[quote]Breakdown wrote:
SKman wrote:
I hear that Hatton and his people are not planning to give KT a rematch. I don’t know if he is really wussing out or if he is just waiting to see what happens in his legal battle with Frank Warren first. KT is supposedly considering a rematch with Zab Judah. I would rather see Kostya - Hatton and Mayweather - Judah first and then let the winners fight each other.
I forgot about this thread!
I remember being the only one who thought my local boy (Hatton) would win the fight.
Time for a brief smug moment… … the celebrations after the fight were incredible by the way.
I don’t think you can call Hatton a wussy for not taking the rematch. It would be a backward step for him. He’s beaten KT and should move on. I like the way that Hatton thinks with respects to his career. He doesn’t want to be boxing for a long time. He wants to fight the big fights, try to beat the best and then retire at the top before his health is compromised.
Hatton wants to fight Maussa next. A unification fight like this would be a logical progression. I also think that it would be another great fight due to Maussa’s unorthodox style.
I saw Ricky the other day too. To put it politely, he’s blown up a bit. Some hard work is needed again…[/quote]
Giving Kostya a rematch is a backward step, but Maussa is the next logical progression… give me a break! He’s fighting Maussa because he’s the easiest guy out there who has a belt. He should give Kostya a rematch simply because Kostya made a lot of compromises to make the first fight happen and because Hatton told him he would give him a rematch. The ONLY person that Ricky could possibly fight that would be a “bigger” fight than Kostya would be Floyd Mayweather. As a career move the Maussa fight makes sense in terms of risk vs. reward, but I will not take him seriously as the true champ unless he gives Kostya a rematch and/or fights Mayweather.
[quote]SKman wrote:
Giving Kostya a rematch is a backward step, but Maussa is the next logical progression… give me a break! He’s fighting Maussa because he’s the easiest guy out there who has a belt. [/quote]
I meant the next best career move when I said Maussa would be the next logical progression. You can’t blame a guy for wanting to try to get some belts whilst he can. I’d like to see him fight Corrales (which could be an easier fight than Maussa [I still don’t think Maussa would be easy!]) or Cotto before Mayweather too.
I think much of the criticism about the Hatton-KT fight is unjustified too. KT has made some interesting comments about the fight and he isn’t really critical.
I do like the sound of Hatton-Cotto though now that I think about it!
[quote]majicka wrote:
Breakdown do you live in Hyde, then?[/quote]
I live in Glossop but I’m far away at University at the moment.
My dad used to own a chippy in Hyde where Ricky used to come to feast the day after his fights in the early part of his career. My dad knows him quite well. Question of Sport actually dressed Ricky up as Elvis and filmed their “guess who” round in the chippy!
[quote]FightinIrish26 wrote:
I just saw the commercial last night- Jones vs. Tarver III. I wonder how this is going to go, and if Jones has any pride at all left.[/quote]
Roy Jones Jr. is one of my favorite fighters. IMO he was the best pound for pound fighter. I’ve seen him on infomercials promoting wild party girls videos.
It doesn’t seem like he is rea;;y serious about fighting like he used to.
Although I’m a big fan of RJJr I think Tarver will win.
I hope I’m wrong
I meant the next best career move when I said Maussa would be the next logical progression. You can’t blame a guy for wanting to try to get some belts whilst he can. I’d like to see him fight Corrales (which could be an easier fight than Maussa [I still don’t think Maussa would be easy!]) or Cotto before Mayweather too.
I think much of the criticism about the Hatton-KT fight is unjustified too. KT has made some interesting comments about the fight and he isn’t really critical.
[/quote]
maussa is the next logical step…overrated with a belt, should be an easy unification. business wise it makes sense.
not to be an ass…but have you watched the KT/hatton fight? kostya wouldn’t say anything negative, he is pure class and always has been. hatton had not done a damn thing to earn a shot at the undisputed king…nothing…but he got it…and it was handed to him on a silver platter with every intangible possible to make the odds sway in his favour. yes he won. yes it was a close fight in which KT quit. hatton was not dominating and got away with obviously illegal tactics. its not cut and dry. if he pitched a shut out i could understand moving on, but he fought a close fight with the king of the division and verbally promised a rematch. usually fights and scenarios like that end up in rematches. that is all.
Well, unfortunately the Wladimir - Peter fight turned out pretty much the way I expected, but DAMN! Cotto Vs. Torres on the undercard had me jumping out of my chair. That Cotto has one hell of a chin and I loved the body work he used to break Torres down. I am now officially on the Cotto bandwagon.
Nothing to do now except count down the days until Jones - Tarver III. I don’t know why, but I think Jones will dominate. Who knows though, maybe he really is a shot fighter.
Peter couldn’t walk through the jab…oh well… cry baby vladdy is still bullshit. good firepower without a chin, heart or balls. top 10 HW, not in the top 5 though, even among this sad lot of current heavies. Peter has promise, but it was too big of a jump too soon i think.
i honestly think (without bias) that jones will win a UD. tarver is so damn overrated. the first fight wasn’t even as close as most make it out to be, jones won just about every round up to 9-10 even while looking pretty off (weight drained). the second fight, jones dominated the first round, and got caught with one he didn’t see coming in the 2nd…it has happened throughout the sports’ history to the very best. i just laugh when people say jones is washed up and his legacy is tarnished. he may have lost a step, but that doesn’t take away from his unreal accomplishments.
Jones UD…redemption…maybe 1 more fight…then retire and keep being one hell of an analyst (honestly he is always spot on).
