General Boxing Thread

[THE SEVENTIES NORTH BANK]

I see Dillian is clutching at straws. Saying the push was illegal and he should’ve been given extra time because he banged his head.

He's now saying that the fight was 50/50 before the uppercut. WTF. All the judges had Fury ahead. One judge had Fury 5-0. I'm sure no one at home had it 50/50 as well. Yes, Fury wasn't great either, but he didn't have to be. Whyte was absolutely useless. Whyte resorted to wrestling the more frustrated he got.

 

[* ORM *]

No doubting Fury’s ability but until someone wins an undisputed title I see no way anyone can call themselves a world champion. Like just about every other professional sport these days it’s all about how much can we milk from the punters before it starts to curdle? A distinctly average card, a distinctly average opponent and ‘threats’ of retirement to keep bumping up the purse for the next one and there will be a next one.

By that time some of the average punter’s spare subscription and PPV cash is going to be used for mitigating rising interest rates, increased fuel costs, paying for post Covid including incremental retail costs with a lot of cargo tied up offshore in China or onshore in Chinese factories. Container costs have sky rocketed and still no guarantee of anywhere near timely delivery.

Boxing and football might have a rude awakening over the next 12-18 months.

 

[tia]

I see that Alvarez was outpionted in his light heavyweight fight against Bivol.Apparently the fight was scored closer than it possible should have been

 

[GDM]

Canelo taken to Russian slick school…absolute master class from bivol - I had it 9-3, one either way was fine. 7-5 from all 3 was way too close.

 

[Prawn]

My cousin’s son will be boxing at the Commonwealth Games, representing Australia.

 

[Prawn]

My cousin’s son had his first bout at the Commonwealth Games, he won by knockout after 24 seconds.

 

[Ricey]

So…… Eubank Jr vs Benn

To those on the outside who dip in and out of boxing this looks great. A 2nd coming of the great rivalry of the 90’s with two great fighters.

Now the reality.

We have Chris Eubank Jr “Next Gen” who has had two chances at world title level and fallen short. He lost to Billy Joe Saunders who then went onto beat Andy Lee to win the belt at middleweight. Then he was in the WBSS and got to the final and got outclassed by George Groves who retained his title. He then won the IBO (lol) ‘world title’ not a recognised world title and paraded around like a world champion after beating a nobody. He has since not gone on to fight anyone of real note and avoided all of the elite/top level fighters at 160 and 168. He had an opportunity a few years back to fight GGG but he seemed to lose his pen when the contract was in front of him. Kell Brook then stepped up from 147 to fight GGG and probably regretted it ever since. His problems with his orbital bones stemmed from that fight. Chris Eubank Jr talks a good game but since the Groves fight back in 2018 he has only fought one fighter of note which was James DeGale and even he was at the end of his career and retired afterwards.

Now young Conor Benn! Lots of hype around him of course as he is a Matchroom fighter and has the Benn name. Not much of an amateur career and on his debut which I attended he was the fight on before Joshua vs Charles Martin in the first world title fight Joshua won. Similar to Campbell Hatton’s debut they put them high up on the bill to attract attention, purely on name rather than skill. Unsurprisingly Benn knocked out the Albanian bin man and the hype train started. After a few more bin men and doormen he nearly and probably should’ve had a loss to his name when he faced French man Cedrick Peynaud in Benn’s 11th fight. Benn won on points in a 6 rounder however not many people thought he won that night. Fans were starting to lose interest. His behaviour outside of the ring with his association with Ohara Davies was making him not a very likeable character. He rematches Peynaud in his 13th fight and won comfortably. After his 16th fight he took nearly a year out to work on himself started a family and really started to win over the fans again. He stepped up against Sebastian Formella who was at the time for Benn a live opponent. He put on a classy performance and the hype train was back on track. Then came the fight that got everyone excited Samuel Vargas. The who went 12 rounds with Amir Khan and in the fight before Benn lost in 7 rounds against fellow welterweight prospect Virgil Ortiz. Benn knocked him out in round 1. Now it was time to move on instead 3 older statesmen were wheeled out for Benn and he bowled them over easily. He avoided fighting for the European title against one of the most avoided fighters in the division David Avanesyan.

This is the fight no one wanted! Benn is a 147 fighter and not a massive one at that! Eubank Jr is a 160 fighter and has fought at 168. This is a money fight and nothing more, doesn’t really do anything for Eubank Jr’s career if he wins well done you beat a Welterweight, if he loses he’s stuffed. Benn if he wins it’s a good win for him of a bigger guy but doesn’t get him any closer to a world title fight.

