[User deactivated.]

Not this weekend but did any of you lot hear about the Eubank Jnr Vs Benn Jnr fight that is supposed to be happening?

Pretty shocking cash in on the nostalgia / legacy of their dad's fights, especially given they will be circumventing the usual rules as they naturally fight 2 weight classes apart. Really dangerous and a bad precedent imo. They had to bring in rules governing the amount of weight you can gain post re-hydration because there was a run of serious injuries and I think even fatalities in cases when a heavier fighter was able to shed a tonne of weight to make the weigh in, then come fight time had a significant size, weight + power advantage.

I'm not particularly interested in this fight, but despite being a 'proper, hardcore boxing fan' I might get caught up in the hype once it gets closer.

I don't dislike it on the grounds of them being in separate weight classes; there's a long history of fighters going up in weight to beat the bigger man. Former lightweight Sugar Ray Leonard moved up to (debatably) beat the greatest middleweight of all time in Marvin Hagler! Manny Pacquiao won world titles in 8 divisions, and more recently, Usyk moved up to overcome a 20lb disadvantage and win the world heavyweight titles against Joshua! I simply dislike the Eubank vs Benn fight because neither of them have proved themselves in their own divisions yet.

Eubank Jr's entire career has been smoke and mirrors. He's forever bleated on about wanting the Golovkin's of the world only to duck the fight when he had the chance and take an easier and less lucrative path. The one time he did step up to fight for a proper title against a somewhat world level operator in Groves, he lost comprehensively and looked utterly clueless in there. Benn isn't far behind. He's still on the upward trajectory, but for all of his 'anyone who wants it can get it' attitude, he's done a good job of giving it to precisely no one with a pulse! He's wanted no part of David Avanesyan, never mind the top challengers such as Jaron Ennis (possibly the best prospect in boxing right now). I'd give him close to zero chance against the current title holders at welterweight either.

So in a sense, this fight actually makes perfect sense for them both 

[User deactivated.]

Usyk wins the rematch clearly, but he had to work for it. I scored the fight round by round and had it either 8-4 or 9-3 to Usyk, but there were a few close rounds. Still not enough for anyone to score it for Joshua - that judge was either corrupt or stupid.

Having said that, it was the best version of AJ that I've seen in the ring and I was nervous he might win after taking the first 3 rounds on my card! AJ's post fight meltdown was a shame because I think he gained a lot of respect losing in the manner he did against an all time great. On that performance, he's very clearly the best of the rest after Usyk and Fury.

What more can be said about Usyk? Olympic gold medalist, followed by an unprecedented run at cruiserweight, clearing out the division to become undisputed in 16 fights with all four of those title fights being in his opponents home country, to now becoming unified Heavyweight champion in the age of the 'superheavyweights' and rematch clauses - having to beat the champ twice to get away with the belts. Almost all other fighters at this level have the deck stacked in their favour to some degree but usyk has never been the so called A-side in a fight and done it all the hard way. Unfortunately he's now on the decline at 35 and isn't quite the magician he was 4 years ago against Gassiev, but time waits for no man.

Fury must come back and make the undisputed fight. I favour Fury in that fight but would be rooting for Usyk.


 

[Wellsy]

I'd favour Fury to beat Usyk but God I would want Usyk to win. Amazing performance from him, and so much heart.

AJ performed very well and I agree his rant was a shame but the pressure must be truly enormous and I am prepared to forgive a bit of daft behaviour

[crzylgs]

Why is there always one judge who's been hitting the crack pipe?

EDIT:

Also, AJ's performance at the end was dreadful. Completely lost his head :/

[Moo]

The Usyk and fury fight has to happen now and after watching that fight I’d struggle to pick a winner.

[moose]

Why is there always one judge who's been hitting the crack pipe?

I was fearing some pre-filled score cards after the previous two fights. Both were fairly close but imho the wrong man won - coincidentally the "house" fighter in both cases. The full extra minute of pretty much the only round that Badou Jack was finishing strong was particularly suspect. Sportswashing money seemingly doesn't stretch to a functional stopwatch! 

[Wellsy]

Why is there always one judge who's been hitting the crack pipe?

EDIT:

Also, AJ's performance at the end was dreadful. Completely lost his head :/

£50k in the account 

[spidermonkey09]

Also, AJ's performance at the end was dreadful. Completely lost his head :/

I've watched this now and can't get too upset by it. Its professional sport, it means a lot to them, and he apologised within an hour. No harm done as far as I'm concerned. People criticised Joshua when he was too matey with Ruiz after he lost against him as well, its hard to please people.

Still not enough for anyone to score it for Joshua - that judge was either corrupt or stupid.

Haven't watched it back yet but this seems unlikely; Steve Bunce scored it 7-5 for Joshua. Agree its a minority position though. Main disagreement seems to be over the first 4 rounds.

