Alph

They also try to balance fights don't they?

Like Saturday it's entirely possible to give Bivol all 12 rounds. But that would mean the scores wouldn't show how that Bivol had to work for it.

So they tip a few to a losing fighter to show he was competitive. 

When in truth Canelo was competitive but probably lost 11 rounds.

You even find yourself thinking you have to find Canelo a round here because he's Canelo!

Boxing outside the ring is such nonsense isn't it. 

As if in this day and age we let people pick a winner based on things like Aggression/coming forward. 

There's enough technology to score jabs, power punches, % success and even zones of the ring (how ring position is even a criteria is nonsense considering some fighters prefer being on the back foot).

Time and time again judges have proven they can't be trusted. Saturday the perfect example. I love watching Canelo's story unfold as he'll be spoken about for a century. I didn't care who won. But Canelo did not win 5 rounds. And yet some had him winning 5 or 6

The only way that is possible is if you prefer a fighter and watch it entirely from his perspective. 

With that AJ v Usyk fight I thought it was close at first because I'm watching shots bounce off Joshua and cheering his punches on Usyk. Almost ignoring Usyk's shots. I had Usyk winning but watching it back he won far more comfortable than I originally thought. Impartiality is a big ask and boxing judges aren't capable of ignoring hype/names. 

Tbf I thought he'd beat Bivol too. 

Even if it had to be a robbery. The fact they gave it 7-5 shows that Canelo wins a few rounds every ring walk. He has a granite chin so simply surviving I thought would see him win every fight. 

I like what Bivol said. 

He doesn't care if he doesn't get the decision. He doesn't care if he's "robbed". He'll prove to himself that he can beat Canelo. 

Shows how one sided it was that they couldn't even tip it. That jab left Canelo marked up after 5 minutes

That track is poop. 

Where did Ricciardo come from at the end? Did he benefit from the Stroll/Schumacher incident? 

And I didn't see where Gasly went? He survived the crash I thought? 

Sainz! Welcome back!!

I wanted to see Buatsi v Yarde. Well, not for seeing Yarde get beat but more his trainer Tunde. Can't stand the geezer. Yarde might be bearable without the clowns that he's with. 

Buatsi in a tough fight though. I know he's violent when he sets about it but there was one fight (can't remember who) where he seemed to struggle to adapt for a while. Richards is a good step up. He's going down the WBA route isn't he? So he's likely to bump into Bivol before Beterbiev? 

Interesting to see the route Buatsi takes. It's not really a stacked division so it's going to be tough to build up to Bivol. Again it's a division like Super Lightweight where the best rise quickly and run out of options. Where does Buatsi go after Richards, assuming he wins? 

Shaun Porter had Canelo 3-2 up. And then said it will be different in rematch because Canelo got it tactically wrong

Some other American pundit (all annoying!!) said it could be the Vegan diet without any sense of irony!!

I think it simply demonstrated why their are weight divisions. Fair play to Canelo he'll go down as an all time great. Still nobody can beat him below light heavy

15 minutes ago, Bris Vegas said:

DAZN official site has round by round scoring with Canelo ahead. Lol.

They should ask them which rounds. Talk us through it. 

He got battered.

115 - 113 to Bivol. 

That must have killed them. 

Find me 4 rounds for Canelo! Find 3? 

I mean I gave him 1 clearly and 1 close one. Utter dominance 

This commentary from America is a joke and unless the fight changes dramatically then this is more dominant over Canelo than the 1st GGG fight. 

They're even denying it in the face of stats showing Canelo is just getting battered in these 8 rounds. 

I given Canelo 2 close rounds in 8 and he's looking hurt

Plenty of bias going on in the commentary. Canelo getting battered but I'm guessing we're trying to stick with the script.

Canelo chin going to be tested like never before I think

Interesting to see how this goes. Bivol started very strong. 

Canelo v Bivol on Sat. 

On paper it seems like a really really great fight but Canelo has reached a point of stardom now where he can't lose. He can pick any fight he wants so I'm assuming he's comfortable stepping in with Bivol

So long as he doesn't get KO'd he'll get a decision anyway.

Oooh, hopefully rescheduled to when I'm not on holiday. 

6 hours ago, 86 Hair Islands said:

Have to say I was worried as to how the fight would be called. Agression sometimes afforded undue credit and it was mighty brave of Taylor to put it all on the line in the US. That said, the crowd must have made it feel like she was fighting at home. Absolutely unreal support! 

