The "Witton Lane" Boxing Chat Thread

[Dr_Pangloss]

Some rumours that Amir Khan's 'comeback' fight will be against Joan Guzman.

Now Joan Guzman is probably past his best at 36 years old but I can tell you that the man still has good speed, a lot of technique and can still punch with power from either hand.

If this fight comes off we could be witnessing the end of Khan's career. I must admit, if this rumor is true Khan must have one hell of a stupid team around him as Guzman represents enormous risk and hardly any reward. Not many have heard of Guzman and he doesn't have any serious Belt at Light Welter. If Khan does win, because Guzman is pretty unknown to the public he won't be getting much in the way of credit.

But yeah, this has the seconding coming of Bredis Prescott written all over it.

I think the only hope for Khan now is it to leave Roach and move to a more defensive minded coach like Nazim Richardson who would be perfect for khan.

It was obvious from Ringside that Khan was second best to pacman and having to fly to the phillipines to train for his fight then back to the wildcard without roach couldnt have helped.

Nazim Richardson will defo improve his defense, as although he has improved greatly under roach he is still too easy to hit and willl focus more of his time on Khan then roach can.

I trained in the wildcard when I was in LA 3 years ago (when I say train I did 3 minutes of padwork with freddies brother, pepper) anyone can go down and pay a small fee, its amazing how tiny the gym actually is. Unfortunetly freddie, pacman, and khan wernt there to laugh at my attempts on the pads

Ah that must have been awesome at the wild card. Apparently the gear Micky Rourke bought for Roach is still lying around there.

Naz Richardson is a good call. I also think he should consider Floyd Mayweather Snr, Manny Steward and Joel Diaz. Diaz is IMO one of the best in the game and is still young and would give Khan great attention.

Roach IMO is overrated and Khan absolutely needs to leave him. Khan defends himself like an amateur and he far too often throws pointless combinations that barely land.

[TheWalletInspector]

I must admit, if this rumor is true Khan must have one hell of a stupid team around him

And yeah, he does.

[Dr_Pangloss]

Weekend action is pretty good, two fights I'm interested are Felix Sturm vs Danny Geale and Gennady Golovkin vs Proska.

Sturm vs Geale (Boxnation):

I've been an admirer of Sturm ever since his absolute robbery against Oscar 'the cross dresser' De La Hoya. He's a very well schooled boxer, crisp puncher and has one of the best jabs in the sport. Now many think Sturm is on his way out, I felt that he lost to Matthew Macklin, but I also felt he was unlucky to draw against Murray. It was a close fight but I felt he edged it. But the fact he was ran very close against a boxer like Murray isn't a good sign.

However in his last fight he managed to stop Zbik, Zbik is a good boxer and gave Chavez Junior all sorts of hell and got robbed of a win by the judges. So Sturm clearly, on the basis of his last fight, still has plenty in the tank.

Danny Geale is someone I don't know a huge much about. The only full fight I've seen him in was against Sebastien Sylvester. He looks like a proper boxer, he moves a lot, he stays on the outside and likes to jump in with combination punches. He put up a really smart fight against Sylvester and took his IBF strap. He doesn't seem to have a huge amount of power.

As I haven't seen Geale that much, and given the fight is in Germany, I'm inclined to throw in with Sturm and say he'll win by some sort of points decision, but I do expect Geale to give Sturm a hard time given his style.

Next fight is Golovkin vs Proska (HBO):

Golovkin is a bit of an urban legend. There's stories that he has sparred the likes of Chavez Junior, Canelo Alvarez, Peter Quillin and made them all look bad. He won the Olympic silver medal in 2004 and currently holds a WBA belt. He's an intelligent fighter that does most of his work inside. He has excellent power in both hands and likes to throw short, sharp punches. I think he could be the next big thing at middleweight.

But Proska stands in his way. Proska, promoted by Eddie Hearn, is also a very big puncher. He lost to Kerry Hope, but that's because he got badly hurt in the fight, he won the rematch by KO. He likes to feint a lot, often has his hands down.

