Boxing 2007 - Who you got?

[JohnF]

There's some big fights coming up soon which hopefully live up to the hype. Who do you pick in these fights?

- Floyd Mayweather vs. Oscar de la Hoya: Had this been a 1997 Hoya I might have reconsidered. With a 2007 Hoya? Floyd by comfortable decision: 9 rounds to 3.

- Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Juan Manuel Marquez: Barrera is past it, and I wouldn't be surprised if Marquez stops him, but I'm picking Marquez, something like 8-4 on the cards.

- Miguel Cotto vs. Zab Judah: I think Cotto is getting a little overrated of late, but he still has enough to beat Zab. It will be close however, 7-5.

- Ricky Hatton vs. Jose Luis Castillo: Not sure how much Castillo has left now, but Hatton has looked shi t in his last couple of fights as well. Hard one to call. I think Castillo has better skills but it will come down perhaps to if he has the strength to deal with Hatton in the clinches. I'm going to sit on the fence: Draw.

- Bernard Hopkins vs. Winky Wright: A snoozer for those not into the technical side of boxing, but I'm actually looking forward to this fight more than any other. I'm a Winky fan, but I think Hopkins' greater size will see him home with a razor thin split decision.


=====

Now for some potential fights, who would you pick if they fought?

Calzaghe-Kessler: I'd go Kessler 7-5.

Darchinyan-Acre: Acre will school him unfortunately, 8-4 at best for Vic.

Mundine-Lacy: I'd pick Mundine, but would not be surprised to see the Man asleep on the mat.

 

[hans moleman]

Hopefully Manny will get things sorted out and fight the winner of Barrera/Marquez.

Would like to see how Bautista goes against Ponce de Leon as well.

 

[GoOsH1]

that barrera marquez fight was an absolute corker, marquez won it but it was a lot closer than the card suggested.

The one that really *****ed me off was the first fight on the undercard, with bernard hopkins nephew, who was soundly beaten by some guy from the contender show, but the hopkins kid gets the unanimous decision 10-2!! It was a total joke, and the crowd was letting them know. The corruption involved in decisions like that is just staggering.

 

[Smokin]

Yep, JMM finally got that big name win he deserved. I thought it was extremely close as well, and JMM just got up on my card.

Hopkins, meh, yea he lost. Promoters boy...then again, MAB was the PROMOTER and had the cards skewed against him!

In relation to the upcoming fights:

Kessler v Andrade: Great matchup this weekend, HBO sending the crew over to Denmark for this one. Apparently 25,000 tickets have been sold, this is a huge event over there. While Andrade is undefeated, I actually think he is limited, but does what he does very well. He is a HUGE super middle - taller and longer reach than Kessler! However, he doesnt use it all that much, and loves to work on the inside, and like many mexicans, loves to come forward and apply heaps of pressure. I havnt seen Kessler have to deal with great pressure as yet, so this may answer how Kessler deals with this style. May be a great fight, but Kessler should get over the line. If he can keep Andrade at distance, may be an easy night for him.

Cotto-Judah: If Zab's glass jaw stays protected and doesnt shatter into a million pieces, he is a show in this one. Cotto can be outboxed, and Zab is much better than given credit for. A genuine world class boxer at welterweight. Nice styles matchup. I think he will eventually get hit though, then it could be the Trevor Berbick immitation again.

Hatton v Castillo: Both looked $h!thouse last outing, never been overly impressed with Hatton. If Castillo is at his best, he wins relatively easily. He is probably over the hill tho, based on his last fight. He has been through a lot of hard fights. Clinton Woods vs. Julio Gonzalez underneath should be interesting too!

DLH-PBF. Floyd fairly easily on points.

HBO May 19 - real interesting card building here:
Taylor v Spinks - yawn, Taylor king of the junior middles!
but:
Miranda-Pavlik - Both great to watch. Miranda just.
Ndou v Malignaggi!! (according to Paulie). Very interesting matchup! Paulie is very awkward, but Ndou's speed will nulify a lot of that.

Hopkins v Winky: Depends on how Hopkins comes back down to 160. He should be bigger, but if not carefuly could be weaker. Wont be a great fight to watch, my gut feels says Winky to win a boring decision. Hopkins will have to get busier than he likes to win this one - the Tarver he fought was an absolutely horrible version.

Some other notable fights to mention:
Jhonny Gonzalez v Pacheco next weekend.
week after Calzaghe to kill Manfredo.
Freitas v Diaz
Javier Castillejo vs. Felix Sturm

Top Rank PPV has a nice little card lined up in Texas as well:
Manny Pacquiao vs. Jorge Solis
Jorge Arce vs. Cristian Mijares
Brian Viloria vs. Edgar Sosa
Ivan Calderon vs. TBA
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr vs. Anthony Shuler

Not a bad few months coming up!

 

[Smokin]

Kessler v Andrade was fairly one sided today, Kessler in total command, however Andrade's chin is nothing short of magnificant.

