Off Topic Boxing

I watched a replay of it this afternoon, I was watching all the boxing last night. Was a very impressive win from Rockhold on his return, you only normally see guys tap from ground and pound in low level MMA fights, it's not common at all in the UFC.

I think he will get a rematch with Bisping, aslong as Bisping beats the returning George St Pierre in November. I would fancy him to win the rematch if he gets it, as I always felt it was somewhat of a fluke win from Bisping.

St Pierre will not be an easy challenger if he retains his old ability, but 4 years retired is along time to be making a comeback.

Rockhold though for me will beat either of them if he gets to face the winner.

 

Yeah i agree i always though Bisping fluked the win, he's never been quite good enough at the top, always seemed one fight short of world class. If GSP is even 70% of his old self i think he beats Bisping easily but its a big ask for him to come back after so long out. Rockhold definitely beats Bisping but GSP i don't know, i'd have to see what GSP comes back like before making that call

 

Well they have already had to delay the fight from the summer to November between GSP and Bisping, as GSP claimed he couldnt get in shape in time for the first agreed date in the summer. So you'd have to have some concern about what sort of shape he is going to come back in.

Admittedly if near his best he could win comfortably, but I'm not convinced he will come back at near his best. As its very difficult to take 4 years out and return in your 30s in the same shape.

 

Even if physically in shape, speed, timing and reflexes only have to be slightly out and it can make a lot of difference, as we saw with Haye

 

Peter Fury goes off at the Parker - Fury presser after Parker's promoter David Higgins gets on the action. Other film sees Parker and his trainer Barry grinning as they see Higgins enter the room. After Higgins is manhandled from the room, Parker gives Barry the thumbs up. They must have known it was coming. Peter Fury says that Higgins is rattled. But after Parker smirked and gave the thumbs up, maybe the idea was to stir up the Fury camp. Either way. it made for good film.

 

Yeah that is true, your speed and reflexes definitely slow as you age.

I also think Haye was probably not in as good a fighting shape as he may have visually appeared to some.

People just seen a guy with the physique of an Adonis on the scales and just assumed he was in great fighting shape.

There is a lot more to boxing that just having big muscles though as I'm sure you well know. Cardio fitness is a lot more important in a 12 round fight, and it's well known that the more muscle you have the more you are going to struggle in that department.

It's also well known that very few top athletes get themselves ripped, as you have a lot less energy when you get down to a very low body fat percentage.

So David Haye may have looked in amazing shape, but boxing and bodybuilding are 2 completely different sports.

 

Yes, and that may be a problem with Joshua (too much muscle)

 

I think we saw how tired he got against Klitschko and he'll probably have the same problems going forward if getting dragged into a proper fight

 

How impressive was Daniel Dubois the other night, he looks to me like the only man in world boxing who has the potential to beat Joshua, if given some time.
Even after only 4 fights I honestly think he'd smash through the likes of Parker and Wilder even now.

 

I was there for his debut fight and he walked around mingling with the crowd after, he's an absolute beast. He's been fighting complete bums so far, as was Joshua but I'm very excited about his journey forward. Frank Warren is trying to get him a fight for the British Title but under current rules you have to be 21 or older to fight for it so Warren is trying to get a change in the rules so 'triple D' can have a crack.

 

I bet the British champion is hoping the rules stay as they are

He's definitely got what it takes to go right to the top from what I've seen so far.

 

Boys I do believe I called dibs on DDD after his first or second fight He nearly killed your man on Saturday night, the ref should have called it off after the second knock down. He looks an absolute tank, surely a fight even against Dave Allen/Gary Cornish British level of fighter should be a breeze for him, even this early on in his career. And only 19 years old, woah, can't wait to see him when he's a fully grown man....

Regarding the GGG Canelo fight, simply put GGG was robbed. He won that by 2-3 in my opinion, and that's being not being overgenerous on him. Never thought Canelo would have to box as much as he did on the back foot, I guess the pressure GGG puts you under and his ability to cut the ring down like he can throws a spanner in even the best laid plans. If I'd backed him to win as I'm sure many did I'd be seething by that absurd 118-110 score. Minor point but was it just me or did anyone else think Max Kellermans post fight interview was disgracefully biased in favour of Canelo? GGG came out as an total gent, amazing how he was so dignified in the immediate aftermath of being completely shafted by boxing politics.