My worry as a Golovkin fan is that he tends to try and walk through punches and relies a lot on his own power, this will be dangerous against a puncher like Proska.

I think we'll see a KO in the fight, most likely for Golovkin as I'm convinced he's the better boxer. But Proska has a punchers chance so it will be a very entertaining fight.

[leemond2008]

Yeah I am looking forward to the Sturm v geale fight tonight as well and also dont know much about Geale either

I just spotted that the Golovkin fight is on tomorrow in the afternoon is it on any of the sports channels tonight?

[TheWalletInspector]

Yeah I am looking forward to the Sturm v geale fight tonight as well and also dont know much about Geale either

I just spotted that the Golovkin fight is on tomorrow in the afternoon is it on any of the sports channels tonight?

It's on Sky Sports, but they haven't got it live. It's on at 8:30am, and repeated later in the day. Better than nothing, I guess.

I fancy Golovkin to stop Proksa in the second half of the fight. Proksa's defence is fairly poor at the best of times and as the fight goes on he's only going to open up more. He makes a lot of ineffective movements and wastes energy doing so. When he tires and Golovkin connects it's only going one way.

Proksa's best chance probably comes in a fire fight, he's got a decent dig and Golovkin's chin is fairly untested, but I really don't like his chances in this one.

Interestingly the WBA have said that they're going to order a fight between the winners of tonight's fights. Yeah, a unification for the same organisation's belt. I can ignore the belts though, we all know Sergio Martinez is the Middleweight champion, and appreciate that we've got 2 decent fights between contenders tonight.

[Dr_Pangloss]

Yep, Real Deal Geale wins, I had it 6-4 and 2 even in favour of Geale. Geale used the Macklin blueprint, high volume and worked the body very well. He also has more skill than Macklin, his movement was excellent and he almost completely removed the Sturm jab, Sturm is a highly structured fighter and Geale's movement really confused him.

It was the sort of fight that I predicted in terms of the styles, close but Geale's output was better, looked like he landed more, Sturm landed the harder and sharper shots but it wasn't enough. Geale's win was fully deserved. Krouts need to stop booing as Geale talks as well.

I agree above that Proksa's best chance is 'in a fire fight', his only chance is a punchers chance and catching Golovkin with a big shot. I see Golovkin winning by stoppage. Assuming Golovkin wins, I think he could stop Geale if that fight is made.

[TheWalletInspector]

Yep, Real Deal Geale wins, I had it 6-4 and 2 even in favour of Geale. Geale used the Macklin blueprint, high volume and worked the body very well. He also has more skill than Macklin, his movement was excellent and he almost completely removed the Sturm jab, Sturm is a highly structured fighter and Geale's movement really confused him.

It was the sort of fight that I predicted in terms of the styles, close but Geale's output was better, looked like he landed more, Sturm landed the harder and sharper shots but it wasn't enough. Geale's win was fully deserved. Krouts need to stop booing as Geale talks as well.

I agree above that Proksa's best chance is 'in a fire fight', his only chance is a punchers chance and catching Golovkin with a big shot. I see Golovkin winning by stoppage. Assuming Golovkin wins, I think he could stop Geale if that fight is made.

I don't think it's particularly difficult to remove Sturm's jab. Yes, it's a great shot when it's working. It's a stiff, accurate shot. But he needs space to work which is why it was ineffective for large parts of the Macklin fight, and his poor footwork means that it's not too hard to stay out of range against him.

I can't see the Geale-Golovkin fight being made. I don't think the money would be there for it. A Martinez-Geale fight is probably more likely.

[Dr_Pangloss]

Yep, Real Deal Geale wins, I had it 6-4 and 2 even in favour of Geale. Geale used the Macklin blueprint, high volume and worked the body very well. He also has more skill than Macklin, his movement was excellent and he almost completely removed the Sturm jab, Sturm is a highly structured fighter and Geale's movement really confused him.

