Boxing 2022

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2022 starts off with a decent heavyweight showdown. Luis Ortiz vs ‘Prince’ Charles Martin. Winner may get back into the bigger picture, loser is surely finished.

Chris Eubank Jr dropped Liam Williams 4 times en route to a wide points decision. 116-109 116-108 117-109. Williams showed great heart to last all 12 rounds but he was totally outclassed.
Still don’t think Eubank Jr can live with GGG. Might be best off targeting the soon to be vacant WBO title.

Keith Thurman Jr returned from his 30 month absence with a wide points decision over Mario Barrios. 118-110 118-110 117-111. Thurman looked pretty sharp for someone who’s been out the ring for so long. Barrios found some joy with body shots. Another couple of tune ups and I’d have Thurman in there with Spence.

Jesse Rodriguez outclassed former super flyweight champion Carlos Cuadras to win the vacant WBC super flyweight title. Rodriguez, aged 22, becomes the youngest active champion in mens boxing. Big opportunities ahead as well. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai is still mandatory.

Golovkin is pushing 40...Junior lasts six I'd make him favorite.

One thing being a Heavy and 40 another lower down.

Not sure what Hearn was doing putting Carly Skelly in with a schooled sharp punching Jamie Mitchell..

To call it a mismatch would be generous.. Skelly is a proud Mother of two and a gutsy kid...But she was so outclassed it was just plain dangerous..

Sure the female pool isn't deep but have some common sense..

I thought Jamie Mitchell was to rematch Shannon Courtenay? Or did Hearn pull the plug?

The momentum this sport has taken away from Ryder, should really have had a world title fight straight after Smith. Should be a good fight don’t really like to see a loser in this one

All eyes on Cash too, I think I go along with those who think he might and I said might, be the best middleweight in Britain

Anyone watching Ryder v Jacobs? Shaping up nicely at the minute. Personally got Jacobs 5-1-1 after 7, but Ryder could get into this through the championship rounds for sure.

Can see that being a decision which divides opinion. Personally I had Jacobs by a point, but he had a bit of a stinker in the second half and I thought the commentators were overstating just how much of a masterclass he was supposedly producing in the first few rounds. No doubt he had the better of them, but the way they were talking you'd think Ryder hadn't laid a glove on him before that good round he had in the seventh.

Jacobs never really regained his composure and confidence after that bad seventh for me and was pawing with shots, as well as totally forgetting where to put his hands on the inside to stop Ryder from getting shots off all of a sudden. A bit strange considering his experience but hey, he is starting to get a bit long in the tooth and it was perhaps showing there.

Ryder got back in contention in the second half, possibly deserving a share of the spoils. But an outright winner? Not a robbery by any means, or even particularly controversial, but I'll put that verdict in the dubious bracket.

Proper pick-em fight Ryder vJacobs. I had it a draw, but I called two rounds a draw and had it 5-2-5. Can't argue with judges either way. In short, Jacobs jab and movement dominated the first half the fight and Ryders variety and engine dominated the second half of the fight.

Jacobs won that 7-5, scoring in boxing is really subpar.

George Kambosos Jr looking likely to face Ryan Garcia or Vasily Lomachenko after Eddie Hearn made a poor offer for email champ Devin Haney.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Jacobs won that 7-5, scoring in boxing is really subpar.

Both won five rounds quite clearly with the other two being up for grabs. Jacobs simply didn't do enough in the second half of the fight, not the first that's happened, could and probably should have beaten both GGG and Alvarez.

It's the main problem with the ten point must system though, overall Jacobs was the better man, winning his rounds bigger but that's not how scoring works. It reminds me of Matthyse against Judah.