I thought they would give Rnd 5 as a 10 - 8 round. And was it round 10 too that was one sided? 

I think it deserves a rematch and it is surely has the appeal. 

They don't seem very happy in the States about that result. Which makes it all the more satisfying. 

I had Taylor by a round but I think she was lucky to get through round 5. 

They've got to do it again, surely?! I'm not into women's boxing either but good fights like this will win people over. It's people like Ebanie Bridges that I just think they're playing up to stereotypes and encouraging a certain attitude to women in boxing. Katie Taylor is a class act. 

Lmao https://youtu.be/BFVw-TTUFUM

If he doesn't fight the winner of Usyk v AJ then he'll regret it forever and it will tarnish his legacy. 

But I can't imagine him not taking that fight. There's no way he walks away from that no matter what he says. He didn't get to this point in his career to stop here when he just sold 94k and is finally getting the love he should have had after Klitschko. If he didn't come back for these kind of fights then what did he come back for? To fight Deontay Wilder? Just all the way back for Wilder, a guy who sold just a few thousand tickets each fight. 

He came for stadium selling AJ who gave fresh life into boxing and was taking all the credit Fury hadn't had. Fury had only ever really praised or ignored Joshua until Joshua became superstar. Then he suddenly can't shut up about him. But he fights Deontay Wilder and says he's not interested in AJ. Then he defends vs Whyte... did he really need to? 

The only way he doesn't fight Joshua imo is if AJ loses. But he can still collect from Usyk now. Its not what he planned when he went to get that WBC bargaining chip. But I don't think he expected Joshua to lose to Ruiz and catapult Fury to #1. 

It's just all fell better than he expected. But he came back to get what he's owed. Recognition that he is the #1 of an era. If he could live with the doubt he would have stayed retired. 

Let's no forget his whole life crumbled when he beat Klitschko and had no purpose. He's being driven by something again and I don't think Dillian Whyte was the final piece. 

He's always played the long game. Like the sauna story. Retiring is just him forcing them to chase him. Mayweather did it. It's role reversal and he'll be calling the shots in July when Usyk/AJ need to beat Fury for their legacy.

33 minutes ago, 86 Hair Islands said:

Where have I said they've had it easy? That said, I'd lay strong money that Tyson, Ali, Lewis and co would dispose of of the likes of Whyte in double quick time so I'm not sure how the football analogies are relevant. Agree to disagree I guess.

Oh no, I didn't mean you said they had it easy. I meant in general when people make comparisons they'll say that Mike Tyson had to fight this guy and that guy. Lewis had all these guys

That all Fury had to do was beat an old Klitschko. 

The football I just mentioned because like in any sport the game evolves. The techniques, the strategies, the sports science. Every sport has a different "META" for what's out there. 

Look at the names of any great era and I think during that time you see big names that are past it (like Holyfield v Holmes, Lewis v Tyson) that boost the rep of the fighter of that generation. 

There were plenty of Whyte's, Chisora's and Co that were there for Ali, Tyson, Holyfield and Lewis. I'd imagine some of them Fury, Klitschko, Usyk and AJ would have no trouble with. Especially Fury given his size, speed, ability. 

I think its very much like Messi v Pele. There's no way to know if Pele could do it against Sergio Ramos as there's no way Messi would appreciate some of the interesting pitches and tackles. 

I see the argument on YT channels and they all get well caught up in it. Start abusing each other. ? 

Anyone can only beat whats in front of them. But I still think Klitschko went a long time fighting names that were neither relevant to the previous generation or the current generation. It seemed much of a meh division for a while

Remember that big lump Valuev!!?

30 minutes ago, 86 Hair Islands said:

I agree though I think even then there's context required. This era does not compare to the Tyson, Holyfield, Lennox, Bowe generation, nor for that matter the Ali (and I say that on purpose ?), Foreman, Norton and Frazier era.

Fury looks to stand alone currently and one has to respect his record, but claims (not by you my friend) that he stacks up against any previous HW champ are IMO nonsense. Wilder and a past his prime Wladimir Klitschko aside, he's literally fought nobody of note and certainly nobody who compares to any of the aforementioned.