It was the sort of fight that I predicted in terms of the styles, close but Geale's output was better, looked like he landed more, Sturm landed the harder and sharper shots but it wasn't enough. Geale's win was fully deserved. Krouts need to stop booing as Geale talks as well.

Geale was 20/1 with Skybet mid way through the fight, glad I put a tenna on it!

I agree above that Proksa's best chance is 'in a fire fight', his only chance is a punchers chance and catching Golovkin with a big shot. I see Golovkin winning by stoppage. Assuming Golovkin wins, I think he could stop Geale if that fight is made.

I don't think it's particularly difficult to remove Sturm's jab. Yes, it's a great shot when it's working. It's a stiff, accurate shot. But he needs space to work which is why it was ineffective for large parts of the Macklin fight, and his poor footwork means that it's not too hard to stay out of range against him.

I can't see the Geale-Golovkin fight being made. I don't think the money would be there for it. A Martinez-Geale fight is probably more likely.

I think Geale's movement was great tonight and took away Sturm's weapons. I agree Sturm's very structured, a bit of movement tends to throw him off and confuse him, Geale's game plan was great.

Geale Martinez, I wonder whether there's much will there to make it. Martinez seems to be chasing Mayweather, he has talked a lot about him over the last year, he was even talking about him in the HBO face off with Chavez Jnr. I guess if offered Martinez would take it, mind. Although I think the fight at m/w would be Martinez-Golovkin. Golovkin making his HBO debut tonight is all about raising his profile for a potential fight with Maravilla IMO.

[TheWalletInspector]

I think Geale's movement was great tonight and took away Sturm's weapons. I agree Sturm's very structured, a bit of movement tends to throw him off and confuse him, Geale's game plan was great.

Geale Martinez, I wonder whether there's much will there to make it. Martinez seems to be chasing Mayweather, he has talked a lot about him over the last year, he was even talking about him in the HBO face off with Chavez Jnr. I guess if offered Martinez would take it, mind. Although I think the fight at m/w would be Martinez-Golovkin. Golovkin making his HBO debut tonight is all about raising his profile for a potential fight with Maravilla IMO.

There's been a bit of talk about Floyd-Martinez, but it's all coming from Sergio's end. I don't think it's a fight that interests Mayweather all that much. Although I'm really not sure what options he has left.

Golovkin-Proksa being on HBO is a strange one. Both making their debut, and it's not even for a legit belt. GG vs Martinez is a good fight, and we'll know a lot more about Golovkin's chances after tonight I suspect.

[Dr_Pangloss]

I think Geale's movement was great tonight and took away Sturm's weapons. I agree Sturm's very structured, a bit of movement tends to throw him off and confuse him, Geale's game plan was great.

Geale Martinez, I wonder whether there's much will there to make it. Martinez seems to be chasing Mayweather, he has talked a lot about him over the last year, he was even talking about him in the HBO face off with Chavez Jnr. I guess if offered Martinez would take it, mind. Although I think the fight at m/w would be Martinez-Golovkin. Golovkin making his HBO debut tonight is all about raising his profile for a potential fight with Maravilla IMO.

There's been a bit of talk about Floyd-Martinez, but it's all coming from Sergio's end. I don't think it's a fight that interests Mayweather all that much. Although I'm really not sure what options he has left.

Golovkin-Proksa being on HBO is a strange one. Both making their debut, and it's not even for a legit belt. GG vs Martinez is a good fight, and we'll know a lot more about Golovkin's chances after tonight I suspect.

I'm not sure what the legit belt actually is lol, I mean Sturm's WBA strap is 'Super', Golovkin's is 'Regular'. It's a joke.

I truly believe that HBO are throwing in with GG and are going to try and turn him into a star, he has the punching ability and power to 'catch the imagination' of the American audience (in HBO's mind), and Proksa, another exciting power puncher, probably seen as a good contender.

The event is a little strange, it's in Verona, New York, basically in the middle of nowhere, population just over 6000, does have a casino though...

