As for Wlad fighting Haye or Arreola, yeah, I think we all agree that it sucks. Right now, who else is there with a belt? Chagaev is apparently being given a chance to defend against Carl Davis Drummond, which leaves you with "interim" champ Valuev. Obviously Valuev would be choice in that situation. I'm also debating whether to rank Valuev over Povetkin overall.
I watched a lot of boxing today. I'll recap all of it at boredomboxingmma.blogspot.com later but for you guys, a shortened version of what "matters".
I talk about the magical DVR a lot. Picks up everything. Well, 5 John Duddy cards appeared around Christmas thanks to MSG, and I've not seen him fight since he fought Yori Boy. I watched all of them in one day, and as you might expect, it was a long day. My Day of Duddy:
-JOHN DUDDY vs. SHELBY PUDWILL (3/16/06): Pudwill was a lousy fraud and got beaten violently, dropped early in round one with a left hook to the chin and he never recovered. Between the Pierre and Campos fights, so people were still somewhat willing to buy into Duddy.
-JOHN DUDDY vs. DUPRE STRICKLAND (5/18/07): Strickland had an impressive record (as did many Duddy opponents) but it lacked any substance. He was knocked down on an off balance shot in the first and lost every single round of the fight on my card and that of the judges. A horrible fight in which Strickland ran and Duddy's lack of actual punching power made it impossible for him to slow down Strickland. Strickland did nothing to win.
-JOHN DUDDY vs. ALESSIO FURLAN (7/24/07): Duddy's return to Ireland, a necessary move to remotivate him and keep him from going stale with the NY fanbase. A lot is said by the RTE announcers to hype him, and he lives up to it in some sense. Duddy drops him in the first and then out throws him most of the fight, with Furlan winning only the 5th. Furlan was given a ton of credit for a career journeyman, and much was made of his survival for 11 rounds against Sylvester. Duddy stops Furlan with less than 20 seconds remaining in round 10 after the second knockdown of that final round. Furlan made sure to land a few solid rights on Duddy, but being a weak puncher, nothing truly came of it.
-JOHN DUDDY vs. PRINCE ARRON (10/20/07): Simply no way Nevada or NY would ever accept this fight. Arron is beyond overmatched and while he lands a pretty decent combination in round 1, Duddy simply piles over the stringbean with a few knockdowns. Arron is really looking for a soft spot on the canvas in round 2 when a solid slap on the inside puts him down and forces a ref stoppage.
-JOHN DUDDY vs. HOWARD EASTMAN (12/8/07): Eastman looked good here, which is perhaps not the strongest complement to Duddy's skills. Lots of right hand uppercuts landed clean and Eastman as counterpuncher seemed to have the answer to Duddy's forward movement all night long. Earlier in his career, Eastman obliterates Duddy. At 37, it is a close fight due to Duddy's ability to soak up punches while throwing his own. I had it Eastman 96-94 but the ref scores it that way for Duddy. Eastman really ran out of gas in the 6th and just sorta coasted in from there. The announcers again put over Duddy's success and popularity in the US (hah!) as well as Eastman's ability.
My thoughts with Duddy is that he probably gets a bad wrap. He didn't look bad with Eastman, who is very awkward. Alternately, a 37 year old Eastman shouldn't be competitive with a guy constantly brought up in world title bout talks. What I found most hilarious was watching these shows, you see several prospects as good or better than Duddy (Macklin, Quillin, Moore), and whatever momentum you imagine building for Duddy gets blown up. Duddy is what he is, which is Mickey Ward with good management.
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I talk about the magical DVR a lot. Picks up everything. Well, 5 John Duddy cards appeared around Christmas thanks to MSG, and I've not seen him fight since he fought Yori Boy. I watched all of them in one day, and as you might expect, it was a long day. My Day of Duddy:
-JOHN DUDDY vs. SHELBY PUDWILL (3/16/06): Pudwill was a lousy fraud and got beaten violently, dropped early in round one with a left hook to the chin and he never recovered. Between the Pierre and Campos fights, so people were still somewhat willing to buy into Duddy.