We also have folk citing Holyfield and Ali as his only peers, apparently unaware that Lewis, who doesn't warrant a mention, outboxed and outfought Holyfield not once, but twice. Also worth pointing out that should he retire now, he'll have effectively dodged Usyk and AJ. That's not to say he'd not beat those two, but he can't lay claim to being the greatest of his generation having not fought the only two credible challengers. Saying he's nothing left to prove therefore seems a tad disingenuous. 

I don't believe his retirement talk for a second. Knowing his poor mental health he knows he needs boxing in his life in some capacity. 

I think he knows that AJ and Usyk need to beat him as much as he needs to beat them to prove himself. 

He'll say he doesn't want the fight and they'll call him out. He'll say he's not been in the gym for x months and they'll call him out. Promoters will push him for one last fight. And then he'll come back claiming to be out of shape and not interested. It's classic Fury making sure he's in control. He came back for Wilder not AJ remember. And that was about bargaining power. AJ losing twice has made him #1. But there's no chance he retires if AJ beats Usyk. Slim chance if Usyk wins. But everything he's said and done to undermine AJ was not out of spite but to make sure he can control the when/where/how much. 

In regards to HW of times gone by. I think it's like the Pele v Messi thing. It was a different game back then. Defenders were different, rules were different, sports science was different. I have no doubt Pele would be way ahead of Messi if the both played back then. But I think Pele would find it harder going now playing. As athletes we've built on their progress. We've learned from their years. The game has developed. 

And I think that's the same for boxing. I think if you lift many of the old greats into today that they'd find it harder. The game has changed. I dunno, I just think like any sport there's so much more for athletes to draw from now. F1 drivers in these modern machines, footballers so finely tuned etc etc. 

I do think Klitscko (both actually) are deserved legends. But I look at their record for stand out wins and there's not a great deal. I think AJ has probably taken the most risks at every stage of his career (its absurd anyone questions his record)

Klitschko was very much The Man when Fury beat him. Any earlier and it wouldn't have been prime Fury. Same as Lewis v Tyson. The timing suited Lewis more than Tyson. As did his fight with Holyfield. It was Holyfield's decline from that point. Holyfield at 6ft 2" does he beat Tyson Fury? 

It's all too complex imo to figure out who's the best ever. 

Timing and styles make fights. Wlad is more legendary in the sport than Vitali yet Vitali never had the struggles of Wlad. He was never knocked down and was forced to retire in his losses (Lewis raking his cuts was one). Vitali also made short work of Corrie Sanders after Sanders beat Wlad. But Wlad is widely considered the better of the two. 

It's very rare boxers meet while a group of them is in their prime. But this current generation is similarly aged and very competitive. They came in towards the end of Klitschko's reign and there are good bunch of them now all capable of beating each other. Ultimately 2 of them beat Klitschko. 

Would they beat Lewis? I dunno. Lewis was immense. But the best of this generation will be able to stand alongside Lewis and Mike Tyson hopefully without people saying they had it easy. 

The HW division is very competitive. 

I think the HW division now is as good as it was for most of Wlad's reign

And Danny Ric. 

Joined the back of the DRS train and then pits onto hard and then finishes last

49 minutes ago, Andicis said:

Jake Paul could probably genuinely beat him. 

 

Would agree. The judges seem to have given him a few, don't agree with their assessment. Easy night work for Tyson in the end. 

I can't believe he says that Jake Paul isn't ready for a real boxer. 

Like Tommy Fury has some great ring craft or IQ. He does nothing that I can see that Jake Paul couldn't learn. 

Heck, I think you could go into a Boxercise class and train someone to Tommy Fury's level within the same time he's been "pro". 

Proper boxer my arse

20 hours ago, Andicis said:

Tommy Fury is a terrible boxer, isn't he? 

A big mouth. Irony and hypocrisy are his best attributes 

He's getting KO'd soon.

Was it worth it, Leclerc? RB were always going to pit if he did to try and take the FL anyway. 

Sainz.... urgh

Mercedes looked well short today didn't they? The time they seemed to lose breaking earlier than the likes of Bottas and Gasly etc? I thought Bottas was going to do Russell too

1 hour ago, 86 Hair Islands said:

Hope you took binoculars bud ?

I've yet to go to a match where I don't end up watching it on the big screens! ? 

Very much atmosphere only. I can't even comment on much because it was hard to see what happened when it was close up. 

From what I saw Whyte didn't win a round? It looked easy in the end?

I'll watch it tonight.