[Archived] Boxing Thread

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Katsidis was clearly a step too big for Mitchell tonight. He certainly likes beating the Brits up!

Hopefully Mitchell will learn from this defeat and come back stronger.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Good victory for Khan v Malignaggi this morning. He seemed to boss him around the ring for 10 rounds before finishing him off in the 11th. The performance of Khan will certainly impress the Americans in his debut fight there and will hopefully lead to him facing some tougher opponents.

[DeadlyDirk]

Khan pretty much controlled most of the fight as I predicted, a good performance from him which only increases his reputation. Malignaggi is a good boxer but a bigger test for Khan now will be someone with more punching power. I'm interested to see where he goes from here, his hand speed and accuracy seem to be improving with every fight and I think under Roach's guidance he'll continue to improve.

[bellamy11]

Disappointed by the Mitchell result but not entirely surprised. I said before the fight it would be interested to see how he reacts to being hurt and he didn't cope that well. Kat is an absolute warrior - always entertaining - and his style almost guarantees a good fight to watch. I was hoping for a few more rounds but can't complain when the fight was on free TV (well, Sky). It also further exposes Bredis Prescott, given how little he achieved against Mitchell last year.

After four rounds of Khan/Pauli I was anticipating an interesting fight but Pauli ran out of ideas and took a lot of punishment from Khan's jab. Will be interesting to see Amir take on Maidana now, given his power is completely at the other end of the scale to Pauli's.

Anybody seen that Manny has apparently said he's only going to have one more fight? I'm very concerned the "superfight" with Mayweather is never going to happen.

[Amo]

Of course Khan had a good fight, he faces boxers who can't punch.

[sleepyjack]

To be fair to Khan, Topman, he did prove a lot last night.

Malignaggi has gotten slower and has never packed a punch, so Khan couldn't have had an easier matchup style-wise but he showed that his style has continued to improve. His hands are higher, his jab was excellent and he's one of the top five fastest across the whole sport. His division is looking competitive, too, with Ortiz, Maidana, Bradley and Alexander all great options. I see the latter two as better than him, but he could definitely surprise me. Other boxers slower than Khan have managed to make a career out of a dodgy chin.

Hope Katsidis gets his rematch with Diaz now, rather than taking on JMM.

[Gav]

Jury still out on Khan, he’s very 1 dimensional for me. He punches in straight lines and will get found out if he doesn’t vary his attack.

As for Katsidis, great display, didn’t think he’d win that easily.

[Hughesy]

Its about time they actually challenged Khan and put him up against someone who could actually beat him.....but that wont happen!

[sleepyjack]

Hughesy, he's only five fights removed from having his world rearranged. Since the Prescott fight he's been entirely rebuilt technically and stepped up in weight. He's an investment with enormous potential, so it would have been a bit silly of Warren (and now Golden Boy) to throw him in against Juan Manuel Marquez and say "Go on, prove yourself." I do think his subsequent fights have been easy - he's especially lucky to have faced Fagan and Kotelnik for world titles, but a lot of that ease is down to his own talent.

If Khan is serious about unifying light welterweight, he'll have another step up within his next two fights, and you'll see him challenged.

[Guest Kamy100]

Khan did well on Saturday. Technically he is getting a lot better and his punch accuracy is superb, his chin needs to be tested and will be over the next 2 or 3 fights, he is a lot better fighter now than he was 18 months ago. Roach has really worked hard on him and will continue to do so over the next 3 or 4 years.

There is talk that he will fight Katsidis at the end of July, with the fight taking place in London or Manchester, before moving onto to Maidana or Bradley.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

There is talk that he will fight Katsidis at the end of July, with the fight taking place in London or Manchester

That would be a great fight for the fans. Katsidis has really made a good impression in Britain, not just his last fight but also when he fought Earl a few years back. He's a fighter people will pay to go and see because they know they'll get to watch an exciting boxer.

Just worked out the following too : Katsidis beat Mitchell who beat Prescott who beat Khan who beat Malignaggi who beat Diaz who beat Katsidis. Get them all into a super 6 tournament!

[vintageadidas]

It is a tough one for Khan as to who he fights next. Katsidis the great will be stepping up a weight and if Khan does win he will not get the credit for taking on someone who has stepped up. However, i am a massive fan of Katsidis's style and he is an excellent entertainer. I have watched all his fights since Earl and i was backing him on Saturday and not Mitchell. Khan has the height, the reach and the jab to keep Katsidis at bay but he will get through once or twice and if he hits that chin then night night Khan.

Khan's good when he can control the range and pace of the fight. He isn't ready for the type of intensity that Katsidis brings yet. Khan still has bad habits, and he resorts to type at certain times. He still lunges in from time to time, he still flurries and subsequently falls off balance. He could get away with it with Malignaggi due to his lack of power, but one punch from Katsidis and its over. Katsidis would jump on Khan from the first bell, and would stick to Khan like ###### to a blanket. Khan would get dragged in to a brawl and resort to the old Khan. Remember, everyone has a plan until they get hit.Katsidis had an excellent game plan against Mitchell by forcing him to come and get involved. This worked in Katsidis's favour and showed by his third round knock out.

