The Army Boxing Thread

[binnie]

It should be a real classic - a 50/50 fight

[sonrisa salvaje]

Dirrell is now out of Super Six.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=5659177

[binnie]

The Super Six had the potnetial to be great - bad luck and big egos have marred it.

Glen Johnson is in it now - I'm intrigued to see how he'll make 168lbs! Not too sure how Allan Green will deal with him though....

[binnie]

Apparently Shannon Briggs is in the shape of his life for Vitali Klitischko. Let's hope we actually get a heavyweight fight that's worth watching. Given that Briggs has a habot of underperforming and hasn;t fought at thetope for years, I don't see t happening.

[sonrisa salvaje]

I'm with you on that. I don't know how the hell Glenn is going to make that weight. If he does i would think that it would zap him of his strength and endurance. Could Johnson not making weight be the next shoe to drop in the curse of the Super 6?

[Seshmeister]

A lil' David Haye Audley Harrison update.David Haye has caused outrage recently among women’s groups and rape victims hyping up his fight.He recently stated it would be “as one-sided as a gang-rape"(what was he thinking?).

Turns out he was right.

A gang rape where the victim doesn't even throw a punch...

[jhale667]

So I was going to get the PPV of the Pacquiao-Margarito fight but missed it, probably wasn't worth the cash from what I hear...Manny did the Energizer bunny bit and Margarito couldn't catch him. Apparently PacMan got rocked once or twice, but otherwise turned Marg's face into hamburger and cruised to another relatively easy victory.
Now Mayweather HAS to put up or shut up, since Manny is talking about retiring if he doesn't allow a fight between them to materialize. If this doesn't happen it will go down in history as the greatest fight that NEVER WAS, and that would be a shame.

[sonrisa salvaje]

Sergio Martinez landed the knock out of the year on Paul Williams this past Saturday night. Anyone that didn't see it needs to look it up immediately.

[jhale667]

That was the knockout of the YEAR...Williams didn't even see that coming, and by all accounts was until that point dictating the pace of the fight, and had thrown Martinez off his game plan by being the aggressor...that was a WOW of a shot, and anytime the guy hits the canvas face first with his eyes still open you know he got ROCKED and is OUT...no way he was making the 8-count after that shot!

[sonrisa salvaje]

Right on man. I thought the dude was dead for a minute. Quite a scary moment.

[Seshmeister]

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[binnie]

Hey guys, sorry I've been away lately - crazy busy.

Credit to Pacman again. I gave Margo two rounds. Manny's speed was too much - he was hurt a couple of times though. Does the annihilation of Cotto, Clottey and Margo mean he takes Mayweather? I don't think so - whilst Manny's performances have been sensational, all of those guys are considerably slower than him and very easy to hit. Mayweather is neither. I always think back to the Juan Maneul Marquez fights (I thought he edged Manny in both) and try and think about a really good BOXER that Manny has bested. I can't think of any. Will the fight happen? Once Mayweather and his trainer's legal woes are out of the way, and Manny finally agrees to random drug testing right up to the fight, it probably will do.

Martinez is a beast. I think most of us actually gave him the first Williams fight (awarded a draw). That KO was sensational. Crushing Pavlik and Williams? It seems we finally have a great middleweight in our midst. Paul Williams should drop to 154 and clear up there: just think, Cotto, Clottely, Spinks, Mora, some big fights for him. Maybe he won't be so avoided now he been beaten handily.

Haye-Harrison was a joke, as expected. Haye could have taken him out at any point. Vitali Klitschsko is interested, and I hope the Haye fight happens. I'm guessing Haye would prefer Wladimir first - despite being the better technician of the brothers, he does have the questionable chin and flaps when placed under pressure. That gives Haye a good chance. Vitali, on the other hand, is something of an iron man. What happens if/when he takes Haye's best shots and keeps coming? At present, I just don't see how Haye avoids Vitali's shots all night.

[binnie]

Big, big fights this weekend.

Here's how I see 'em.

1) Juan Manuel Marquez vs Michael Katsidis:

Assuming he hasn't gotten old overnight, this is a comfortable victory for JMM. Katsidis has power and a fan-friendly warrior's style, but he'll get counterpunched to hell here - JMM too slick and evasive. Expect a late stoppage, possibly due to cuts.

2) Andre Ward - Sakio Bika.

I'm intrigued by this one. Ward doesn't have the power to stop Bika, but I expect him to win on points. Bika is a nightmare to fight, a really awkaward stylistst, and no-one looks good against him. I think he's too slow to cause Ward any real trouble, but it'll be interesting to see how Andre deals with a man who's prepared to use the dirty tactics back. Hey, a lucky punch could even cause an upset as I'm still not sold on Ward's chin. That being said, bigger punches than Bika (Miranda and Green) could find a chink in Ward's armour, and I expect Ward to eek out an ugly and well contested points victory.

Arthur Abraham - Carl Froch.

Should be a very good fight. Both guys are coming off losses: Froch in a war with Mikkel Kessler; Abraham in a disqualification against Dirrell (who was schooling him.) For my money, Froch is the more damaged, having shipped a lot of punishment from Kessler, Taylor and Pascall that must surely shorten his career. Dirrell may have laid out the template to beat Abraham, but Froch has not got the speed or movement to put in practice. So, this could be close. For my money, it's Froch's fight to lose - he has considerable size and reach advantages, and should just box behind his jab all night to a UD. Given his ego and a penchant for a brawl, he won't do this though. Trading with Abraham - who has caused both fighters he has faced in the 'Super Six' so far to have neurological problems - will be Froch's downfall. I'm going out on a whim and saying Abraham stops Froch late. This really is 50/50 though.

[binnie]

Well, I under-estimated Froch - he avoided trading and stuck to the jab and move. Shutout victory.

Bloody impressive.

[Von Halen]

1) Juan Manuel Marquez vs Michael Katsidis:

Assuming he hasn't gotten old overnight, this is a comfortable victory for JMM. Katsidis has power and a fan-friendly warrior's style, but he'll get counterpunched to hell here - JMM too slick and evasive. Expect a late stoppage, possibly due to cuts.

This was a good fight. A damn good fight. Marquez goes down early, and gets up and whips the shit out of that Australian. That dude was out on his feet. Never went down though. They exchanged heavy hits the whole fight.