Got to disagree with you on the judging Jeff. I love a moan about judges and commentators, and although the commentary was average at best, judges didn't do a bad job for me here. Personally, I nearly always call it for the 'boxer', but Jacobs barely landed a meaningful punch (including jabs) from 7 onwards, so he has no complaints. Jacobs had a good lead at half way, but after Ryder worked him over in the 7th and started to push him backwards, his quality wained away and so for me, he has no complaints

Based on that showing Jacobs has possibly lost his drive and focus in any case. He sleepwalked into that loss with his showing in the second half of the fight, and his reaction to the verdict didn't suggest a man who was all that surprised - or hurt - by it.

Felix Cash needs to stop calling people out and start working on his defence...

Ryder lost for me but it wasn't a robbery...

Roll on next week..

Khan bt Brook...Retired 6/9...

Soul Requiem wrote:

Jeff Navarro wrote:Jacobs won that 7-5, scoring in boxing is really subpar.

Both won five rounds quite clearly with the other two being up for grabs. Jacobs simply didn't do enough in the second half of the fight, not the first that's happened, could and probably should have beaten both GGG and Alvarez.

It's the main problem with the ten point must system though, overall Jacobs was the better man, winning his rounds bigger but that's not how scoring works. It reminds me of Matthyse against Judah.

I thought Jacobs did enough but in the grand scheme of things my opinion and scorecard is slightly irrelevant…
I had a slight soft spot for Jacobs, overcoming severe illness. Decent career.
For me it would be a shame if he bows out on a loss.

Zaur Abduallev stopped the once brilliant Jorge Linares in the 12th round of their WBC eliminator.
Linares was ahead going into the second half of the fight, but the Russian began to take it to Linares, and scored two knockdowns in the 12th.
Abduallev in line to get a rematch with Haney, whilst Linares surely heads into retirement.

Linares could be mercurial but his vulnerability meant he was never going to be truly top drawer. My abiding memory will be seeing him accidentally headbutt Kevin Mitchell to victory, should have been a technical decision.

Let’s see Brook pick on someone his own size now. Let’s see him go after Eubank Junior with the same energy he went after Khan he don’t like him now

I don't understand the calls for Brook to fight Eubank Jr, you have a career Welterweight and someone who has regularly campaigned at Super Middleweight. It's a huge mismatch.

Brook walks around heavier than Eubank. Try and keep up will you if you’re going to comment on a boxing site. Is that really Kell’s legacy? Beating the weakest link with a name in the welterweight division who’s got no chin and hasn’t boxed for three years

Right, a Welterweight is bigger than a middleweight nowadays.

Oh dear, now disputing that Brook walks around heavier than Eubank

I think it's all bluster and bravado from Brook and may have been said a bit tongue-in-cheek myself.

Hatton walked around about the same weight as Froch.

Be interesting to see if Kell takes the fight. It will define him, for me

superflyweight wrote:Hatton walked around about the same weight as Froch.    

I wouldn't bother if I was you.

superflyweight wrote:Hatton walked around about the same weight as Froch.    

If Hatton could walk around the same weight as Froch these days he’d shake (nutritionist) his hand off

Going after Brook would be right up Eubank Jr.'s street. Smaller guy, past his best, big name and basically a favourable risk:reward ratio while he carries on his charade.

Bleating on the other night about how Brook 'stole the Golovkin fight' away from him. He's had well over five years since then to find his way into a ring with Golovkin and he still hasn't managed it. Brook was only able to 'steal' the fight from him because Eubank and his team suddenly went quiet when it was presented to them.

The guy is a complete sham, at least relative to the lofty star status he's getting these days, and how highly rated he seems to be by some. I couldn't, for example, understand why he was ever the betting favourite against Groves, not for the life of me. Average fighter at world level who seemingly has zero interest in testing himself to the max.

I hope Brook doesn't give him the time of day. Eubank should actually bother to pursue some of the top names at 160 or 168 if he wants to be taken seriously.

C’mon Chris he deserves a little bit of credit for the Williams win. People were calling it a 50/50 and a lot of people were, and he made it look easy

I think even a 40 year old GGG has Eubank for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He's on a different level and Eubank knows it.

