The Boxing thread

[The Richard Wright Fan Club]

I'll head back on here tomorrow when the once a year "fight fans" have fucked back off.

Josh could be the biggest name since Tyson. Not yet tho. Right now Fury boxes his head off.

Joshua would run rings round the scruff.

 

[ono]

Regarding Tyson early years he brought everything with him a buzz and excitement. I agree when Cus went he went off the rails its a what could of been with Mike for me. Lennox was a great heavyweight champion but at the end he did great but when his first major test came along he retired when Vitali Klitschko came along and fought Lennox he soon retired when people were all calling for a rematch.

As for AJ take the mandatory fight asap whoever it is go in with them. Then you would be looking at either the big money fights for him. So a fight with either Haye or Fury should make a lot of money more so Haye saying that I dont think AJ is ready for either he might be 2 to 3 fights away from fighting either in my opinion. Just see the likes of both Haye and Fury being able to handle his power but would AJ be able to handle the shots from either i am not too sure yet.

As for the boxing and amount of UK fighters as World Champion it is some going there could be more to come the talent there is coming up is just going to get better and better. Some good fighters not too far off a World title fight and others will when they get a shot win 1 like AJ did being Callum Smith. Also next weekends world title fight with the Smiths brother should be good 1 to look at in the US.

It's the winner of Carlos Takam and Joseph Parker. Parker seems to be well protected and Takam, although no world beater, is a step up. Be interesting to see what happens. Takam has a win over Tony Thompson not long back and was robbed of a win over Mike Perez. He's knocking on and it's last chance saloon for him. I think if Takam beats Parker, AJ might go with him as his next opponent although his next opponent could technically be announced before Takam - Parker has taken place. I've seen on Twitter that Malik Scott reckons he's got a contract to face AJ, but i hope that's bullshit because that's a joke of a fight. The IBF rankings are quite poor at the minute. There's not really a marketable fight to be made in there. Talent wise, you have Haye (who needs to shed some more rust) and Andy Ruiz Jr who needs to shed a good few stone, and even then, if he does, he falls into the 'who needs him' category, given he's talented yet unheralded. Maybe Pulev or Chisora or maybe even Stiverne to compare AJ's performance to Wilder's. Glazkov might feel he deserves another shot, although he will be viewed as being on a similar level to Martin so probably a no go. With all that in mind, Malik Scott wouldn't shock me.

As for AJ - Haye, i'd side heavily with AJ. Haye is far too shot shy at heavyweight when he is in with anybody who has a size and reach advantage over him. It took him 3 rounds to throw anything at Audley Harrison, 12 before he threw anything at Valuev and he didn't even bother against Wlad. For all his self promoted bullshit about his explosiveness and his head movement, it's all smoke and mirrors when he's in with anybody who poses a threat to him. He was less cautious at Cruiserweight when he ironed out Enzo and Gurov (both slightly taller than him) but since he moved to heavyweight he's only opened up against plodders like Chisora, Ruiz and Barrett - all 3 of those were 3-3 from their last 6 fights. I see him being extremely wary of Joshua given his size advantage, and the fact he has the speed and the power to put him to sleep. On top of that, he's been inactive for 4 years and rust shedders against the Mark de Mori's of this world and Shannon Briggs do not prepare him for Joshua.

AJ - Fury, again don't see how any sane man can have Fury winning. Fury beat Klitschko because he had the tools to do so. Klitschko is overly cautious even when in against fighters who he has a massive size advantage over. He's borderline afraid of throwing anything at someone who he doesn't have those advantages over. His mental fragility is the sole reason for him being so robotic. Fury's win was magnificent but he didn't beat him because he's suddenly developed into a technical wizard. He capitalised on Wlad's hesitancy and outworked him. I struggle to see Joshua being anywhere near gun shy against Fury, especially considering Fury is hardly a huge puncher given his size. On top of that, if Steve Cunningham can catch him and floor him heavily, Joshua sends him to sleep.

Pundits and fans alike keep saying AJ is '2 or 3 more fights away from that level' but his 2 or 3 fights might only equate to 5 or 6 rounds of one sided boxing. He has his weakness - he fights in straight lines, he sometimes reaches with punches and he doesn't have much head movement, but he is a wrecking ball. He has great speed and his stamina looks good to me. His upside is far greater than any other heavyweight out there, and he has the power to put every single one of them away. The only guys i'd keep him away from would be Wilder and maybe Ortiz, but even then i think he beats both.

