Hey guys,
Since there seemed to be a good deal of boxing talk over on the Watebury thread, I thought I’d get around to starting an official boxing thread.
I thought I would kick off the thread with my predictions on some upcoming fights. I look forward to hearing the opinions of the other boxing fans on the site.
January 22
Floyd Mayweather vs Henry Bruseles Arens (140)
Mayweather by easy decision or late KO.
January 29
Arturo Gatti vs Jesse James Leija (WBC 140)
Gatti by KO or either one could get stopped on cuts.
February 5
Cory Spinks vs Zab Judah (WBC/WBA/IBF 147)
Judah finally lives up to his potential and wins by KO. Judah has a glass jaw but Spinks does not hit hard enough for it to matter.
February 19
Bernard Hopkins vs Howard Eastman (WBC/WBA/WBO/IBF 160)
Hopkins by decision in a tougher than expected fight.
February 26
Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez (WBA/IBF 126)
Tough call, but by instincts tell me Pacquio by KO.
March 5
Diego Corrales vs Jose Luis Castillo (WBC/WBO)
Another tough fight to call, should be a good one. Corrales has looked good 135 so Corrales by KO.
Hopefully this starts some discussion. Feel free to comment on my predictions or discuss other fights/potential fights.
Floyd Mayweather vs Henry Bruseles:
pretty boy floyd by late stoppage or easy UD.
Arturo Gatti vs Jesse James Leija:
even though leija has had some sort of resurgence lately (bojado)…gatti by KO.
Cory Spinks vs Zab Judah:
Zab has undeniable talent, but the IQ and attention span of the average canine. he’s just a punk. Repeat of their first meeting. Spinks throws those tippy tap jabs and while he runs away from zab…all the way to a decision.
Bernard Hopkins vs Howard Eastman:
Hopkins won’t hurt Eastman…but he will pull off a close decision. Hopkins by points.
Manny Pacquiao vs Juan Manuel Marquez:
I just can’t see marquez getting caught like he did in the first fight. he obviously figured Pac out and outboxed him rounds 3-12. Pac is too one dimensional…left hand, left hand, left hand, and very little else to follow up with. JMM by UD.
Diego Corrales vs Jose Luis Castillo:
tough call! Definately doesn’t go the distance. Castillo has the better chin (corrales down against floyd and casamayor)and hits harder so i’ll pick him to win by late KO. barn burner!
Kostya Tsyzu vs. Ricky Hatton:
Tsyzu by KO inside 9.
I agee about the styles, but what do you think about Pac moving up in weight? I assume this fight will happen at 130. There’s no way Morales goes back to 126!
I’ve been hearing a lot lately about a Nigerian fighter named Samuel Peter. Does anyone know much about him? Does he have any real potential or is it just a bunch of hype?
Too bad Ike Ibeabuchi landed himself in jail, now that was a fearsome heavyweight!
It’s a shame that dumbass Ike got himself some jail time. he could have been a force in the heavyweight division…especially when you consider how pathetically weak it is right now.
Vitally is the class of the division, and he is nothing special at all. good heart, decent chin and a smart fighter, but he’s also robotic, awkward looking and slow. Ruiz is boooorrrrring and i am so damn sick of the “jab and grab”. gotta hand it to ruiz though, he wins! but he’s nothing special either. byrd is a quality fighter. vlad klitschko is a glass jawed excuse making joke. hasim rachman is vitally’s biggest threat currently and is a decent fighter. golota is inconsistent at best, you never know which version of him will show up on any given night. james toney is a fool if he thinks he can hang with a true heavyweight, the fatass! tua or valuev might make a push into contender status, but tua needs to get in shape, and valuev has to prove he’s more than a sideshow.
thats pretty much anybody who matters in that piss poor division…and Ike could whoop all of them IMO.
I’ve never seen Samuel Peter but to be honest I don’t take much interest in the heavyweight division at the moment. Just out of curiosity how good do you guys think Lennox Lewis was? I hear a lot of pundits putting him in their top 5 heavyweights of all time but he wouldn’t get anywhere near my list…
Lewis was probably one of, if not the best BIG heavyweight. All time he might barely make my top 15. I thought he should have lost his fight against Ray Mercer and he should have been able to knock out a faded Holyfield. A motivated and in shape Lewis could probably still beat anyone currently in the division. Only Chris Byrd’s defense would give him any real problems. The biggest knock on Lewis is his chin. Nobody who got knocked out by Oliver Mcall and Hasim Rachman deserves to be anywhere near a list of top heavyweights.
