Boxing

[Numbers]

Well I'm pissed right off with SKY, they advertised the undercard as in my previous post but didn't show Okolie, Cordina or Buatsi, they also had the temerity to tell me that the noise behind the punditry was because Joe Cordina was fighting but they weren't covering it, instead I was subjected to the musings of Johnnie fucking Nelson.

[Numbers]

Braehmer beat Brant over the weekend so he'll be next for Callum Smith, this should represent the biggest test for Smith so far in his career and useful for seeing how he gets on, I think the one thing we can be sure of is that they'll be a British Double World Champion by the end of the tournament.

[Big D]

Braehmer beat Brant over the weekend so he'll be next for Callum Smith, this should represent the biggest test for Smith so far in his career and useful for seeing how he gets on, I think the one thing we can be sure of is that they'll be a British Double World Champion by the end of the tournament.

Agreed on all fronts.

To mention AJ briefly. He needs to come in lighter but he should learn a few lessons from Saturday. No where near his best.

[Discreet Hooker]

Deontay Wilder making serious overtures about a match~up with AJ . By far I think AJ's most serious and dangerous challenger .

[Numbers]

Deontay Wilder making serious overtures about a match~up with AJ . By far I think AJ's most serious and dangerous challenger .

Absolutely, if he fought AJ at the moment I would fancy him to win, Hearn is no mug tho I doubt whther we will see a fight between these two until AJ has fought a few harder opponents, Wilder looked destructive tho Stiverne looked out of shape and had been preparing for a different fight, I don't recall him landing a punch or throwing a punch even.

[Numbers]

Some decent boxing coming up this weekend, the rematch between Liam Smith and Liam Williams should be a tasty encounter, that fight is live on Boxnation/BT Sport.

Josh Taylor takes on Miguel Vasquez which should be another step up for him, Vasquez has never been stopped and took a young Canelo the distance, Taylor looks the real deal to me so I would expect him to win this one on points, this one is on Channel 5 Saturday night.

[Big D]

Taylor worked out the puzzle in the end.

Beauty of a body shot.

[Numbers]

Taylor worked out the puzzle in the end.

Beauty of a body shot.

Aye, a massive step up for him in that fight, stopped a fighter who'd never been stopped before, overcame a nasty cut early on and a very difficult style for him to combat, he's still looking the real deal.

Liam Smith v Liam Williams was not as good as the first, Smith just decided to fight at range and actually outboxed Williams, which was quite surprising as Williams had outjabbed Smith in the first fight.

[Numbers]

There's some decent boxing on this weekend, Saturday sees some action from the Copper Box, the card is:

DeGale v Truax - I haven't seen Truax fight by his record is not bad, he was stopped by Danny Jacobs but not until the 12th round and he has a decent KO percentage, DeGale may not be able to switch off during the middle of the fight if he wants to win this one.

Selby v Ramirez - Again I haven't ever seen Ramirez fight, but looking at his fight history he has only fought outside Mexico twice (one of those was in Argentina), he hasn't got a great KO percentage so I would expect Selby to win this one quite comfortably on points.

Yarde v Sjekloca - A big test for Yarde against a fighter who has never been stopped, he's also been the distance with Callum Smith and Arthur Abraham and he drew with Stieglitz, this will tell us if his power is as potent at a higher level.

Dubois v Darch - Only one thing is happening in this fight, goodnight Darch.

It should be a good nights entertainment, all on BT Sports 1 or Boxnation.


The fight of the weekend is undoubtably Lomachenko v Rigondeaux, it promises to be a cracker, that is on Boxnation only at 2a.m.

[Big D]

Degale was so poor. Any of the 3 other GB SMWs would have ended him last night.

[Numbers]

Degale was so poor. Any of the 3 other GB SMWs would have ended him last night.

Aye, talked big but never delivered, can't say I'm sorry he lost, he's not a likeable person.

Anthony Yarde did very well against a good opponent and Dubois provided some more KO action.

Selby looked a little bit off his usual pace, it may be ring rust, I think he'll need to be better against Warrington.

[Numbers]

Oh, forgot about the "big fight", Rigondeaux gave up pretty much, very disappointing.

[Numbers]

Oh, forgot about the "big fight", Rigondeaux gave up pretty much, very disappointing.

Oh, it appears he has given up for good and his hand went in the fight which is why he remained seated. A terrible way to end what has been a stellar career.

[Numbers]

Wednesday saw some decent boxing:

Conor Benn was involved in a tear up with a French fighter, Benn was floored twice in the first round and won a controversial decision after coming back strong and knocking the other guy down twice. Verdict: he is nowhere near a decent standard yet and doesn't seem to possess great boxing skills only the aggression.

Josh Kelly had a big step up and performed well to stop his opponent, he will need to box more defensively to be successful at a higher level as he has his hands by his sides most of the time, however his speed and footwork are superb.

Katie Taylor scrapped through against a very game American fighter, I suspect if the fight had been in the US Taylor would have lost as the American commanded the centre of the ring for the whole fight and was walking her down, Taylor did pick her punches quite well from the outside tho.

