Boxing Thread

@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.

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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.

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.

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

@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

@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

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

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 .

Usyk v Rico

Awesome contest

@MiketheSnow said in Boxing Thread:

Usyk v Rico

Awesome contest

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Sounded like a controversial stoppage. Did you see it ?

@MN5 said in Boxing Thread:

@MiketheSnow said in Boxing Thread:

Usyk v Rico

Awesome contest

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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

@MiketheSnow said in Boxing Thread:

@MN5 said in Boxing Thread:

@MiketheSnow said in Boxing Thread:

Usyk v Rico

Awesome contest

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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

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

@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.

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

@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.

@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..

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

And the whole HW division celebrates.

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

@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 )

@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?

@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 )

@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?

@nostrildamus said in Boxing Thread:

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

So he can pick and choose an opponent/ opponents that might generate a payday, and not have to fight his mandatories ,

The way I see it , it’s the honourable thing to do if he’s chasing money now over defending the titles

@nostrildamus said in Boxing Thread:

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

He'll want to have big cash out fights similar to his last, instead of being mandated to fight guys that are below the level of guys that he has already beaten, which won't demand as much money.

In other words, he's conquered the division with nothing left to prove, and would rather have crossover fights, which funnily enough, was probably his hardest fight he's had at HW, so probably expect a rematch with Rico Verhoven.

@kiwiinmelb said in Boxing Thread:

@nostrildamus said in Boxing Thread:

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

So he can pick and choose an opponent/ opponents that might generate a payday, and not have to fight his mandatories ,

The way I see it , it’s the honourable thing to do if he’s chasing money now over defending the titles

Lol beat me to it.

More developments , Kabayal who was usyks wbc mandatory is now wbc world champion,

Usyk appears to be fighting wilder next , interesting choice of opponent from usyk

Great welterweight fight about to start, Boots Ennis v Xander Zahas , both undefeated good boxers

Well paid poster boy for Zuffa boxing
A rematch with Rico very unlikely as boxing governing bodies may not sanction it this time due to mandatories not being fulfilled, but Turki Al-Sheikh wants it to happen
Kabayel needs his shot - should now be elevated
Did hear a rumour a fight between Usyk and Opetaia could happen on Zuffa