SpanishVilla Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 15 hours ago, Dr_Pangloss said: I did this last year so I'll do it this year, it's my boxing end of year awards, probably the most prestigious awards in all of boxing! Fighter of the year: Tyson Fury. Yes, what he did is without a shadow of a doubt the best achievement in the sport for a while. Going to a legitimately great, long reigning champs backyard and snatching 3 of the 4 recognised world titles off him in a relatively dominant display. Fury made himself the heavyweight champion of the world in one fight, no other achievement ranks up there this year by a long shot. Fight of the year: Has to be Takashi Miura vs Francisco Vargas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nFtSorIfGI . Great back and forth action and a stunning finish. Other contenders for me were Edwin Rodriguez vs Craig Baker, Huck vs Glowacki, Dimitri Kudryshov vs Durodola and Matthysse vs Provodnikov. Knockout of the year: Tempted to go with Canelo's stoppage of James Kirkland, it was as brutal a beat down as it gets. However I'm going to give it to Zoltani Tete's one punch wipe out of Paul Butler. This was a very, very good, competitive fight, ended by a perfectly timed, beautiful left uppercut, which had Butler collapsing to the floor and on queer street when he got up, the ref had no choice but to stop it. Break through of the year: Probably Roman Gonzalez. If I remember correctly he was my fighter of the year last year, this year, he didn't exactly fight the best in his division, but after an exhibition against a lower ranked contender, he stops the excellent, but aging, Brian Viloria in a very good fight later on in the year. I believe it's the first time Viloria had ever been down and confirmed that Gonzalez can take a good punch. The reason Gonzalez gets break through of the year, despite having over 40 pro fights, is that this was year he won universal recognition, becoming a fixture on HBO and being crowned pound for pound number one by Ring Magazine. He's 'only' a flyweight, so this is quite a big deal. Loser of the year: I'm going to have to say Keith Thurman. He's rightly considered a potential star, but 2015 was very much a damp squid and I feel he has lost momentum. Baring in mind, he hold a version of the WBA World Title, Thurman only squared off against aging and wash up boxers such as Robert Guerrero and Luis Collazo. He beat them both convincingly (although Collazo gave him some issues and managed to hurt him if I remember correctly), but this really isn't the level of opposition a world champ who is 27 years old should be facing. He needs a big 2016. EDIT: Kell Brook could equally win this 'award' for the exact same reasons. Guys to look out for in 2016: (1) Naoya Inoue - Flyweight destroyer who was one of the fighters of the year in 2014, only fought once in 2015, but has 9 pro fights, 8 knockouts and already a two weight world champion (and only 22). He's one of the most complete talents and skillful fighters in the sport right now. (2) Errol Spence - Brilliant fighter with pretty much everything, power, hand speed, combination punching and ability to stay in the pocket. Will become a world champ this year if handled properly, one of the best welterweights out there IMO. (3) Marcus Browne - Will emerge as a real force at light heavyweight. He is lightening fast and punches with a lot of power. He's rangy, tall and has a devastating body attack. Does however need a chin check and I've not seen him get hit clean yet. (4) Artur Beterbiev - Enormous punching light heavyweight, possibly more powerful than Kovalev. A fight between the two is possible this year, as they have a lot of bad blood stemming from their amateur days. (5) Felix Verdejo - Looks to be the real deal, 22 years old, super fast and very skillful. Needs to answer questions about his chin (not really been tested) and could do with being stepped up but appears to have the lot. (6) Anthony Joshua - I'm a skeptic but it's hard not to rank him. Tremendous power and a massive hype train behind him, everyone will be watching him this year and surely his level of competition will improve. Let's see what he does. (7) Joseph Parker - Heavyweight from New Zealand with shit loads of power but also extremely fast hands for someone who is 6 ft 4, he throws a lot of punches in combination for a big man but is often using the jab well to set up his power shots. He could be a bit of a bust since he has not fought anyone, but at 22 he appears to have a very unique skill set for the division. Nice write up Dr. Agree with you about KO of the year with Tete, couldn't believe how good he looked in that fight having previously never seen him fight. Shame to see he was stripped after only getting offered a poor fight in Thailand for sweeties. Can't see any other current champions being too eager to give him a shot. Think Rigondeaux could also be thrown in to the mix for loser of the year. Put on his backside in Japan in an uninspiring win, and then putting on one of the worst displays I've seen in his last fight. Throw in getting stripped of his world title due to inactivity, he's not in a great place going in to 2016, especially when on his day he's one of the best boxers on the planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 I'm loving this one for KO of the year. It probably looked more devastating than it actually was, but wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 11 minutes ago, The_Rev said: I'm loving this one for KO of the year. It probably looked more devastating than it actually was, but wow. Yeah that was pretty horrible, reminded me very much of Gatti's KO of Joey Gamache. In both fights it was a case of the opponent being too heavily over matched. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted January 2, 2016 Author Share Posted January 2, 2016 3 hours ago, SpanishVilla said: Nice write up Dr. Agree with you about KO of the year with Tete, couldn't believe how good he looked in that fight having previously never seen him fight. Shame to see he was stripped after only getting offered a poor fight in Thailand for sweeties. Can't see any other current champions being too eager to give him a shot. Think Rigondeaux could also be thrown in to the mix for loser of the year. Put on his backside in Japan in an uninspiring win, and then putting on one of the worst displays I've seen in his last fight. Throw in getting stripped of his world title due to inactivity, he's not in a great place going in to 2016, especially when on his day he's one of the best boxers on the planet. Cheers mate! Also I agree with Rigo, it's been an awful year for him, marred by politics, being somewhat mishandled but also his commitment to the 'Cuban style' against clearly over matched opponents. His last fight was an absolute stinker when it needed not be, he just didn't want to entertain, right or wrongly this has lead to HBO dropping him completely. I think he's a knock out waiting to happen. He's 35 now and is getting caught more often and I think his reflexes have slowed down somewhat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpanishVilla Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 On 02/01/2016 at 10:56, Dr_Pangloss said: Cheers mate! Also I agree with Rigo, it's been an awful year for him, marred by politics, being somewhat mishandled but also his commitment to the 'Cuban style' against clearly over matched opponents. His last fight was an absolute stinker when it needed not be, he just didn't want to entertain, right or wrongly this has lead to HBO dropping him completely. I think he's a knock out waiting to happen. He's 35 now and is getting caught more often and I think his reflexes have slowed down somewhat. Yup, he's certainly not the feared man of the division that he was a couple of years ago. Reckon Frampton and Quigg would fancy their chances of banging him out based on recent performances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Apparently the winner of Frampton & Quigg wlll have to face Rigondeaux in their next fight. As mentioned, he's not the figther he was, which is a shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 (edited) I've said before, I believe Rigo is a knock out waiting to happen. It appears as if his reflexes have slowed a tad, he is also getting hit more than he used to, Frampton and (especially) Quigg are naturally bigger, stronger men, it's the best time to fight Rigo, it could be one of their nights, both have good power at the weight. Rigo still would be the favourite though. Edited January 11, 2016 by Dr_Pangloss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 I'm pretty sure I've asked this before, but does Rigondeaux speak English at all? Obviously his mother tongue is Spanish but he's lived in Miami since 2008 and has been a professional since 2009. I know Miami has a majority Spanish speaking population but surely he's known for years he'd have been much more marketable if he could speak English and Spanish? He can't get away with just relying on the support of people from the old country like a lot of Mexican fighters do because there just aren't that many Cuban immigrants in the USA and Cubans can't come to the States to watch his fights. If boxing is show business(and it is) then he's been poorly advised in his career so far, especially considering he's never really had time on his side because he turned pro at a relatively old age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 1 hour ago, The_Rev said: I'm pretty sure I've asked this before, but does Rigondeaux speak English at all? Obviously his mother tongue is Spanish but he's lived in Miami since 2008 and has been a professional since 2009. I know Miami has a majority Spanish speaking population but surely he's known for years he'd have been much more marketable if he could speak English and Spanish? He can't get away with just relying on the support of people from the old country like a lot of Mexican fighters do because there just aren't that many Cuban immigrants in the USA and Cubans can't come to the States to watch his