-JOHN DUDDY vs. DUPRE STRICKLAND (5/18/07): Strickland had an impressive record (as did many Duddy opponents) but it lacked any substance. He was knocked down on an off balance shot in the first and lost every single round of the fight on my card and that of the judges. A horrible fight in which Strickland ran and Duddy's lack of actual punching power made it impossible for him to slow down Strickland. Strickland did nothing to win.
-JOHN DUDDY vs. ALESSIO FURLAN (7/24/07): Duddy's return to Ireland, a necessary move to remotivate him and keep him from going stale with the NY fanbase. A lot is said by the RTE announcers to hype him, and he lives up to it in some sense. Duddy drops him in the first and then out throws him most of the fight, with Furlan winning only the 5th. Furlan was given a ton of credit for a career journeyman, and much was made of his survival for 11 rounds against Sylvester. Duddy stops Furlan with less than 20 seconds remaining in round 10 after the second knockdown of that final round. Furlan made sure to land a few solid rights on Duddy, but being a weak puncher, nothing truly came of it.
-JOHN DUDDY vs. PRINCE ARRON (10/20/07): Simply no way Nevada or NY would ever accept this fight. Arron is beyond overmatched and while he lands a pretty decent combination in round 1, Duddy simply piles over the stringbean with a few knockdowns. Arron is really looking for a soft spot on the canvas in round 2 when a solid slap on the inside puts him down and forces a ref stoppage.
-JOHN DUDDY vs. HOWARD EASTMAN (12/8/07): Eastman looked good here, which is perhaps not the strongest complement to Duddy's skills. Lots of right hand uppercuts landed clean and Eastman as counterpuncher seemed to have the answer to Duddy's forward movement all night long. Earlier in his career, Eastman obliterates Duddy. At 37, it is a close fight due to Duddy's ability to soak up punches while throwing his own. I had it Eastman 96-94 but the ref scores it that way for Duddy. Eastman really ran out of gas in the 6th and just sorta coasted in from there. The announcers again put over Duddy's success and popularity in the US (hah!) as well as Eastman's ability.
My thoughts with Duddy is that he probably gets a bad wrap. He didn't look bad with Eastman, who is very awkward. Alternately, a 37 year old Eastman shouldn't be competitive with a guy constantly brought up in world title bout talks. What I found most hilarious was watching these shows, you see several prospects as good or better than Duddy (Macklin, Quillin, Moore), and whatever momentum you imagine building for Duddy gets blown up. Duddy is what he is, which is Mickey Ward with good management.
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Saw Reed/EE last night as part of the Contender finale. Reed is an interesting name in the cruiser mix. I think people will sleep on him because of the Contender aspect, but he's stopped some decent small heavyweights/cruisers during the production of that show. I'd like to see him in with Godfrey or BJ Flores. Either is competitive.
Stuff I casually watched thus far this weekend apart from the live cards:
-Beltran Jr./Roman from two weeks ago. Roman might have deserved the nod here in a really competitive and entertaining fight. Another really good one in the books for ESPN2 this year. Providnikov is still way too vertical; reminds me of Tsurkan. Andrade looked his usual sparkling self against some nobody.
-Strange card that sat on my DVR for months: Headliner was Jason Naugler/Jean Paul Mendy. Mendy's been MIA ever since that 168lb Shobox tourney he drew in the finals of, and you see why here. Scorecards read domination but it was anything but, with Naugler constantly on the offensive and hurting Mendy with shots over and over and over. Really good scrap that while Mendy clearly won was way, way more competitive than the scorecards read being. Undercard featured Marcus Oliveria stopping an embarassing Kelvin Davis in 3 (though Davis had not gone down, he also didn't complain), and Shawn Hawk blowing out midwestern bum-to-be Joshua Green in 2.
-Beltran Jr./Roman from two weeks ago. Roman might have deserved the nod here in a really competitive and entertaining fight. Another really good one in the books for ESPN2 this year. Providnikov is still way too vertical; reminds me of Tsurkan. Andrade looked his usual sparkling self against some nobody.