 

[ell]

Lets be honest it was a cashout fight for Martin he was never a world level fighter and you cant blame him for grabbing as much money as possible before returning to the Tom Dallas level he was at.

As for Joshua fighting "early" for a world title take a look at the rankings for the IBF, names like Glazkov, Pulev, Chisora, Ruiz, Stiverne, Breazeale the type of opponents Hearn would have been looking to put him in with anyway, except now hes got the belt already. I think hes got to fight his mando first which will be pretty straightforward, I know most people fancy Parker but I really don't see the hype yet especially when you look at the bodies hes been fighting, expect Takam to come through and be Joshuas first defence. Then he'll have two voluntarys the second of which I can see being Haye who like Martin is after nothing but a payday.

 

[leighton]

People who think Haye brings nothing to the table is wrong or after a pay day well every fighter is after a pay day. Haye is not in need of chasing much of a pay day he is sorted money wise. Haye is the best man in the world to self promote any fight he is in and get those PPV buys that Sky Sports love. A AJ v Haye fight would sell big time more than a AJ V Fury fight even if both are World Champions. Haye will get more and more active and him with Shane McGugian its looking like a good duo Shane is getting the most of him and George Groves and Frampton. I wouldnt be shocked to see Haye being world champion again.
Haye will blast out Arnold Gjergjaj but if your looking at his record undeafeated with 21 kos. IF Haye beats him early and a fight with Shannon Briggs is made for summer then you got Haye who would of got rid of any ring rust and then it makes a AJ fight doable for the end of the year. The biggest thing we have yet to learn about AJ if he can take a full on shot up until then we cant say how good he is a fight with Wilder , Fury or Haye would be good to see this year but I wouldnt be shocked if Hearn was to wait this time next year to do that fight with AJ with any of the 3 men.

 

[ono]

Lets be honest it was a cashout fight for Martin he was never a world level fighter and you cant blame him for grabbing as much money as possible before returning to the Tom Dallas level he was at.

As for Joshua fighting "early" for a world title take a look at the rankings for the IBF, names like Glazkov, Pulev, Chisora, Ruiz, Stiverne, Breazeale the type of opponents Hearn would have been looking to put him in with anyway, except now hes got the belt already. I think hes got to fight his mando first which will be pretty straightforward, I know most people fancy Parker but I really don't see the hype yet especially when you look at the bodies hes been fighting, expect Takam to come through and be Joshuas first defence. Then he'll have two voluntarys the second of which I can see being Haye who like Martin is after nothing but a payday.

Yeah i'm not buying into anything Parker does unless he stops Takam. And i agree, the level of the top 15 in the IBF is poor. Teper might have been a good sell and fairly dangerous but he's banned.

I do think Haye believes he can beat AJ, but for me it's the same misguided belief that he had when he fought Wlad. He doesn't have it in him to take the necessary risks to land anything meaningful on a heavy who has a size advantage over him. He's fine showing his 'explosiveness' against Monte Barrett and John Ruiz, but he won't against anybody who has a range/size advantage. It took him 3 rounds to throw anything at Audley Harrison. How's he going to beat Joshua to the punch if he's that gun shy? The last time he truly went for broke against anyone who posed a threat was against Enzo Mac down at Cruiserweight almost 8 years ago. I give him next to no chance against AJ. He might be able to survive by using a lot of movement, but even then, stamina was never his strong suit, and at 35 (or maybe even 36 by the time they fight) and with 4 years inactivity, he's not suddenly going to develop into some super human distance fighter.

I've seen on Twitter that Malik Scott reckons he's signed a contract to be AJ's next opponent. I'm not a fan of that match up but i can sadly see it happening.

 

[ono]

People who think Haye brings nothing to the table is wrong or after a pay day well every fighter is after a pay day. Haye is not in need of chasing much of a pay day he is sorted money wise. Haye is the best man in the world to self promote any fight he is in and get those PPV buys that Sky Sports love. A AJ v Haye fight would sell big time more than a AJ V Fury fight even if both are World Champions. Haye will get more and more active and him with Shane McGugian its looking like a good duo Shane is getting the most of him and George Groves and Frampton. I wouldnt be shocked to see Haye being world champion again.
Haye will blast out Arnold Gjergjaj but if your looking at his record undeafeated with 21 kos. IF Haye beats him early and a fight with Shannon Briggs is made for summer then you got Haye who would of got rid of any ring rust and then it makes a AJ fight doable for the end of the year. The biggest thing we have yet to learn about AJ if he can take a full on shot up until then we cant say how good he is a fight with Wilder , Fury or Haye would be good to see this year but I wouldnt be shocked if Hearn was to wait this time next year to do that fight with AJ with any of the 3 men.

