Boxing Thread

@African-Monkey Exactly
AJ would be best earner
Wilder looked better than he has for a few years but Chisora is a slow plodder so made him look better.
should target AJ as anyone in the top 10 probably KO's him

African Monkey

@kidcalder said in Boxing Thread:

@African-Monkey Exactly
AJ would be best earner
Wilder looked better than he has for a few years but Chisora is a slow plodder so made him look better.
should target AJ as anyone in the top 10 probably KO's him

I still think he can beat AJ too. We've seen that AJ doesn't like getting hit, and even though Wilder is delusional and shot, he has a ton of heart and doesn't have any quit in him.

MN5

I'm a Wilder fan. He's a much better boxer than people give him credit for with a ton of heart......and his power is awesome.

....but lets be realistic about who he was up against.

He isn't the same fighter after the Fury trilogy ( and neither is Fury to be fair )

kiwiinmelb

Fun fight even if it resembled a couple of drunks swinging for the fence at times 😀 , wilders best performance for a while , not sure if that had anything to do with a change of trainers ,

Moses last week was impressive I thought , showed more patience than usual and seemed to pick his moments more against a durable opponent . Still looks to be the future of the division.

Wardley v Dubois may 6th should be a good one .

African Monkey

@kiwiinmelb said in Boxing Thread:

Fun fight even if it resembled a couple of drunks swinging for the fence at times 😀 , wilders best performance for a while , not sure if that had anything to do with a change of trainers ,

Moses last week was impressive I thought , showed more patience than usual and seemed to pick his moments more against a durable opponent . Still looks to be the future of the division.

Wardley v Dubois may 6th should be a good one .

Wardley Dubois is must watch TV. A straight shootout that one which won't go 12.

kiwiinmelb

For those that missed itauma v Franklin

Fury v Makhmudov on Netlix April 11
Too be honest none of the older generation are interested in Moses - Risk v reward
Moses doesn't have a title and will be awhile before he gets a shot- unless Dubois beats Wardley ( Moses and Wardley stable mates so won't fight) Frank may want to promote that inhouse.
Wilder and AJ should fight asap otherwise 1 will get beaten again and the big retirement payday is gone.
AJ may want Fury but don't think Fury wants it- he only has eyes on Usyk.

kiwiinmelb

@kidcalder said in Boxing Thread:

Fury v Makhmudov on Netlix April 11
Too be honest none of the older generation are interested in Moses - Risk v reward
Moses doesn't have a title and will be awhile before he gets a shot- unless Dubois beats Wardley ( Moses and Wardley stable mates so won't fight) Frank may want to promote that inhouse.
Wilder and AJ should fight asap otherwise 1 will get beaten again and the big retirement payday is gone.
AJ may want Fury but don't think Fury wants it- he only has eyes on Usyk.

Even though he’s still a bit green and perhaps not quite ready,

I’d pick Moses to beat everyone right now except usyk

7 days later

Dice

David Nyika could be in line for a world title fight soon with Opetaia and CBS under Zuffa. He'll fight Viddal Riley for the vacant IBF title if things fall his way.

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kiwiinmelb

@Dice said in Boxing Thread:

David Nyika could be in line for a world title fight soon with Opetaia and CBS under Zuffa. He'll fight Viddal Riley for the vacant IBF title if things fall his way.

View image

How does that work if opetaia just recently got stripped of the IBF belt for fighting under Zuffa ?

Dice

@kiwiinmelb said in Boxing Thread:

@Dice said in Boxing Thread:

David Nyika could be in line for a world title fight soon with Opetaia and CBS under Zuffa. He'll fight Viddal Riley for the vacant IBF title if things fall his way.

View image

How does that work if opetaia just recently got stripped of the IBF belt for fighting under Zuffa ?

With Opetaia stripped, it was assumed Riley and CBS would fight for the vacant IBF title - they still could fight but people assume that because he just signed for Zuffa last night, that fight is likely off as they don't see the IBF working with Zuffa. Naturally Opetaia would likely get the next shot at Riley as he got re-ranked to 4th behind CBS, but he's also under Zuffa.

So with CBS and Opetaia possibly out of the way, Nyika has a decent shot of getting to fight Riley for the vacant title. Although it could also be Masson(another Kiwi) or Perez.