Joe Cordina continues to impress but he's still not stepped up to a decent level yet.


Tonight sees some boxing in Merthyr, Fred Evans is fighting burt it seems the only coverage is on S4C from 9:30 and Ashley Brace is topping the bill in an effort to win the European Bantamweight title.

On Sky Povetkin fights Christian Hammer in Germany, so that's on at a normal time.

[Numbers]

The Saunders Lemieux fight was a one way street, Saunders with easily his best ever performance made Lemieux look one dimensional, Saunders kept his distance and discipline throughout and never looked in any trouble.

[Big D]

The Saunders Lemieux fight was a one way street, Saunders with easily his best ever performance made Lemieux look one dimensional, Saunders kept his distance and discipline throughout and never looked in any trouble.

Aye he looked good.

[Numbers]

Well there are consecutive weekends of boxing from this weekend for 5 weeks, I'm not sure who's televising them at the mo but here is the list unashamedly copied from the BBC website (please ignore any inaccuracies):

January
20: Brooklyn, New York, USA - Errol Spence Jr v Lamont Peterson (IBF welterweight)

27: Inglewood, California, USA - Lucas Matthysse v Tewa Kiram (WBA welterweight); Jorge Linares v Mercito Gesta (WBA lightweight); Latvia, Mairis Briedis v Aleksandr Usyk (World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight semi-final)

February
3: O2 Arena, London - Lawrence Okolie v TBA; Ohara Davies v TBA; Joshua Buatsi v TBA

10: Copper Box, London - Zolani Tete v Omar Andres Narvaez; Anthony Yarde v TBA; Daniel Dubois v TBA; Bradley Skeete v TBA

Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, USA - Sergey Lipinets v Mikey Garcia (IBF super-lightweight); Rances Barthelemy v Kiryl Relikh (IBF super-lightweight)

17: Manchester Arena - George Groves v Chris Eubank Jr (World Boxing Super Series semi-final and WBA super-middleweight); Ryan Walsh v Isaac Lowe (British featherweight)

I've highlighted those I fancy to win, the last fight being the trickiest to call imo.

[Numbers]

Latest news is that David Price is fighting Povetkin on the undercard of the Joshua v Parker fight, we can expect at least two knockouts then.

[Numbers]

Linares is fighting tomorrow, if you haven't seen him he is a joy to watch box, the guy he's fighting is from the Philipines so expect this one to go the distance, it's on Boxnation at 2 a.m.

[Numbers]

Groves v Eubank tomorrow night, I'm still leaning towards Eubank but Groves will come in much heavier being the genuine SM, it's going to be a interesting one, or it better had be if I'm forking out £17 to watch it.

[Big D]

Groves was a different class to eubank surprisingly.

We might finally get the groves v smith fight! If they don't move the final (if GG can't go in June) it would be daft to put Jnr in there.

[Numbers]

Groves was a different class to eubank surprisingly.

We might finally get the groves v smith fight! If they don't move the final (if GG can't go in June) it would be daft to put Jnr in there.

If Eubank had a game plan it would have helped, he was markedly better in the second half of the fight but he seemed to have no method to close the space, fairplay to Groves he boxed well.

I can't see them using Eubank instead of Groves, wouldn't they just put the fight back or is the date set in stone?

[Big D]

Groves was a different class to eubank surprisingly.

We might finally get the groves v smith fight! If they don't move the final (if GG can't go in June) it would be daft to put Jnr in there.

If Eubank had a game plan it would have helped, he was markedly better in the second half of the fight but he seemed to have no method to close the space, fairplay to Groves he boxed well.

I can't see them using Eubank instead of Groves, wouldn't they just put the fight back or is the date set in stone?

I read there was a "window" that it had to be done by.

Sauerland said jnr was an "option". They absolutely need Groves to be in the final or it misses the point.

[Numbers]

Groves was a different class to eubank surprisingly.

We might finally get the groves v smith fight! If they don't move the final (if GG can't go in June) it would be daft to put Jnr in there.

If Eubank had a game plan it would have helped, he was markedly better in the second half of the fight but he seemed to have no method to close the space, fairplay to Groves he boxed well.

I can't see them using Eubank instead of Groves, wouldn't they just put the fight back or is the date set in stone?

I read there was a "window" that it had to be done by.

Sauerland said jnr was an "option". They absolutely need Groves to be in the final or it misses the point.

That is strange, it would make a mockery of the competition if Eubank gets to fight Smith (if Smith gets past Braemer in Germany).

[Numbers]

Some interesting fights over the weekend

Kell Brook was excellent in his demolition of Rabchenko

Josh Kelly made short work of a stand-in fighter who was a few levels lower than him so nothing really learned there.

Wilder v Ortiz was an interesting fight, Ortiz was winning on points but gassed out in the later rounds and was KO'd in the 10th, Wilder needed the stoppage on my card or would have lost on points. Wilder took several heavy shots from Ortiz in the 7th (I think) and proved he has a good chin, on this evidence I would expect him to give Joshua a run for his money.