[TheWalletInspector]

I'm not sure what the legit belt actually is lol, I mean Sturm's WBA strap is 'Super', Golovkin's is 'Regular'. It's a joke.

I truly believe that HBO are throwing in with GG and are going to try and turn him into a star, he has the punching ability and power to 'catch the imagination' of the American audience (in HBO's mind), and Proksa, another exciting power puncher, probably seen as a good contender.

The event is a little strange, it's in Verona, New York, basically in the middle of nowhere, population just over 6000, does have a casino though...

I don't see why HBO would try to build him up. While he's a good, exciting fighter he doesn't exactly fit the demographic they usually go for (See: Broner).

This is what promoting has become.

[dudleywood]

Good fight, Golovkin looked very good.

[Dr_Pangloss]

I'm not sure what the legit belt actually is lol, I mean Sturm's WBA strap is 'Super', Golovkin's is 'Regular'. It's a joke.

I truly believe that HBO are throwing in with GG and are going to try and turn him into a star, he has the punching ability and power to 'catch the imagination' of the American audience (in HBO's mind), and Proksa, another exciting power puncher, probably seen as a good contender.

The event is a little strange, it's in Verona, New York, basically in the middle of nowhere, population just over 6000, does have a casino though...

I don't see why HBO would try to build him up. While he's a good, exciting fighter he doesn't exactly fit the demographic they usually go for (See: Broner).

This is what promoting has become.

HBO seem to absolutely love exciting big hitters who can knock people out, GGG fits that bill. I agree, it was a strange bill, two relatively unknowns (to an American audience) boxing in a casino in the middle of nowhere.

Anyway, the fight went as I expected. Proksa seems to think he's Roy Jones but he just doesn't have the reflexes to pull it off.

Golovkins' short, hard punches were devastating, I think I'm definitely on the bandwagon now, I think Golovkin would beat most of the division and give Martinez a really difficult night. His power looks simply awesome. I actually think a fight with Geale would be interesting because Geale is a superb mover and works angles really well, he'd give Golovkin a much more difficult target.

[maqroll]

The hype for the Chavez Jr.- Sergio Martinez fight is getting really loud now...I think Martinez is gonna destroy him...2nd Rd KO

[Dr_Pangloss]

I'm going for Martinez KO as well, Chavez likes to walk his opponents down and pressure them, it's a style that means he'll walk through a lot of punches. Andy Lee landed a lot of jabs and power shots on him in his last fight. I do not think you can do that against Martinez because Martinez hits too hard, Chavez will walk through one too many and will end up getting TKO'd IMO.

2nd round though is far too early, his chin is better than that, I think the stoppage will come much later, between 9 and 11.

The only worry is Chavez's size, he tends to come into the ring at 180-185lbs, whereas Martinez comes in at perhaps around 170lbs. So Chavez will have at least a 10lb functional weight advantage on the night of the fight. He will look to close the ring off, constantly pressure Martinez, bully him and hit him hard, especially to the body, but as I say, I think Martinez is too slick, quick and punches too hard for Chavez to do that effectively.

Also how hard does Chavez hit? A lot of his fans seem to be saying that Chavez just needs to land a big shot and it's over, but I think they are confusing his size and perhaps strength advantage (if there is any strength advantage) over his actual punching power. Chavez has KO's in 3 of his last 10 fights, he also hasn't fought many top class opponents. Zbik IMO clearly beat him, Marco Antonio Rubio is barely world level.

Andy Lee is his best name, Lee is talented but has shocking punch resistance, so although he stopped Lee it's not a huge indictment of his power. Chavez does seem to throw a mean body shot but I think Martinez is too smart to get bullied against the ropes and beaten up, his movement is too good.

[maqroll]

[Dr_Pangloss]

Yep stunning KO, but he doesn't make that much of a habit of KOing people early, his last 2-3 fights are a great example of that. That said I can absolutely see Chavez walking into something big but I'd be amazed if he's stopped early. Although I'd love it as I hate hate Chavez.

