Boxing Thread

[Alph]

21 hours ago, Comrade 86 said:

Ngannou as low as 3/1 from 13/2! Joshua a best priced 1/4 shot.

The amount of cash piling on the draw option is interesting too 🤔

One thing I did note from the Fury-Ngannou was that Fury got pretty desperate. This shot was absolutely shocking, though Ngannou acted like he'd just been tickled.

 

That's very very dirty

[Comrade 86]

Just now, Alph said:

That's very very dirty

it's an instant disqualification for me and just another indicator that Ngannou was well top. Desperation as I said. The big lad didn't even flinch though, which is probably why Fury got away with it. 

[Comrade 86]

Artur Beterbiev vs Callum Smith fight has snuck up and Smith is talking a good fight. I keep waiting for old father time to catch up with Beterbiev and he surely cannot retain all of the power he had a decade ago, but it's hard for me to see how Smith wins. If I were laying, I'd have it 1/5 the Russian, 4/1 Smith and 20s the draw. My guess as the outcome is a not terribly original, Beterbiev hunts Smith down and stops him mid to late rounds, but if I'm right about the book, I'll not be playing at those odds. That said, I am really looking forward to seeing the Russian again. He's somehow moved under the radar most of his pro career, similar to Inoue and Bivol and this fight would guarantee he meets Bivol in what would surely be the biggest fight in Russian boxing history and an absolute fookin belter IMO. Fingers crossed Smith doesn't get in the way! 

[tomsdubs]

On 06/01/2024 at 22:14, Comrade 86 said:

Agreed, but it's a fight that really worries me from AJ's standpoint. AJ looked born again in his last fight from a technical standpoint, but he'll still have the same chin. Neither Usyk or Fury bang, Ngannou definitely does and he's entitled to improve too, given he's only had the one fight. AJ will hopefully come out and make a mockery of my fears, but to my mind, this has the same vibe as Canelo-Bivol fight to me. Once again, I don't think folk are seeing what they are looking at. Canelo and his camp didn't see that Bivol is a quiet assassin who would beat their guy up badly. I fear that AJ and Hearn just figure Ngannou to be like the ex-MMA fighters who fought Logan Paul, but Ngannou isn't a beat-up MMA vet, punchy and looking for a last payout. He's a feckin apex predator at the top of his game and his game is brutal. 

So for me, AJ most likely winner, yes, I'll concede that, but I'm on Ngannou at a working man's price.

AJs chin is absolutely fine, he ate Wlads biggest shot and got up, took clean shots from Usyk and kept standing who is an underrated puncher. Other heavyweights that sparred Usyk said he had them hurt and he punches way harder than people realise, he's just very smart in varying his punch power during fights. AJ got caught with a temple shot against Ruiz and that is much harder to recover from if you get your equilibrium taken. Took Whyte's biggest left hook and recovered plus many more cleans shots in his numerous world title defences. Fury got hard dropped early in his career by an unknown and Steve Cunningham who was a cruiserweight. Which HW chin do you put above AJs?

Personally I think Ngannou fought well but we saw a classic Fury performance of looking crap against lower skilled fighters, done it his whole career. Ngannou moved in straight lines and punched with Fury, if AJ uses his feint catch counter it'll be a brutal KO.

I don't see it comparable to the Bivol situation, I consider myself to follow the sport closely for many years now and I had Bivol to beat Canelo. Felt like Canelo had been cherrypicking a bit at the higher weights eg Kovalev who was way past his best. Bivol was a prime technical operator with elite skill level and a bigger frame.

[Alph]

Smith v Beterbiev. Bit of an under the radar fight. 

I find Smith so boring. He's good but there's something about his style that makes his fights always a steady plodding pace. Tempo always seems flat. He let Canelo take control and I think he'll do the same again with Beterbiev. He really has all the qualities to trouble these guys but I expect he'll be unable to stop any elite fighter finding their rhythm. 

Round 7 stoppage I'm going for. Maybe a towel thrown in job. 

[Comrade 86]

1 hour ago, Alph said:

Smith v Beterbiev. Bit of an under the radar fight. 

I find Smith so boring. He's good but there's something about his style that makes his fights always a steady plodding pace. Tempo always seems flat. He let Canelo take control and I think he'll do the same again with Beterbiev. He really has all the qualities to trouble these guys but I expect he'll be unable to stop any elite fighter finding their rhythm. 

Round 7 stoppage I'm going for. Maybe a towel thrown in job. 

Went for the same mate, if only because Beterbiev vs Bivol would be a classic.

