Boxing thread?

[Shea]

Two good shouts I think. To add, I think they'd make career high purses or close to, fighting Haye.

In that case I guess both fights would make sense

Although both have challenged already for a title a win over haye would potentially put them back in contention while a won over both would do the same for haye I suppose

I'd personally be more excited to see haye fight whyte and then aj but obviously the titles are his sole aim and if other fights can get him there faster it's a no brainer

The domestic fights would be bigger if they were world title fights too

Haye may feel he wants a lower level fight before taking on the top ten guys though and whyte would fit that bill. If haye could deal with him in quicker fashion than aj it would make a positive statement domestically too. He'd then probably only need to fight one top ten guy before being offered a fight against Wilder or Martin or at least being made maditory for one of fury's belts which he'd likely then get to fight for as the vacant title

 

[Shea]

Kovalev put a serious beat down on Pascal

He has to fight Adonis Stevenson next surely - that was the fight we should have seen last night in the first place. I never agreed the first pascal fight actually merited a rematch

But still. Kovalev looked excellent and if anything it just sets up the Adonis fight to be a bigger event

Hope to see it in 2016 (along with so many other top potential fights out there)

As for George groves - he looked decent but he was pretty much fighting an Italian heavy bag (well not so heavy)

Decent jabs and body shots on display but his movement and posturing still didn't look as sharp and crisp as he looked in the first frotch fight

 

[Mullers]

Kovalev will destroy Stevenson in my opinion, it definitely won't last the distance, probably over by round 3. There is only one man who can beat Kovalev, Andre Ward. That is the fight I am most looking forward to, more than any fight in years. I just hope Ward can stay injury free.

 

[Hoddle&Waddle]

Kovalev will destroy Stevenson in my opinion, it definitely won't last the distance, probably over by round 3. There is only one man who can beat Kovalev, Andre Ward. That is the fight I am most looking forward to, more than any fight in years. I just hope Ward can stay injury free.

Artur Beterbiev has the possibilty of beating Kovalev IMO.

 

[Mullers]

Artur Beterbiev has the possibilty of beating Kovalev IMO.

I'm reading he beat him in the amateurs, professional is a different game altogether though.
I am surprised that with only 9 pro fights he is within touching distance of a title shot.

 

[Hoddle&Waddle]

I'm reading he beat him in the amateurs, professional is a different game altogether though.
I am surprised that with only 9 pro fights he is within touching distance of a title shot.

Ring magazine has him ranked #9 in the top 10, so he's probably one big fight away. The Kovalev v Beterbiev fight has been talked about for a few years (huge hype in Russia as you could imagine), so it's a case of 'when' not 'if'.

 

[haxman]

Kovalev will destroy Stevenson in my opinion, it definitely won't last the distance, probably over by round 3. There is only one man who can beat Kovalev, Andre Ward. That is the fight I am most looking forward to, more than any fight in years. I just hope Ward can stay injury free.

Ward's defensive abilities will definitely give him an edge. But his inactivity could cost him. He needs several warm up fights first. Will be interesting to see what happens when Ward takes a shot from a powerful light heavyweight for the first time.

 

[Shea]

Kovalev will destroy Stevenson in my opinion, it definitely won't last the distance, probably over by round 3. There is only one man who can beat Kovalev, Andre Ward. That is the fight I am most looking forward to, more than any fight in years. I just hope Ward can stay injury free.

They had a fan vote yesterday on box nation regarding the likely outcome of a ward vs kovalev fight

The public voted quick strongly for a ward win on points

Personally I think Stevenson is the more entertaining fight to watch, ward is such a boring fighter but I agree his skills represent a significant test for kovalev and if ward is planning to dominate the weight division this bout is sure to happen down the line

 

[Mullers]

Ward's defensive abilities will definitely give him an edge. But his inactivity could cost him. He needs several warm up fights first. Will be interesting to see what happens when Ward takes a shot from a powerful light heavyweight for the first time.

He has a warm up bout planned in march but he will be fighting Kovalev in November.
He beats Kovalev, he fights a couple of contenders and possibly Kovalev again, then he will move up to heavyweight. He's talked about in the past, he wants to be heavyweight champion.

 

[haxman]

He has a warm up bout planned in march but he will be fighting Kovalev in November.
He beats Kovalev, he fights a couple of contenders and possibly Kovalev again, then he will move up to heavyweight. He's talked about in the past, he wants to be heavyweight champion.

