Boxing Thread

[Henrycav81]

29 minutes ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

I'm finding the build-up quite funny. I feel like they'll be good mates after it's done. There's no hate or disrespect there at all.

There’s not much genuine hate or disrespect between most fighters, most of what you do see is fabricated to sell tickets or PPV 

[Comrade 86]

Just been thinking about the fight calendar through to the summer, as it feels like a bit of a fallow field, but there's actually some decent stuff coming up. For me, the absolute standout dish is the battle of the Ruskies, Beterbiev v Bivol, though I remain thoroughly intrigued to see whether Ngannou can catch up with Joshua. I'm also looking forward to seeing whether Usyk can put Fury away, though Usyk may find himself getting smothered all night, which rather tempers enthusiasm for the fight as a spectacle.

Elsewhere, Loma, an all time favourite for me, takes on Kambosos and that has to be worth a watch, while I'd expect Hainey to dismiss Garcia without too much bother. I'm really hoping Caterall can confirm the form and beat Taylor a 2nd time to set the record straight(ish) and that's a big domestic fight to look forward to. Conor Benn vs Eubank Jr is a fight yet to be made, with the latter camp reportedly not keen at all, but otherwise, it's it's a half decent crop, with a few quite hard to call and the only downside being that I think it's March before any of this kicks off. 

Any others I've missed or that you chaps are looking forward to in particular?

[BaaLocks]

52 minutes ago, Comrade 86 said:

Just been thinking about the fight calendar through to the summer, as it feels like a bit of a fallow field, but there's actually some decent stuff coming up. For me, the absolute standout dish is the battle of the Ruskies, Beterbiev v Bivol, though I remain thoroughly intrigued to see whether Ngannou can catch up with Joshua. I'm also looking forward to seeing whether Usyk can put Fury away, though Usyk may find himself getting smothered all night, which rather tempers enthusiasm for the fight as a spectacle.

Elsewhere, Loma, an all time favourite for me, takes on Kambosos and that has to be worth a watch, while I'd expect Hainey to dismiss Garcia without too much bother. I'm really hoping Caterall can confirm the form and beat Taylor a 2nd time to set the record straight(ish) and that's a big domestic fight to look forward to. Conor Benn vs Eubank Jr is a fight yet to be made, with the latter camp reportedly not keen at all, but otherwise, it's it's a half decent crop, with a few quite hard to call and the only downside being that I think it's March before any of this kicks off. 

Any others I've missed or that you chaps are looking forward to in particular?

Nice precis there. I'm with you on the Fury fight, I think Tyson will spoil all night long and hope the judges just think he dominated a little more. Haney is class, there's just something about it that suggests even at this stage he's a little undervalued - time is on his side of course but he needs a few legacy defining fights along the way.

I'd be sad if Bud doesn't do something of interest, he's yet to announce anything and after the way he schooled Spence it's hard to see too many wanting to go near him - even Spence, who let the rematch clause expire. Talk is he may move up a weight with the likes of Thurman or Tim Tszyu waiting for him there.

[Comrade 86]

37 minutes ago, BaaLocks said:

Nice precis there. I'm with you on the Fury fight, I think Tyson will spoil all night long and hope the judges just think he dominated a little more. Haney is class, there's just something about it that suggests even at this stage he's a little undervalued - time is on his side of course but he needs a few legacy defining fights along the way.

I'd be sad if Bud doesn't do something of interest, he's yet to announce anything and after the way he schooled Spence it's hard to see too many wanting to go near him - even Spence, who let the rematch clause expire. Talk is he may move up a weight with the likes of Thurman or Tim Tszyu waiting for him there.

Ted's a good shout. Agree he may find it difficult to find a dance partner. The weight move would be intriguing mind!

Is Tsyzu related to you know who by any chance? I don't know too much about him. Was a big fan of Kostya though. 

[BaaLocks]

11 hours ago, Comrade 86 said:

Ted's a good shout. Agree he may find it difficult to find a dance partner. The weight move would be intriguing mind!

Is Tsyzu related to you know who by any chance? I don't know too much about him. Was a big fan of Kostya though. 

I think you meant to say you know Tszyu? 🙂 He's his son but they now live in Australia apparently. Hatton beating his dad is one of the most underrated performances by a British boxer I can remember (up there with Khan vs Maidana). Immensely impressive victory but kind of left behind in the Las Vegas element of Hatton's story. Can't imagine their two kids fighting like Benn and Eubank - Campbell wouldn't last 30 seconds.

[Comrade 86]

Sunday lunch at the Tyson's should be a nice chilled affair... 