It could potentailly be a very good fight but i think it will only happen if 1. Katsidis gets a big pay day and 2. Khan fancies taking on one of the biggest punchers out there at the minute, which could ruin his chance of fighting the bigger names.

Although Khan has speed and an improved defense, would he stop Katsidis before Katsidis managed to land? Maybe the move to 140 will help him but at 135 Khan could not take a punch. One thing's for sure, the fight wouldn't last 12 rounds. I think although it could go either way I would put my money on a Katsidis stoppage win. Khan would never go back to lightweight though.

[sleepyjack]

Yuri Foreman's getting easily beaten by Miguel Cotto in Yankee Stadium right now. Interestingly though, Foreman's knee (braced from prior injuries) just gave out when he tripped and he went down twice, but continued to fight despite little to no ring movement. His corner then threw in the towel after one round of hobbling and he went nuts, demanding that the ref allow the fight to continue, which he did, though it's against the rules. Awesome display of heart from the brilliantly nicknamed Lion of Zion, it's like a rejected Rocky script.

Well, I type all that and Cotto goes and knocks him out. Spoil sport.

[bellamy11]

In the last couple of weeks I've worked my way through a load of episodes of Legendary Nights on Youtube. The series is basically the stories behind some of the more interesting fights that HBO has shown. They're really well done and there isn't a boring one in the bunch. Definitely recommended.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Shannon Briggs announces fight with Vitali Klitschko on Oct. 16

Wladimir Klitschko and Samuel Peter will meet in a rematch on Sept. 11

What's the point

This proves why the heavyweight division is awful. It's yet another poor fight for the heavyweight divison and yet again boxing will suffer due to this.

[ABBEY]

briggs? christ he must be older than me!

[sleepyjack]

The heavyweight mess is Haye's fault, this time around. He's gonna end up fighting Audley or some other joker.

At least Bradley - Alexander looks like it's gonna happen.

[LeChuck]

The heavyweight mess is Haye's fault, this time around.

What has Haye done? I haven't followed it for a while.

Add this to Mayweather/Pacquiao still not fighting each other, and boxing is really not treating fans well at the moment.

[T4E]

Just another reason why MMA and the UFC is the way forward for fans of combat sports.

[sleepyjack]

Don't see why boxing and MMA can't coexist. Both entertaining combat sports with huge markets, and both have their problems. Couture vs Toney is hardly the shining light of the sport, is it?

What has Haye done? I haven't followed it for a while.

Not much, actually. He hasn't publicly shirked the fights, but it seems obvious to me that he's the one avoiding them. I gave Haye the benefit of the doubt last year when the Klitschko fight(s) fell apart and he ended up taking on Valuev. It got him a title, experience and greater earning power, and he could say he wasn't ready to take on either of the brothers. But by making as much noise as he did about taking their titles, then falling completely silent when Wladimir made that video calling him out, and now to have all these rumours of him lining up Fraudley...

Add this to Mayweather/Pacquiao still not fighting each other, and boxing is really not treating fans well at the moment.

What's worse are the stream of mediocre, unloseable fights they've lined up between them in the interim. Mayweather vs Marquez and then Mosley, Pacquiao vs Cotto, Clottey and now Antonio Margarito; they're all fights that nobody wants to see but will still pay to watch. To see the best two boxers in the world avoid each other, then treat fans like idiots by refusing to take the smallest of risks in the fights they pick is really disappointing.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

For some reason I think Samuel Peter has a chance tonight against Wladimir Klitschko. Obviously the odds are hugely against him but I wouldn't count against him causing Wlad a lot of trouble with his heavy punching (like he did previously) as well as having a lot to prove against the Klitschko's especially after a disappointing fight against Vitali.

[koi]

For some reason I think Samuel Peter has a chance tonight against Wladimir Klitschko. Obviously the odds are hugely against him but I wouldn't count against him causing Wlad a lot of trouble with his heavy punching (like he did previously) as well as having a lot to prove against the Klitschko's especially after a disappointing fight against Vitali.

Well it was a nice thought whilst it lasted! Poor poor fight. Haye has absolutely nothing to worry about, get Audrey out of the way and make the fight.

[Tim Southampton Rover]

Luckily I never placed a bet on that. Klitschko beats Peter in a one sided fight. Peter looked physically good before the fight and apparently had a good training camp and prepared well for the fight. Unfortunately Klitschko was also on top form and showed how good he is when bossing the fight. He never lost control and from round 2 onwards there was no hope for Peter.

Surely the only fight he can have now is against David Haye. Not only would it be an explosive fight, it would also attract the American audience, which apparently weren't showing the fight on HBO and haven't shown any Klitschko fights for a while because no one is interested in them over the pond.

[sleepyjack]

Wlad is far and away the best heavyweight in the world, as much of a shame as that is to write.

Two (imo) cool boxing related things. First, this promo for HBO's Boxing After Dark.

Second, a great article on the debut fight of a small-time boxer.

[Amo]

David Haye refuses to apologize for this comments that his fight with Fraudley will be as 'one-sided as a gang rape'

What a muppet.