Boxing in 2023

First topic message reminder :

I know boxing has served up very little in the way of quality matchups at the highest level lately, but along with Davis-Garcia in the Spring we do appear to be on the verge of another exciting announcement as Stephen Fulton will reportedly be travelling to Japan to defend his Super-Bantamweight titles against Noaya Inoue.

I mentioned last year that this was one fight I'd love to see Inoue taking. If you believe the figures being bandied about, Fulton will earn around $3 million for this defence, which might explain why he's travelling despite being the defending champion - but good on him! Fair play to Inoue as well for going straight for the (probable on balance) top man at 122 as he looks to conquer yet another weight class having sewn up all the belts at Bantam.

As a career 122-pounder Fulton is probably the biggest guy Inoue will have fought, but he also brings a superb engine to the table along with a good array of shots and the ability to string them together proficiently. He's good on the inside, can work the high-low and shorten the punches and, although he's not a big hitter, he doesn't waste much as he's aggressive with what he does throw.

That said, he gets hit a hell of a lot and isn't that effective at range, which is going to be a huge problem for him here assuming Inoue's power and timing isn't suddenly blunted at Super-Bantam. Fulton was buzzed once or twice against Figueroa and showed he's tough and can take / regroup from a big shot, but taking shots from Figueroa and taking them from Inoue are two very different things.

Still, if they can get this over the line it will be a proper fight between two high-performing and peak world champions to look forward to.

Poor guy had to meet Tyson at his peak. Only a few guys can make that claim. Holyfield and Lewis certainly never met the Tyson this poor dude had to deal with

Two superb contests coming up I’m definitely trying to see, Fabio against Big d (bastud’s got in on ppv) and Regis against Haney

Herman Jaeger wrote:Poor guy had to meet Tyson at his peak. Only a few guys can make that claim. Holyfield and Lewis certainly never met the Tyson this poor dude had to deal with

Two superb contests coming up I’m definitely trying to see, Fabio against Big d (bastud’s got in on ppv) and Regis against Haney

Prograis couldn't beat Taylor........How is he going to touch Haney....

Prograis is another Lacey......Dud at the highest level.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

Herman Jaeger wrote:Poor guy had to meet Tyson at his peak. Only a few guys can make that claim. Holyfield and Lewis certainly never met the Tyson this poor dude had to deal with

Two superb contests coming up I’m definitely trying to see, Fabio against Big d (bastud’s got in on ppv) and Regis against Haney

Prograis couldn't beat Taylor........How is he going to touch Haney....

Prograis is another Lacey......Dud at the highest level.

Haney barely beat little Vasyl Lomachenko so Prograis is very live in this fight.

50/50 fight on paper that’s what we love to see though I’m not going to lie, I only saw two rounds of Haney against Loma, between the 6th and the 8th woke up then fell asleep; did either of you two watch it? So this will actually the first time I’m going to see Haney. That’s why I can’t call the fight. You want to be great, you got to be winning fights like this. That applies to both of them.

Truss, I don’t see the comparison with Lacey at all. Stylistically I don’t see any similarities. Regis is more fast twitch and much more talented wouldn’t you say? I reckon he could land on Haney

But let’s not write off the loser of the fight either. Lopez lost two on the spin in the eyes of many and now he’s on top of the world

We need to get away from the Mayweather era

Hopefully the hype will subside a notch now I had it a draw that fight or maybe De Los Santos by a slither who was just as skilled as Stevenson good chess match boring for  some of the crowd but Harvey Dock the new Cortez/Weeks/Bayless, won’t let a fight break out. Stevenson’s going to be a boring watch he’s going to be protected, I hope all big fights move to Saudi and UK

There shouldn't be any fights held in Saudi Arabia, a draconian misanthropic country.

