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Random Boxing Thoughts/News v. 6


Elsalvajeloco

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3 hours ago, Liam said:

That's the biggest annoyance about this whole thing. You'll now have Wilder sounding off, even though he was lucky to get a draw against Fury.

Why would anyone begrudge Wilder for doing this at all? Who has engaged in a tirade anytime Wilder is brought up? That would be Eddie Hearn. It has put an extraordinary amount of pressure on AJ throughout this whole time of Joshua-Wilder supposedly happening even though EVERYONE knew this fight wasn't happening anytime soon. Whether it be insulting Shelly Finkel, trashing Deontay Wilder (half his energy this week was spent doing that especially w/ Wilder-Ortiz II being put together), or just being a plain douchebag about the situation. He has been doing for that last year or so. Therefore, knowing he was definitely planning to do that had AJ came out victorious, I don't feel that sorry for the whole team. You better win your goddamn fights if you're going to talk cash shit. At best, your side is at least half responsible for this fight not coming together. This ain't pro wrestling.  This is why you don't let fights marinate. Just because you have the supposed cash cow don't mean you will hold all the cards. Everyone (including Fury) in this was a flush punch or two away from being on the wrong side of history. None of these dudes were unbeatable. Hence, why you don't start playing with fire. Eddie Hearn had this big U.S. coronation lined up for his guy when that should have been Deontay Wilder against AJ because fans have been through so much shit in the interim. But no, Eddie Hearn wanted to be greedy and get fat off of making money w/o another marquee name in there with AJ. As fate would have it, it would be an Al Haymon guy who would crash the entire ceremony. You gotta love the irony.

Edited by Elsalvajeloco
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I've never really liked AJ's babyface persona. Is it real, is it a gimmick? I don't know. I've always thought he came across insincere and hiding his arrogance. Though, if you look like Anthony Joshua, its understandable being arrogant. He clearly underestimated Ruiz's power, overestimated his own finishing and chin, went out there and like Lennox in South Africa, just go through the motions, get the guy out of there, and move on. 

Hearn wanted to hold all the cards, so Wilder would come to them and take the smaller purse etc. AJ's lost all that momentum and leverage. In the post-fight presser, AJ's saying he doesn't know who is next, but "you know who i want". Eddie has to override him right there and then and get the rematch out there. I don't think AJ wants the rematch. And judging by how he stood there in the corner, knowing if he stepped forward like the ref asked him to, he would've had to have been punched in the head again, and he really didn't want that. So he just stood there, then did that stupid surprised face when the ref called it off. I really don't think he actually wants to get back in there with this guy. AJ knows if he goes into this rematch and gets knocked out again, he is absolutely bollocked going forward.

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6 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

Why would anyone begrudge Wilder for doing this at all? Who has engaged in a tirade anytime Wilder is brought up? That would be Eddie Hearn. It has put an extraordinary amount of pressure on AJ throughout this whole time of Joshua-Wilder supposedly happening even though EVERYONE knew this fight wasn't happening anytime soon. Whether it be insulting Shelly Finkel, trashing Deontay Wilder (half his energy this week was spent doing that especially w/ Wilder-Ortiz II being put together), or just being a plain douchebag about the situation. He has been doing for that last year or so. Therefore, knowing he was definitely planning to do that had AJ came out victorious, I don't feel that sorry for the whole team. You better win your goddamn fights if you're going to talk cash shit. At best, your side is at least half responsible for this fight not coming together. This ain't pro wrestling.  This is why you don't let fights marinate. Just because you have the supposed cash cow don't mean you will hold all the cards. Everyone (including Fury) in this was a flush punch or two away from being on the wrong side of history. None of these dudes were unbeatable. Hence, why you don't start playing with fire. Eddie Hearn had this big U.S. coronation lined up for his guy when that should have been Deontay Wilder against AJ because fans have been through so much shit in the interim. But no, Eddie Hearn wanted to be greedy and get fat off of making money w/o another marquee name in there with AJ. As fate would have it, it would be an Al Haymon guy who would crash the entire ceremony. You gotta love the irony.

I don't really begrudge it - my actual dig was primarily because he should also have a loss on his record. I'm not a big fan of arrogance at the best of times, let alone when it is through living a charmed life that you still are in that position to begin with.

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3 hours ago, Liam said:

I don't really begrudge it - my actual dig was primarily because he should also have a loss on his record. I'm not a big fan of arrogance at the best of times, let alone when it is through living a charmed life that you still are in that position to begin with.

