 50/50 fight so ok. Groves v Douglin is disgustingly bad, a bum who was fighting at 154 not long ago, fair enough he's not going to risk anything before a world title shot so dont have him on the card!! Degale v Periban is ok at best, Periban will throw for a few rounds then lose convincingly. Joshua's fight is pathetic, Sprott is much smaller and shot to pieces, he's been getting spanked in the 1st round in recent fights and that'll continue here. Quigg is defending his paper champion status v a 33 year old who's never beaten anyone good and has never even had a 12 rounder before. Mcdonnell v Ramos another despicable fight, a scrub who's been fighting 6 and 8 rounders recently against people with losing records is suddenly a credible world title challenger? This is even worse than Joshua or Groves fight.

Calum Smith is in a decent step up. But overall it's an absolute shambles of a card and he knows it which is probably why he's gone begging to Groves in the hope people think him v a bum is worth the money.

They could put whoever they want on the undercard and it still wouldn't be good enough for PPV, I agree the fights are one sided. What I mean is we'll still see a few decent fighters on the night which sadly is all you can hope for with a Matchroom bill - decent fights on the other hand is not something they do often enough.

Is it Eddie Hearn that decides if it is PPV though, or would it be Sky? Sky haven't had a proper PPV since Haye and Klitschko before FvG and then before that all you really got was Hatton. Get the impression Sky are trying to milk this now that people are getting back into boxing again.

[Darth Marty]

That ward Gatti round 9 is hard to watch now, the last minute is mental. Any ref in the pro game would have stopped that now.

Its a tough sport.

[red g]

They could put whoever they want on the undercard and it still wouldn't be good enough for PPV, I agree the fights are one sided. What I mean is we'll still see a few decent fighters on the night which sadly is all you can hope for with a Matchroom bill - decent fights on the other hand is not something they do often enough.

Is it Eddie Hearn that decides if it is PPV though, or would it be Sky? Sky haven't had a proper PPV since Haye and Klitschko before FvG and then before that all you really got was Hatton. Get the impression Sky are trying to milk this now that people are getting back into boxing again.

the reason they didnt get the PPV numbers is crap cards I would have thought and this will do them no favours.

The Joshua one is most baffling for me, take the prizefighters out and he has lost most of his fights over the last 5 years to nobodies. He will get sparked on the first decent shot.

I understand that he hasnt fought many pro bouts but surely he has to start stepping up in class, Sprott is terrible and even hearn cant spin that.

[Shaggy]

I'd fancy my chances against Sprott

[Doc_Piptorious]

Joshua should have no problems at all with Sprott. Sprott is so far past his best it is scary.


Am waiting though for the bout in which Joshua gets caught with a hard right. The guy is horribly open on his left side, and it is something that goes back to his days in the unpaid ranks. Nobody seems to be working on it with him, and it is only a matter of time before he gets put in the ring with a journeyman who is competent enough to exploit it.


It is actually a very similar flaw to what Amir Khan has, although Khan has the reflexes and speed to get away with it more often than not ( the fact most of his opponents are handpicked has helped too ). Joshua does not have the reflexes or speed to get away with it and I can see him getting floored at some point when he gets put in with a better class of fighter, the kind that will take his punches and fire back at him. Then we will find out what he is made of.

I was a bit dubious about Joshua for a spell, as my earlier posts in this thread will confirm, but now I am of the thinking that he is never going to live up to even a fraction of the hype once his defensive flaws and lack of truly concussive power get exposed. The one thing I thought that might carry him was his power, but I have begun to have serious doubts as to how hard he actually hits compared to the big hitters in the division. I now think he is heavy handed but not in the concussive manner that the best heavy hitters are.

[Darth Marty]

Hes a kid, relatively speaking, his punches will only gain power. I think he will go on to be a world champion at the weight.

Whether he lives up to his hype/potential is yet to be seen.

[Doc_Piptorious]

Hes a kid, relatively speaking, his punches will only gain power. I think he will go on to be a world champion at the weight.