I think I am as likely to face Brook, who wants it at 155 anyhow. Just sabre rattling from both camps.

No point in this fight happening at 160, we already know the winner

I think Eubank jr beats this incarnation of GGG...He gets stuffed by the one five years ago..

I also think Canelo stops GGG readily now..

40 years old and a Heavy is one thing...Dealing with quick reflexes at 160  is another...Every week is like a month in terms of aging for Golovkin now..

Agree with you guys  though much prefer him to go after another title or Benn...

Think that Brook beats him....But would we ever see that steely..motivated.. Brook again..

Brook looked like he had something to prove and proved it..If he did retire he has every right to be proud.

As does Khan....Gave us a lot of entertainment even if he tended to irritate at times.

But I will take that equation.

Lost with class too....Good luck to him..

Benn is the only real fight out there for Brook now and that would need to be at a 150lb catchweight, there is no way he should be draining himself down to the Welterweight limit. He's at a stage now where the real top guys are a bridge too far.

Herman Jaeger wrote:C’mon Chris he deserves a little bit of credit for the Williams win. People were calling it a 50/50 and a lot of people were, and he made it look easy

Yeah and I'm happy to give him credit for that - solid win over a good European level guy in Williams. The problem I have is that Eubank has been stuck at that same kind of level for years and has looked pretty average whenever he's poked his head above it - all the while talking about facing the cream of the crop at 160 and 168 without doing so, and now being made the flag bearer for boxing on Sky in light of Hearn's departure.

Calling out Brook off the back of all that? Bit embarrassing for me. For all the hype and self-publicity his record is bang average. It's not as if he's a kid or just starting to breach the level beyond domestic, either. When are we actually going to see him in with a genuinely top Middle or Super-Middle again?

He was beaten quite easily by both Groves and Saunders. The latter being too soon for him admittedly but his name ensured it was a rather odd split decision rather than the wide UD it should have been.

With that name he won't be short of options but yet Degale, Abraham and Korobov* are the only fringe level guys he's faced outside of that, even then they were all a bit long in the tooth by the time of the fights. Let's not make excuses here but he could have made a fight with Golovkin quite easily, even Alvarez would jump at the opportunity to face him but nothing.

* not really a significant win in those circumstances

Can't see BJS fighting again..Bad injury doesn't need the money..

Good riddance to him....Any promoter with class would have dumped the Clown after taunting a down her luck girl with a drug problem.

Can't get much lower than that...But Hearn hasn't got any class.

In other news Whyte has a couple of hours to agree to take 8 million..If he doesn't I don't want to read any posts by Bouncy sticking up for the lottery winning trialhorse..

If he doesn't take it he'll get all the criticism he deserves Truss. But he isn't a trial horse by today's standards

Eubank Jr seems like a clown. He only called out GGG, after the unification with Murata was announced. Then Eubank again called out GGG when his bout was postponed, and around Christmas time - when GGG seemed to be overweight. There’s been subsequent training videos of the Kazakh in top shape again and Eubank suddenly stopped chasing him
Eubank Jr seems nothing more that a fraud imo.

Guillermo Rigondeaux was beaten by Vincent Astrolabio to surely end the great Cuban’s career. Second straight loss for the 41 year.

He won't be missed unfortunately, since beating Donaire some nine years ago he's done nothing. Yes he stepped up to face Lomachenko but that's his whole career really.

I see that the wheels on the Chris Colbert hype train fell off last night as he was dropped and outclassed by late sub Hector Garcia.

Okolie wins a scrappy, foul-filled twelve rounder against Cieslak. Partly blames his laboured performance on coming into camp too heavy. Rocked Cieslak in the opener, floored him in the fifth, but was crude at times going for the finish / dramatic KO shot afterwards and the fight became very stop-start thereafter.