Andrade had moments in some rounds, especially later, but didnt really do enough in any round. 120-108 on all three cards was fair enough IMO, but didnt really tell the whole story.

Kessler, as Mundine showed, can definitley be hit, but seems to have a pretty good beard.

A Calzaghe fight just has to be made.

I also saw Froch fight on Saturday - big wraps out of England, but I dunno, he isnt at the top level at 168 at this stage. Gee, dont they love him in Nottingham tho.

Another 168 undefeated prospect Canadian/Romanian Bute is set to fight African/Australian Bika which will be an IBF eliminator.

A very worldly division this one...

 

[thehoff]

I admire your knowledge of the boxing world, however i have very very little interest these days with the popularity of MMA.

I seriously think MMA will have officially taken over in 3-5 years.

 

[Smokin]

maybe, maybe not.

MMA will take a while to take over globally, if at all. Just about every country has boxing, and at different times boxers with crossover appeal like Mundine here now etc. MMA wont have this for a long, long time.

Lets say Sinosic, or Bonello, or Higgins etc happen to win a UFC title in the near future, do you think it would make the news here? Boxing has the history (main thing) and mainstream media/people behind it - over 100 years worth. It will take a long time for MMA to reach these levels.

I like em both. No need to pick one or the other. Kickboxing is the one I have never seemed to be able to get into, as much as Ive tried.

 

[thehoff]

maybe, maybe not.

MMA will take a while to take over globally, if at all. Just about every country has boxing, and at different times boxers with crossover appeal like Mundine here now etc. MMA wont have this for a long, long time.

Lets say Sinosic, or Bonello, or Higgins etc happen to win a UFC title in the near future, do you think it would make the news here? Boxing has the history (main thing) and mainstream media/people behind it - over 100 years worth. It will take a long time for MMA to reach these levels.

I like em both. No need to pick one or the other. Kickboxing is the one I have never seemed to be able to get into, as much as Ive tried.

I hear what you are saying, however have you been to America recently and seen the rage the is associated with MMA (UFC). It's even getting recognized on Sports channels, news papers, etc.

 

[Smokin]

I agree, it is getting big. I recently was in the states for 2 months as well. Their deal with Spike was the best thing that ever happened to em.

Still you dont see UFC results on the mainstream news, Sportscenter etc...yet.

The thing about the UFC, is that they are getting the "perfect" demographic - 18-35 but more importantly WHITE males.

Boxing is forever searching for the great white hype, for this reason alone. Boxing is living on the Hispanic/Black markets, with older white fans as well, where as the UFC is going amazingly strong in the younger white market - the market which makes the WWE and Nascar so bloody big.

Very powerful demographic.

 

[Jumpin' Jimmy]

When is John Wayne Parr's MMA fight supposed to happen?

 

[Smokin]

Parr got r*ped early Feb by Bonello.

Bonello won the stand up, landing a nice right driving Parr defensively straight back, forcing a clinch on the cage; took him down then choked him out. Couldnt have been longer than 30 seconds.

The fight was on youtube, dunno if it still is...

 

[Jumpin' Jimmy]

Parr got r*ped early Feb by Bonello.

Bonello won the stand up, landing a nice right driving Parr defensively straight back, forcing a clinch on the cage; took him down then choked him out. Couldnt have been longer than 30 seconds.

The fight was on youtube, dunno if it still is...

Thanks Smokin, I missed it completely. Not surprised at the result but thought it may have lasted longer. Hope JWP got a good paycheck out of it.

 

[GoOsH1]

Kessler v Andrade was fairly one sided today, Kessler in total command, however Andrade's chin is nothing short of magnificant.

Andrade had moments in some rounds, especially later, but didnt really do enough in any round. 120-108 on all three cards was fair enough IMO, but didnt really tell the whole story.

Kessler, as Mundine showed, can definitley be hit, but seems to have a pretty good beard.

A Calzaghe fight just has to be made.

I also saw Froch fight on Saturday - big wraps out of England, but I dunno, he isnt at the top level at 168 at this stage. Gee, dont they love him in Nottingham tho.

Another 168 undefeated prospect Canadian/Romanian Bute is set to fight African/Australian Bika which will be an IBF eliminator.

A very worldly division this one...

yep, Calzaghe v Kessler would be awesome. Watch Joe dodge the fight though and keep fighting nobodys and overrated american fights until he retires.

 

[JohnF]

that barrera marquez fight was an absolute corker, marquez won it but it was a lot closer than the card suggested.

The one that really *****ed me off was the first fight on the undercard, with bernard hopkins nephew, who was soundly beaten by some guy from the contender show, but the hopkins kid gets the unanimous decision 10-2!! It was a total joke, and the crowd was letting them know. The corruption involved in decisions like that is just staggering.

Yeah Marquez-Barrera was a very good fight. Very impressed with the skill on display in that one. The closeness of the encounter also made it fascinating.
I thought Marquez won a close but clear decision, 7-5. Don't know what fight the judges were watching.

