Tag: David Lemieux

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

image

Prayers For Prichard
Prichard Colon was rabbit punched several times in his bout against Terrel Williams and as a result is in a coma after suffering a brain bleed and having surgery to relieve the pressure. Colon complained from the opening round about the rabbit punches and after being hit illegally a few more times throughout the fight a point was finally deducted. Punches that land illegally happen and points are taken; however, in this case although the punches did the damage,  it was the handling of the entire situation that is at fault. Colon had told the ringside physican that he was dizzy. If you were watching the fight like you should have been doing and saw the repeated blows to the back of the skull, it should have been taken a bit more serious when the reciever of the punches states that he is having issues with dizziness. Further, what of the corner? Did they see any signs from their fighter that caused concern? The only silver lining is the glove fiasco. Colon was DQ because his corner took the gloves off after the ninth thinking the fight was over. That action probably saved his life, had he gone out for the tenth, he may have been killed. This rising prospect had his whole carrer in front of him, now he’s fighting a diffrent kind of fight. Let’s hope and pray that he becomes the undisputed champion of that fight.

Going Great Guns
Gennady Golovkin ( 34-0 31KO), he of 21 straight stoppages, put on a brilliant performance Saturday night stopping David Lemieux (34-3 31 KO) by 8th round TKO to add Lemieux’s IBF strap to his middleweight collection. Lemieux is mostly a brawler and doesn’t possess the same skill set as GGG but he still posed one of the biggest threats ever to the man from Kazakhstan.  It was thought that he could possibly put Golovkin in uncharted waters by landing something so significant it would test him more than ever. While he did land some big shots, they were few and far between because Lemieux had to fight mostly defensive to keep Golovkin off of him. Since Lemieux could not match Golovkin in skill set, the outcome was a forgone conclusion. Make the call to the “bay area”, there’s a cat out there that surpasses GGG in the finer aspects of the sweet science but trails him in power and that will make for a great fight.

Hey, How About A Nice Hawaiian Punch?  No thanks, I’ll Have Chocolate
Roman Gonzalez (44-0 38 KO) stopped Brian Viloria (36-5 22 KO) in the 9th round to provide further proof why most pound for pound lists have anointed the Nicaraguan the new king. Gonzalez is simply dominant. Even in a fight where his opponent was having some success, they weren’t having successes. Gonzalez looks to provide a sense of false security and then closes the show.

A Few Dents In The Crown Of A King
Lamont Peterson (34-3-1 17 KO) defeated Felix Diaz (17-1 8 KO) by majority decision but quite frankly the scores of 117-111 and 116-112 were preposterous. “King Pete” had the height and reach advantage but failed to use them with any regularity. For a fighter who is working to get another title shot, he sure had his hands full with a prospect. Several ringside observers on press row believed Diaz may have even won the fight. At the very least, the fight should have been closer to a draw or split decision.

Alexander The Gate (keeper)
Devon Alexander (26-4 14 KO) was supposed to handle his business against Aaron Martinez (20-4 4 KO) but somebody forgot to tell Martinez, winner by UD.  The former IBF welterweight and WBC, IBF,super lightweight titlist has now lost three of his last four. It seems like forever since he defeated Lucas Matthysse and Marcos Maidana in back to back fights. Two out of his last three losses have come against two of the best in the division,in Amir Khan, and Shawn Porter. That said, a title shot may be out of reach and he may have a new role in the division.

Rock Em Sock Em Robots
Andrzej Fonfara (28-3 16 KO) beat Nathan Cleverly (29-3 15 KO) by unanimous decision and both set a CompuBox record for a light heavyweight fight, 2,524 total punches thrown, 936 landed. A good old fashioned donnybrook.