SARJ

Just watched the public workouts at Wembley. AJ looked calm and relaxed but wasn't throwing too fast or many combos. Chilling out bfore a big one tomorrow? 

Wlad on the other hand looked fast and displayed great movement.

Joshua also has just done an interview for the Daily Mail in which he admits most boxers lose at some point in their careers. With all the pundits tipping Wlad as the fight beckons, is there doubt creeping in for young AJ?

2 hours ago, Stortz said:

Exactly mate, it was very effective, if shite to watch.

I wonder if we should be concerned about the American ref David Fields. He let Hopkins and Kovalev get away with murder when they fought at the end of 2014. Joe Cortez was talking about it the other day, let's hope he keeps an eye on Wlad:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/boxing/2017/04/25/wladimir-klitschko-warned-jab-grab-disqualification-against/

Same as Floyd. Not particularly attractive boxing for the casual, but gets the job done.

Been watching a lot of Joshua v Klitschko coverage this week. It seems a large number of pundits are tipping Wlad purely for his expierience and Joshua's lack of movement (as demonstrated in the Whyte fight).

From what I've watched, only Freddie Roach and Ricky Hatton seem to be backing AJ. Shaping up to be a great contest though.

Klitschko is looking in immesnse shape for the AJ fight. If the fight goes past 6 rounds, which, with Wlad's spoiling tactics, it could, there's a chance AJ could gas out and Klitschko could achieve the upset.

AJ is very similar to Bruno in that respect. Muscular, explosive in the early rounds. But, as per the Whyte fight, the longer it goes on, the more you have to favour Wlad.

Felt sorry for Liam Williams. Put on a great display. He was gassing in the later rounds though and the eye injury was bad, so sensible from his corner. The rematch will be tasty.

2 hours ago, Tomarse said:

Fury coming back in May...

Good. I can't wait to hear what Aerosmith song he renditions when he beats a Polish taxi driver.

Strange fight and disappointing. Haye should never have been in there if his achilles was as bad as the rumours say, but understand why he went through with it regardless.

Sad to see my man Paulie Malignaggi go out like that too. Think it's time for him to hang 'em up, great career, but lost his speed and defensive prowess.

12 hours ago, yardy said:

Haye and Bellew build up has been pretty embarrassing but makes for good viewing, the press conference the other day was comical.

For the good of boxing i want Haye to win so he can go onto bigger fights but in terms of choosing a fighter because of likeability both fighters fall short, if ever there was a fight that you want both to lose then this is the one!

The only way Bellew wins is if Haye is underprepared or Haye has a bad toe again....

Isn't it Garcia vs Thurman in the early hours Sunday morning? Now that is a fight!!

Garcia v Thruman will be epic. We'll see Haye KO Bellew in 5 and then switch to America. My money is on Thurman.

As for Dean Francis, very sad. I had the pleasure of training with him when I used to box for Empire. I also watched him fight live numerous times and his wife Ghalia actually arranged my first amateur bout. Very nice people. Very sad to hear, especially as he's so young and  a fit/healthy individual. He still runs the White Collar Shows with his wife last I checked and will be sadly missed.

21 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Ali is a legend and these two clowns should never be uttered in the same sentence as him.

Examples of what Ali said/did that was worse would be interesting to see. If you're referring to the race stuff then I would say that should be taken in context given we are talking about completely different eras. I don't recall any incidents of Ali throwing chairs, punches, glasses, tables at press conferences like Haye, Chisora and Whyte have all been guilty of?

Ali/Prince Naz style trash-talking I can understand but these morons swearing and being violent outside the ring is piss poor IMO.

Plenty of examples mate, not just about race. Ali was constantly disrespectful to opponents, mocking anything from their physical appearance to upbringing. He also threatened to 'kill' people in the ring, famously telling Sonny Liston he'd be dead by the ringside.

Obviously he was very disrespectful when you look at race also, calling all manner of black fighters Uncle Tom's or KKK members. He also was highly critical of the faith of others, especially blacks who did not want to join his 'Negro Islam' philosophy.