#crying

DIsclaimer - 😂

Edited March 3 by Comrade 86

[Comrade 86]

Well it's upon us. Tomorrow at 11pm our time, Joshua and Ngannou will be making their way to the ring in a fight unusually scheduled for a Friday to accommodate Ramadan. Looking at the markets, Joshua is now as big as 1/3, from an opening show of 1/7. Conversely, Ngannou is now as short as 5/2 having been as big as 13/2. That's huge swing, by anyone's metrics, so perhaps my claim that Ngannou was the value was not as outlandish as one poster seemed to think. A smart punter might take cash-out now before a punch has been thrown which was the initial intention, but I'm still mulling it over.

For me, at the current prices, AJ is the bet, but I think Ngannou will shock some as IMO, folk still haven't grasped that the man's a stone cold killer. Forget the Hollywood smile and the polite and calm demeanour. This is a man who from the age of 10 spent the next decade in a sand mine, before leaving his family and crossing Africa under his own power, crossing thousands of miles through hostile terrain and war zones, with a singular dream; to become the world heavyweight champion. Folk talk of AJ coming from an under privileged background and how that hardened him, but Ngannou is a different beast altogether. When you've experienced the horrors this lad has, a boxing match is is a walk in the park and he will not be in anyway intimidated. He can box orthodox or southpaw and will throw punches that boxers tend not to and it'll be fascinating to see how AJ reacts should Ngannou connect.

Whatever the outcome, this is a fight to savour. Hearn is typically busy talking up a bout with Fury as AJ's next target, so I just hope AJ is taking the Cameroonian a bit more seriously than his promoter appears to be. If he works behind the jab and stays focussed, he has a favourite's chance, but much as I'd love to see an English fighter as the undisputed HW king, this fight still worries me.

[Alph]

I think it's naive of Hearn to go for this fight. If AJ wins then nobody will really care. The idea is to put pressure on Fury with a dominant performance. But these things never really materialise like that because boxing is so long winded. 

Fighting a guy who's famously tough,  who's realistically got no credibility in boxing and yet (unofficially) beat Fury (so what if he wasn't at his sharpest. He's still elite) 

Who wants fights with high risk/low reward. They're obviously seeing it as low risk. But the reward is still low! You get to tell Fury that you beat the guy he struggled with. Big wow. Fury is fighting Usyk. If he wins then Ngannou will be a blip. If he loses then AJ won't need that W over Ngannou. 

Parker and Zhang are in a real rewarding fight though. I imagine Zhang will gas and Parker just needs to win the second half of the fight while being sensible in the begining 

[Alph]

Oh. "Knockout Chaos" 

AJ and Parker will go to points, what do you think??

But 3 big punchers in 2 events but I can see AJ, Ngannou and Parker being cautious. AJ and Parker have too much to lose after working their way back up. Ngannou is going to let AJ lead the fight and try to be smart. Zhang will come swinging and Parker will know he gasses. 

AJ v Ngannou is a 10 rounder?!?

[Comrade 86]

13 minutes ago, Alph said:

I think it's naive of Hearn to go for this fight. If AJ wins then nobody will really care. The idea is to put pressure on Fury with a dominant performance. But these things never really materialise like that because boxing is so long winded. 

Fighting a guy who's famously tough,  who's realistically got no credibility in boxing and yet (unofficially) beat Fury (so what if he wasn't at his sharpest. He's still elite) 

Nailed it. I think after the Wallin fight, he was already positioned to meet the winner of the Fury - Usyk fight. I mean really, who else is there right now?

Hearn is a greedy t*** who has taken a fight with no upside as presumably the £60 million he's accrued is insufficient. The recent love-in with Warren too is as surprising as it is nauseating. It seems that now that Warren is happy to top up Hearn's bank account too means that all else is forgotten. Absolute w***** IMO.

Perhaps I'm being unfair, but I do think that many so-called promoters are in fact little more than parasites who take liberties with men of lesser financial standing and acumen. I want AJ to win, but if he doesn't, seeing that smug smirk of Hearn's wiped off his face when he realises he's just dropped more than his entire current net worth in lost future earnings will certainly assuage any disappointment. 

[Alph]

16 minutes ago, Comrade 86 said:

Nailed it. I think after the Wallin fight, he was already positioned to meet the winner of the Fury - Usyk fight. I mean really, who else is there right now?

Hearn is a greedy t*** who has taken a fight with no upside as presumably the £60 million he's accrued is insufficient. The recent love-in with Warren too is as surprising as it is nauseating. It seems that now that Warren is happy to top up Hearn's bank account too means that all else is forgotten. Absolute w***** IMO.