Not sure if I answered your question though, as I'm not quite sure what you mean.

kiwiinmelb

@Dice said in Boxing Thread:

@kiwiinmelb said in Boxing Thread:

@Dice said in Boxing Thread:

David Nyika could be in line for a world title fight soon with Opetaia and CBS under Zuffa. He'll fight Viddal Riley for the vacant IBF title if things fall his way.

View image

How does that work if opetaia just recently got stripped of the IBF belt for fighting under Zuffa ?

With Opetaia stripped, it was assumed Riley and CBS would fight for the vacant IBF title - they still could fight but people assume that because he just signed for Zuffa last night, that fight is likely off as they don't see the IBF working with Zuffa. Naturally Opetaia would likely get the next shot at Riley as he got re-ranked to 4th behind CBS, but he's also under Zuffa.

So with CBS and Opetaia possibly out of the way, Nyika has a decent shot of getting to fight Riley for the vacant title. Although it could also be Masson(another Kiwi) or Perez.

Not sure if I answered your question though, as I'm not quite sure what you mean.

yeah that makes sense, i misunderstood how you meant it , thought you meant Zuffa was involved

Cruiserweight division turning into a non event , we should have had unification fights by now , it should have been Opetaia v Ramirez, well before it has come to this , although Ramirez v Benevidoz is at least an interesting match up for a change .

Dice

@kiwiinmelb said in Boxing Thread:

@Dice said in Boxing Thread:

@kiwiinmelb said in Boxing Thread:

@Dice said in Boxing Thread:

David Nyika could be in line for a world title fight soon with Opetaia and CBS under Zuffa. He'll fight Viddal Riley for the vacant IBF title if things fall his way.

View image

How does that work if opetaia just recently got stripped of the IBF belt for fighting under Zuffa ?

With Opetaia stripped, it was assumed Riley and CBS would fight for the vacant IBF title - they still could fight but people assume that because he just signed for Zuffa last night, that fight is likely off as they don't see the IBF working with Zuffa. Naturally Opetaia would likely get the next shot at Riley as he got re-ranked to 4th behind CBS, but he's also under Zuffa.

So with CBS and Opetaia possibly out of the way, Nyika has a decent shot of getting to fight Riley for the vacant title. Although it could also be Masson(another Kiwi) or Perez.

Not sure if I answered your question though, as I'm not quite sure what you mean.

yeah that makes sense, i misunderstood how you meant it , thought you meant Zuffa was involved

Cruiserweight division turning into a non event , we should have had unification fights by now , it should have been Opetaia v Ramirez, well before it has come to this , although Ramirez v Benevidoz is at least an interesting match up for a change .

Yeah, Zurdo vs Opetaia needed to happen already. That fight has a chance to happen this year if Zurdo holds off Benavidez as Opetaia just recently got ranked number 1 with the WBA, which is the title Zurdo holds.

I think Benavidez beats Zurdo though, and the dream would be an even better match-up between Opetaia vs Benavidez, but sadly Benavidez wants to go back down to Light Heavy after the Zurdo fight. Maybe Opetaia vs Zurdo for the vacant title if Benavidez wins?

The question mark is always Zuffa and how they let Opetaia move in his career. They need to give him freedom to fight on non-Zuffa cards and also stop parading their Zuffa belt(that's what got Opetaia got stripped).

kiwiinmelb

@Dice said in Boxing Thread:

@kiwiinmelb said in Boxing Thread:

@Dice said in Boxing Thread:

@kiwiinmelb said in Boxing Thread:

@Dice said in Boxing Thread:

David Nyika could be in line for a world title fight soon with Opetaia and CBS under Zuffa. He'll fight Viddal Riley for the vacant IBF title if things fall his way.

View image

How does that work if opetaia just recently got stripped of the IBF belt for fighting under Zuffa ?

With Opetaia stripped, it was assumed Riley and CBS would fight for the vacant IBF title - they still could fight but people assume that because he just signed for Zuffa last night, that fight is likely off as they don't see the IBF working with Zuffa. Naturally Opetaia would likely get the next shot at Riley as he got re-ranked to 4th behind CBS, but he's also under Zuffa.

So with CBS and Opetaia possibly out of the way, Nyika has a decent shot of getting to fight Riley for the vacant title. Although it could also be Masson(another Kiwi) or Perez.

Not sure if I answered your question though, as I'm not quite sure what you mean.

yeah that makes sense, i misunderstood how you meant it , thought you meant Zuffa was involved

Cruiserweight division turning into a non event , we should have had unification fights by now , it should have been Opetaia v Ramirez, well before it has come to this , although Ramirez v Benevidoz is at least an interesting match up for a change .

