Tag: David Haye

Snippets On Arguably The Hottest Topics In The Sweet Science This Week

Late Snippets-

Too Swift For His Own Good

Danny Garcia (31-1 19 KO) had his moments but it was not enough. Keith Thurman (28-0 22 KO) was just better. Thurman was masterful early using excellent movement while landing jabs, powerful combinations, and doing just enough body work to keep Garcia honest. The Garcia beard was as good as advertised. I still don’t know how he stayed on his feet with the early shot he took right off the chin that spun him around. As was stated, Thurman was masterful early. Thurman’s activity level greatly reduced in the second half of the fight. It appeared to me that he had hurt his right hand because he wasnt throwing it late as he was early, but that was not the case. Thurman simply stayed away and gave a few rounds away believing he had done enough to win. He was partly right but only because Garcia failed to cut off the ring with any regularity and while Garcia won rounds late, it wasnt enough.

Trojan Warrior 

Standing ovation for Tony Bellew (29-2-1 19 KO) for his mammoth victory over David Haye (28-3 26 KO). Granted, Haye fought injured from about the sixth round until the stoppage in the eleventh but such is sports. As we all know now, Haye tore his Achilles but really, before that happened Bellew was giving as good as he was getting. This was a good old-fashioned donnybrook with two warriors giving their all. While we praise Bellew for the victory, Mr. Haye deserves just as much credit if not more in defeat. When you tear an Achilles, you basically lose the use of the leg that sustained the injury. For Haye to have lasted almost five more rounds in a street brawl with that type of injury is nothing short of extraordinary.

Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Program…..

Girl Power

The resurgence of women’s boxing is amazing and will continue to grow. On Friday night, two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields (2-0 1 KO) stopped a game Szilvia Szabados (15-9 6 KO) in the fourth in front of her hometown fans of Flint/Detroit Michigan. This fight was entertaining in that Shields was throwing bombs on an opponent with a granite chin, while also showing a good chin of her own. I know Shields was hyped up at home for the knockout but she will benefit from working behind the jab to set up her power. Shields made this fight much harder than it needed to be but we’ll chalk that up to her excitement in that she was headlining the first ever women’s main event on a premium network.

Hot Shots-Part Lemieux

David Lemieux (37-3 33 KO) landed a left hook on Curtis Stevens (29-6 21 KO) that is still sending shock waves through the middleweight division. We knew the Canadian can bang but that short hook was a thing of beauty. To be fair, there was a right hand that landed before the KO shot but the short distance + the textbook hook on the chin sweet spot was lethal. The bout was entertaining until the stoppage with both men landing huge power shots. Lemieux did some great body work in the first which was the difference in the round. The second a bit closer, then the KO of the Year shot that ended things in the third. It was a blessing that Stevens was ok.

Meet Me In The Trap, It’s Going Down, Meet Me In The Mall, It’s Going Down, Meet Me In The Club, It’s Going Down, Anywhere Ya Meet Me Guaranteed To Go Down

Ok, it’s really like…Meet Me In The T-Mobile Arena It’s Going Down, such is the carousel of the Floyd Mayweather v. Coner McGregor rumored fight. The latest rumour is a June 10 matchup. A quick check of the hotels showed a 5X increase on June 9 and 10 at most Strip hotels. See the State of The Game article for Standing-8’s thoughts on this money-making circus act.

Boxing’s March Madness, Well, Sort Of

Super stoked for the World Boxing Super Series. The brainchild of former GBP CEO Richard Schaefer, now heading Ringstar Sports, and prominent UK promoter Kalle Sauerland, this bracketed tournament by weight class has us intrigued. The winner of each tournament (weight class) will win the Muhammad Ali trophy. A newly designed award approved by the Ali family. For more information, see World Boxing Super Series press releases on main page.

Miracle on 33rd Street

 This Saturday night, Danny Jacobs (32-1 29 KO) will get his shot at the title. Problem is, the titles are guarded by Gennady Golovkin (36-0 33 KO). Jacobs has a well chronicled story, a champion in the ring of life against one of the most feared assassins, cancer. He was told he would never fight again but here he is in with GGG for the right to wear the middleweight straps. Standing-8 has always thought that a stiff jab gives GGG problems, thing is, his opponents are so worried about what will be coming in return they deviate from the game plan. Jacobs is not known to have a great jab so there may be trouble already; however, another Standing-8 observation is that GGG can be exploited up through the middle. Throw a shot from the floor to the bottom of his chin and you will hit pay dirt. In Standing-8’s preview of the Kell Brook v. GGG bout, The Case For Kell Brook, we speculated that if Brook, who throws a great uppercut could land that punch, it may impact the fight. Brook did land the punch and we saw GGG truly rocked for a moment but again, worried about the return artillery, Brook was unable to sustain his plan. Jacobs throws a decent uppercut so again, there may be opportunities. That said, we have seen Jacobs rocked a few times in his career against lesser punchers which is not good. Jacobs has already defeated a foe more formidable than any opponent he will see in a ring, why not a miracle on 33rd street?

Snippets On Arguably The Hottest Topics In The Sweet Science This Week

Sweet Home Ala…. BAM

Deontay Wilder ( 38-0 37 KO) stopped Gerald Washington (18-1-1 12 KO ) in the fifth round with a big right hand to successfully defend his WBC title. Wilder didn’t look great prior to the knockout and a little amateurish at times. He is still a bit raw but as long as he has the one-punch KO power he’ll continue to refine the other areas through on the job training. In his defense, this was his first fight after an almost eight month lay off due to bicep and hand injuries sustained in the Chris Arreola fight.

