*** The Official Boxing/UFC/MMA thread ***

[Mr_B]

that was a poor fight, a poor jabfest until haye's injury and then it became a bit of a circus act, and then haye and belles after saying they would put each in hospital are serving each other cucumber sandwiches, if only their acting was as good as their boxing.

 

[Grays_1890]

I wonder if Haye was worried about getting an injury in this fight, which is why he tried too hard to get the big KO early.

I'm certain Haye would have won if not for the injury. Put it this way, if Bellew's achilles went and it was he who was the sitting duck, Haye would have took his head off.

Yeh I agree 100%, Once Haye settled he started to box Bellew with the jab and a few body shots and Bellew was def blowing, had Haye not got injured he would have won.

In other news that Thurman is some boxer

 

[superspurs]

Haye was injured on Thursday was he not? he flew to Germany and met an Achilles specialist on Thursday. I think he only fought on because it was too big a pay day for the both of them, hence why Bellew is mostly being uncharacteristically respectful in his post match stuff.

I went to the fight, got a freebie from a mate - decent night of fights, don't think anything went the distance all night so there was a lot of time wasting going on between fights, I'm always surprised when you go Boxing and the Arena isn't full until the main event, seems odd paying expensive ticket prices for just one fight but that's just me, then again most boxing undercards are a bit meh.

Bellew at Heavyweight is an odd but interesting one, don't see him going back to Cruiser now, there's no money and he has probably got 2 big fights at Heavyweight left in him. Hearn reckons he can get Parker or Wilder over here for a world title fight, I'd wager both would be interested due to the big money that will be on the table, especially if they attempt Goodison again? and both will feel they have a good chance at chinning a Cruiser with no stamina. Then I honestly think you could see a rematch with Haye, easily spun as a retirement bout for Bellew and a redemption story for Haye.

Thurman is a great fighter, glad Garcia finally lost a fight, can't stand the bloke and his old man is a disgrace. If Brook and Spence does go ahead the winner vs. Thurman could be a very good fight indeed.

 

[Grays_1890]

On your last point thats what I was hoping for before Brook took on GGG, that again was another of Hearns money spinners. Thats why Wilder would come here, because GGG v Brook here is same as Wilder coming here v Bellew.

I would worry about Bellew with Wilder though, Wilder would be too young and too lethal for him in my opinion and he bangs hard, probably harder than Haye so I dont thing Bellew talking about safety is far off

 

[superspurs]

True, but Wilder is so chinny and struggles to dominate fights early against mostly terrible opposition, I honestly think if he gets in the ring with AJ in the next 18 months AJ will destroy him.

Could see Bellew retire, what really does he have to prove? won a world title in his Football team's home ground, won a big money fight with Haye. He also seems quite negative on boxing right now too so won't be surprised.

 

[paxtonwolf]

that was a poor fight, a poor jabfest until haye's injury and then it became a bit of a circus act, and then haye and belles after saying they would put each in hospital are serving each other cucumber sandwiches, if only their acting was as good as their boxing.

Agree, heard some say it was a great fight. No way, first five rounds were poor, they talked the talk, but they didnt do it in the round. It was entertaining from the 6th onwards, but far from great or even a good fight

 

[Grays_1890]

I have to say one thing though, for all the negative Diva stuff about Haye he showed he has a HUGE heart.

Saturday was the actions of a man who was gonna go out on his sword

 

[superspurs]

He also hasn't blamed the injury, not that I'm aware of anyway. Too big a pay day to pull out I guess.

 

[Grays_1890]

He also hasn't blamed the injury, not that I'm aware of anyway. Too big a pay day to pull out I guess.

But it was there for all to see so he did'nt have to, but in the ring he would have been paid had he gone down after injury, for him to carry on was brave...

 

[superspurs]

But it was there for all to see so he did'nt have to, but in the ring he would have been paid had he gone down after injury, for him to carry on was brave...

Oh I agree, certainly.

 

[Earz]

I would worry about Bellew with Wilder though, Wilder would be too young and too lethal for him in my opinion and he bangs hard, probably harder than Haye so I dont thing Bellew talking about safety is far off

Wilder would be a Bellew's easiest chance of a World title imo. If you listen to all the pros that have sparred with Bellew, they all say that if Bellew doesn't want to get hit then you won't hit him and he proved that against Haye. Wilder throws 100 wild power shots a fight and misses 99 of them, his technique is absolutely shocking and sooner or later he will get found out. For someone so big and rangy, he has no jab to talk of.
Parker is untested but he is smaller and quicker. I think he would be a tougher opponent for Bellew.

The only fight for Bellew at cruiser is Usyk but nobody has heard of him so it won't be a money spinner and going by what Bellew has been saying, he's not going to fight again unless it's big money so IF he does fight again, it will probably be at heavyweight. I would love to see a Haye rematch if Haye gets back to full fitness but I would be surprised if he fights again this year unless its a 6 rounder in December.

 

[clownfoot]

Bellew has become emeritus champion. I had to google what it meant. Essentially, two others are going to fight for his title while he decides what to do, and should he fight at heavyweight, make a load of money and want to return to cruiserweight, he is first in line to fight for his WBC title.

What are people's thoughts on Brook vs Spence? I've been a Spence fan for some time now, I think he is the real deal in that division. I like Brook, but him and his coach were annoying in the press conference. They were claiming the reason Golovkin's somewhat sloppy performance against Jacobs was because of the damage that Brook inflicted on him. I fancy Spence to KO Brook. I'm putting a few quid on a round 9 stoppage.