fights. If boxing is show business(and it is) then he's been poorly advised in his career so far, especially considering he's never really had time on his side because he turned pro at a relatively old age. As far as I'm aware he barely speaks a lick of English. He hasn't been handled well, most of his fights have been on the east coast or in Vegas, rather than trying to build a base for him in Miami (not a hot spot for boxing but it would have been an opportunity to build his following). But the main problem is that the Cuban style will never be 'over' in the mainstream. Cuban boxers like to rack up the points and then spend the rest of the fight on their bike, comfortable in the knowledge that they've built up a sufficient lead. Rigondeaux is a technical master, absolutely brilliant boxer, but he's also boring, and hasn't really done himself any favours. His last fight was hand picked to make him look good, a virtual club fighter with no world class experience who had been stopped before, on HBO, and Rigo was content to outpoint him over the distance. Point being, he was never going to be a draw or marketable. The good thing about Quigg or Frampton is that they have the size and power to be a legit. threat, they could well bring whatever 'best' there is left in the 35 year old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 I hearing the Haye fight this weekend is on Channel Dave. Fair play if it is, obviously fighting for best part of Frack all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted January 12, 2016 Author Share Posted January 12, 2016 Dave on Dave, fighting a street sweeper, should be fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 He's been trying really hard to drum up interest on social media. He's had a photo campaign going every day for a couple of weeks on Instagram, I didn't realise there was such little interest in the fight. Maybe he needs to sack his promoter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpanishVilla Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 7 hours ago, The_Rev said: He's been trying really hard to drum up interest on social media. He's had a photo campaign going every day for a couple of weeks on Instagram, I didn't realise there was such little interest in the fight. Maybe he needs to sack his promoter. Saw this on his Facebook, getting a different z lister to post a photo every day counting down, tragic. Boxing on channel 5 is bad enough, but Dave must be the new low for British boxing surely. Sky probably gave him the swerve after the money they hemorrhaged on Haye with the Fury pull outs. I reckon if he knocks the guy out and can get a credible opponent next then Sky will entertain him again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YGabbana Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 Brook fighting his 3rd bum in a row, some of his own fans are making comments over at boxingscene forums. Since he beat porter its been bum after bum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 10 hours ago, Dr_Pangloss said: Dave on Dave, fighting a street sweeper, should be fun. Yeah this. Bizarre. I'm wondering if it is going to be as cheap nasty as most their other output. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted January 12, 2016 Author Share Posted January 12, 2016 2 hours ago, Genie said: Yeah this. Bizarre. I'm wondering if it is going to be as cheap nasty as most their other output. Production will be shit, very shit, but then, it's a very shit fight. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted January 12, 2016 Author Share Posted January 12, 2016 4 hours ago, YGabbana said: Brook fighting his 3rd bum in a row, some of his own fans are making comments over at boxingscene forums. Since he beat porter its been bum after bum. He has to fight this bum or he'll lose his title. Kevin Bizier is one of the shittest boxers I've ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foreveryoung Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 13 minutes ago, Dr_Pangloss said: He has to fight this bum or he'll lose his title. Kevin Bizier is one of the shittest boxers I've ever seen. Agree with this, its gonna be a loss if he don't knock him out in the early rounds for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 HBO's YouTube occasionally puts montages out. This one went up ahead of the Kovalev - Pascal rematch (30th Jan) and good lord it shows that Kovalev can punch. Ferocious power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted January 14, 2016 Author Share Posted January 14, 2016 (edited) He's pound for pound the biggest puncher in the sport. The measure of his power is the amount of knock downs and even knockouts he gets from essentially what amount to arm punches and a very hard, straight left jab. Footwork has pretty much little to do with his power, it's all in his hands. Absolutely the definition of 'heavy handed'. Edited January 14, 2016 by Dr_Pangloss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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