In the Bermane Stiverne fight when he won the title, Wilder looked like he had figured it all out. He boxed beautifully and landed his power in spots. He showed that he didn’t need to rely on only his power to be successful; however, in every fight since, there have only been glimpses of that Bronze Bomber.

After the fight, the talk was a matchup with WBO titlest Joseph Parker (22-0 18 KO); however breaking news is a rumoured WBC mandated rematch with Stiverne.

The wish here is a matchup with Luis Ortiz (27-0 23 KO) and/or the Anthony Joshua Wladimir Klitschko winner.

Unsustained Effort 

Back in 2015, Tony Harrison, rising undefeated prospect, was handily out-pointing Willie Nelson through eight rounds but got caught and stopped in the ninth round. Going into Saturday’s fight with Jarrett Hurd, Harrison had won three straight, two by stoppage, including an impressive victory over hard punching Fernando Guerrero.

Through the first eight rounds, Harrison (24-2 20 KO) exhibited a nice skill set on Saturday night. Early on, Harrison was doing all of the things that you’d want him to do, good lateral movement, an active jab, and combination punching; however, it would again be his defense that would be his demise.

Harrison was controlling most of the first eight rounds but Hurd (20-0 14 KO) slowly started to impose his will. If was almost as if Hurd conceded the rounds to Harrison and chose to look for one perfect counter, which he found in round nine.

As he had done in 2015, Harrison failed to sustain his effort throughout the fight.

Hurd captured the vacant IBF World Super Welterweight belt with the victory.

Lobby Rumble 

Later after the fight, Wilder goes after Heavyweight Dominic Breazeale because Breazeale had an altercation with Wilder’s brother. Wilder and his camp were alleged by the Breazeale camp to have “sucker punched” Breazeale and his coach in front of his wife and kids.

Both Wilder and Breazeale took to social media with their version of the events regarding the ordeal.

Breazeale Link-

Check out @TroubleBoxing’s Tweet: https://twitter.com/TroubleBoxing/status/835843249529049090?s=09

Wilder Link-

https://www.instagram.com/p/BRAXThmgVfr/?taken-by=bronzebomber

Breazeale was on the Wilder undercard stopping heavyweight prospect Izu Ugonoh in the fifth after coming off the canvas in the fourth.

Save it for the ring gents. 

Hold Off Judgement, It May Be Good

It has been announced that Manny Pacquiao (59-6-2 38 KO) and Amir Khan (31-4 19 KO) will knuckleup in April. There was a lot of grumbling after the announcement but this is actually an intriguing matchup.

Sweet Hands

Caleb Plant (15-0 10 KO) a top prospect in the Supper Middles dominated veteran/journeyman/gatekeeper Thomas Awinbono. Plant dropped Awinbono in the first and cruised the rest of the way. We’ve been following Plant and he seems to improve each fight. Smart matchmaking by his team, they are bringing him along at a great pace. His competition gets a bit tougher while he tightens up his game. From Tennessee, Planr recently relocated to Las Vegas to focus on his craft. 

Fight Week

Danny Garcia v. Keith Thurman- Sneak Peak coming soon.

David Haye (28-2 26 KO) v. Tony Bellew (28-2 18 KO)  Does the natural cruiser stand a chance here? Does Haye have memories of being dropped to a knee by him in traning years ago as sparring partners?  Is it the power of Haye that will end things in brutal fashion or is it the boxing and speed of Bellew that can make things interesting?

Bellew was in a Rocky movie….maybe life imitates art??

We’ll find out on Saturday at the O2.

 

Snippets On Arguably The Hottest Topics In The Sweet Science This Week

Axe Handled 

Vasyl Lomachenko is good, that is all. Note: See Pound4Pound Roalty article.

Don’t Quit, Suffer Now And Live The Rest Of Your Life Like A Champion…Or Not…

Nicholas Walters didn’t want to continue after the seventh round against Lomachenko, not exactly what we would expect from an undefeated fighter who was considered to be entering the peak of his career. In his defense, he was facing Lomachenko but WOW. He stated after the fight that a shot from the champion off of his temple had damaged him to the point where it would have been unsafe to continue. Cue the “No Mas” references in 5,4,3..

Luck O’The Irish 

Terry Flanagan (32-0 13 KO) was mentioned as a future opponent for Lomachenko by Bob Arum. Although as expected, he defeated Orlando Cruz (25-5-1 13 KO, by 8th round stoppage) he is going to need some better opposition prior to that opportunity. 

“Haye No Fair, Bellew Gets That Work With Hayemaker?”  

David Haye (26-2 24 KO) and Tony Bellew (28-2-1 18 KO) at the O2 in London on March 4th?? Why?? Bellew who just beat the career long under-achiever B.J. Flores last month gets to move up and face Haye? I’d rather see Bellew against Mairis Briedis than getting Rod Salka’d by a Hayemaker. 

More Than Meets The Eye

At the conclusion of the Kovalev-Ward scrap, I had Kovalev winning by a slight edge without scoring it. After hearing the decision, thought it was wrong but after scoring it, had Ward as the winner oddly with the same score as the judges; however I rightly gave Kovalev the 10th, unlike all three judges cards. Ward 114-113, with Rounds 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, and 11.