The fight could have been waved off on the second KD too. He could also have a win on his record. It didn't happen so we can only deal with reality. The reality is Joshua lost before him, and there was nothing fluke about it.

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3 hours ago, Mr Harms said:

I've never really liked AJ's babyface persona. Is it real, is it a gimmick? I don't know. I've always thought he came across insincere and hiding his arrogance. Though, if you look like Anthony Joshua, its understandable being arrogant. He clearly underestimated Ruiz's power, overestimated his own finishing and chin, went out there and like Lennox in South Africa, just go through the motions, get the guy out of there, and move on. 

Hearn wanted to hold all the cards, so Wilder would come to them and take the smaller purse etc. AJ's lost all that momentum and leverage. In the post-fight presser, AJ's saying he doesn't know who is next, but "you know who i want". Eddie has to override him right there and then and get the rematch out there. I don't think AJ wants the rematch. And judging by how he stood there in the corner, knowing if he stepped forward like the ref asked him to, he would've had to have been punched in the head again, and he really didn't want that. So he just stood there, then did that stupid surprised face when the ref called it off. I really don't think he actually wants to get back in there with this guy. AJ knows if he goes into this rematch and gets knocked out again, he is absolutely bollocked going forward.

There was a story or rumor about Joshua partying in Miami, but I mean the dude is a bachelor in his twenties. He's suppose to do that shit. 

With that said, AJ to me is just a slow starter and unless it's just a guy who can easily be trucked inside two rounds, it takes him awhile to get into a rhythm. Lewis-Rahman was right place, right time. He was coming off the Tua win when everyone thought he had a glass chin and Tua was going to crack it and he dominated Tua. Plus, he just finished filming his part in the Oceans movie. He was finally getting some respect commensurate to being the undisputed heavyweight champion. AJ didn't look that hot in the Parker fight and before that didn't all that great against Takam. I had Povetkin winning against AJ before Povetkin got tired and Joshua started busting him up. He has to warm up and get hit a few times before he can turn it on. We saw it here with Ruiz. It was looking very much like an Anthony Joshua fight except when Joshua got his knockdown, Ruiz stunned him badly right after he got up. Whenever Wilder gets hurt, he just resets. It happened in the fight a couple weeks ago against Breazeale. Breazeale got backed up and then Wilder walked right into a right hand from Breazeale. Wilder just backed away from Breazeale. Joshua got hit and then did the funny breakdance where he had no control over his legs and was trying his best to grab and hold Ruiz. You're fighting this shorter dude with very short arms who can only hit you if you're really close to him. Maybe he was clearly concussed because I'm sure McCracken told AJ when he got back to the corner to get away from him so he could recover. Then the very next round, Ruiz Jr. had to recover himself because he was spent trying to get AJ out of there. So that round virtually nothing happened so it didn't matter if Joshua jabbed and danced like he did in the round after that. The thing is he still hadn't recovered yet because two rounds after being knocked down twice, he asked McCracken what Ruiz Jr. dropped him with. He was knocked out and McCracken just let him go back out there on the premise that AJ could turn it on and win the fight. His team had too much faith in his recovery skills and let him go out on his shield when he was concussed already and extremely vulnerable to another concussion. This is happening in the prime of his career. Hearn is going to use this kid up, and he won't be any good by the time he's 32 or 33.

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BTW I have to credit Manny Robles. I saw a pretty honest assessment from him in an interview yesterday afternoon. He trained Breazeale to fight against Joshua. He was asked what the difference was between training Breazeale for AJ and then training Ruiz Jr. for Joshua. He said Ruiz Jr. had so much amateur experience compared to Breazeale who came into the sport the late. However, he also said Joshua was a much better fighter from when he fought Breazeale so it was an entirely different fight. Usually, trainers (I think Roach is a perfect example of this) bullshit and say that his new fighter against a certain opponent has a much, much better chance than his previous fighter. Robles had every opportunity to throw Breazeale under the bus and didn't. He knew it was going to be a tough fight for Ruiz Jr. and went back to the lab and studied Joshua so Ruiz Jr. had at least a modicum of chance against Joshua. This is pretty refreshing for a sport where the blame game back and forth between trainers and past fighters (John David Jackson and Kovalev, Abel Sanchez and Golovkin most recently) in their stable is high.