I actually didn't see the Demetrius Hopkins fight though, so i can't comment on that one.

 

[JohnF]

Hopkins v Winky: Depends on how Hopkins comes back down to 160. He should be bigger, but if not carefuly could be weaker. Wont be a great fight to watch, my gut feels says Winky to win a boring decision. Hopkins will have to get busier than he likes to win this one - the Tarver he fought was an absolutely horrible version.

The fight is actually happening at a catchweight of 170, so that should favour Hopkins quite a bit. Had it occured at 160, or even 165, I might have went for Winky, but 170 will be a bit much for him I think. Hopkins started his career at 175, Winky at 154. Hopkins has a bit of a natural size advantage.

 

[JohnF]

I admire your knowledge of the boxing world, however i have very very little interest these days with the popularity of MMA.

I seriously think MMA will have officially taken over in 3-5 years.

What draws you to MMA over boxing?

I've never understood the fascination with it myself, but I don't know much about the sport so I don't want to belittle it.

 

[GoOsH1]

haha looks like Floyd Mayweather agrees with me about the Hopkins fight

“I mean, sh*t, I don’t ever want to do business with Golden Boy again. You could see what the company is about when (Demetrius) Hopkins (nephew of Golden Boy Vice-President Bernard Hopkins) got his assed kicked by Steve Forbes (March 17) but they gave the decision to him anyway.”

hahaha, so true.

 

[Smokin]

The fight is actually happening at a catchweight of 170, so that should favour Hopkins quite a bit. Had it occured at 160, or even 165, I might have went for Winky, but 170 will be a bit much for him I think. Hopkins started his career at 175, Winky at 154. Hopkins has a bit of a natural size advantage.

yep, it is. Didnt realise. I agree, favours Hopkins a fair bit.

Bit of a nothing fight really, means nothing in any weight class, and at 170 its a big ask for Wright. Cant believe this is PPV but anyway...

 

[GoOsH1]

just finished watching calzaghe v manfredo, total joke as expected, it was all over in 3 and Joe didn't even take a punch. Interestingly Frank Warren reckons they made an offer to fight kessler in July and he reckons kessler's promoter said they want to fight him but can't do July, so Warren is going to make Jermaine Taylor an offer.
Shame Kessler v Calzaghe won't happen, I'd love to see that fight, oh well.

 

[JohnF]

just finished watching calzaghe v manfredo, total joke as expected, it was all over in 3 and Joe didn't even take a punch. Interestingly Frank Warren reckons they made an offer to fight kessler in July and he reckons kessler's promoter said they want to fight him but can't do July, so Warren is going to make Jermaine Taylor an offer.
Shame Kessler v Calzaghe won't happen, I'd love to see that fight, oh well.

Frank Warren is full of it. He always gives unreasonable offers and then claims the other guy is ducking his fighter. The end result is a fighter like Calzaghe who doesn't leave his country and takes 15 years to unify a frikken title.

If Kessler-Calzaghe doesn't come off it won't be Kessler's fault.

 

[Smokin]

I wouldnt believe a word Warren says.

Lets here Palle/Kesslers side before making any judgements.

 

[GoOsH1]

secondsout.com reckons kessler is injured which is why he can't take the fight in July, Taylor is already fighting on May 19, and hopkins is fighting winky wright as we know, so Calzaghe will probably fight another nobody.
What a surprise, Calzaghe/Warren pick a date when they know anyone decent won't be available. You gotta wonder about the idiots who actually buy tickets to watch a fight like the one against Manfredo, total joke.

 

[hans moleman]

That was a relatively tame encounter by Pacquiao's standards...he started slowly and looked a bit awkward in trying to deal with Solis' height/reach advantage, plus he couldn't hit the target with Solis constantly bobbing his head...frustrating to watch.
Fortunately for Pacquiao, Solis didn't have much firepower to reply with and Manny finally woke up after the accidental headbutt.

Apparently in the post-fight interview, Manny said he wanted Marquez next.
Earlier, Mijares dominated Arce...the phrase "his face was a bloodied mess" comes to mind.

The highlight of the night though was that girl stuffing up the US national anthem...hilarious!

 

[GoOsH1]

haha check out Warren's 'serious offer' to Kessler - $3mil gross! hahaha you have to be joking. Kessler's bloke came back with $5mil net to fight kessler in Denmark - If Calzaghe wants to be seen as a real fighter he'll take him on. My feeling is he will get hammered.
http://www.teampalle.dk/composite-1421.htm

 

[GoOsH1]

Just watched david hayes (Euro Cruiser champ) step up from Cruiser to Heavy, smashed Thomas Bonin (rated no10 in WBC & WBA I think, record 37-1) inside the first, and he was a stone lighter! not bad, good warm up for his fight against John Mark Mormeck at cruiser.

good to see a guy actually smash the **** out of someone! makes a nice change from all the cr@p fights lately


can't wait for the de la hoya v mayweather fight now