Elsalvajeloco Posted October 1, 2023 Author Share Posted October 1, 2023 There is no question now that Canelo Alvarez is the best junior middleweight in the world!...Wait, this wasn't at 154?! Ok, that said, was it the best Canelo performance? Probably not. Charlo seemed very tenative from the outset. It started to get interesting for maybe a few rounds. Then, Charlo took a knee for a knockdown and that was it. I don't think Jermell fully packed it in, but I think at some point, he realized Canelo's work was way more effective and he himself wasn't landing anything of consequence. Even with jabs, Canelo was landing what seemed to be 2 to 1. Same with the body work. Turns out Canelo more than doubled Jermell in terms of landed punches even though Jermell threw about fifty more. Instead of letting Canelo play aggressive counter puncher, he chose to instead just linger on the ropes and just move away with no real purpose. Charlo would fight in spurts and then Canelo would land a few good shots to force more inactivity from Charlo. Canelo took his foot off the gas a little in the final third of the fight, but still easily won most if not all of those rounds. It went all twelve rounds, but I don't think Jermell looked all that satisfied by just giving a good account of himself and surviving. He did his best work against Canelo in the middle of the ring for the handful of notable punches he did land, but Canelo wasn't going to let that happen. He probably would have been better served trying to go out on his shield cause Canelo came out from the beginning give him no quarter. If you're not going to land anything to make Canelo back off, then it's going to be a long fight. I think Canelo, save for the Bivol fight and maybe bits and pieces of other fights, has figured out people trying to be cute and just try to box him to steal rounds in the recent last few years of his career. I mean look at the Plant fight. It's not a strategy that's going to work unless you're a master boxer. Better yet, a master boxer who can stand up to some strong artillery that Canelo brings. Now all that said, hilariously enough, the post fight interviews teased two fights we probably should have been seeing instead of this one: Canelo vs. Benavidez and (Jermell) Charlo vs. Crawford at 154. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted October 1, 2023 Share Posted October 1, 2023 There was one round where Charlo connected with the same hook two or three times. I thought it was going to get interesting but Canelo looked completely unfazed by all of them and kept walking forward. It felt like the kind of moment where a fighter realizes he's just not built the same as the guy in front of him. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted October 17, 2023 Author Share Posted October 17, 2023 Cross posting: Rumors are no longer rumors. Showtime has cancelled all combat sports on the channel (boxing and MMA) effective the end of 2023, which means Showtime Boxing comes to an end after 37 years on the channel. It also means the end of ShoBox, which also greatly saddens me. This definitely means that if Bellator is purchased and doesn't cease operations entirely, the buyer will need to look for a TV deal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 This pre fight concert for Fury/Francis is... well it's longer than I anticipated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E. Dynamite Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 OH MY GOD JUST FIGHT ALREADY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 It's moments like this where you really appreciate how clean a WWE show is executed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted October 28, 2023 Author Share Posted October 28, 2023 7 minutes ago, jaedmc said: It's moments like this where you really appreciate how clean a WWE show is executed. Well, the downside of switching PPVs to mostly streaming platforms is no time window. Even when HBO/TVKO and Showtime/SET were delaying after the prelims went short, they still had to get the entire show done inside of 3-3 1/2 hours. Now, you can go for as long as you would like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 I just jumped out of my seat. Francis won a round against the best in the world. It could all go downhill from here and not matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirFozzie Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 (edited) What would be the bigger upset? Douglas over Tyson (Mike) or Ngannou beating Tyson (Fury?) Edit: Fury wins by split decision. There's going to be plenty of cries of bullshit and pointing to the knockdown. Edited October 28, 2023 by SirFozzie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wilson Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 I don't watch enough boxing to do my own scoring but I'm not surprised it was that close. That was almost incredibly embarrassing for Fury instead of just regular embarrassing, not sure if he just was looking at his next fight or didn't take Ngannou seriously at all but the whole fight they were basically equals. I'll give them credit, they certainly didn't go in there for an exhibition-like fight, Ngannou meant business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E. Dynamite Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 I can't imagine the casual response to those (correct) scorecards. Fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 That was incredible. Francis Ngannou, in his first pro boxing fight, took the heavyweight champ to a split decision. Just amazing. It's like real life Rocky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirFozzie Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 Stallone is currently writing down notes for the Rocky reboot as a struggling MMA fighter, given a chance to take on the world's heavyweight champion in a boxing match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted October 28, 2023 Author Share Posted October 28, 2023 9 minutes ago, Kevin Wilson said: I don't watch enough boxing to do my own scoring but I'm not surprised it was that close. That was almost incredibly embarrassing for Fury instead of just regular embarrassing, not sure if he just was looking at his next fight or didn't take Ngannou seriously at all but the whole fight they were basically equals. I'll give them credit, they certainly didn't go in there for an exhibition-like fight, Ngannou meant business. I said it in the MMA discussion thread some weeks bad, but (1) Tyson Fury fights purely for money at this stage of his career and (2) at some point, you cannot be an out of shape sloth with super bad habits even if you're that skilled. Granted, he was on the comeback trail, Fury didn't look that good against like Otto Wallin. So if you put him in there with a guy who legitimately can make him work for more than 4-5 rounds, he will look exactly like that. Who knew it would be Francis Ngannou, but that was the guy. Once the knockdown happened, Fury would have needed to KO Ngannou within 10 seconds later to get his credibility back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirFozzie Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 You know who's a bigger loser in this rather since Fury technically won the fight? Dana White. Just think of how many more PPV Buys he could have received for promoting Ngannou's next UFC fight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John E. Dynamite Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 Sincerest condolences to all the smart money that was gonna wait until after this fight to bet on Usyk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wilson Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 4 minutes ago, SirFozzie said: You know who's a bigger loser in this rather since Fury technically won the fight? Dana White. Just think of how many more PPV Buys he could have received for promoting Ngannou's next UFC fight? And if UFC had let him do the Fury fight while under contract, they could have taken a cut. Definitely a misplay by UFC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Natural Posted October 28, 2023 Share Posted October 28, 2023 Didn't watch but reading here and pbp, Francis Ngannou was robbed with Tyson Fury getting away with one. Fury knocked down along the way. Dana White's curled up right now Stewie Griffin style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted October 28, 2023 Author Share Posted October 28, 2023 6 minutes ago, Kevin Wilson said: And if UFC had let him do the Fury fight while under contract, they could have taken a cut. Definitely a misplay by UFC. I dunno about that. Do you think PFL is getting a cut from this fight? Moreover, Top Rank is getting their cut. Frank Warren is getting his cut. The fighters are getting their cut. This ain't Mayweather/McGregor where Dana was willing to do business cause the buyrate would be monster as well as the gate. This is being entirely being bankrolled by Saudi Arabia who was willing to lose a shitload of money. What is left over for additional parties? Right now, Ngannou stands to make more money fighting AJ, Wilder, or whomever over anonymous PFL HW who will get smashed to bits. Arguably, it would be the same in the UFC for anyone not named Jon Jones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Wilson Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 12 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said: I dunno about that. Do you think PFL is getting a cut from this fight? Moreover, Top Rank is getting their cut. Frank Warren is getting his cut. The fighters are getting their cut. This ain't Mayweather/McGregor where Dana was willing to do business cause the buyrate would be monster as well as the gate. This is being entirely being bankrolled by Saudi Arabia who was willing to lose a shitload of money. What is left over for additional parties? Right now, Ngannou stands to make more money fighting AJ, Wilder, or whomever over anonymous PFL HW who will get smashed to bits. Arguably, it would be the same in the UFC for anyone not named Jon Jones. Well the PFL situation is different since his contract specifically says he can take boxing matches on the side, I assume he wasn't dumb enough to offer them a % since they need him more than he needs them. I'm not saying it would have been the windfall that Conor/Mayweather apparently was for UFC but they would have gotten something rather than nothing since he was under contract. I'm sure someone in the media will ask Dana and he wouldn't admit it, but in hindsight between the highlight of Ngannou knocking down Fury and coming out without a scratch, Dana may wish he had been more open to the possible match, that's all I'm saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaedmc Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 Just to play devil's advocate... Dana may have made the right business decision because the stuff Francis was asking for beyond the money, would have set a costly precedent for future negotiations with other fighters. Perhaps moreso than whatever payday they could've gotten from co-producing this fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted October 29, 2023 Author Share Posted October 29, 2023 1 minute ago, Kevin Wilson said: Well the PFL situation is different since his contract specifically says he can take boxing matches on the side, I assume he wasn't dumb enough to offer them a % since they need him more than he needs them. I'm not saying it would have been the windfall that Conor/Mayweather apparently was for UFC but they would have gotten something rather than nothing since he was under contract. I'm sure someone in the media will ask Dana and he wouldn't admit it, but in hindsight between the highlight of Ngannou knocking down Fury and coming out without a scratch, Dana may wish he had been more open to the possible match, that's all I'm saying. I think the windfall is EXACTLY the reason Dana and the rest of the UFC brass were willing to do business. Dana didn't give a shit if Conor got embarrassed or not. That's how financially lucrative the fight was. Moreover, Al Haymon and his people are lot easier to deal with than Bob Arum who throughout his career has been a tough negotiator. Frank Warren is as savvy and shrewd an operator but he is also the same dude who was willing to promote Mike Tyson after being physically assaulted by Mike. If it was just Ari and Dana having to deal with Frank Warren, the fight would have probably gotten made even if it took some long winding roads to get there. However, Dana and Bob have never gotten along. Moreover, protecting their investment has always been the UFC's thing. Nate Diaz ain't a champion, but he still needed to not be under UFC contract to do one simple fight he had no chance of winning cause this era of UFC isn't going to allow him to just do whatever. It's just how they do business. The only thing that would have guaranteed the fight happening is if UFC was going to make BANK. They don't settle for just whatever pesos are left over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirFozzie Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 but it's going to give MMA fighters at the higher levels a thought that the UFC isn't the end all and be all. Why would I sign with UFC for a relative pittance when I can go other places that will give me the ability to maximize my earnings in boxing or whatever? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted October 29, 2023 Author Share Posted October 29, 2023 16 minutes ago, SirFozzie said: but it's going to give MMA fighters at the higher levels a thought that the UFC isn't the end all and be all. Why would I sign with UFC for a relative pittance when I can go other places that will give me the ability to maximize my earnings in boxing or whatever? How many folks (men and women) are Francis Ngannou with the talent to not only be an elite MMA HW but somehow perform better against the undisputed HW boxing champion than literally 90 percent of guys who are heavyweight boxers and do boxing for a living? He can write his own check now. However, we're going to get more Tyron Woodleys and Luke Rockholds who are past it and only had so much in them after their MMA careers were finished. The fighters definitely need more agency, but unfortunately how MMA is structured has garnered more BKFCs where folks are getting their teeth knocked out for as little money they would be making in UFC or Bellator or some Fight Pass card CM Punk is calling. This goes especially now that Bellator is probably about to cease operations. I mean five or six years ago, Bellator was making a real play and concerted effort for free agents. Once they realized none of those signings were panning out and their homegrown talent was actually as good (if not better in a few cases), they stopped signing people to worthwhile deals as free agents. However, they were still stuck with bad contracts and it's part of the reason they're in the rough shape now. MMA needs a complete overhaul, but it's not going to come from someone who is a complete outlier. The UFC's mission has always been to control that landscape no matter what the regime was. Losing Ngannou was a definitely a blow, but so was losing Cris Cyborg who legitmately was one of the only reasons to watch any female MMA fights over 115/125 pounds and always do either a good TV number or a decent PPV buyrate. So was losing Demetrious Johnson, who for a long time was otherworldly despite not being a big draw. So was losing Brock and Ronda to WWE. They have lost KEY players and somehow come back bigger and stronger than before. That's what they always count on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Death From Above Posted October 29, 2023 Share Posted October 29, 2023 As a confirmed Fury Not Liker, today was glorious regardless of any outcommes. I wouldn't let Ngannou punch me wearing UFC gloves for a million bucks. WIth boxing gloves, I dunno, maybe but it's still a bad idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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