I wasn’t really thinking about the politics of it Soul, more that every time in a Stevenson fight from now on, every time the other fighter is stronger in the clinch than him,  the referee will break the action as soon as the other fighter closes in. I bet you Dock will ref every Stevenson fight you watch. He’s become Stevenson’s personal referee just as Bayless was to Floyd. No wonder you hardly see many good American fights anymore. Prograis should object to Dock reffing his fight with Haney if he’s got any sense just as Benavidez should object if he’s chosen to ref his fight with Canelo. But of course, he’s got to get past Andrade and that’s the next fight I’m trying to see along with Edwards/Rodriguez which is interesting for me as I’ve yet to see either

That was the first time Dock has refereed a Stevenson fight so a big jump to assume he'll referee every fight from now on.

He’s the latest one they’ve trained up over there

Right of course.

David Benavidez battered the previously undefeated Demetrius Andrade by 6th round corner stoppage to regain his interim WBC 168lbs belt and more importantly WBC mandatory for Canelo Alvarez.

Benavidez’s relentless aggression was too much for Andrade, whom was also dropped in the 4th round.

On the undercard Jermall Charlo, whom has held the WBC middleweight title hostage for nearly 2 1/2 years, laboured to a points win over Jose Benavidez Jr. The fight was supposed to be at 163lbs, lord only knows why. But Charlo couldn’t be bothered to make weight and subsequently came in at 166.4lbs…

Anyway there seems to be suggestions that Canelo Alvarez will face Jermall Charlo in May…Facing one Charlo bum clearly wasn’t enough for Alvarez…

I’m not sure where Andrade can go from here. Now he’s got creamed at 168 and the boxing world seems to loathe him, plus he’s getting on in years,he really should think about retirement

Jeff Navarro wrote:David Benavidez battered the previously undefeated Demetrius Andrade by 6th round corner stoppage to regain his interim WBC 168lbs belt and more importantly WBC mandatory for Canelo Alvarez.

Benavidez’s relentless aggression was too much for Andrade, whom was also dropped in the 4th round.

On the undercard Jermall Charlo, whom has held the WBC middleweight title hostage for nearly 2 1/2 years, laboured to a points win over Jose Benavidez Jr. The fight was supposed to be at 163lbs, lord only knows why. But Charlo couldn’t be bothered to make weight and subsequently came in at 166.4lbs…

Anyway there seems to be suggestions that Canelo Alvarez will face Jermall Charlo in May…Facing one Charlo bum clearly wasn’t enough for Alvarez…

I think that sums up Canelo a bit... David Benavidez becomes his mandatory and is a fight people want to see, so there's suggestions his next fight is someone else

Here we go again

Does that make Haney fighter of the year? I think Lomachenko and Prograis by domination probably trumps what Crawford and anyone else has done. The biggest fight financially would be Haney and Tank Davis it’s a fight everyone would love to see and Al Haymon still won’t make that fight. Probably going to rematch Cruz, enough said. So Regis struggles with movers but there’s still two bangers for him with Matias and Lopez and maybe a rematch with Taylor down the line. He can still build a record he can look back on, keep your head up. Lopez would be good they both lost two in a row you could say. Who’s going to fancy fighting Haney? What a fight Haney and Crawford, it’s the new megafight

Truss be eating himself this morning, only a matter of time before he shows up to give his review. Between him and Benavidez anyway.  But Loma and Prograis more dominant at their weight than Plant and Boo Boo. But maybe Benavidez by default because of the Canelo let’s say situation

And boxing fans shouldn’t be down on Regis, Taylor, Loma, Lopez. They’re taking L’s but they’re fighting the best. They should be down on Tank Davis. He ran from the challenges of Loma, Prograis and Haney. Him and his camp have been making millions suckering their fans with low level competition

As someone said, Haney is the face of boxing not Davis. We don’t wear a Donald Duck mask

Prograis is as I alluded to a type that loses to anyone with star quality.......Haney a lot of skill but lacks a punch...

