Tonight's Boxing

Anybody watching out of interest? Just watched Sheeraz v Skeete, deffo DQ. I can forgive one punch when you are down, but two is a massive piss take. Skeete was easy up on the cards and Sheeraz got a legitimate knock down and then followed up with two very deliberate blows after Skeete took a knee.

Referee should just Ref the fight and not the fighters. Clear DQ.

The clearest of DQs I agree, the second punch in particular was disgraceful. A review and overturning of the decision is needed.

Inventing Johnson Klute wrote:Anybody watching out of interest?  Just watched Sheeraz v Skeete, deffo DQ.  I can forgive one punch when you are down, but two is a massive piss take.  Skeete was easy up on the cards and Sheeraz got a legitimate knock down and then followed up with two very deliberate blows after Skeete took a knee.  

Referee should just Ref the fight and not the fighters.  Clear DQ.  

Goid to see you Klutey..

Imagine Sheeraz is the house fighter....Young Hatton got schooled the other week and got a decision in a fight he lost widely..A lot of referees are a bit stinky  

Other thoughts...

The way Arthur lost didn't look great against Yarde... Could have beaten that count didn't want to.. From the beginning Yarde wanted it more and he impressed.. Jury is out on him not sure how far he can go..

Haney lacks something as well as power for me...Looks more Kell Brook than Roy Jones for sure..

Expect him to beat Kambosis though..

Yarde against Beterbiev next if I could have it my way one of the most explosive fights in boxing

But Yarde against Smith/Johnson still a good fight

Yarde against Buatsi maybe for best in Britain with Craig Richards watching in the wings ?

Others that top the wish list- Cash against the winner of Eubank/Williams yes please; Benn/Avenesyan

The Sheeraz fouls definitely warranted a DQ, albeit Gray's positioning was poor and he missed a vital couple of seconds where Skeete was already touching down when he really should have been in there and calling the knockdown. He's responsible for Skeete's safety, not Sheeraz (not that this gives Sheeraz carte blanche to ignore the rules and exercise no self-discipline, mind you).

I agree that once the fouls took place Gray essentially bottled it and caved in to the occasion and the fact that Sheeraz was the guy who was supposed to win. From his poor positioning to his lenient stance to Sheeraz, the whole thing reminded me of Tony Perez's performance in the first Griffin-Jones fight back in the day, albeit Larry Hazzard correctly overruled him afterwards and enforced a DQ verdict.

As for Haney, I'm not yet convinced by him. There's some talent there, but in almost all of his fights he ends up getting rocked and exchanging big shots with an opponent when he doesn't need to. He's being sold as this great pure boxer but to be honest he's looking more like a cut-price Mosley to me in some ways, more of a slugger albeit one with athleticism and speed which convince people he's more skilled than he actually is. But he doesn't have Mosley's power, and perhaps not his chin either, so put all that together and I think he's likely to get a rude awakening soon.

He seemed to take a while to recover after being hurt by Linares (who made a mistake in not jumping all over him in the next round) and while he might be able to outbox someone like Teofimo for a while, I could see Lopez's power wiping away any points advantage he might have once he gets careless and hurt badly.

Don’t see Haney being anyway near elite like his father keeps proclaiming. Despite being untested Tank Davis would blast his head off. And Lomachenko takes him to town.
Luckily for Haney, Kambosos has the belts, so he can get a payday. I feel the Australian wins.

Good to see Yarde use his full arsenal for once. How he lost the fight fight with such a meek performance was dreadful. I’d give him a fair chance against Smith Jr or Johnson. Don’t think Yarde can live with Beterbiev.

Beterbiev is your typical slugger for me, the Johnson fight showed his chin isn't the greatest and a puncher will always have a chance against him. If Yarde can land something significant early he can certainly win.

He believes in himself Yarde and win or lose he’d be willing to fight everyone in his division like a real champion unlike some of these other fraud belt holders who refuse unification fights like Charlo and ruin the sport for the fans. I see no reason why he can’t beat Beterbiev on his day

Though I’d like to see him fight Beterbiev before he fights Buatsi in case Buatsi derails it

Impressed with Yarde last night. He needed a good fight and made a statement - he was emphatically better than Arthur and absolutely wanted the W. I wonder if Arthur realised that by winning that split decision last time out was a "poke the bear" moment? I think Beterbiev is a winnable fight, as his whiskers aren't too solid and he's not getting any younger. He's very dangerous though - a fantastic fight if it can be made.

Sheeraz's late punches were an absolute disgrace. A definite DQ. As Truss says, it reeks of house fighter favouritism.

As for Haney, he is one of those fighters who is kind of frustrating - he's very talented but you always feel he could potentially do "more". I think the Kambosos fight will be difficult for Haney, mainly because of Kambosos' sheer will to win last time out and his confidence will be sky high. Perhaps Haney can step up another gear, but I am not convinced he can.

I think Warren's old tried 'n' tested WBO route is a good one for Yarde. Smith (I'm assuming he'll beat Johnson) is a winnable fight for him, albeit based on what I've seen so far I'd start Smith as a narrow favourite there.

I think Yarde might struggle in longer fights at the higher level. He only really worked at a decent pace and threw lots of leather in two rounds against Kovalev (seven and eight) having been very reactive and low-output beforehand, but still looked totally punched out and ragged afterwards (Sergey had boxed his head off overall too in fairness, which is going to sting after a while). I also wonder if his tepid performance first time out against Arthur is a sign that he maybe knows he has to pace himself to avoid gassing as he gave away quite a few early rounds and refused to let his hands go until it was too late to salvage...Although there is also reason to believe he was lacking motivation and inspiration at the time and just couldn't summon the will.

If he got his hands on the WBO I don't think Beterbiev is going to be on the agenda, at least not immediately. Beterbiev will probably be aiming for bigger paydays and more legacy-enhancing wins against Canelo, Bivol etc. so if Yarde can get the WBO I think they'll be looking at some domestic defences to boost his profile and get a bit more title experience under his belt, although given the current relationship between Warren and Hearn even getting the likes of Richards and Buatsi into the ring isn't a given.

Could he beat Beterbiev? Barring catching him with the perfect shot out of the blue, probably not going on what he's produced so far. But maybe another eighteen months down the line Beterbiev might be a little more ripe for the picking. Beterbiev isn't without technique or discipline by any means but on the rare occasions opponents have been able to let their hands go against him, or just force him to cede ground for a second, he has never been in a position to counter and doesn't look comfortable. I guess someone like Bivol could outbox him on the outside with movement and anticipation - Gvozdyk had his moments after all - but I think a bigger issue for Beterbiev will be what happens if or when he comes across someone who can put him on the back foot.

Yarde is big at 175 but so far, generally speaking, he's not shown the ability or inclination to really bring it and pressure the other guy once he's in a situation where his opponent isn't just hopelessly overmatched. Last night might just be the start of reversing that, though.