Yeah, Zurdo vs Opetaia needed to happen already. That fight has a chance to happen this year if Zurdo holds off Benavidez as Opetaia just recently got ranked number 1 with the WBA, which is the title Zurdo holds.

I think Benavidez beats Zurdo though, and the dream would be an even better match-up between Opetaia vs Benavidez, but sadly Benavidez wants to go back down to Light Heavy after the Zurdo fight. Maybe Opetaia vs Zurdo for the vacant title if Benavidez wins?

The question mark is always Zuffa and how they let Opetaia move in his career. They need to give him freedom to fight on non-Zuffa cards and also stop parading their Zuffa belt(that's what got Opetaia got stripped).

Jai wants to unify Cruiserweight and then move to heavyweight . Thats always been his goal. I know his cousin , he walks around at 220 pounds and diets down to make weight, and he believes he can easily put on 10 kilos or more of good strength.

But doesnt want to go back and forwards. Once he goes to heavyweight he stays there . but he is getting the shits with how hard it is to make big fights, if this all drags on and on he may just pull the trigger and move up.The bigger money is at heavyweight anyway .

African Monkey

@kiwiinmelb said in Boxing Thread:

@Dice said in Boxing Thread:

@kiwiinmelb said in Boxing Thread:

@Dice said in Boxing Thread:

@kiwiinmelb said in Boxing Thread:

@Dice said in Boxing Thread:

David Nyika could be in line for a world title fight soon with Opetaia and CBS under Zuffa. He'll fight Viddal Riley for the vacant IBF title if things fall his way.

View image

How does that work if opetaia just recently got stripped of the IBF belt for fighting under Zuffa ?

With Opetaia stripped, it was assumed Riley and CBS would fight for the vacant IBF title - they still could fight but people assume that because he just signed for Zuffa last night, that fight is likely off as they don't see the IBF working with Zuffa. Naturally Opetaia would likely get the next shot at Riley as he got re-ranked to 4th behind CBS, but he's also under Zuffa.

So with CBS and Opetaia possibly out of the way, Nyika has a decent shot of getting to fight Riley for the vacant title. Although it could also be Masson(another Kiwi) or Perez.

Not sure if I answered your question though, as I'm not quite sure what you mean.

yeah that makes sense, i misunderstood how you meant it , thought you meant Zuffa was involved

Cruiserweight division turning into a non event , we should have had unification fights by now , it should have been Opetaia v Ramirez, well before it has come to this , although Ramirez v Benevidoz is at least an interesting match up for a change .

Yeah, Zurdo vs Opetaia needed to happen already. That fight has a chance to happen this year if Zurdo holds off Benavidez as Opetaia just recently got ranked number 1 with the WBA, which is the title Zurdo holds.

I think Benavidez beats Zurdo though, and the dream would be an even better match-up between Opetaia vs Benavidez, but sadly Benavidez wants to go back down to Light Heavy after the Zurdo fight. Maybe Opetaia vs Zurdo for the vacant title if Benavidez wins?

The question mark is always Zuffa and how they let Opetaia move in his career. They need to give him freedom to fight on non-Zuffa cards and also stop parading their Zuffa belt(that's what got Opetaia got stripped).

Jai wants to unify Cruiserweight and then move to heavyweight . Thats always been his goal. I know his cousin , he walks around at 220 pounds and diets down to make weight, and he believes he can easily put on 10 kilos or more of good strength.

But doesnt want to go back and forwards. Once he goes to heavyweight he stays there . but he is getting the shits with how hard it is to make big fights, if this all drags on and on he may just pull the trigger and move up.The bigger money is at heavyweight anyway .

He should just move up anyway imo. The CW divison is back to being a wasteland again after a good few years with Usyk, prime Briedis, Dorticos, Gassiev etc in it. He's wasting his prime years waiting around.

Dice

Can't see him moving up for a few years. He gets asked about moving up all the time and he gives the same answer about not moving up until he's undisputed. The problem is it's really hard to do.

He first won the IBF title in 2022 and hasn't had a shot at any of the other champs since. I think he signed with Zuffa because he's hoping Turki can just will these big fights over the line with big money offers.