The fights we should be seeing are the likes of:

Benn vs any of the following: Virgil Ortiz/ Boots Ennis / David Avanesyan

Chris Eubank Jr vs any of the following: GGG / Jermell Charlo / Demetrius Andrade

And on a final note DAZN PPV! The platform we were sold that was a subscription and no more PPV ‘game changed’. Game exactly the ****ing same! No shock from Eddie Hearn who loves PPV and has put some bang average fights on it over the years.

 

[Yer Blues]

So…… Eubank Jr vs Benn

To those on the outside who dip in and out of boxing this looks great. A 2nd coming of the great rivalry of the 90’s with two great fighters.

Now the reality.

We have Chris Eubank Jr “Next Gen” who has had two chances at world title level and fallen short. He lost to Billy Joe Saunders who then went onto beat Andy Lee to win the belt at middleweight. Then he was in the WBSS and got to the final and got outclassed by George Groves who retained his title. He then won the IBO (lol) ‘world title’ not a recognised world title and paraded around like a world champion after beating a nobody. He has since not gone on to fight anyone of real note and avoided all of the elite/top level fighters at 160 and 168. He had an opportunity a few years back to fight GGG but he seemed to lose his pen when the contract was in front of him. Kell Brook then stepped up from 147 to fight GGG and probably regretted it ever since. His problems with his orbital bones stemmed from that fight. Chris Eubank Jr talks a good game but since the Groves fight back in 2018 he has only fought one fighter of note which was James DeGale and even he was at the end of his career and retired afterwards.

Now young Conor Benn! Lots of hype around him of course as he is a Matchroom fighter and has the Benn name. Not much of an amateur career and on his debut which I attended he was the fight on before Joshua vs Charles Martin in the first world title fight Joshua won. Similar to Campbell Hatton’s debut they put them high up on the bill to attract attention, purely on name rather than skill. Unsurprisingly Benn knocked out the Albanian bin man and the hype train started. After a few more bin men and doormen he nearly and probably should’ve had a loss to his name when he faced French man Cedrick Peynaud in Benn’s 11th fight. Benn won on points in a 6 rounder however not many people thought he won that night. Fans were starting to lose interest. His behaviour outside of the ring with his association with Ohara Davies was making him not a very likeable character. He rematches Peynaud in his 13th fight and won comfortably. After his 16th fight he took nearly a year out to work on himself started a family and really started to win over the fans again. He stepped up against Sebastian Formella who was at the time for Benn a live opponent. He put on a classy performance and the hype train was back on track. Then came the fight that got everyone excited Samuel Vargas. The who went 12 rounds with Amir Khan and in the fight before Benn lost in 7 rounds against fellow welterweight prospect Virgil Ortiz. Benn knocked him out in round 1. Now it was time to move on instead 3 older statesmen were wheeled out for Benn and he bowled them over easily. He avoided fighting for the European title against one of the most avoided fighters in the division David Avanesyan.

This is the fight no one wanted! Benn is a 147 fighter and not a massive one at that! Eubank Jr is a 160 fighter and has fought at 168. This is a money fight and nothing more, doesn’t really do anything for Eubank Jr’s career if he wins well done you beat a Welterweight, if he loses he’s stuffed. Benn if he wins it’s a good win for him of a bigger guy but doesn’t get him any closer to a world title fight.

The fights we should be seeing are the likes of:

Benn vs any of the following: Virgil Ortiz/ Boots Ennis / David Avanesyan

Chris Eubank Jr vs any of the following: GGG / Jermell Charlo / Demetrius Andrade

And on a final note DAZN PPV! The platform we were sold that was a subscription and no more PPV ‘game changed’. Game exactly the ****ing same! No shock from Eddie Hearn who loves PPV and has put some bang average fights on it over the years.

I think it'll be a good fight. Looking forward to it.

 

[GDM]

Great summary Ricey!
When I first heard about this possibility a few weeks ago I was like…a “small”welterweight v a super middleweight - this is impossible!
Eubank has to be a massive favourite but it’s all on the rehydration clause. It’s at a catch weight of 157 but how much can he rehydrate too?
Benn has nowhere to go at 147 - the names you mention smash him
Eubank has only ever been about money!

I’ll watch this but I won’t be proud of myself!!!

 

[Ricky Otto]

Great summary Ricey!
When I first heard about this possibility a few weeks ago I was like…a “small”welterweight v a super middleweight - this is impossible!
Eubank has to be a massive favourite but it’s all on the rehydration clause. It’s at a catch weight of 157 but how much can he rehydrate too?
Benn has nowhere to go at 147 - the names you mention smash him
Eubank has only ever been about money!