I agree but Haye won't throw anything at Joshua. He's too afraid of being hit back. Look at the Valuev and Klitschko fight. He threw on average 12 punches per round against Valuev. Against Klitschko, he couldn't get past his jab. Given that AJ is faster, more explosive and much busier, i really don't see any argument for Haye doing anything, especially at 35/36 years old.

 

[ell]

Yeah i'm not buying into anything Parker does unless he stops Takam. And i agree, the level of the top 15 in the IBF is poor. Teper might have been a good sell and fairly dangerous but he's banned.

I do think Haye believes he can beat AJ, but for me it's the same misguided belief that he had when he fought Wlad. He doesn't have it in him to take the necessary risks to land anything meaningful on a heavy who has a size advantage over him. He's fine showing his 'explosiveness' against Monte Barrett and John Ruiz, but he won't against anybody who has a range/size advantage. It took him 3 rounds to throw anything at Audley Harrison. How's he going to beat Joshua to the punch if he's that gun shy? The last time he truly went for broke against anyone who posed a threat was against Enzo Mac down at Cruiserweight almost 8 years ago. I give him next to no chance against AJ. He might be able to survive by using a lot of movement, but even then, stamina was never his strong suit, and at 35 (or maybe even 36 by the time they fight) and with 4 years inactivity, he's not suddenly going to develop into some super human distance fighter.

I've seen on Twitter that Malik Scott reckons he's signed a contract to be AJ's next opponent. I'm not a fan of that match up but i can sadly see it happening.

A lad who got bombed by Chisora, would be interesting to see how Hearn tries to flog that one as PPV! (He also drew with Glazkov)

 

[bluemc1]

D

Regarding Tyson early years he brought everything with him a buzz and excitement. I agree when Cus went he went off the rails its a what could of been with Mike for me. Lennox was a great heavyweight champion but at the end he did great but when his first major test came along he retired when Vitali Klitschko came along and fought Lennox he soon retired when people were all calling for a rematch.

As for AJ take the mandatory fight asap whoever it is go in with them. Then you would be looking at either the big money fights for him. So a fight with either Haye or Fury should make a lot of money more so Haye saying that I dont think AJ is ready for either he might be 2 to 3 fights away from fighting either in my opinion. Just see the likes of both Haye and Fury being able to handle his power but would AJ be able to handle the shots from either i am not too sure yet.

As for the boxing and amount of UK fighters as World Champion it is some going there could be more to come the talent there is coming up is just going to get better and better. Some good fighters not too far off a World title fight and others will when they get a shot win 1 like AJ did being Callum Smith. Also next weekends world title fight with the Smiths brother should be good 1 to look at in the US.

do you honestly feel Lennox Lewis only had One major test in his whole career?
Also what is it you've seen from Haye and Fury to think they can handle Joshua's power ? I've seen them both put down by cruiser weights
I feel Haye v Joshua is who lands first and Joshua parks Fury clean out
Just my opinion though

 

[ono]

A lad who got bombed by Chisora, would be interesting to see how Hearn tries to flog that one as PPV! (He also drew with Glazkov)

He managed to flog Bellew and Cleverly 2 on PPV. I hope it's not true but think they are testing the water with the idea of it.

 

[BigOscar]

I agree but Haye won't throw anything at Joshua. He's too afraid of being hit back. Look at the Valuev and Klitschko fight. He threw on average 12 punches per round against Valuev. Against Klitschko, he couldn't get past his jab. Given that AJ is faster, more explosive and much busier, i really don't see any argument for Haye doing anything, especially at 35/36 years old.

AJ doesn't have a jab though and technically isn't up to much. He was made to look very awkward against a very average fighter in Whyte just because he was out jabbed by him, when jabbing isn't even Whte's natural game. Haye couldn't get past Klitschko's jab, but Klitschko had one of the best jab games of any heavyweight, pretty much no one could handle it. If AJ could hold Haye at bay with his jab then you'd back him to win easily, but I don't see much to suggest that he could. I'd back Haye to outbox him, it would just be a matter of whether he could handle AJ's power imo.