25 days later

kiwiinmelb

Wow , what a war ,

Can’t think of a more entertaining heavyweight fight in recent memory, probably challenges the best ever fights of all time for pure entertainment value

Yeah a throw back.. i was calling for Fabios corner to save their man... I know he has a hail mary but he took way too much punishment.
A brave corner is dangerous

kiwiinmelb

@kidcalder said in Boxing Thread:

Yeah a throw back.. i was calling for Fabios corner to save their man... I know he has a hail mary but he took way too much punishment.
A brave corner is dangerous

Yeah , I guess while he is still standing he is still a chance , just like wilder ,

Must be hard to pull the trigger when you have a fighter like that , sometimes you just got to though, some of these fighters are too brave for their own good ,

Wouldn’t be surprised if we get a rematch, or Moses if they think he’s ready

Fabios speed troubled DD early so Moses will have that advantage but no one knows how Moses will respond to pulled into a war...
Rematch clause is there for Fabio but he will take some recovery time

kiwiinmelb

@kidcalder said in Boxing Thread:

Fabios speed troubled DD early so Moses will have that advantage but no one knows how Moses will respond to pulled into a war...
Rematch clause is there for Fabio but he will take some recovery time

If there is @ rematch clause he will take it , you just never know, on a different day he may land that big shot

African Monkey

Congrats to both men, both afraid to fight nobody and prepared to jump in and have a tear up.

kiwiinmelb

I think now the dust has settled, the big takeaway for me is Dubois is a very dangerous opponent for many , Very heavy hands , that jab hits like a jackhammer and his footwork is underrated ,

The fact he has quit on occasions when things aren’t working for him is maybe the biggest trap out there for some fighters , and a dangerous assumption, because do you have the arsenal to make him quit ? if not you will be in for a very tough night .

Maybe with hindsight Joe dodged a bullet when his fight was canceled, I mean Hrgovic, AJ , Fabio are in the area of 50/50 fights for him , and Dubois demolished them , Usyk is in a class of his own .

12 days later

MiketheSnow

Usyk v Rico

Awesome contest

IMG_0347.jpeg

MiketheSnow

@MN5 said in Boxing Thread:

@MiketheSnow said in Boxing Thread:

Usyk v Rico

Awesome contest

View image

Sounded like a controversial stoppage. Did you see it ?

Yes

Very close fight with Rico ahead on the cards coming into the 11th

Better 11th round for Usyk and he caught Rico on the temple late in the round.

Rico was rocked, lost his gum shield and had close to 30 seconds before the ref resumed the fight with about 10 seconds to go.

Usyk was letting fly and the ref called it with about 1-2 seconds to go

Arguably the ref could have let it go and more than likely Usyk would have ended it emphatically in the final round

Rico comes out with huge respect and plaudits

Only his second ever boxing match

Amazing athlete

MN5

@MiketheSnow said in Boxing Thread:

@MN5 said in Boxing Thread:

@MiketheSnow said in Boxing Thread:

Usyk v Rico

Awesome contest

View image

Sounded like a controversial stoppage. Did you see it ?

Yes

Very close fight with Rico ahead on the cards coming into the 11th

Better 11th round for Usyk and he caught Rico on the temple late in the round.

Rico was rocked, lost his gum shield and had close to 30 seconds before the ref resumed the fight with about 10 seconds to go.

Usyk was letting fly and the ref called it with about 1-2 seconds to go

Arguably the ref could have let it go and more than likely Usyk would have ended it emphatically in the final round

Rico comes out with huge respect and plaudits

Only his second ever boxing match

Amazing athlete

Based on that one would have thought Usyk would have schooled him.

The old "styles win fights" adage seems apt here. Sounds like Usyk got a hell of a fright.

When you think how easily Joshua beat Ngannou then yeah, Verhoevens efforts are extraordinary.....and you're not wrong, he's a unit and a half.

Yeah styles make fights and Usyk struggled with Ricos style + his brute strength.
Usyk would KO Dubois tomorrow while Dubois could likely KO Rico.
Prob worse I have seen Usyk energy and footwork wise but he still managed to land the most damaging punches in the end.
Turki calling for rematch but hopefully Kabayel gets his deserved shot first

kiwiinmelb

Sometimes fighters age overnight ,

First time I’ve seen him look that vulnerable,

Be interesting to see how he backs up with kabayal to see if it was just a one off

nostrildamus

@kiwiinmelb said in Boxing Thread:

Sometimes fighters age overnight ,

First time I’ve seen him look that vulnerable,

Be interesting to see how he backs up with kabayal to see if it was just a one off

I was thinking Usyk didn't look quite as trim as before, and his opponent was agile and fit and refused to let him move around him.

kiwiinmelb

What is interesting, at the point of the stoppage, most had Rico in front ,

But only one judge had him in front , 2 had it dead even 🤔

With usyk having gained the momentum at the time , odds on he was going to win that last round and he was going to win a controversial split decision

The stoppage probably saved boxing from that embarrassment of reading out those cards

MN5

@kiwiinmelb said in Boxing Thread:

Sometimes fighters age overnight ,

First time I’ve seen him look that vulnerable,

Be interesting to see how he backs up with kabayal to see if it was just a one off

Happens to the best of them. Age and tough fights get them all eventually.