-Strange card that sat on my DVR for months: Headliner was Jason Naugler/Jean Paul Mendy. Mendy's been MIA ever since that 168lb Shobox tourney he drew in the finals of, and you see why here. Scorecards read domination but it was anything but, with Naugler constantly on the offensive and hurting Mendy with shots over and over and over. Really good scrap that while Mendy clearly won was way, way more competitive than the scorecards read being. Undercard featured Marcus Oliveria stopping an embarassing Kelvin Davis in 3 (though Davis had not gone down, he also didn't complain), and Shawn Hawk blowing out midwestern bum-to-be Joshua Green in 2.
Watched a bunch of stuff to catch up before I get married and head on my honeymoon in the next week:
-Kendall Holt/DHop Shobox card: Missed this because my free Showtime ran out the day before. Downloaded it, deleted it, never watched it. Got Showtime again and recorded it on the DVR about 2 months ago, still didn't watch it. Now, 4 months later, I finally viewed it expecting the worst. My thoughts? Its always a bad sign when I liked the Yuri Foreman fight more. Probably my favorite Foreman fight to date other than the Tsurkan fight. Holt/DHop was horrible to sit through. Little to no action from Demetrius, Holt would come forward, throw a few shots, and lots of posing from both. Just ugly as hell. DHop made it closer than I thought he would taking the late rounds but god almighty, no offense to that dude that works with him, but I have no interest in seeing Demetrius again.
-ESPN2 from 4/10: I was with everyone else in thinking that Corley won that fight. I agree that he's shot but there's a place for him still in the sport based off what I saw here. Not an elite place, mind you, but he's a solid test and can still punch. Main event was lacking: David Lopez being the#6 ranked middleweight according to Ring Magazine is nothing but further proof of the GBP connections working wonders. Dude has never beaten anyone good and struggled with the eminently beatable journeyman Duran. Rock Allen was on this card and didn't make TV. WTF?
-ESPN2 from 2/13: Strange show I skipped at the time and finally got around to watching. I liked the matchmaking for Jiles/Robinson a lot but can't say I like Robinson in victory. Came across as a second tier Quillin to me with the wild repeated headshots. Carlos Molina solidified himself as an excellent test disposing of Camacho, and I was somewhat stunned to learn on Boxrec that he beat Ed Paredes a week ago off TV. Not too bad. Again, he'll never be anything special but stylistically he's someone I'd like to see hot welterweights put in with. Camacho is just shitty. There's a hundred guys in Argentina just like him.
-Kendall Holt/DHop Shobox card: Missed this because my free Showtime ran out the day before. Downloaded it, deleted it, never watched it. Got Showtime again and recorded it on the DVR about 2 months ago, still didn't watch it. Now, 4 months later, I finally viewed it expecting the worst. My thoughts? Its always a bad sign when I liked the Yuri Foreman fight more. Probably my favorite Foreman fight to date other than the Tsurkan fight. Holt/DHop was horrible to sit through. Little to no action from Demetrius, Holt would come forward, throw a few shots, and lots of posing from both. Just ugly as hell. DHop made it closer than I thought he would taking the late rounds but god almighty, no offense to that dude that works with him, but I have no interest in seeing Demetrius again.
-ESPN2 from 4/10: I was with everyone else in thinking that Corley won that fight. I agree that he's shot but there's a place for him still in the sport based off what I saw here. Not an elite place, mind you, but he's a solid test and can still punch. Main event was lacking: David Lopez being the#6 ranked middleweight according to Ring Magazine is nothing but further proof of the GBP connections working wonders. Dude has never beaten anyone good and struggled with the eminently beatable journeyman Duran. Rock Allen was on this card and didn't make TV. WTF?
-ESPN2 from 2/13: Strange show I skipped at the time and finally got around to watching. I liked the matchmaking for Jiles/Robinson a lot but can't say I like Robinson in victory. Came across as a second tier Quillin to me with the wild repeated headshots. Carlos Molina solidified himself as an excellent test disposing of Camacho, and I was somewhat stunned to learn on Boxrec that he beat Ed Paredes a week ago off TV. Not too bad. Again, he'll never be anything special but stylistically he's someone I'd like to see hot welterweights put in with. Camacho is just shitty. There's a hundred guys in Argentina just like him.