 

[Libero]

Bellew has become emeritus champion. I had to google what it meant. Essentially, two others are going to fight for his title while he decides what to do, and should he fight at heavyweight, make a load of money and want to return to cruiserweight, he is first in line to fight for his WBC title.

What are people's thoughts on Brook vs Spence? I've been a Spence fan for some time now, I think he is the real deal in that division. I like Brook, but him and his coach were annoying in the press conference. They were claiming the reason Golovkin's somewhat sloppy performance against Jacobs was because of the damage that Brook inflicted on him. I fancy Spence to KO Brook. I'm putting a few quid on a round 9 stoppage.

I thought that Dominic Ingle and Errol Spence' coach were both acting the fool in that conference tbf. I haven't seen much of Spence although he comes as highly rated but I remember seeing that before with McClellan and Lacy to name but 2 fighters who came over here from the States and were supposedly going to take out the trash so to speak so I am reserving judgement. He is obviously a pretty handy fighter given how he is rated by people that know but I looked at his CV and he literally has fought no one of any real ilk in my opinion.

Kell Brook in fairness as well doesn't have the strongest history in terms of opponents but one thing I would say is that he has been in the trenches with some very durable boxers like N'dou, Senchenko and Jones whilst GGG and Porter obviously speak for themselves. It's quite a difficult one to call and it may well be dependant purely on how well Brook has made weight and if he has done so far enough in advance for it to be comfortable and just how much the GGG fight took out of him injury wise.

I'm going to go with Brook on points with a split decision.

As a side note, not sure if you caught the Crolla-Linares fight this weekend but my godness, Jorge Linares really is a wonderful technician. I've watched him on 4-5 occasions now and every time he has just looked better and better. Unification bout with Mikey Garcia in Vegas for September looks likely and a very tasty match up by all accounts.

 

[Earz]

I thought that Dominic Ingle and Errol Spence' coach were both acting the fool in that conference tbf. I haven't seen much of Spence although he comes as highly rated but I remember seeing that before with McClellan and Lacy to name but 2 fighters who came over here from the States and were supposedly going to take out the trash so to speak so I am reserving judgement. He is obviously a pretty handy fighter given how he is rated by people that know but I looked at his CV and he literally has fought no one of any real ilk in my opinion.

Completely agree with this. Spence looks the part but he hasn't really fought top opposition yet although he has looked classy against the people he has fought and has always looked capable of stepping up a gear or two.
I think Brook is one of the most underrated World Champions about. His rise was over shadowed by Khan (who I think Brook would KO). I'm hoping he gets past Spence to set up the Thurman fight.

Linares looks ridiculously good. I don't think there is anyone better at putting combinations together at the moment. Linares vs Garcia and Canelo vs GGG are the 2 best fights out there.

 

[ricky2tricky4city]

I thought that Dominic Ingle and Errol Spence' coach were both acting the fool in that conference tbf. I haven't seen much of Spence although he comes as highly rated but I remember seeing that before with McClellan and Lacy to name but 2 fighters who came over here from the States and were supposedly going to take out the trash so to speak so I am reserving judgement. He is obviously a pretty handy fighter given how he is rated by people that know but I looked at his CV and he literally has fought no one of any real ilk in my opinion.

As a side note, not sure if you caught the Crolla-Linares fight this weekend but my godness, Jorge Linares really is a wonderful technician. I've watched him on 4-5 occasions now and every time he has just looked better and better. Unification bout with Mikey Garcia in Vegas for September looks likely and a very tasty match up by all accounts.

Bang on about Linares.

And if anyone has not seen Benn v McClellan ...what a tear up. Obviously with a sad sad ending.

 

[Libero]

Bang on about Linares.

And if anyone has not seen Benn v McClellan ...what a tear up. Obviously with a sad sad ending.

Unreal fight. Those were the days when Jim Rosenthal and Gary Newbon would do the honours for ITV. Think I was 12 when I watched that fight and what a fight it was.

 

[NickTB]

Bang on about Linares.

And if anyone has not seen Benn v McClellan ...what a tear up. Obviously with a sad sad ending.

One of THE best fights of all time. Benn's jaw being broken, his first round slow count, Benn digging out Frank Warren saying McLellan was bought over "to bash me up" It had it all.
Just such a shame it finished like it did for McLellan

 

[SpurMeUp]

Instead of watch the inevitable 2nd half footie, got into Joshua-Klitchko build up. Who's going to win it?

Joshua is an athlete, super well prepared, but to me he lacks raw aggression that the best fighters have. On the subject of raw aggression, has there been a better fighter than Mike Tyson? So aggressive, fast and powerful.

 

[Bedfordspurs]

I'm going

Used to do a little bit of boxing and 3 proper rounds are as hard mentally and physically as the marathon I ran

Whoever wins will need to be top top class

 

[Grays_1890]

Spence for me - Just

Linares I have to admit I knew little about before the first fight with Crolla but stone me is he class, wow.

AJ v Klit, going to be close, seen enough of AJ to know he is not as good as being made out, blasted lots of lots of fighters that can't evade, Klit knows how to pace a fight and how not to get hit, which could drag AJ down to a pace that suits Vlad. Also AJ for me has no stamina, its shocking, he was lucky Whyte was as bad or he was bang in trouble, with Vlad leaning all over him he is gonna blow bad I fear. Klit being bad against Fury might be a blessing for him, he can't get no worse, knows its go out on your sword time or bust, I am going Vlad KO late