Fury and Wilder being the most recent examples I can think of after their brutal trilogy.

Has Usyk gotten a bit complacent ? as you yourself said only 13 days ago he looked in a class of his own prior to this.

kiwiinmelb

@MN5 said in Boxing Thread:

@kiwiinmelb said in Boxing Thread:

Sometimes fighters age overnight ,

First time I’ve seen him look that vulnerable,

Be interesting to see how he backs up with kabayal to see if it was just a one off

Happens to the best of them. Age and tough fights get them all eventually.

Fury and Wilder being the most recent examples I can think of after their brutal trilogy.

Has Usyk gotten a bit complacent ? as you yourself said only 13 days ago he looked in a class of his own prior to this.

he has looked in a class of his own to date , 2 one sided fights against all of Fury , Dubois and Joshua

I suspect there could be the ageing factor , he is 38 and had a long career when you factor in his long amateur career, and privately there might be a feeling of I’ve achieved it all now , a touch of complacency yes , similar to when fury fought ngannou .

Boxing is going to shoot itself in the foot eventually with these silly matchups, particularly at heavyweight, when all it takes is one big shot , Kabayal as an undefeated mandatory deserved that fight ahead of someone from another sport all day everyday..

1 month later

kiwiinmelb

Interesting developments in the HW division,

Usyk vacates his belts but says he’s not retired just yet ,

maybe a rematch with Rico is on the cards for him, and rather than hold up the division, he’s saying over to you younger fighters now,

We have some interesting matchups out there with the likes of Dubois , Moses , kabayal , Moses vs hrgovic probably becomes a very important fight now , the winner is probably in a title fight .

And don’t be surprised if fury vs Joshua becomes a title fight now ,not that they deserve it but money talks

African Monkey

And the whole HW division celebrates.

nostrildamus

why does he want to vacate his belts but still fight?

MN5

@nostrildamus said in Boxing Thread:

why does he want to vacate his belts but still fight?

Yeah something isn't adding up.

I have a feeling he is going to be the second heavyweight champ who will actually retire undefeated. I don't reckon we'll see him in the ring again.

( cue me being completely wrong and a fight announced later this year )

nostrildamus

@MN5 said in Boxing Thread:

@nostrildamus said in Boxing Thread:

why does he want to vacate his belts but still fight?

Yeah something isn't adding up.

I have a feeling he is going to be the second heavyweight champ who will actually retire undefeated. I don't reckon we'll see him in the ring again.

( cue me being completely wrong and a fight announced later this year )

I agree, what has he got to prove? A matchup with Putin in the ring?

MN5

@nostrildamus said in Boxing Thread:

@MN5 said in Boxing Thread:

@nostrildamus said in Boxing Thread:

why does he want to vacate his belts but still fight?

Yeah something isn't adding up.

I have a feeling he is going to be the second heavyweight champ who will actually retire undefeated. I don't reckon we'll see him in the ring again.

( cue me being completely wrong and a fight announced later this year )

I agree, what has he got to prove? A matchup with Putin in the ring?

Whew, you quoted right after my edit. I completely forgot about the incredible Rocky Marciano with a record of 49-0 and mistakenly mentioned Usyk as the first guy to be unbeaten. I had a sip of coffee and rectified my error.

But yes, Nothing to prove. He's beaten everyone worth beating and looked fucken rusty last time out. Time to do a Chilli Peppers ( Give it away )

MiketheSnow

@nostrildamus said in Boxing Thread:

@MN5 said in Boxing Thread:

@nostrildamus said in Boxing Thread:

why does he want to vacate his belts but still fight?

Yeah something isn't adding up.

I have a feeling he is going to be the second heavyweight champ who will actually retire undefeated. I don't reckon we'll see him in the ring again.

( cue me being completely wrong and a fight announced later this year )

I agree, what has he got to prove? A matchup with Putin in the ring?