I’ll watch this but I won’t be proud of myself!!!

He's not a massive favourite, I'm very tempted to lump on Eubank here. I can't see any case for Benn really and that's no disrespect to him, it's just a mismatch. I am not a boxing expert though so have I missed anything? @Ricey ? @GBJ ?

 

[GBJ]

Excellent summary @Ricey.

I think you have to look at this for what it is. It’s a fun fight, full of nostalgia, but shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

Neither are world level. This may be the biggest thing they do in their career. because it’ll earn them a lot of money (there will possibly be rematches too) and could open doors for them that wouldn’t have necessarily opened prior to this.

I’m not sure how Benn wins this, but Eubank isn’t flawless, so it’s not cut and dry. Neither are particularly big punchers, so I’d favour a close but concise points victory for Eubank

 

[Ricey]

Excellent summary @Ricey.

I think you have to look at this for what it is. It’s a fun fight, full of nostalgia, but shouldn’t be taken too seriously.

Neither are world level. This may be the biggest thing they do in their career. because it’ll earn them a lot of money (there will possibly be rematches too) and could open doors for them that wouldn’t have necessarily opened prior to this.

I’m not sure how Benn wins this, but Eubank isn’t flawless, so it’s not cut and dry. Neither are particularly big punchers, so I’d favour a close but concise points victory for Eubank

157 with a rehydration clause is where it might fall in Benn’s favour. But as you say neither are known for being big punchers.

If I were a betting man my money would be on Eubank on points. Not sure I think this will be an exciting fight but who knows we’ve been proved wrong in the past.

As @GDM says Benn hasn’t really got anywhere else to go. Unless he targets a Keith Thurman, who is targeting higher up. He could always look to a Ugas fight but both beat him! And we all know boxing is about the 0 and protecting it. As soon as that first loss goes all the attention goes away from a fighter unless they are a Canelo, AJ or Loma.

 

[FarmdogSUFC]

I won’t lie, I’m all over this fight. My dad always bangs on about the how he went to both the original fights. Can’t wait

 

[Ricey]

I won’t lie, I’m all over this fight. My dad always bangs on about the how he went to both the original fights. Can’t wait

Difference is they were both in the same weight division and top of their games! The only thing that this fight has in common is the surnames. Nothing else matches the two great fights of Chris Eubank vs Nigel Benn.

 

[GDM]

If this is true then wow, massively in Benn's favour and it should be a real health concern for Eubank, boxing can be a real circus sometimes (I say if this is true as I cannot quite believe Eubank would agree and the BBBOC would allow it):

Spencer Oliver Reveals Details Of Eubank Jr Benn Rehydration Clause​

Former professional boxer and current boxing pundit Spencer Oliver revealed to TalkSport listeners yesterday that the Eubank Jr Benn rehydration limit was only 5 lbs, significantly lower than boxing fans expected. Most rehydration clauses are around 10 lbs including the ones formerly used by Canelo, the IBF has changed recently to 12 lbs.

The rehydration weigh-in will be 11 am on the morning of fight day for both fighters. The weight limit for Eubank Jr vs Benn is 157 lbs. There is a ‘massive financial penalty’ if Eubank weighs over 157 lbs and should he weigh in over 158.5 lbs, the Eubank Jr vs Benn fight is officially off. The rehydration clause according to Oliver means that both fighters cannot be over 162 lbs on 11 am on October 8. Many see this as a significant advantage to Conor Benn.

Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr both told TalkSport in the last two days that their walking around weight is around 170-171 lbs. Although one fights at Middleweight (160 lbs) and the other at Welterweight (147 lbs), they claim to be walking around at the same weight. Hearn expects Benn to rehydrate to 164 on fight night and Eubank to enter the ring at 167-168 meaning there are only 3-4 lbs between them on the night and Eubank cannot properly rehydrate till after 11 am on fight day.

 

[Ricey]

If this is true then wow, massively in Benn's favour and it should be a real health concern for Eubank, boxing can be a real circus sometimes (I say if this is true as I cannot quite believe Eubank would agree and the BBBOC would allow it):

Spencer Oliver Reveals Details Of Eubank Jr Benn Rehydration Clause​

Former professional boxer and current boxing pundit Spencer Oliver revealed to TalkSport listeners yesterday that the Eubank Jr Benn rehydration limit was only 5 lbs, significantly lower than boxing fans expected. Most rehydration clauses are around 10 lbs including the ones formerly used by Canelo, the IBF has changed recently to 12 lbs.