[mrjonathanr]

No predictions on Canelo - Golovkin? It would be cool to see a last great performance from Golovkin but I suspect a points decision for Canelo is more likely.

[User deactivated.]

No predictions on Canelo - Golovkin? It would be cool to see a last great performance from Golovkin but I suspect a points decision for Canelo is more likely.

Until he faced Bivol, Canelo on points was the safest bet in boxing, no matter who the opponent was! Looking at the score cards, they even tried to give him that fight too!

I'd love to see GGG leave it out of the judges hands this time, as per the 4th fight between Marquez and Pacquiao, but would have to agree with a genuine Canelo win being most likely at this stage. Time waits for no man, except Steve McClure.

[User deactivated.]

Steve Bunce scored it 7-5 for Joshua

Just seen this. Outrageous!

[User deactivated.]

Jon Jones vs Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight title in the UFC tonight.

After a 3 year lay off, now 35 years old and having put on 50lbs to move up in weight to fight at heavyweight for the first time, it should be impossible to win the title. But this is Jon Jones. Tonight he faces a prime heavyweight in Ciryl Gane who is naturally much bigger and stronger, has great speed and better striking credentials. But I still keep leaning towards the former light-heavyweight champ, Jones. He's a horrible person, probably a psychopath (literally) and has previously tested positive for PED's, but my god is he a talented fighter and it will be interesting to see if he can turn back the clocks and become the heavyweight champ.

[Rocksteady]

Jon Jones vs Ciryl Gane for the heavyweight title in the UFC tonight.

After a 3 year lay off, now 35 years old and having put on 50lbs to move up in weight to fight at heavyweight for the first time, it should be impossible to win the title. But this is Jon Jones. Tonight he faces a prime heavyweight in Ciryl Gane who is naturally much bigger and stronger, has great speed and better striking credentials. But I still keep leaning towards the former light-heavyweight champ, Jones. He's a horrible person, probably a psychopath (literally) and has previously tested positive for PED's, but my god is he a talented fighter and it will be interesting to see if he can turn back the clocks and become the heavyweight champ.

Yeah I back Jones. I think he is one of the most physically talented fighters ever to step into the Octogon. Both his brothers are in the NFL. He was a national wrestling champion at college.
He might get caught by Gane - but he has literally never been put down on the mat with a strike, he has an iron chin. I think Jones will have more options for the win with his wrestling and weird striking.

[Wellsy]

Jones has proved repeatedly that one is a fool to bet again him. I think he'll take it.

[User deactivated.]

Light work

[Wellsy]

Light work

I'd love to watch the guy fight if only he wasn't a total cunt as well, because he truly is the most incredible MMA fighter of all time I think, up there with Khabib (now there's a fight if they could ever agree on a weight class).

[Rocksteady]

Light work

I'd love to watch the guy fight if only he wasn't a total cunt as well, because he truly is the most incredible MMA fighter of all time I think, up there with Khabib (now there's a fight if they could ever agree on a weight class).

For me GSP is the G.O.A.T in MMA, maybe not as talented as those two, but the best fighting intelligence we've seen in MMA. Always fought the fight the other guy didn't want. Sometimes lost first time, but learned and improved each fight.

[User deactivated.]

Light work

I'd love to watch the guy fight if only he wasn't a total cunt as well, because he truly is the most incredible MMA fighter of all time I think, up there with Khabib (now there's a fight if they could ever agree on a weight class).

For me GSP is the G.O.A.T in MMA, maybe not as talented as those two, but the best fighting intelligence we've seen in MMA. Always fought the fight the other guy didn't want. Sometimes lost first time, but learned and improved each fight.

The bold bit is something Jon has never really done, in fact he has usually fought the fight that he himself doesn't want! I always got the sense that Jon was just trying out anything that came to him on the spot, practiced or not! In contrast, the Dagestanis are 100% committed to getting the job done and embrace the grind. This is why they've had fewer close fights than Jon. GSP was probably somewhere in the middle mixing a bit of creativity in with his clear strengths.

However, I think Jon displayed shades of Khabib in the weekend's fight and he just got the job done. His physical prime is likely now in his rear view mirror and he's going to be fighting bigger men from here on.

For anyone who doesn't follow the UFC closely, Khamzat Chimaev is an extremely exciting newcomer with an absolutely wild style! The pace he sets here against a real opponent is ridiculous:

[Wellsy]

Light work

I'd love to watch the guy fight if only he wasn't a total cunt as well, because he truly is the most incredible MMA fighter of all time I think, up there with Khabib (now there's a fight if they could ever agree on a weight class).

For me GSP is the G.O.A.T in MMA, maybe not as talented as those two, but the best fighting intelligence we've seen in MMA. Always fought the fight the other guy didn't want. Sometimes lost first time, but learned and improved each fight.