People nowadays mocked Shannon Briggs for acting like a clown constantly following and harassing fighters like Klitschko and Haye looking to sign a fight and generate press interest. Ali did exactly the same when procuring his first fights against both Liston and Frazier.

Granted, I can honestly say I never saw him throw tables/charis etc, but sometimes words can be just as powerful.

Don't get me wrong, I actually like it. Prefer fights when there's venom and animosity between fighters (Froch v Groves, Malignaggi v Broner etc.) but for people to criticise modern fighters for being arrogant and talking trash, yet laud Ali as a legend (when he did the exact same thing in a 70s context) is beyond me. Perhaps Ali's in-ring brilliance means he's forgiven for his antics outside the ring, which are often overlooked.

If you get a chance, watch ESPNs documentary about Rumble in the Jungle. Foreman still has hatred for the way Ali carried on in the build up to this day for all of the 'Melonhead' and 'Caveman/Big Bear' insults. 

1 hour ago, Kid in the Riot said:

When did British boxing become so crass? Any need for all the bad language and Haye calling people in the crowd retards?  Utterly classless, the pair of them.

Full-moron mode indeed.

Ali said worse and was extremely disrespectful to his opponents, yet is labelled a legend.

I was 100% confident Haye would KO Bellew in 5 rounds. However, after the recent press conferences I'm not so sure. Bellew seems to have the mind games, and as Ali famously said, you can win a fight before stepping through the ropes.

That said, David Haye is no chump. He's an extremely intelligent indiidual when it comes to pre-fight build ups and PR. This whole thing could be a stunt on his part to not only sell tickets, but get bookies going the other way.

Khav v Pacquiao will take place in the UAE and be a huge payday for both fighters.

As for Haye v Bellew, regardless of the press conference theatrics, Bellew is getting KO'd.

The Eubank PPV was simply not PPV worthy. They're trying to make him this big name when he's nowhere near ready yet. Whilst his performance Saturday was typically 1 sided and exciting, there's a lot of holes to his game and at times, missing with swinging left hooks or uppercuts, he looked damn right ridiculous. He needs to fight as much as possible at domestic/European level and tighten up his game before calling out the likes of Ward or GGG.

As for Price, he lacks the stamina and doesn't like a fight; he instantly becomes downbeat when the opponent continually lands on him and simply gives up. He stll ha a career fighting at leisure centers as an under-card attraction, and fair play can still make great money doing so, but his days on big PPV bills are over unfortunately.

As for ITV Box Office, not sure if anyone is aware, but for customers who ordered it legitimately on Sky ha d a blue screen most of the night due to a technical error. It didn't get fixed until about an hour before Eubank's entrance. ITV are apparently refunding anyone who encountered issues. We watched it up the Lions and it was the same there. I'll be texting Sean soon to tell him to get his money back!

Hugely embarrassing for the Eubanks and ITV in terms of PPV: their first box office event was a massive failure.

One final word: fair play to Quinlan. Never heard of the guy, but came to Eubank's home turf and showed a great chin and bravery, despite the pounding he was getting.

Anyone bought the Eubank Jr PPV for tomorrow night.

It annoys me that an event against a poor opponent for a mickey mouse belt is now a PPV fight. That said, Eubanks is always an exciting fighter ad the undercard is actually very good.

Don't know if I can part with my cash though, as it'll only encourage promoters to make more of these fights PPV. Might watch on my Kodi box or go up the lions.

20 minutes ago, Stortz said:

It would be a good fight but it's very high risk and low reward for Kell imo, he's after ppv fights after wasting his time fighting the likes of Dan, Bizier and Gavin- Spence has about as much draw as those three but he's actually bloody dangerous!

Khan demanding a 70/30 split is an outright duck, he obviously has no intention of fighting Brook. Why the f*** should he dictate to the champion who should walk out first? The only place he's still the 'A' side is in his head; if he doesn't fight Brook he's an irrelevance.

@mozo, fair play for your your site mate, some good writing on there. I will check it again.

@soultrader looks like an excellent event, nice one.

And I'm just going to leave this here for @Super...