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17 hours ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

BTW I have to credit Manny Robles. I saw a pretty honest assessment from him in an interview yesterday afternoon. He trained Breazeale to fight against Joshua. He was asked what the difference was between training Breazeale for AJ and then training Ruiz Jr. for Joshua. He said Ruiz Jr. had so much amateur experience compared to Breazeale who came into the sport the late. However, he also said Joshua was a much better fighter from when he fought Breazeale so it was an entirely different fight. Usually, trainers (I think Roach is a perfect example of this) bullshit and say that his new fighter against a certain opponent has a much, much better chance than his previous fighter. Robles had every opportunity to throw Breazeale under the bus and didn't. He knew it was going to be a tough fight for Ruiz Jr. and went back to the lab and studied Joshua so Ruiz Jr. had at least a modicum of chance against Joshua. This is pretty refreshing for a sport where the blame game back and forth between trainers and past fighters (John David Jackson and Kovalev, Abel Sanchez and Golovkin most recently) in their stable is high.

Refreshing when there's honesty like that. 

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I'm not going to write Joshua off, too many great boxers have come back from losses and gone on to have great careers, but this fight exposed him and the gig is definitely up. In no way does he go into a fight with Wilder and take a hit and come back. In no way does he get in the ring with Fury and put him down. What's next is the true test, and if Hearn was smart there’ll be a rematch clause in there. He either becomes another Lennox or another Harrison from here.

Here's something else though, as an Englishman I’m sick of the sight of Joshua. He’s EVERYWHERE shilling stuff from headphones to betting shops to deodorant  When did sportsmen start becoming ‘brands’ instead of just focusing on the important shit that got them to the dance in the first place?

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4 minutes ago, CreativeControl said:

I'm not going to write Joshua off, too many great boxers have come back from losses and gone on to have great careers, but this fight exposed him and the gig is definitely up. In no way does he go into a fight with Wilder and take a hit and come back. In no way does he get in the ring with Fury and put him down. What's next is the true test, and if Hearn was smart there’ll be a rematch clause in there. He either becomes another Lennox or another Harrison from here.

There is a rematch clause. The problem I have with that is Hearn was already talking about October/November like this guy probably wasn't just concussed. He didn't even ask AJ about this. 

12 minutes ago, CreativeControl said:

Here's something else though, as an Englishman I’m sick of the sight of Joshua. He’s EVERYWHERE shilling stuff from headphones to betting shops to deodorant  When did sportsmen start becoming ‘brands’ instead of just focusing on the important shit that got them to the dance in the first place?

He is built like an Adonis and the women go gaga over him. Of course, he is going to have a bunch of sponsorships.

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9 minutes ago, Elsalvajeloco said:

He is built like an Adonis and the women go gaga over him. Of course, he is going to have a bunch of sponsorships.

That... wasn't my point. Oversaturation does no one any favours and pretty soon people become sick of the sight of you and then everyone is rooting against you

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13 minutes ago, CreativeControl said:

That... wasn't my point. Oversaturation does no one any favours and pretty soon people become sick of the sight of you and then everyone is rooting against you

I think his bank account ain't hurting because of it. That's what being the heavyweight champ means. Hell, that's what it means to be famous period in the era of social media. In addition, people can't be rooting that hard against him if he is selling out stadiums and had a near sellout in MSG after never being in the states. I'm a Deontay Wilder mark, but he can barely draw half house in Barclays (some of that has to be papered as well) and he's an American who has held a title for 4 years and some change. In terms of popularity, Wilder would love to trade places with him especially after as I mentioned people thought it was ridiculous to call him HW champ after he beat Stiverne for Vitali's title he never lost. So to be a superstar, especially in the fight game, over saturation comes with the territory. I can't name one star in recent times who didn't have that. Ronda, Conor, Floyd, Pacquiao, and Canelo were all everywhere. Shit, I'm shocked it took Joshua this long to come over given what I just stated above about his looks and also the ticket sales from this past Saturday.

Edited by Elsalvajeloco
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Since Top Rank is bringing championship boxing back to Reno in the form of Oscar Valdez defending his 126lbs. title tonight, I decided to watch one of the last times Top Rank came to the Reno-Sparks Convention Center. That would be the August 1992 rematch between James Toney and Mike McCallum for Toney's IBF 160lbs. title after a split draw the previous December. The fight was good, but the post fight interview was much better and pretty infamous:

 

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14 minutes ago, Serious Darius Bagfelt said:

James kept going back again and again to the Burger King

He should have been given a sponsorship. Same with Ruiz Jr. and Snickers now.

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4 hours ago, Liam said:

Is Briedis versus Glowacki likely to be worth a watch?

I would say so. It's a much different field obviously with no Usyk or even Gassiev, but over the last several years, the cruiserweights usually tend to deliver.

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