The rehydration weigh-in will be 11 am on the morning of fight day for both fighters. The weight limit for Eubank Jr vs Benn is 157 lbs. There is a ‘massive financial penalty’ if Eubank weighs over 157 lbs and should he weigh in over 158.5 lbs, the Eubank Jr vs Benn fight is officially off. The rehydration clause according to Oliver means that both fighters cannot be over 162 lbs on 11 am on October 8. Many see this as a significant advantage to Conor Benn.

Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr both told TalkSport in the last two days that their walking around weight is around 170-171 lbs. Although one fights at Middleweight (160 lbs) and the other at Welterweight (147 lbs), they claim to be walking around at the same weight. Hearn expects Benn to rehydrate to 164 on fight night and Eubank to enter the ring at 167-168 meaning there are only 3-4 lbs between them on the night and Eubank cannot properly rehydrate till after 11 am on fight day.

Only way Benn has any chance of getting a win. Precisely why it’s a bull**** fight.

 

[GDM]

Moving on from the Benn Eubank circus - AJ Usyk 2 - really looking forward to this, I expect a similar result as last time but really hope AJ can do something here. Think he need to go all out for a 1-5 round stoppage - KO or get KO’d - all or nothing. What do we reckon?

 

[Ricey]

For me it’s repeat!

AJ brought in a new trainer in Robert Garcia but under AJ’s terms. He made him come to the UK and work alongside the same people that have taken him as far as possible.

AJ needed to get his head down get rid of the hangers on, go out to the US and train with Garcia or head to the Middle East early and get his head down.

His boxing brain is limited and that isn’t going to have changed overnight. If anything now Usyk has been in with him he will know more and I genuinely think he could stop AJ this time.

Usyk has got that added incentive of doing it for his country. They need some good press and he could be the shining light for them and will have everyone behind him including a high majority of the UK.

DAZN seriously ****ed up with this one by losing out to Sky with the UK viewing rights. But the fight and the revenue benefitted from it being on Sky as they will plug it every minute of every day until fight night. Whereas DAZN don’t have that exposure on mainstream.

I expect if AJ has any sense or his team they will tell him to come out swinging! It’s his only chance because he has ZERO chance of outboxing Usyk who is one of the best boxers of this generation. Usyk proves as well he can take a punch off AJ.

My prediction is Usyk by KO in the mid to late rounds.

 

[Ricky Otto]

For me it’s repeat!

AJ brought in a new trainer in Robert Garcia but under AJ’s terms. He made him come to the UK and work alongside the same people that have taken him as far as possible.

AJ needed to get his head down get rid of the hangers on, go out to the US and train with Garcia or head to the Middle East early and get his head down.

His boxing brain is limited and that isn’t going to have changed overnight. If anything now Usyk has been in with him he will know more and I genuinely think he could stop AJ this time.

Usyk has got that added incentive of doing it for his country. They need some good press and he could be the shining light for them and will have everyone behind him including a high majority of the UK.

DAZN seriously ****ed up with this one by losing out to Sky with the UK viewing rights. But the fight and the revenue benefitted from it being on Sky as they will plug it every minute of every day until fight night. Whereas DAZN don’t have that exposure on mainstream.

I expect if AJ has any sense or his team they will tell him to come out swinging! It’s his only chance because he has ZERO chance of outboxing Usyk who is one of the best boxers of this generation. Usyk proves as well he can take a punch off AJ.

My prediction is Usyk by KO in the mid to late rounds.

Probably right. I agree with everything you say there but there is something about the way Usyk looks prior to this fight that makes me uneasy, he looks unnaturally big a bloated for his frame. I've carried too much muscle before and know how it tires you out, not that I've ever been an elite athlete. It's probably nothing but it's a seed of doubt in my mind. If Usyk looked the same as he did in the 1st fight I'd lump on him. I think I'm going to sit this one out with the bookies and just enjoy the fight.

 

[Ricey]

Probably right. I agree with everything you say there but there is something about the way Usyk looks prior to this fight that makes me uneasy, he looks unnaturally big a bloated for his frame. I've carried too much muscle before and know how it tires you out, not that I've ever been an elite athlete. It's probably nothing but it's a seed of doubt in my mind. If Usyk looked the same as he did in the 1st fight I'd lump on him. I think I'm going to sit this one out with the bookies and just enjoy the fight.

Maybe the game plan is to go the KO. We saw in the last round he rocked AJ and could’ve gone for the finish. He will have downloaded the data from that first fight and know exactly how to beat AJ. It’s what these elite elite fighters do, Usyk knows exactly what he wants to do and if he wants to play with him for 12 he’ll do that. If he wants to knock him out he’ll do it.

Methods to his madness.