 

Blimey what an interesting bout! I love Malignaggi, my favourite boxer as he relies purely on pure boxing skill and speed as he carries no power, and has still managed 2 x world champs.

Wish him the best in this bout but still think he should call time on the career now.

That said, his last few fights have been against what you'd describe as 'domestic' opposition and he completely outclassed them. Could this be the same for poor Eggington?

Watched the DeGale fight finally. Great action, thoroughly entertaining. Very surprised at a draw as I had Jack just nicking it, but what a tear up, brilliant action. Boxing needs more fights like this.

16 hours ago, soultrader said:

Anyone interested in Amateur Boxing?

There is a new boxing exchange being set up between Bristol & Cork.

I moved to Cork a few years ago and run a club there.  The exchange program is brand new, but intends to run longterm and forge strong links between the two cities whilst showcasing boxing talent.

 

For full details etc.  There is a Facebook page "Cork-Bristol Boxing Exchange Programme"

 

 

 

 

 

@soultrader I'm an amateur boxer and would definitely be interested in competing. Feel free to PM with details. I'll join the facebook page when I finish work later.

Cheers pal.

2 hours ago, Tomarse said:

I mean seriously.. is anyone going to pay for it? Surely sales will force it onto freeview.

Have to agree. Can't see many people buying this, especially with the undercard (which is rather good by the way) being free on ITV4.

Personally I rate Eubank Jr, kid's got the talent to go far. Think he's missed a trick by not putting this fight out for free on terrestrial ITV. He could easily become a household name overnight with many casuals, albeit at the expense of a few quid. But the big money fights, and public interest, would come in time.

On 12/18/2016 at 12:43, Tomarse said:

So Eubank Jr has a pop at Billy Joe Saunders saying he'll be fighting in leisure centres for rest of his career... two day later it's announced he's fighting himself in Lee Valley Leisure Centre 

How ITV are going to sell this one is beyond me 

Have to agree with Tomarse.

I'm a big Eubank Jr fan, find him exciting and a genuine talent who will undoubtedly be a world champion at some stage. But lately his publicity and social media acts, alongside embarrassing quotes, have made him go down a great deal in my estimations.

To slate BJS for Leisure Show fights, then announce one yourself is embarrassing hypocrisy. 

As for this new PPV ITV Box Office channel, what a joke, don't know who's actually going to pay for this fight. I'll watch it.........for free, via the joys of HD Kodi streaming.

36 minutes ago, Super said:

For me Brook v Khan will be as big if not bigger than Vlad v AJ.

Rumours of Groves v DeGale II at Emirates also. For me, that's a much bigger fight, especially if both parties win their respective World Title bouts beforehand.

Been looking into AJ v Wlad Wembley tickets. To have a half decent view (which doesn't involve looking at the big screen all evening), you have to be prepared to part with £200 sheets minimum.

No thanks pal, I'll watch up the Lions in HD surrounded by easy access beverages and young women of questionable virtue. 

Do you know what still makes me laugh? Casuals who claim Anthony Joshua is the second coming but Haye is a money grabber for fighting bums.

The caliber of Haye's last 2 opponents matches those that Joshua has been fighting his whole career.

1 hour ago, Red Army 75 said:

I'm sure he stepped up last time to light heavyweight and fought Adonis Stephens and got battered . Now stepping up to heavyweight . Can only see 1 winner as u say . Looking forward to it though 

Correct. Gave it the big one in the press conferences but looked like a frightened domestic fighter in the ring that night.

1 hour ago, Red Army 75 said:

See Haye and Bellew have had their first little scuffle (handbags) . Really looking forward to this fight and I hope Haye knocks him out. But the war of words is getting tiresome already. It's going to be a long 3 and a bit months 

How people are actually backing Bellew make me laugh. This is nothing more than another Haye KO victory.

Bellew was lucky not be stopped in the first round against that Congolese fellow at Goodison Park (he hit the deck in round one for those who didn't know). His defence is dreadful and Haye will finish the fight when he wants.

This AJ fight is a joke.

I'm far more excited for Chisora v Whyte on the undercard.