You know, I had to comment about some of the shit I’ve been reading lately about Jones. I can’t understand why so many people, especially sports writers are prepared to totally write him off. I read an article by Tim Smith today saying that Jones should pay attention to the recent death of Levander Johnson and ask himself if it’s all worth it …blah, blah, blah.
Let’s re-cap for a second. Jones had a somewhat lackluster fight the first time against Tarver after he killed himself to come down from heavyweight. Even though some people want to insist that the win was controversial, it wasn’t. The fight was close but Jones CLEARLY WON THE FIGHT.
In the re-match Jones looked amazing in the first round. All the hand speed, power etc. was clearly still there. Jones got caught with a perfect counter left hook which he didn’t see coming and got knocked out in the second round. No excuses, he got caught, but you cannot say that Jones looked like a shot fighter before that punch landed. He certainly looked a lot sharper than in the first fight and I thought at the time he was going to dominate Tarver with his speed.
The Johnson fight is the most logical one to point to if you want to argue that Jones doesn’t have it anymore. The main thing that stood out to me was the simple lack of activity by Jones. He didn’t look like a fighter who had lost his speed or his power, but he look like he was scared to throw punches. He just never pulled the trigger.
Sure he’s older and has probably lost a step, but I don’t think his physical skills have deteriorated the way some people try to make out. More likely he’s lost his heart and is scared to get hurt. If he can overcome his fears, I think he dominates Tarver by UD or KO. Hopefully, Jones is not reading any press before this fight and letting all these guys put doubts in his head. If he is ok mentally, Jones wins this fight!
OK Jones vs Tarver tonight. Jones just came off 2 straight KO losses and making Wild Party Girls videos will be fighting his final fight if he loses. Glen Johnson is waiting for the winner of the fight. Johnson claims Tarver has been purposely avoiding a fight with him.He called Tarver out last night in his KO win over George Jones.
Also James Toney will be fighting in an under card. He just recently came off a suspension for using steroids.
I’m hoping Roy Jones still got it
I’m sitting around waiting for the Jones-Tarver PPV to start I can’t wait for it to get going. I decided to kill some time on the internet for a bit and I discovered this bit of recent boxing news:
The Russian Nicolai Valuev just won a UD over Larry Donald to become to #1 contender for John Ruiz’s WBA title. Although I don’t think much of Valuev, I’m curious to see how Johnny Louise would use his jab and grab style against some 7’ tall 330 lbs with something like an 85" reach.
[quote]SKman wrote:
I’m sitting around waiting for the Jones-Tarver PPV to start I can’t wait for it to get going. I decided to kill some time on the internet for a bit and I discovered this bit of recent boxing news:
The Russian Nicolai Valuev just won a UD over Larry Donald to become to #1 contender for John Ruiz’s WBA title. Although I don’t think much of Valuev, I’m curious to see how Johnny Louise would use his jab and grab style against some 7’ tall 330 lbs with something like an 85" reach.[/quote]
Valuev might be the answer to our prayers! yes he is crap, yes he is a sideshow, but i think he’d give huggy bear ruiz fits. johnny jab and grab doesn’t seem to be the type of guy to back down or be intimidated, and i will admit that he is a rough and tough dude…so he would be there to fight i’m sure. interesting matchup.
Roy Jones showed that John Ruiz is a joke. if you remember Roy Jones showed up for their weigh in and stepped on the scale fully clothed with his boots and bling and all. I don’t think Ruiz is a good champion. I’d like to see the titles unified with Ruiz, Byrd and of course Klitschko.
Roy Jones is probably done. After three straight losses he doesn’t seem to be in his prime. This is what Tyson looked like at the end of his career.
[quote]nanjingldv wrote:
Roy Jones is probably done. After three straight losses he doesn’t seem to be in his prime. This is what Tyson looked like at the end of his career.[/quote]
Tell me you didn’t just compare Roy Jones to Mike Tyson! No, seriously! Tyson at the end of his career was getting knocked out by complete nobodies, BUMS! Roy just lost a decision to the #1 light heavyweight in the world after coming off two KO losses and being inactive for a year.
As far as the fight goes, I’m not sure what to think about Jones. He has lost a step, but he is still incredibly fast and skilled. Maybe he’s not as fast as he was, but he was still a lot faster than Tarver. Psychologically I think Roy is done. He just doesn’t have a fighter’s mentality anymore. There were moments where I felt that the fight was there for the taking if he would only throw some damn punches! He seemed to get rocked by any half decent punch Tarver landed. He seemed more interested in showboating than actually winning the fight. I think Larry Merchant might have been right when he said that Jones simply had the goal of finishing the fight without being KO’d.
Physically, Roy still has all the tools to be champ again, but it would be tougher than before because he would not dominate the way he used to. Mentally, he does not have what it takes anymore and he should retire.
[quote]cccp21 wrote:
SKman wrote:
Hey, just bumping this thread.
Boxing’s been a little slow lately, but there’s a few decent fights coming up.
Vitali K. vs. Hasim Rachman: Could go either way, but I’m going to go with Vitali by KO.
Hopkins vs. Taylor II: Again, tough call but I think Taylor by UD.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Sharmba Mitchell: There was a time when this might have been close, but I think Floyd wins this one easy.
Have to agree with you on all 3. Wonder if the Soviets had any secrets in developing the Klitchko’s
[/quote]
I don’t really feel there’s anything all that special about the Kilitchko’s. They’re both huge guys who can fight a little bit. Vitali is probably the best of a relatively poor heavyweight division and I still think Wlad’s chin and stamina are very questionable.
I haven’t looked through this thread to see if anybody addressed this, but does anybody know where you can buy videos, DVDs of past fights? I’d love to see Tyson/Holyfield 1 again.
… the celebrations after the fight were incredible by the way.