Just watched Imam Khataev on the undercard. Looks a proper nasty puncher, a lot in the Beterbiev mould and now one his first half dozen, all by KO. One to keep an eye on, I reckon. Fair to say tonight's opponent very limited (also a late call up I think), so far stiffer tests await, but I'd fancy this lad's a good few levels off his ceiling yet. Have a look at him when you get a chance. Scary ****** 

[Comrade 86]

Moloney vs Sanchez fight an absolute full-on banger. Different fighters, but such a good match up and both lads game as you like. They've punched themselves to a standstill there 😂

[Comrade 86]

On 12/01/2024 at 11:05, tomsdubs said:

AJs chin is absolutely fine

Well we'll see next time it gets tickled won't we. Don't get me wrong, he's favourite to qin but if you actually read my post. I've said for me AJ is vulnerable to a puncher and Ngannou is no 13/2 shot. I stand by both comments.

On 12/01/2024 at 11:05, tomsdubs said:

I don't see it comparable to the Bivol situation, I consider myself to follow the sport closely for many years now and I had Bivol to beat Canelo.

I don't remember you saying as much as the time. Someone did though.

On 05/05/2022 at 03:31, Comrade 86 said:

Looking forward to this one. There was some 5/1 available on the exchanges and I've taken some. I don't see this as being straightforward for Canelo against a natural LH who is technical and has really good feet. He's not an out-and-out banger like Beterbiev, it's true, but there's spite in his punches and I'd sooner take 5's on Bivol than 1/4 Canelo.

The Bivol comparison, which I think I've made quite clear in my original post, is that the Canelo's camp did not fully appreciate what they were taking on. Very few did, despite your claims, as the Mexican went off a 1/4 favourite. I've simply suggested I think the same error is being made with Ngannou and at at the prices, I'm happy to take that chance and I'm not sure what all your years of watching boxing have to do with anything either.

Edited January 14 by Comrade 86

[Comrade 86]

5 hours ago, Alph said:

Round 7 stoppage I'm going for. Maybe a towel thrown in job. 

[Bris Vegas]

Pretty spot on prediction there Alpha.

Callum Smith lacked power and variation. He just didn’t move Beterbiev who was wearing him down round by round.

I was watching on ESPN and they were focusing on Smith’s corner at the end of each round and his coach was just saying the same thing over and over - you’re head hunting, looking for a one-punch knockout. No good baby. Work the body, left hook downstairs. Every round the same.

I think he and Smith knew very quickly that Beterbiev just was barely flinching at Smith’s punches and round two aside, there was no punch variation to potentially win a round on scoring punches.

I prefer Bivol of the two and think he would win the unification on points.

[Bris Vegas]

The eastern europeans have a brilliant work ethic and training style when it comes to combat sports.

Firas Zahabi explains it very well on the Joe Rogan podcast.

 

[tomsdubs]

7 hours ago, Comrade 86 said:

Well we'll see next time it gets tickled won't we. Don't get me wrong, he's favourite to qin but if you actually read my post. I've said for me AJ is vulnerable to a puncher and Ngannou is no 13/2 shot. I stand by both comments.

I don't remember you saying as much as the time. Someone did though.

The Bivol comparison, which I think I've made quite clear in my original post, is that the Canelo's camp did not fully appreciate what they were taking on. Very few did, despite your claims, as the Mexican went off a 1/4 favourite. I've simply suggested I think the same error is being made with Ngannou and at at the prices, I'm happy to take that chance and I'm not sure what all your years of watching boxing have to do with anything either.

Saying a heavyweight is vulnerable to a puncher is literally a nothing statement, there isn't a single heavyweight that can take clean shots to the chin for fun. That's the nature of the division, especially against the heavier handed guys.

Alvarez's camp are super dilligent and definitely did know what they were taking on, have you ever watched an interview with Eddy Reynoso? Bivol was not an unknown, I saw him first when he KOd Broadhurst, he then went on to beat Barrera, Chilemba, Pascal and Joe Smith Jr.

I was just being nice rather than trying to dunk on you for casual viewpoints but if you want to be upset someone dissagreed with you then fine. Years of watching boxing lets you see the tropes and false beliefs people can be lead in to. Fighter hype and special aura always gets exposed at some point just like it did with Canelo. Don't take things personally, boxing is all about opinions and conjecture.

[tomsdubs]

6 hours ago, Bris Vegas said:

Pretty spot on prediction there Alpha.

Callum Smith lacked power and variation. He just didn’t move Beterbiev who was wearing him down round by round.

I was watching on ESPN and they were focusing on Smith’s corner at the end of each round and his coach was just saying the same thing over and over - you’re head hunting, looking for a one-punch knockout. No good baby. Work the body, left hook downstairs. Every round the same.