He'd be giving away a 6 stone deficit and a 14 inch reach advantage to the likes of Fury and Fury's not even that good. You can of course put on some weight, but the reach is something you can't do anything about. Today's top heavyweights are just too big for him. Bit of a pipedream there tbh.

 

[Shea]

He'd be giving away a 6 stone deficit and a 14 inch reach advantage to the likes of Fury and Fury's not even that good. You can of course put on some weight, but the reach is something you can't do anything about. Today's top heavyweights are just too big for him. Bit of a pipedream there tbh.

Sounds like he wants to emulate Roy Jones (without tarnishing his career like Jones has since the tarver fights I'm sure)

I think his style affords him more longevity than Jones as his defensive skills are far less reliant on quick reflexes and counter strikes

 

[haxman]

Sounds like he wants to emulate Roy Jones (without tarnishing his career like Jones has since the tarver fights I'm sure)

I think his style affords him more longevity than Jones as his defensive skills are far less reliant on quick reflexes and counter strikes

Yeah I had originally started to type the same about RJJ, but I think it's a much harder task these days to get to the top of a division unrestricted by weight. Ward should be at his peak now, but I feel that the lack of competitive fights over the last few years won't have helped him. I would definitely like to see him in against Kovalev though.

 

[Shea]

Yeah I had originally started to type the same about RJJ, but I think it's a much harder task these days to get to the top of a division unrestricted by weight. Ward should be at his peak now, but I feel that the lack of competitive fights over the last few years won't have helped him. I would definitely like to see him in against Kovalev though.

For a lighter weight boxer, even an exceptionally talented one, capturing a heavyweight title is all about timing it seems

If there happens to be a rather weak champ holding one of the belts the lighter weight champion can use the weight his name carries to get himself a title shot against a weak opponent and become a heavyweight world champion without ever actually fighting a decent real full blown heavyweight

Jones Jr got his title off Ruiz for example, if Ward unifies this division on top of his exploits at super middle his name would carry a lot of clout again - if there's a champ like Martin still around I'd fancy his chances despite the size issues as he could hit and run with his far superior skill set like haye did to valuev

But I agree I don't think he could fight any half decent true heavyweight like wilder or fury

 

[Hoddle&Waddle]

He'd be giving away a 6 stone deficit and a 14 inch reach advantage to the likes of Fury and Fury's not even that good. You can of course put on some weight, but the reach is something you can't do anything about. Today's top heavyweights are just too big for him. Bit of a pipedream there tbh.

Dunno how anyone can think Fury "isnt that good" TBH.

 

[haxman]

Dunno how anyone can think Fury "isnt that good" TBH.

Because he just isn't. Joshua beats him right now imo. He doesn't even register on the scale of top heavyweight champions of the past.

 

[Hoddle&Waddle]

Because he just isn't. Joshua beats him right now imo. He doesn't even register on the scale of top heavyweight champions of the past.

You're entitled to your opinion, but Joshua would get schooled for 12 rounds. He's too stiff and he's too inexperienced at the moment, hence why Hearn has scaled back all the big talk. All the talk of fighting Haye has been put on ice too. as Hearn knows he'd get annihilated.

As for Fury, he's a 6ft 9 switch hitter that can box inside and at range. Has great hand speed for his size, there really hasnt been anyone like him before.

 

[haxman]

You're entitled to your opinion, but Joshua would get schooled for 12 rounds. He's too stiff and he's too inexperienced at the moment, hence why Hearn has scaled back all the big talk.

But Fury has never faced an explosive puncher like Joshua. If he connects, Fury is going down, see Steve Cunningham, a cruiserweight as an example.

 

[Hoddle&Waddle]

But Fury has never faced an explosive puncher like Joshua. If he connects, Fury is going down, see Steve Cunningham, a cruiserweight as an example.

And Joshua wobbled when he got tagged vs Whyte, thats heavyweight boxing. When Fury goes in with the gameplan he used against Wlad it's difficult for anyone to lay a glove on him, Joshua on the other hand is stiff, has no head movement and is easy to hit.

 

[haxman]

We'll hopefully get a chance to find out soon. What is good is that the division is worth talking about again.

 

[E17yid]

I think Joshua is at least a year or so away from being ready for Fury, IMO.