Whether he lives up to his hype/potential is yet to be seen.

Would be surprised if he did not end up with a belt at some point, but then again holding a belt nowadays does not mean the fighter is a good one.


He will, or rather he should, become a more effective hitter once his technique gets more refined, and his power levels will go up and down somewhat as he ages, but I suspect he will be the type whose power leads to more TKOs than KOs as he moves up in class and that he will be found wanting when he steps in with genuine top ten fighters. I really do not think he has the kind of one punch stopping power that the real big hitters have, and I do not think he will develop that power as he gets older.


My own take is that Joshua may end up, in terms of ability, as a modern day Gary Mason. Now that is being said with no disrespect to the late Gary as he was a smashing guy, a great pro, and a very honest guy who is sadly missed. But He was also not a top tier fighter or all that close to being one.

Gary Mason would be, in my opinion anyway, a star name if he was a young fighter today. His ability and limitations would be the same as they were back in the day, but the hype that goes with the modern era would see him touted as a wrecking ball who is going to blitz the world scene. Similar to what is being touted about Joshua.

Would like to be proven very wrong about Joshua but I don't think he has the talent or ability to live up to even 50% of the hype surrounding him, and that if the hype was stripped away then we would see a 2014 version of a young Gary Mason or maybe for a better match aesthetically, as well as in terms of hype and ability, a young Michael Grant

[spud_gun]

Joshua should have no problems at all with Sprott. Sprott is so far past his best it is scary.


Am waiting though for the bout in which Joshua gets caught with a hard right. The guy is horribly open on his left side, and it is something that goes back to his days in the unpaid ranks. Nobody seems to be working on it with him, and it is only a matter of time before he gets put in the ring with a journeyman who is competent enough to exploit it.


It is actually a very similar flaw to what Amir Khan has, although Khan has the reflexes and speed to get away with it more often than not ( the fact most of his opponents are handpicked has helped too ). Joshua does not have the reflexes or speed to get away with it and I can see him getting floored at some point when he gets put in with a better class of fighter, the kind that will take his punches and fire back at him. Then we will find out what he is made of.

I was a bit dubious about Joshua for a spell, as my earlier posts in this thread will confirm, but now I am of the thinking that he is never going to live up to even a fraction of the hype once his defensive flaws and lack of truly concussive power get exposed. The one thing I thought that might carry him was his power, but I have begun to have serious doubts as to how hard he actually hits compared to the big hitters in the division. I now think he is heavy handed but not in the concussive manner that the best heavy hitters are.

You're not alone in questioning his power.

The main issue seems to be that until now he hasn't shown one punch knock out power.

Sure he's blowing through his opponents in a round or two but its being done via flurries as opposed to single punches.

Hearn is going to milk Joshua for all he's worth. Sky PPVs with him headlining aren't all that far away

[spud_gun]

Hes a kid, relatively speaking, his punches will only gain power. I think he will go on to be a world champion at the weight.

Whether he lives up to his hype/potential is yet to be seen.

Just curious but have you got any examples of boxers who've 'gained power' as their career has progressed?

I genuinely can't think of any.

[RichC]

Great stoppage by Coyle

[Darth Marty]

**** me I wasnt expecting that! Should be a good fight next year.

[RichC]

Tell me about it. Michael Katsidis is not an easy guy to stop and doing it the way Coyle did was damn impressive

[Darth Marty]

Typically I had called my 2 boys down to say "look here lads, this guy Katsidis is one tough other....bollocks, hes out" .

As always it was my fault for predicting an upset!

[Zapater]

Katsidis is shot. Was very good in his prime, but he clearly isn't the same anymore. The Marquez KO effectively ended his career.

Murray won a pretty contentious bout which was ended prematurely by an accidental headbutt. The cut was practically non-existent. His team called out Golovkin declaring Murray the 'Mayweather of middleweights' That fight would definitely be against his best interests.