 

I didn't realise Willie Mullins had started training boxers too

 

Difficult to tell from that Shergs. The opponent looked a complete amateur, easy to hit. We don't know if this DD can take a punch.

 

A little bit of worrying news for you Shergy. Adelaide Byrd is still on the card to referee on the UFC 216 program on October 7. I hope she does a much better job than she did in the GGG-Canelo fight. Golovkin paid a price for Byrd's shocking effort. It would be sad to see it happen to some other poor soul.

Due to the stink over the score card, Google received over a million searches on her name on Saturday night.

I wonder if the fight will will go down in history as the Golovkin - Alvarez- Byrd bout?

The Ultimate Fighter Redemption winner, Jesse Taylor, has tested potentially dirty. He was to meet Belal Muhammad in Sydney on November 19th.

According to ESPN, the B sample of Jon Jones has returned a positive to Turinabol.

This steroid has an infamous past. Turinabol was one of the key anabolic steroids used by the East German, state sponsored, doping program known as the State Plan Research Theme 14.25. Steroidal.com says that over two decades, the East German's doped 10,000 athletes, most of whom where hit with Turinabol.

 

I don't know how many of the younger fight fans will have heard the name David Bey, but in the early 80s he built himself a nice 13 unbeaten run in his heavyweight career. In the process he beat James "Buster" Douglas, a man who'd go on to take Mike Tyson's IBF, WBA & WBC titles, and Greg Page who'd eventually win the WBA belt. In his 14th fight, he ran into the Eastern Assassin, Larry Holmes. David Bey fought well early on, but when Holmes figured him out, it all went down hill fast. Bey would be the 19th victim of Holmes' 21 straight title victories. Bey's career was smashed by big Larry. He would win just 4 of his next 15 fights before hanging up his gloves.

So why this short piece on David Bey? I guess it's because he's a part of my memories of when heavyweight boxing came packaged in bright wrappings. Names of heavy champions and contenders were often mentioned by blokes with elbows propped on pub bars. Now it's more like. "Who does ya' hair Bruce?"

Well the answer to the above question is simple. I read today, with a little shock, that David Bey is dead. He died a week ago on a building site in Camden New Jersey. He was killed by a piece of pipe. According to a representative from his union, Bey was a 37 year, second generation pile driver in the construction industry. "David was a gentleman at all times. He didn't have a mean bone in his body. He was a devout man of God and regularly would listen to scriptures on the radio," said Tony Bianchini, the union's communications director.

As a final salute to a man who by the sound of things, was one of nature's gentlemen, I thought I'd post the Holmes - Bey bout.

 

Although it's yet to be officially verified, reports on Facebook apparently belonging to his daughter Christi are saying that one of the all time great fighters, Jake "The Raging Bull" LaMotta, has passed away aged 95.

The post read. "Jake LaMotta July 10, 1922 - September 19, 2017 – Rest in Peace Pop."

LaMotta and another of the greats, Sugar Ray Robinson fought each other on no less than six occasions. He would later remark. "The three toughest fighters I fought were Sugar Ray Robinson, Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Robinson."

He was also quoted as saying. "You can't go into the ring and be a nice guy. I would go a month, two months, without having sex. It worked for me because it made me a vicious animal. You can't fight if you have any compassion or anything like that."

R.I.P. Champ.

 

An absolute legend. The first man to beat the great Sugar Ray Robinson and an absolute warrior. I have a boxing glove signed by the man. My wife went to see him at a convention a few years ago just to get me the glove signed. It's one of my most prized possessions.

RIP Raging Bull

 

The Parker camp kicked up a stink at the presser a couple of days back. They objected to having Terry O'Connor as the ref, a man who'd refereed a few of Hughie's, previous bouts, they wanted him off the job. So what do the BBBoC do? They take one of the judges, one Marcus O'Donnell, and make him the ref. And what happens to the original ref? Simple, he becomes one of the fight judges. I hope he's not pissed off.

Is that a muffled laugh I hear behind the closed doors of the BBBoC?

 

Not hugely surprised by this one but one of the best boxers on the planet has announced his retirement from the sport. Current IBF, WBA, WBO Light Heavyweight champion Andre Ward has decided to hang up his gloves.