Perhaps I'm being unfair, but I do think that many so-called promoters are in fact little more than parasites who take liberties with men of lesser financial standing and acumen. I want AJ to win, but if he doesn't, seeing that smug smirk of Hearn's wiped off his face when he realises he's just dropped more than his entire current net worth in lost future earnings will certainly assuage any disappointment. 

Haha, I don't mind Hearn but I like him in the way you would like a car salesman who's got so much in common with you. Imagine.

The Saudis have sent them all mad. They're all fluttering their eyelashes aren't they. De La Hoya wants to join the Warren/Hearn love affair. Bob Arum says it's the new Vegas now. Changed his tune. 

Turki? Turkey? Turkeh? "His excellency" could say "I want to put your man in with a grizzly bear" and these promoters would chuck them in. "Nah AJ, it's a great idea. Bears usually fight southpaw in the wild so you've got this". 

 

[Comrade 86]

49 minutes ago, Alph said:

Oh. "Knockout Chaos" 

AJ and Parker will go to points, what do you think??

But 3 big punchers in 2 events but I can see AJ, Ngannou and Parker being cautious. AJ and Parker have too much to lose after working their way back up. Ngannou is going to let AJ lead the fight and try to be smart. Zhang will come swinging and Parker will know he gasses. 

AJ v Ngannou is a 10 rounder?!?

I can't see it going the distance to be honest, as I don't see Ngannou doing anything other than what he always does and that is taking the fight to his opponent. Folk don't know this and seemed surprised that Ngannou was fairly proficient in his first pro fight, but it was always his intention to box. When he first pitched up in France, he was penniless and homeless and couldn't even afford his gym fees, but Didier Carmont saw his potential and let him sleep in the gym. For over two years, that's where he slept. He only turned to MMA as he couldn't get licensed to box in France as at the time, as he was effectively an illegal immigrant.

Moreover, I'm not convinced he'll be overly frightened of AJ's power, even if he ought to be. My gut is that AJ will be under pressure from Hearn to put on a show, but that Ben Davison will be telling him to work behind the jab and not get carried away with making Fury look bad. I hope AJ listens to his trainer. If he does, it might go the distance, but my hunch is one of them will stop the other. Whilst I've banged on about Ngannou, they both have frightening power, far more so than Fury, despite the latter's size. I just hope we get the fight we think it might be, as I don't think I've looked forward to a fight this much in years, especially in the HW division.

As for the Parker fight, honestly, I'm not sure. Zhang can bang a bit, but Parker is durable so I think your suggestion is the most likely outcome, but it's a tricky fight to call. Interestingly the oddsmakers price Zhang as 1/2 shot, versus parker at 2/1. Not sure I'll get involved but I think Parker looks the value as things stand. Parker  is around 4s on the exchanges to win by decision or technical and that looks a fair price to me.

Sorry, lots of words without much meaningful content there! 😂

Edited March 7 by Comrade 86
Typos, typos everywhere

[Alph]

23 minutes ago, Comrade 86 said:

I can't see it going the distance to be honest, as I don't see Ngannou doing anything other than what he always does and that is taking the fight to his opponent. Folk don't know this and seemed surprised that Ngannou was fairly proficient in his first pro fight, but it was always his intention to box. When he first pitched up in France, he was penniless and homeless and couldn't even afford his gym fees, but Didier Carmont saw his potential and let him sleep in the gym. For over two years, that's where he slept. He only turned to MMA as he couldn't get licensed to box in France as at the time, as he was effectively an illegal immigrant.

Moreover, I'm not convinced he'll be overly frightened of AJ's power, even if he ought to be. My gut is that AJ will be under pressure from Hearn to put on a show, but that Ben Davison will be telling him to work behind the jab and not get carried away with making Fury look bad. I hope AJ listens to his trainer. If he does, it might go the distance, but my hunch is one of them will stop the other. Whilst I've banged on about Ngannou, they both have frightening power, far more so than Fury, despite the latter's size. I just hope we get the fight we think it might be, as I don't think I've looked forward to a fight this much in years, especially in the HW division.

As for the Parker fight, honestly, I'm not sure. Zhang can bang a bit, but Parker is durable so I think your suggestion is the most likely outcome, but it's a tricky fight to call. Interestingly the oddsmakers price Zhang as 1/2 shot, versus parker at 2/1. Not sure I'll get involved but I think Parker looks the value as things stand. Parker  is around 4s on the exchanges to win by decision or technical and that looks a fair price to me.

