The Army Boxing Thread

[ToraToraTora]

Just an update on Ricky Burns. He had a clean break to the right hand side of his jaw. after getting whacked in the 2nd round. He has had a titanium plate inserted and now his career is in jeopardy. To fight on for 10 rounds with a broken jaw is admirable and as i said he has the heart of a lion but i think he should have stayed on his stool after it happened as now he has put his livelihood on the line.

[binnie]

Mayweather - Alvarez on Saturday.

Thoughts?

[vandeleur]

Canelo will give him a tough fight but am going with mayweather on points . Yeah I know am playing pretty safe with this one .

[binnie]

I think that most people will come to a similar conclusion. It should be Mayweather's toughest fight for a long, long time.....

[ToraToraTora]

I'd love to see that wife beating piece of shit get a taste of his own medicine, but i think he'll be too good for the ginger Mexican dude.

[binnie]

The binnie Breakdown: Floyd Mayweather Jr - Saul Alvarez

It's an intriguing one - a fight that really doesn't need to be sold. It's also a fight that bellies attempts to place to protagonists into easy binaries like 'boxer vs fighter' (Alvarez is far from a slugger) or 'skills vs power'. Let's get some perspective here - on paper, Mayweather is facing a genuine challenge. He has never looked at his best above welterweight - think De La Hoya, think Cotto - and on Saturday he'll probably be facing the biggest man he's ever faced. Alvarez is likely to be around 170lbs on fight night, maybe even more. The gives Floyd - 150lbs at best - a significant disadvantage: skills may indeed pay the bills, but boxing has weight classes for a reason.

If Alvarez was some crude slugger perhaps that weight advantage could be easily negotiated. But he isn't. The younger man is a classy boxer, a counter-puncher whos crisp combinations many pundits predict will give Floyd's pattented defense some problems - especially it the smaller man languishes on the ropes as he did against Cotto. All of this adds up to hard night's work for Floyd - but you have to figure he knows that. What is not being considered is what Alvarez is facing - a man who is notiveably faster than anyone he has faced in the past, and who will not push the action in a way that Alvarez likes. And given that Floyd is unlikely to tire and Alvarez looked gassed after 4 or 5 rounds after Trout, we could witness some spectaclular pot-shotting that has become Floyd's signature as the younger man tires.

I expect the fight to be something of a stinker - neither man is a high-volume, action fighter. The early rounds will be close, and maybe even hairy for Floyd, but he'll have too many tricks for Alvarez. Expect Money to use his legs a lot and never be static enough for Canello to whip off those patented combos.

Mayweather by a close - a legacy defining - UD.

[binnie]

I should also say that:

a) I'm at a friend's wedding and will not be able to see the fight. Yes, I AM pissed.

b) Garcia - Mattyhse will be a much, much better fight on Saturday. Waaaaaaaar!

Also, it looks like Arreolla is back after his destruction of Seth Mitchel last weekend.

[jhale667]

Alvarez has a puncher's chance, and I agree the early rounds could be close, but I have a feeling this will go like the Guerrero fight. Meaning Canelo gets a (humiliating) boxing lesson.

[TFM_Dale]

Floyd is going to embarrass him. Everybody keeps looking for the fighter to knock him off but until age catches him nobody is good enough too actually do it.

[binnie]

I'd be surprised if Alvarez is humiliated - this is a guy with good hand speed, very good time, and good footwork. It is also worth noting that Alvarez does not get hit very much.

Add into that how much bigger he is, and it should be closer than Floyd's recent fights.

[vandeleur]

I think this is good tactics from mayweather , get the kid on his record before the man puts mayweather on his .

[binnie]

He's certainly taking the biggest challenge early on in his six fight deal with Showtime.

I really think that Alvarez poses more of a threat than Pacquiao......

[vandeleur]

And I guess he is only going to get better with age

[DlocRoth]

I think Floyd knows exactly what he's doing. Exactly 40+ million.

ESPN the rag pointed out that Money COULD be 49-0 when his current deal is over.

Imagine the bidding war for that 50th fight.

Floyd won't fight anyone if he thinks they have a shot at beating him. Not at this point in his career.

That being said, Alvarez is a good fighter. Much stranger things have happened.