I think he and Smith knew very quickly that Beterbiev just was barely flinching at Smith’s punches and round two aside, there was no punch variation to potentially win a round on scoring punches.

I prefer Bivol of the two and think he would win the unification on points.

I didn't get why Smith thought he could stand and trade with little foot movement just bobbing his head but then again he's never been a mover in there. Bivol on the otherhand has elite footwork. I'll give the press conferences a miss though, they'll be horrendously boring!

I was interested to see how Beterbiev looked as he's getting on a bit now but he still seemed fresh, not had many wars I guess. I remember watching Callum Johnson drop him, his performance looks far better as time goes on. I'm leaning towards Bivol but I kinda need to see how Bivol reacts to Beterbievs shots, I feel like Beterbiev might be a bit too rigid/flat footed to get to Bivol though.

[Comrade 86]

1 hour ago, tomsdubs said:

Saying a heavyweight is vulnerable to a puncher is literally a nothing statement, there isn't a single heavyweight that can take clean shots to the chin for fun. That's the nature of the division, especially against the heavier handed guys.

Alvarez's camp are super dilligent and definitely did know what they were taking on, have you ever watched an interview with Eddy Reynoso? Bivol was not an unknown, I saw him first when he KOd Broadhurst, he then went on to beat Barrera, Chilemba, Pascal and Joe Smith Jr.

I was just being nice rather than trying to dunk on you for casual viewpoints but if you want to be upset someone dissagreed with you then fine. Years of watching boxing lets you see the tropes and false beliefs people can be lead in to. Fighter hype and special aura always gets exposed at some point just like it did with Canelo. Don't take things personally, boxing is all about opinions and conjecture.

Yeah, you seem really good at calling fights after they've been fought. Give yourself a gold star tinsel tits! 

Jeez, triggered or what! 😂

[tomsdubs]

4 minutes ago, Comrade 86 said:

Yeah, you seem really good at calling fights after they've been fought. Give yourself a gold star tinsel tits! 

Jeez, triggered or what! 😂

Triggered? Alright buddy. Not sure what this calling fights after they have happened jibe is all about. Only one person losing their head in this conversation and started being mean. But since you insist for some reason I only call fights after the fact....

 

[Comrade 86]

7 hours ago, Bris Vegas said:

Pretty spot on prediction there Alpha.

Callum Smith lacked power and variation. He just didn’t move Beterbiev who was wearing him down round by round.

I was watching on ESPN and they were focusing on Smith’s corner at the end of each round and his coach was just saying the same thing over and over - you’re head hunting, looking for a one-punch knockout. No good baby. Work the body, left hook downstairs. Every round the same.

I think he and Smith knew very quickly that Beterbiev just was barely flinching at Smith’s punches and round two aside, there was no punch variation to potentially win a round on scoring punches.

I prefer Bivol of the two and think he would win the unification on points.

I haven't looked yet as I didn't want to jinx the fight with Smith, but you'd think Bivol will be comfortably favourite. Before last night I'd have been leaning the same way, but that might have been because I thought Beterbiev looked a little off it early on against Yarde, whom I thought he'd walk simply through. I thought he looked better last night, despite a fair layoff and now I'm scratching my head as I'm not even sure Bivol can stand 12 rounds of what Beterbiev dishes out. Biggest fight of the year for me, an absolute firecracker.

EDIT: 10/11 the pair just checked

Edited January 14 by Comrade 86

[BaaLocks]

On 08/01/2024 at 14:09, Comrade 86 said:

One thing I did note from the Fury-Ngannou was that Fury got pretty desperate. This shot was absolutely shocking, though Ngannou acted like he'd just been tickled.

 

TIme for VAR in boxing?

[Comrade 86]

10 minutes ago, tomsdubs said:

Triggered? Alright buddy. Not sure what this calling fights after they have happened jibe is all about. Only one person losing their head in this conversation and started being mean. But since you insist for some reason I only call fights after the fact....

 

Don't spend it all at once mate 😂 

[BaaLocks]

Smith had a good couple of rounds but it always felt that it was merely Beterbiev setting him up and checking him out. No shame on Smith to have lost only two to Hall of Famers but not much left for him now other than some domestic fights against the likes of Yarde.

[Comrade 86]

13 minutes ago, BaaLocks said:

TIme for VAR in boxing?

God no, if it's anything like in footy anyway! It's kind of part and parcel anyway, I was just surprised to see Fury resort to that against a guy who'd never had a pro-fight in his life. Embarrassing more than anything, really.