Samuel Peter knocked out Jeremy Williams recently. He did it with one left cross / hook that had Williams down for roughly 10 minutes. He’s raw, but built along the lines of Ibeabuchi, with quick hands and heavy hands. He is supposed to be on the Gatti-Leija undercard I think. It’s hard to gauge him right now because he hasn’t been tested yet. I remember Courage Tshabalala looked like the next great heavyweight in the mid-90’s before he was exposed. Same thing could happen to Peter.
[quote]SKman wrote:
Lewis was probably one of, if not the best BIG heavyweight. All time he might barely make my top 15. I thought he should have lost his fight against Ray Mercer and he should have been able to knock out a faded Holyfield. A motivated and in shape Lewis could probably still beat anyone currently in the division.[/quote]
Lewis makes my top 15 easily, but not the top 10. if motivated he would still be the man at HW without question. i gotta disagree with you on the holyfield comment. his chin isn’t of mythical status (like oliver mcCalls’) but its damn good. put that together with an iron will and just being plain tough and you have a guy who isn’t going to get KTFO. TKO yes, KO no way!
[quote]kligor wrote:
Tyson can easily become heavyweight champ again in a fight against Ruiz. But don’t count on him beating Klitschko.[/quote]
tyson will always have a chance simply because of his power. but i’m not sure if he could beat ruiz, definately not vitally. the hype and aura surrounding tyson has blown his abilities way out of proportion. he’s not the pre-prison iron mike anymore, hell he’s barely the tyson who got his ass handed to him by holyfied, or the tyson who gave up and got knocked the F out by lewis. he’s not really in the mix IMO.
[quote]MikeT wrote:
I remember Courage Tshabalala looked like the next great heavyweight in the mid-90’s before he was exposed. Same thing could happen to Peter.[/quote]
Sorta reminds me of Shannon Briggs.
[quote]kligor wrote:
Tyson can easily become heavyweight champ again in a fight against Ruiz. But don’t count on him beating Klitschko.[/quote]
Forget about Tyson he’s done. Whether he fights again or not.
[quote]juice20jd wrote:
Lewis makes my top 15 easily, but not the top 10. if motivated he would still be the man at HW without question. i gotta disagree with you on the holyfield comment. his chin isn’t of mythical status (like oliver mcCalls’) but its damn good. put that together with an iron will and just being plain tough and you have a guy who isn’t going to get KTFO. TKO yes, KO no way!
[/quote]
I do not question Holyfield’s chin, but it seemed to me that Lewis could have stopped him if he had applied a little more pressure in their first fight. He sometimes seemed to be able to hit Holyfield at will. The second fight was much closer, but I still had Lewis winning by 2-3 rounds. I don’t remeber the specifics, but didn’t Bowe KO Holyfield in their 3rd fight? As much as I love him, Holyfield should have retired after his rematch with Michael Moorer.
[quote]SKman wrote:
I don’t remeber the specifics, but didn’t Bowe KO Holyfield in their 3rd fight?[/quote]
an awesome fight! bowe down in the sixth. comes back to put holyfield down twice in the 8th. holyfield was exhausted and a sitting duck. and if i remember correctly, holyfield was not counted out. the ref stepped in and stopped the fight after the 2nd knockdown.
[quote]SKman wrote:
I do not question Holyfield’s chin, but it seemed to me that Lewis could have stopped him if he had applied a little more pressure in their first fight. He sometimes seemed to be able to hit Holyfield at will. The second fight was much closer, but I still had Lewis winning by 2-3 rounds.[/quote]
Lewis was a calculating guy, he wouldn’t take unecessary risks. he did that in the latter half of his career, choosing to win on points when he probably could’ve stopped most opponents. i think he could’ve stopped evander, not by straight KO though.
[quote]juice20jd wrote:
i think he could’ve stopped evander, not by straight KO though.
[/quote]
Ok. I agree.
BTW Bowe vs. Holyfield was one of the greatest trilogies EVER! On a side note can you believe Bowe is trying to make a comeback? Sad! After the way he was slurring his words after the 2nd Golota fight, he’s gotta be damaged goods!
Speaking of comebacks, one of my favourite welterweights, Ike Quartey, just had a comeback fight. I won’t get too optimistic, but I would like to see him have a more satifying end to his career than his two losses (to De la Hoya and Vargas).