[binnie]

I think the fact is that the list of people with a genuine chance of beating him is short, and Alvarez is top of it for a number of reasons I mentioned above (size, strength and poise). Martinez is probably the next best guy, but Floyd would have to go to 160lbs, which is just silly.

But, yeah, he could retire 49-0, which would equal Marciano's record. You have to figure that was the plan all along.

[gbranton]

I think the fact is that the list of people with a genuine chance of beating him is short, and Alvarez is top of it for a number of reasons I mentioned above (size, strength and poise).

Agreed. I think Floyd wins by a split decision, but I really want to see how Mayweather holds up if Alvarez parks one of those left hooks squarely on his chin. My hope is that he will catch Floyd napping and knock his ass out.

[ToraToraTora]

The ONLY way Alvarez wins this is if he knocks him out, there is no way in hell that Showtime will allow a points decision to Alverez. Too much money at stake, call me a cynic.......

[sonrisa salvaje]

I think Canelo's best chance at winning is to not aim for the head and go for the body. No one has ever landed enough head shots to put Floyd in danger and i don't expect that Canelo can either. With Floyd's great defense of his head why not just hit what you can hit and hope that the unexpected liver shot does the damage.

[sonrisa salvaje]

I should also say that:

a) I'm at a friend's wedding and will not be able to see the fight. Yes, I AM pissed.

b) Garcia - Mattyhse will be a much, much better fight on Saturday. Waaaaaaaar!

Also, it looks like Arreolla is back after his destruction of Seth Mitchel last weekend.

Totally agree on the Garcia - Mattyhse fight. That should be the one to see and would be a main event anywhere on its own. Garcia has a good chin but will it hold up to Mattyhse's awesome power and what happens when Garcia lands a great one? I am much more stoked by this intriguing matchup.

[vandeleur]

8 rounds of a boxing lesson up to now

[TFM_Dale]

Canelo who? When are you guys going to learn?

[vandeleur]

Think mayweather is missing a trick , he needs to have another fighter lined up to jump straight in so he can get two done a night :-)

[vandeleur]

One judge scored a draw ... Wtf .

[TFM_Dale]

One judge scored a draw ... Wtf .

That is crazy, giving Canelo one round is reaching. That judge needs to get the boot, that is ridiculous.

[vandeleur]

Your right ,I don't think Canelo was even close to winning a round .

[jhale667]

Canelo wins a point for surviving the night. He was never in any real position to hurt or stop Floyd. Shocker.

[ToraToraTora]

Alverez was made to look really really ordinary. The Mayweather money train rolls on. Who's next??

[DlocRoth]

That was a joke.

Sorry B Hop, but Floyd is easily the best defensive fighter of his generation. Possibly of all time.

[vandeleur]

Seemingly mayweather dislocated his elbow half way through , wouldn't like to fight the fella if he had two hands

[ToraToraTora]

So he really can beat people with "one arm tied behind his back"

[binnie]

Well, fuck. THAT was impressive - and with one arm.

Guys, beating a guy as good as Alvarez is impressive; beating a guy as good as Alvarez and giving away 25lbs pretty much makes a mockery of there being weight classes; and doing that with one arm for half the fight makes you run out of superlatives.

I gave Alvarez the final round. That's it.

[binnie]

Two further thoughts:

1) Alvarez is no hype job - he'll rule the roost at 154 (once Floyd moves back down) for as long as he wants, and will probably be dominant at 160, too. His stamina, however, is a problem which his team needs to address. He was gassed by round 9.

2) Matthyse got robbed against Garcia. Robbed.

[binnie]

Update: I just challenged Alvarez to a fight around the back of my local Liddel. He beat the living shit out of me, but congratulated me on my performances against Audley Harrison and Tyson Fury...........

[vandeleur]

The thriller in Manila , rumble in the jungle , and the fiddle round at Liddel

[binnie]

There are some interesting questions to ask now regarding who Floyd's next opponent will be. He has 4 fights left to fulfill for his 6 fight deal with Showtime - the question is who, and when.

