The Army Boxing Thread

[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.

[sonrisa salvaje]

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.

That is my point exactly. I think we can all agree that at the very minimum Alvarez won the last round. So i would wonder what Dan Raefel saw in the last round? Regardless, the fight was won by Mayweather but it always interests me when there seems to be a wide variance of opinion on the scoring. It is all in the eye of the beholder. One thing that strikes me about this fight and all of Floyd's previous fights is that i don't recall anyone ever coming into the ring in as good of shape as Mayweather. The trend is for everyone to tire out toward the end of the fight except for him. A lot of deserved credit is given to Floyd for his hand speed but i don't think people talk enough about his conditioning. The guy has never had an off night or sub par training camp that has shown itself in the ring that i can think of.

[vandeleur]

I gotta say that I didn't give him a clear round , and the last one I was to busy expecting him to come out at least try blasting mayweather out of there . He knew it was all over points wise .

I would make a terrible referee , I find it difficult not to score emotively .

[sonrisa salvaje]

I used to be that way back in the 80's when i was young. I probably thought Duran, Leonard and Hearns never lost a round unless they were fighting each other and got knocked down or out. Then again, it is funny how you can go back and watch a fight later and score it differently than you did the first go round. I think i watched Hearns - Leonard II on three different occasions and scored it 3 different ways, only one of which was the draw that the judges saw. You pick up on something different each time. I really want to watch this fight again this weekend and try to rescore it. It would be funny if i saw 12 to none Mayweather this time.

[jhale667]

I'd give Canelo the 12th if only because it was the one round Floyd seemed to take off. But Alvarez knew he needed a knockout, and it didn't even look like he tried....

[binnie]

Interesting that the fights you mention are both heavyweight bouts - it is undoubtedly the weakest division in boxing right now, and has always been the one which brings in the casual fan, so to speak.

In the lower divisions, boxing is thriving.