[TheWalletInspector]

What I worry about is the way Martinez consistently slows down during the middle rounds. If he does that in this fight when Chavez will be coming on strong then I think he could be in trouble. He really can't afford to give away any rounds as well, because if he's going to get a decision it's going to need to be very clear.

The biggest question is whether Chavez's chin can hold up to Martinez's power. We can't expect him to have tightened his defence a great deal so his chin is going to need to be really good. He's shown a great beard so far in his career but he's never fought anyone who digs anywhere near as hard as Maravilla.

Amir Khan has dismissed speculation that he will take on three-weight world champion Joan Guzman when he returns to the ring in December.

Khan confirmed that he will return to action on 15 December, but he claimed that Guzman was 'below his level' despite being unbeaten in 35 contests.

"I want someone who is a bit more credible than him," said Khan, who relinquished his WBA light-welterweight title to Danny Garcia in July. "I've come from world title fights and he might be a little below that.

"We're just getting the dates right. It will either be in England or America, December 15 is the date."

Khan also appears certain to part company with trainer Freddie Roach, claiming he is not the right man to improve his suspect defence.

"I'll be going to New York to speak to a few coaches and maybe bring in a mentor who can help me in defence," Khan added.

"I'm mainly looking at ex-fighters, Bernard Hopkins, Oscar De La Hoya and maybe Shane Mosley, they all want to help out and show their support."

And in a thinly-veiled swipe at Roach, Khan said: "If we had the defence we should have had we would be the best fighter in the world.

"That's the downfall of me and Manny Pacquiao - we're both offensively the best fighters in the world, but defensively we're not the best."

:shock:

[wiggyrichard]

Laughable that even mentions himself in the same sentace as Pacquiao.

[Dr_Pangloss]

What I worry about is the way Martinez consistently slows down during the middle rounds. If he does that in this fight when Chavez will be coming on strong then I think he could be in trouble. He really can't afford to give away any rounds as well, because if he's going to get a decision it's going to need to be very clear.

The biggest question is whether Chavez's chin can hold up to Martinez's power. We can't expect him to have tightened his defence a great deal so his chin is going to need to be really good. He's shown a great beard so far in his career but he's never fought anyone who digs anywhere near as hard as Maravilla.

Amir Khan has dismissed speculation that he will take on three-weight world champion Joan Guzman when he returns to the ring in December.

Khan confirmed that he will return to action on 15 December, but he claimed that Guzman was 'below his level' despite being unbeaten in 35 contests.

"I want someone who is a bit more credible than him," said Khan, who relinquished his WBA light-welterweight title to Danny Garcia in July. "I've come from world title fights and he might be a little below that.

"We're just getting the dates right. It will either be in England or America, December 15 is the date."

Khan also appears certain to part company with trainer Freddie Roach, claiming he is not the right man to improve his suspect defence.

"I'll be going to New York to speak to a few coaches and maybe bring in a mentor who can help me in defence," Khan added.

"I'm mainly looking at ex-fighters, Bernard Hopkins, Oscar De La Hoya and maybe Shane Mosley, they all want to help out and show their support."

And in a thinly-veiled swipe at Roach, Khan said: "If we had the defence we should have had we would be the best fighter in the world.

"That's the downfall of me and Manny Pacquiao - we're both offensively the best fighters in the world, but defensively we're not the best."

:shock:

I agree viz. Martinez. Rounds 4-8 in the Pavlik fight Pavlik did a great job at coming forward, working the jab, creating openings, and most importantly, closed the ring off until Martinez got back on top by beating the shit out of him in the 9th.

In order for Chavez to win he needs to follow that blue print, the problem is that Chavez is not as good a boxer as Pavlik and doesn't punch as hard. Chavez will ultimately walk through one too many left hands and it'll be over.

Also, I was going to post that Khan story! lol. When I read things like that I can't help but hope Khan get's brutally KO'd (again) some time soon. I wonder if he was born delusional or it's the big shots he has already absorbed in his career thus far. The guy is an idiot.