Similar to Michael Nunn (Kalambay apart) who had everything but lost when Toney took a heavy points loss early but pressured him in to wearing himself out..

Think Haney's lack of power will do for him....But probably at 154.....

In other news........A once decent Cruiser division... Usyk....Holy....Haye...Qawi.....plus other top EEs.........Has the workmanlike and nothing more Billam Smith as a champion and its sad to see...

Yeah Prograis will never be an all time great, you got to be able to beat all styles, bad style match ups etc. for that. I don’t know if it’s too late to improve the foitwork but a classic with either Lopez or Matias and he would be remembered as a very good rather than great fighter. You don’t have to be an atg to give the fans great fights, he just can only be matched with someone who comes to fight. That’s when he’s at his best

He does come on strong in the later rounds though Billam Smith and I’d love to see the fight with Chev Clarke, who’s going to be a problem for anyone. But he has a good rematch coming up anyway doesn’t he?

You can be remembered for your classic fights Truss, rather than your losses

Lopez/Matias/Prograis all fought each other, one of those fights would have to be a classic

Herman Jaeger wrote:You can be remembered for your classic fights Truss, rather than your losses

Lopez/Matias/Prograis all fought each other, one of those fights would have to be a classic

His classic fights he has lost...

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:In other news........A once decent Cruiser division... Usyk....Holy....Haye...Qawi.....plus other top EEs.........Has the workmanlike and nothing more Billam Smith as a champion and its sad to see...

Billam-Smith was awful against Masternak (although credit to him for working the body and getting the win off the back of Masternak having ribs made of glass), and if he does take on Riakporhe next as he suggested, he isn't keeping his title.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

Herman Jaeger wrote:You can be remembered for your classic fights Truss, rather than your losses

Lopez/Matias/Prograis all fought each other, one of those fights would have to be a classic

His classic fights he has lost...

Truss, you hold guys like Haugen, Pazienza and Mancini in high regard and rightly so. But they would all get schooled off Haney. Yet you remember them fondly as some of the toughest, most rugged fighters of their time. Anyway, Regis’ career far from done. Please stop writing off a fighter after a loss. You’re not a casual

Herman Jaeger wrote:

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:

Herman Jaeger wrote:You can be remembered for your classic fights Truss, rather than your losses

Lopez/Matias/Prograis all fought each other, one of those fights would have to be a classic

His classic fights he has lost...

Truss, you hold guys like Haugen, Pazienza and Mancini in high regard and rightly so. But they would all get schooled off Haney. Yet you remember them fondly as some of the toughest, most rugged fighters of their time. Anyway, Regis’ career far from done. Please stop writing off a fighter after a loss. You’re not a casual

He would school them.....They were exciting fighters though.......Regis loses when he steps up.....History is full of Regis types.....

Broner springs to mind.

You can say that after he fights Lopez or Matias, the other top dogs whose styles will gel. Too early to say that and didn’t take any punishment from Haney

Herman Jaeger wrote:You can say that after he fights Lopez or Matias, the other top dogs whose styles will gel. Too early to say that and didn’t take any punishment from Haney

Well he can always change that perception as much as I doubt it..

Anyway folks that is me done until the New Year......Sincere best wishes....Take care and all the best for 2024 !!!

What a joke boxing has become , Haney fighting Ryan Garcia, gave up against Tank, no notable win since. But he brings in the numbers

Lampley also said Andrade had style edge on Benavidez so pinch of salt with those comments. There’s a good interview with Keith One Time today I think it was with Thaboxingvoice, that would be a good fight if Haney decided to move up and a nice introduction to the division. Haney looks strong, maybe he’s actually a natural welterweight

https://www.boxingscene.com/with-predictable-mission-accomplished-devin-haney-climbs-superstar-precipice--179944

That’s incredible Devin weighed in at 165 on the night, Prograis weighed in at 158.6 so I’m not saying he had that much of an advantage

But 25 pounds over the limit on the night. Can this be right?  I reckon a stone maximum personally. No more than a stone. Does boxing need new rules?