Sorry, lots of words without much meaningful content there! 😂

I might have to search out an Ngannou documentary. Never took an interest in UFC but it sounds like he's got just a great human story

[Comrade 86]

2 minutes ago, Alph said:

I might have to search out an Ngannou documentary. Never took an interest in UFC but it sounds like he's got just a great human story

The Hollywood movie to follow 😋

 

[BaaLocks]

12 hours ago, Comrade 86 said:

My gut is that AJ will be under pressure from Hearn to put on a show, but that Ben Davison will be telling him to work behind the jab and not get carried away with making Fury look bad.

This is it, dial back a few years and Wilder had just blasted Brezeale out in the first round, while AJ had taken seven. Having taken place in the Garden all the talk was symetriccal for AJs fight a few weeks later when he took on Andy Ruiz. I'm still convinced that Ruiz didn't beat Joshua, Wilder did by getting in his head. I am sure Joey Dawejcko (the sparring partner who apparently flattened AJ in the camp) might have something to say about that but either way AJ is prone to chasing a fight.

Big risk this one, you are absolutely right to point out that Ngannou is a beast and there is nothing but money to be gained from this match up for Joshua. I do still think he will win it, but there will be a few scary moments along the way.

[Comrade 86]

Ok, sod Joshua vs Ngannou. Old hat. This is the fight you never knew you wanted to see.

I am almost moist with excitement 😜

One question though... Anyone know why Jake Paul has a tattoo of a c*** on his shoulder

 

[Alph]

Is Mike Tyson going to parade around touching Paul up or his he going to edge in level the t*****? 

If he just goes in looking for one big bang then I'll pay for it. But I imagine it's an entertainment gig where we put a few rounds on for the fans, Mike Tyson gets tired and then Paul wins rounds. Everyone goes home rich saying Paul is actually a talented boxer when he's not

[Comrade 86]

35 minutes ago, BaaLocks said:

This is it, dial back a few years and Wilder had just blasted Brezeale out in the first round, while AJ had taken seven. Having taken place in the Garden all the talk was symetriccal for AJs fight a few weeks later when he took on Andy Ruiz. I'm still convinced that Ruiz didn't beat Joshua, Wilder did by getting in his head. I am sure Joey Dawejcko (the sparring partner who apparently flattened AJ in the camp) might have something to say about that but either way AJ is prone to chasing a fight.

Big risk this one, you are absolutely right to point out that Ngannou is a beast and there is nothing but money to be gained from this match up for Joshua. I do still think he will win it, but there will be a few scary moments along the way.

Gotta say I'm counting down the hours on this one. Whatever anyone has to say, they can't deny that it's Ngannou who has breathed life back into the division which was stale AF until he shook up the natural order. On the Joshua mindset angle, it's already started I see:

Also noted this which is quite interesting. Fury turning up to the presser to try and heckle Ngannou and gets owned. I beat you every day and twice on Sunday 😂

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/boxing/68488867

Back on the fight itself, there'd been no money for AJ at all, in recent weeks, hence his price more than doubling in recent weeks but at 1/3 he's found some support. I think that price is fair enough but I'll leave the long odds on shots to successful punters like Drake. 

As for the other fella, he's also been clipped into a best priced 11/4 so perhaps the bookies are just maxing the overround, which they always tend to the day of the fight. 

15 minutes ago, Alph said:

Is Mike Tyson going to parade around touching Paul up or his he going to edge in level the t*****? 

If he just goes in looking for one big bang then I'll pay for it. But I imagine it's an entertainment gig where we put a few rounds on for the fans, Mike Tyson gets tired and then Paul wins rounds. Everyone goes home rich saying Paul is actually a talented boxer when he's not

Or, Mile spends the next few weeks choreographing the fight with Jake's team and agrees to do it wrestling style, then on the night just marches over and lays him out in 10 seconds flat. I think I've never wanted a fighter to win more 🤣 

On a serious note, for a man who hoovered more bugle than Tony Montana, he still looks pretty fookin scary. There's definitely a bit of that freakish power left, but I guess at 57, it's probably only gonna be there for 10 or 15 mins before he starts gassing.

https://talksport.com/sport/1750732/mike-tyson-training-footage-jake-paul-fight/

 

Edited March 8 by Comrade 86

[Jubbs]

Looking forward to tonight. I predict a mid to late round TKO by AJ. I think he'll have a cautious opening few rounds working the jab, think Ruiz II fight, then when Francis tires (which he will), AJ unleashes. 

[Alph]

Mike Tyson still intimidating as ever. 

I wonder how many opponents had lost before the first bell. He's an animal. I hope he lets loose on Paul and doesn't play his part in the show. Probably got about 5 good minutes in him but 5 mins with THAT?!

Edited March 8 by Alph