Watched a couple things from the DVR last night:
Balzsay/Inkin: Looked like a sparring session with Balzsay being the only one willing to load up with anything. He had Inkin in all sorts of trouble in the 10th but couldn't put him down nor never really pursued him the rest of the fight. Inkin's pitty pat scoring shit went nowhere. Not the most thrilling bout, since Balzsay won the vast majority of rounds.
Toygonbaev/Tsurkan: God, what an undervalued war. These dudes just went at it for all 10 rounds. I had it closer than the announcers at 96-94, but the right guy definitely got the nod here. The missed knockdown by the ref at the very end was a bit unfortunate, because it would have locked it up for Toygonbaev lock stock and barrel, but he didn't end up needing it. Shame Toygonbaev never really did anything else in the US, losing to Keith Holmes and Ian Gardiner.
Balzsay/Inkin: Looked like a sparring session with Balzsay being the only one willing to load up with anything. He had Inkin in all sorts of trouble in the 10th but couldn't put him down nor never really pursued him the rest of the fight. Inkin's pitty pat scoring shit went nowhere. Not the most thrilling bout, since Balzsay won the vast majority of rounds.
Toygonbaev/Tsurkan: God, what an undervalued war. These dudes just went at it for all 10 rounds. I had it closer than the announcers at 96-94, but the right guy definitely got the nod here. The missed knockdown by the ref at the very end was a bit unfortunate, because it would have locked it up for Toygonbaev lock stock and barrel, but he didn't end up needing it. Shame Toygonbaev never really did anything else in the US, losing to Keith Holmes and Ian Gardiner.
Bunch of stuff recently:
Lauro Salas/Jimmy Carter II: Extremely close decision that went the way of Salas. The problem I had scoring is that ESPN eliminated round 8 and 9 from TV, so I can't properly score. In spite of that, I sorta felt that Carter deserved the win. Even in the later rounds that Salas was trying to pour it on during, he would connect with cleaner blows and dictated the majority of those rounds.
Joe Greene/Francisco Mora: Greene is a miserable finisher. Mora was there to be taken out in round 2 and he instead went for rounds. Now he lost that HBO date and he hasn't been in the ring since August of last year. By the time he comes back he will definitely be a sacrificial lamb.
John Duddy/Wallid Smichet: Close, close fight. Smichet was just smashing up Duddy and then Duddy went boxer/puncher. I still think Duddy as a Gatti-Lite is acceptable. He's in entertaining fights more often than not and seems to be able to box on some minimal level.
I watched some ESPN stuff I'll bring up later too.
Lauro Salas/Jimmy Carter II: Extremely close decision that went the way of Salas. The problem I had scoring is that ESPN eliminated round 8 and 9 from TV, so I can't properly score. In spite of that, I sorta felt that Carter deserved the win. Even in the later rounds that Salas was trying to pour it on during, he would connect with cleaner blows and dictated the majority of those rounds.
Joe Greene/Francisco Mora: Greene is a miserable finisher. Mora was there to be taken out in round 2 and he instead went for rounds. Now he lost that HBO date and he hasn't been in the ring since August of last year. By the time he comes back he will definitely be a sacrificial lamb.
John Duddy/Wallid Smichet: Close, close fight. Smichet was just smashing up Duddy and then Duddy went boxer/puncher. I still think Duddy as a Gatti-Lite is acceptable. He's in entertaining fights more often than not and seems to be able to box on some minimal level.
I watched some ESPN stuff I'll bring up later too.
| Watched a bunch of stuff, but what sticks out most was the ESPN card with Escalente/Stark headlining and Jacobs/Varela on the undercard. Escalante has a hell of a yo-yo career going right now, but the swing is back northward. Banging out Oliver and Stark one after another is impressive IMO. Meanwhile, Daniel Jacobs needs to be talked about. He demolishes Varela with one punch and A WEEK LATER fights Michael Walker and wins a unanimous decision, pitching a shutout. That's better than David Lopez' performance against the same guy a year before. Also watched Jonathan Oquendo/some guy. Oquendo is on the road to being handicapped the way he waits for people to come in and hit. Some mexican with like 15 losses was tagging him repeatedly. |
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