Herman Jaeger wrote:That’s incredible Devin weighed in at 165 on the night, Prograis weighed in at 158.6 so I’m not saying he had that much of an advantage

But 25 pounds over the limit on the night. Can this be right?  I reckon a stone maximum personally. No more than a stone. Does boxing need new rules?

Hatton used to blow up about the same amount as did his opponent Juan Urango.

Haney was a big lightweight to start with but he looked huge at light welterweight, bulked up massively since the Lomachenko fight.

Dev and Bill been on the weight bullying lol

Herman Jaeger wrote:That’s incredible Devin weighed in at 165 on the night, Prograis weighed in at 158.6 so I’m not saying he had that much of an advantage

But 25 pounds over the limit on the night. Can this be right?  I reckon a stone maximum personally. No more than a stone. Does boxing need new rules?

Yep, boxing should seriously think about going back to same day weigh ins.

Something’s got to be done for sure, ridiculous. A small super middleweight on the night

Atila wrote:

Herman Jaeger wrote:That’s incredible Devin weighed in at 165 on the night, Prograis weighed in at 158.6 so I’m not saying he had that much of an advantage

But 25 pounds over the limit on the night. Can this be right?  I reckon a stone maximum personally. No more than a stone. Does boxing need new rules?

Yep, boxing should seriously think about going back to same day weigh ins.

That would be a more dangerous proposition; being dehydrated come fight night is more life threatening than boxers blowing up after the weigh in. A limit on weight gain would a possible meet in the middle option.

Not wanting to take anything away from Bam Rodriguez who was brilliant but why did such a slick mover like Sunny Edwards decide to stand and trade when he possesses no power at all?

Shame about Sunny but his time will come again. Didn’t see the fight…but hopefully he learns that lesson. I guess with boxing these days it’s all about the spectacle and Alvarez is the figurehead of modern boxing whether we like it or not. I wouldn’t be surprised if Edwards had an eye on his marketability and convinced himself he could become a different type of fighter. You can see it with Hearn barely containing his disinterest in the UK fighters he puts against Alvarez for example. A fighter with Edwards’ style is not owning any big paydays in today’s climate.

Soul Requiem wrote:

Atila wrote:

Herman Jaeger wrote:That’s incredible Devin weighed in at 165 on the night, Prograis weighed in at 158.6 so I’m not saying he had that much of an advantage

But 25 pounds over the limit on the night. Can this be right?  I reckon a stone maximum personally. No more than a stone. Does boxing need new rules?

Yep, boxing should seriously think about going back to same day weigh ins.

That would be a more dangerous proposition; being dehydrated come fight night is more life threatening than boxers blowing up after the weigh in. A limit on weight gain would a possible meet in the middle option.

Same day weigh-ins could be more dangerous, but that's only because boxers don't seem to able to get their heads around to the concept of fighting in a division that has a comfortable weight limit for them. Isn't that why weight divisions were added, so fighters could find a division that would be more comfortable for them?

The day before weigh-ins were started so that fighters could have time to re-hydrate. Instead it has been abused so fighters can squeeze themselves into divisions that they really have no business competing in.

Maybe a limit on weight gain like you and Herman have suggested could work. The problem is, is that someone will complain about that too.

Good to see Daniel Dubois give serial drugs cheat Jarrell Miller a beating, last couple of rounds he really put it on him with crisp hooks left and right.

Bivol then shuts out Lyndon Arthur in an absolute waste of everyones time; the guy is skillful but seems to be getting far too much credit for beating Canelo. He's not fought any of the other top ten light heavyweights in the world whereas Beterbiev has beaten two although he's woefully inactive.

Inoue follows Crawford in becoming a two weight undisputed champion. There are many things wrong with modern boxing but beyond the big names there are some genuine generational talents.