Did anyone else watch? And did you see Briedis making a clown of himself again with his costume and attempts at banter? Still calling out YouTubers. And to think I used to really like him. His schtick over the past few weeks has put me right off. Will be firmly behind Okolie if they ever get round to making the fight, albeit tonight's performance wouldn't beat Briedis by any means.

Okolie is genuinely terrible to watch. I don’t get his obsession with continually hugging his opponent.
Breidis, despite being a clown, is levels above Okolie. Which is why Hearn is now talking up a unification with Makabu.

Andy Lee got it right about Okolie on the commentary for me. He has the attributes and power and fitness, but this can sometimes 'override' the need for the fundamentals. It's not too late for him though, but he needs to find away to work the jab so it's a serious weapon, and he needs to build an inside game rather than just hold and smoother. Using your strength and size to smoother an slow opponents can be a brutal but beneficial part of the game, but when it's your 'only' option, it becomes obvious and relatively easy to anticipate and negate. If he can add some variety to his inside game and improve his jab, he could beat Breidis for me, however, if they were to fight tomorrow, you could only assume Breidis would be the winner.

Hearn wants to turn Okolie into a Heavy apparently.. Unlike Usyk who has the boxing skill to outfox the 240 pounders...I don't see Okolie lasting with Dubois and Joyce types..

As for Cruiser it's never been interesting even when Holy cleared it out..

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2R_alRyMMKw

All this talk of poor scoring but how about poor refereeing? Fast forward to 9 mins. Jordan Gill literally gets face planted by his opponent.
The ref doesn’t issue a warning when a dq would’ve been justified.

Jeff Navarro wrote:Juan Francisco Estrada has covid and is out of the Chocolatito rubber match.

WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez will step up to super flyweight to face Chocolatito instead. Should be one hell of a slug fest.

Chocolatito vs Martinez tomorrow night - WBC ‘diamond’ super flyweight title.

Chocolatito 114.7lbs

Martinez, coming up from 112lbs, still missed weight by 2lbs - 117lbs. Even after 2hrs he failed to make weight. Embarrassing.

A follow up on Guillermo Rigondeaux, Cuban has suffered severe injuries to his eye sight after a pressure cooker exploded in his face. The Cuban has currently got 20% vision.

Very nasty. Hope he recovers.

Jeff Navarro wrote:

Jeff Navarro wrote:Juan Francisco Estrada has covid and is out of the Chocolatito rubber match.

WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez will step up to super flyweight to face Chocolatito instead. Should be one hell of a slug fest.

Chocolatito vs Martinez tomorrow night - WBC ‘diamond’ super flyweight title.

Chocolatito 114.7lbs

Martinez, coming up from 112lbs, still missed weight by 2lbs - 117lbs. Even after 2hrs he failed to make weight. Embarrassing.

Maybe he never stood a chance to begin with - certainly possible - but Martinez looked dead on arrival in the fight, and got battered from pillar to post in a pretty routine rout for Chocolatito.

Very enjoyable performance by Gonzalez albeit against a somewhat compromised opponent.

Some chin Martinez displayed, and he had his occasional moments, but he was made to look crude and basic. Never thought up a way to consistently get around or through Gonzalez's high guard or change the tactics. Was a sucker for the uppercuts which Gonzalez kept going with all night. Gonzalez still looks the part when he strings those combinations together and he did some beautiful stuff in there. Just a different class of boxer to Martinez and his conditioning and stamina for a guy his age at such a low weight is exceptional.

Seldom a jab from either men but the quality of the action up close meant there never really needed to be, at least from Gonzalez's point of view given how dominant he was. Very, very fine performance to add to his list.

Rumours that he may even try his luck at Bantam soon if a third fight with Estrada doesn't come to pass. Personally I'd advise against that and would rather see him continue at 115, but he's at that stage of his career where money could well override common sense. He'd be a big underdog against Inoue and though his workrate and speed could see him take early rounds against Donaire you'd have to think Donaire's size and power would take their toll eventually..