GSP is amazing and a very cool guy and by far my preference to watch, but I guess for me the difference is he could (and did) lose fights whereas Jones just... has anyone ever really made Jones truly work that hard? Machida is the most difficulty I can recall for him and he choked him out in the second round.

Khabib, similarly. Just dominated every fight. But don't get me wrong if you said "name your all time top three men's competitors" itd be Jones, Khabib and GSP. I just think "never lost, never even really got close to losing" is something unique.

[User deactivated.]

Wellsy, I think you may have missed a few fights as he arguably lost against Reyes and Gustafsson 1. Khabib was more dominant but I'd still place Jones above him based on the names he has beaten.

[Rocksteady]

Light work

I'd love to watch the guy fight if only he wasn't a total cunt as well, because he truly is the most incredible MMA fighter of all time I think, up there with Khabib (now there's a fight if they could ever agree on a weight class).

For me GSP is the G.O.A.T in MMA, maybe not as talented as those two, but the best fighting intelligence we've seen in MMA. Always fought the fight the other guy didn't want. Sometimes lost first time, but learned and improved each fight.

GSP is amazing and a very cool guy and by far my preference to watch, but I guess for me the difference is he could (and did) lose fights whereas Jones just... has anyone ever really made Jones truly work that hard? Machida is the most difficulty I can recall for him and he choked him out in the second round.

Khabib, similarly. Just dominated every fight. But don't get me wrong if you said "name your all time top three men's competitors" itd be Jones, Khabib and GSP. I just think "never lost, never even really got close to losing" is something unique.

That's kind of what I mean re: GSP being the GOAT. It's a bit like Ali. He lost but he also had great fights against really top flight competition who were dominant forces in their era - Matt Hughes (side note - look up who is the worst MMA fighter to train with and he comes high up the list!)

Jon Jones I always felt just was in another league to his competition, which I suppose is a bit what makes a GOAT but is also a little bit uninteresting, kind of like Mayweather in boxing. Khabib I haven't watched enough of his fights. Most of his record seems to be made up of people I have never heard of. Last few fights were against top flight names which I watched and he just utterly dominated using his exceptional sambo skills.

I guess I feel if you put GSP in their weight classes he'd would have lost the first fight against them and then worked them out and come back and won all the rematches.

[Wellsy]

Wellsy, I think you may have missed a few fights as he arguably lost against Reyes and Gustafsson 1. Khabib was more dominant but I'd still place Jones above him based on the names he has beaten.

Those are good examples that I forgot, although he was given the decision they were definitely v close. But like you said Jones takes it for me.

Could GSP have beaten Jones? Maybe. But my money would have been on Jones. Who knows though. And GSP would never come back, for good reason. What a guy! I love listening to him speak. "Most powerful bleau from a yooman bean!!!"

[User deactivated.]

Could GSP have beaten Jones?

No chance. Too big, too athletic.

I'm not into hypothetical pound for pound discussions either where Fighter A and Fighter B are the same size in a parallel universe. People always take strength and power away from the bigger guy, forgetting to increase their speed, endurance and coordination to go alongside their new svelte stature.

[User deactivated.]

This afternoon I watched Inuoue vs Fulton. Weird watching boxing on a Tuesday afternoon, but that's Japan...

I picked Inuoue to win, but I was amazed by the outright dominance, especially given that he was moving up again to fight the number 1 guy in his 4th division. He won every second of the fight and then clinically knocked him out. It was the type of performance you would usually only expect to see against a journeyman or a gatekeeper at best, but this was against a prime, very good, proven champion. He will probably never be the same ('Jeff Lacey'd')

I've been impressed by Inuoue since I first watched him knock out former world champ Jamie McDonnell in one round (someone I actually sparred a couple of times back in the day and obviously got worked despite being much bigger than him). Inuoue has since gone on to be the most dominant and probably the best fighter in the sport for my money. 10/10 for power, speed, precision, skill, timing, ring IQ, and toughness - winning a UD after breaking his orbital bone in round 2 vs Donnaire. Compare that to Brook, Saunders and Dubois quitting (and rightly so) with the same injury in recent years!

This is a dangerous claim to make halfway through a boxers career, but I can't see him going down as anything other than an all time great when he hangs 'em up. The only problem he might have is making it look too easy to get fair recognition!
The winner of the much more popular Spence and Crawford fight this weekend is likely to get the Ring magazine's pound for pound honors, but a demolition job from either man still probably wouldn't surpass Inuoue in my ranking (although they'd be a close number 2 and I'm tentatively picking Crawford by decision)

[Wellsy]

Inuoue really is something else, his nickname is well earned. The fight against Donaire was one of my favourite ever tbh.