You have to figure that 5/5/14 will be a set date - the question becomes will Floyd want to fight again before then, say mid January, to get through these contractual obligations. Perhaps, given Guerrero and Alvarez were (on paper at least) 'tough' opponents, he'll opt for an easier one to stay active in January, and then a bigger name on 5/5.

Given that Garcia now rules the roosts at 140 and has spoken about moving up to 147, it would seem that he would be a logical opponent for Floyd (who still has a belt at 147 and is the man there). I suspect that having a fight with a Mexican on 5/5 is logical from a $$$ point of view, and gives Garcia chance to have another fight to raise his profile. So let's assume that that's peniclled in.

Does anyone come before. Floyd Sn would like Amir Khan to be next (speaking of 'easy' opponents) and given Floyd's desire to fight in the UK, that could happen. Golden Boy has mentioned that 'speed' might be the key to beating Mayweather, which seems that they see Khan as the next opponent, too. However, if they want to do a stadium fight (i.e. outdoors) then January is not smart in the UK - August/Septemer 2014 would be logical, as the weather will be better. An Arena event - I'm not sure that Khan's UK profile is big enough to sill a stadium - would be possible in January, however. The O2 Arena in London seats 20,000, which is more than enough to meet the $$$ demands when you factor in the inevitable cc-TV screens for the over-flow tickets.

I'm spit-balling here, but I'm curious to know who folks think will get the nod.

[ToraToraTora]

If he's looking for an easy fight it won't come much easier than Amir Khant take a punch. I think Garcia is a shoo in for one of the 4 spots, i think that fight on the under card on Sat was an unofficial eliminator so to speak. That leaves 2 spots. Marquez maybe or how about Golovkin coming down in weight for a showdown? And is Pacman a no no coz he's not as good as he used to be and Mayweather might not be as scared now and might keep that dangling for the last fight of the deal?

[sonrisa salvaje]

Two further thoughts:

1) Alvarez is no hype job - he'll rule the roost at 154 (once Floyd moves back down) for as long as he wants, and will probably be dominant at 160, too. His stamina, however, is a problem which his team needs to address. He was gassed by round 9.

2) Matthyse got robbed against Garcia. Robbed.

I think i gave Alvarez a couple of rounds early on as well as the last. I didn't record it so i can't readily tell you which rounds they were but when they replay it on Showtime this weekend i will rewatch and let you know. The draw scorecard was dumb but the other two that were around the 115-111 or 116-111 were in line with what the commentators had. I haven't seen anyone beyond here that thought the fight was close to a clean sweep.

I came out of the Matthyse -Garcia fight with a lot more respect for Garcia; i already thought he was killer but i had no idea his chin was granite. I was hoping Matthyse would win but i have to say i thought Garcia won the fight by 1 or 2 points. Had Matthyse not suffered the eye issue things could have been different.

What a snoozer Ishe Smith put on. He should be ashamed of himself for that lackluster performance in his first title defense.

[binnie]

I haven't seen anyone beyond here that thought the fight was close to a clean sweep.

Dan Raefel from ESPN had it 120-108.

I can see a case for Alvarez having a couple of rounds, but nothing more than that.

[binnie]

If he's looking for an easy fight it won't come much easier than Amir Khant take a punch. I think Garcia is a shoo in for one of the 4 spots, i think that fight on the under card on Sat was an unofficial eliminator so to speak. That leaves 2 spots. Marquez maybe or how about Golovkin coming down in weight for a showdown? And is Pacman a no no coz he's not as good as he used to be and Mayweather might not be as scared now and might keep that dangling for the last fight of the deal?

I don't know if Marquez will get a shot - his last fight with Floyd was very, very one-sided.

Golovkin is just too big I think - the idea of Floyd fighting 160lbs is a bit of a stretch, he was giving away 15lbs to Alvarez!

Pacman - I just don't think it will happen because of the Bob Arum connection, a connection which may leave Timothy Bradley out the equation too (although I beleive his contract is up for negotiation soon - if Goldenboy sign him, you can guarentee he'll get one of the four slots against Floyd).

[sadaist]

I just can't follow boxing these days. To me, the last great fight that never happened was Lennox Lewis / Riddick Bowe.

Last great fights I was actually excited to watch were the 2 Tyson/Holyfield matches. First one was maybe the best ever.