Off Topic Boxing

Anthony Joshua v Eric Molina Method of Victory / Eric Molina by KO TKO or Disqualification
Betfair offering 18/1

Seeing how Molina rocked Wilder, Joshua could be in trouble if he gets hit. Of course, Molina will be in trouble if he gets hit. He was running away from Wilder. There is no way this fight will go the distance but the 1/9 Joshua is not worth the risk. 18/1 looks big given he can hit

 

Parker - Ruiz World Title up in a few minutes. Go Joe.

 

Parker wins on points but doesn't look all that flash.

 

Parker I'm afraid would not cut it against the best in the world.

AJ was excellent tonight- tight, patient, ruthless.

Klitschko confirmed on April 29- that's a good test for him.

 

A.J. blew over the top of a nobody, but the night belonged to Dillian Whyte and Derek Chisora. Probably one of the best heavyweight fight we've seen in ages. Just too bad that one of them had to leave the ring with a loss to their name.

 

Great fight for Anthony Joshua.

 

Credit definitely to Whyte and Chisora, who exceeded all expectations. However, they also showed that they are at a similar level, so before we immediately call Molina a nobody, you just need to context those two fighters and the fact that Molina has fought better people and is ranked higher than the pair of them. Joshua blowing him away shows just what an athlete he is and frankly that's the biggest difference between world class and the fringes of the heavyweight scene.

Joshua will never win over everyone but that's the nature of the sport. When he knocks Klitschko out he'll have beaten an over he hill Klitschko and everyone will bow down to Fury.

To enjoy Anthony Joshua you need to separate the hype of Sky and Eddie from what the man himself says. I have never met or heard a more grounded professional and given the speed he has gone through the ranks it would be very easy for him to have become big headed and to take his eye off the ball.

Fair play to Molina for coming over by the way- he realised in Round 2 that this guy wasn't as easy to hit as he thought. No other Yanks were rushing to fight him.

as for that knob Haye, if he was serious about heavyweight titles, why hasn't he chased down the likes of Parker, who he would surely knock out fairly early based on what we have seen of that guy in the last few fights? Instead of climbing the ranks he's fighting a cruiserweight!

 

I'm just glad we'll actually be able to see AJ in against someone decent for once. It'll only be then that we'll know if the nauseating hype was right or not. Until then the jury's out.

Personally I now think he'll pass the Klitschko test but Fury and, maybe even Wilder, (who can bang like no other) will be the acid tests.

 

I felt neither deserved to lose that. Can't believe one judge gave it 2 rounds to White. Yes he was the better boxer but there were a couple of times it looked like Chisora could take him out.

 

Before everyone calls Molina a nobody, he had a right go at Wilder and almost had him on the floor. Once Wilder caught him though he was running scared. Last night he was running scared from the first time Joshua hit him and it became a non fight; an easy night's work for Joshua. Personally I think Joshua will ko Klitschko and Wilder. Fury won't be fighting again but I now suspect that, if he did, Joshua would ko him also. He is so well disciplined now; he's fast, knows when to move away, has a terrific jab, can produce ko punches with either hand and he is ruthless. beginning to think he won't get beaten until he's over the top or someone gets lucky.

 

I think we have to be a bit careful about what we're seeing with Anthony Joshua. Molina rocked Wilder and went a lot more rounds against him, but for the most part, he looked pretty awful. So because it took Wilder extra rounds to get rid of Molina, does that mean that AJ is a tier above him? I don't think so. I just think Molina didn't fight anywhere as well against Joshua. He was terrible. Whyte set AJ back on his heels and fought well, but I believe Joshua will move to still another level. The way things are going at the moment, maybe Whyte would clean out Parker, and on yesterday's performances, it's fair to say there's a good chance that he's moved past Molina. Anthony Joshua is a brilliant prospect, but he hasn't really fought a quality opponent yet. Sure Molina was rated 3, by the IBF, but seriously, how weak must their rankings be? Would Whyte and Chisora have been bombed out in such embarrassing circumstances?

Molina was just cannon fodder offered up to AJ by Eddie Hearn. After the Klitschko fight fell through, Hearn pretty much had to take who he could get. No matter how hard Hearn tried to sell the fight as a serious contest, the fact is that the best odds on offer about Joshua was 1-25. Most of it was 1-50 and worse. Thank God for Whyte - Chisora, they stood out like a beacon in the wilderness. No fault of Joshua either. After AJ beats the likes of Fury, Klitschko, Haye. Wilder and even Ortiz, then we can start to mention him in the same sentence as people like Lennox Lewis. The toughest fight of Joshua's career was maybe against Whyte, but how does that compare to the sensational Lennox Lewis - Vitali Klitschko blood bath? I'm not saying that Anthony Joshua can't be that man, but he's hardly began to climb the mountain. He's still in the foothills.

 

Yes Wilder took nine rounds to do it but worth bearing in mind Chris Arreola sparked out Molina in the first round! He clearly didn't fancy it after a round last night.

Interesting year ahead, we'll all know a bit more in 12 - 14 months about them all but what we want to see is AJ in against a world class opponent, which we'll see (fingers crossed) in April. All to prove at this stage, exciting talent without a doubt but please don't get blinded by the bullshit hype from Hearn/Sky!

 

I haven't heard the hype from Hearn as I don't generally watch boxing programs on TV, except the big fights. I'm going purely on how his boxing is progressing. Wilder looks the more vulnerable at present. Not sure he would be able to cope with the power and accuracy of AJ. I know which one my money would be on.

 

I would say that the bookies have the odds right for AJ & Wlad- AJ 4/6 and slight fave in my book. Wlad has far more question marks and being 40 years old, I fear he's vulnerable.

Also really enjoyed the White chisora fight- I say fight I really mean brawl- what they lacked in boxing technicality they made up for in a right slug fest!

 

Joshua knocks out Klitschko in my view.

I don't think Klitschko has ever fought an athlete like Josh in his whole career. He has been fitter and smarter than the **** heap of heavyweights in the post-Lewis era, but he hates opening himself up and was terrified to even throw a right hand against Fury, who we are now calling the acid test, despite struggling his way through Chisora and being knocked on his ass by a couple of other also-rans until that night in Germany. Take nothing away from him against Klitschko though, he fought the perfect fight to get the decision.

Joshua is faster and more explosive- the only thing he comes up against that can cause issues is the excellent Klitschko jab which he wont have faced before. But that's only a problem if he sits off- if he times it and uses his speed he can get around it and has the reach and the power to stop Klitschko throwing it out there.

That said- a rock solid jab is a punch i do want to see Joshua add to his Arsenal as it could help him pace the fight from range when needed.

I think Klitschko is done.


But I thought Al Ferof would win a Gold Cup.


It's heavyweight boxing folks- anything can happen and at least we are now talking about it again after so many years in the doldrums.

 

Agree with everything pretty much bar this part

Fury comprehensively outboxed Chisora in their first fight (in only his 15th fight) winning a wide margin points victory and in the rematch was beating Chisora so bad in another one sided contest that his corner pulled him out. I'd wager a lot of boxers out there would like to struggle to wins like those!

Obviously Fury has to be the acid test as he's the man who beat the man and until he's defeated it's hard to say otherwise! Hopefully he'll come back properly ready and focussed on regaining his titles but he's a complex guy and it's somewhat hard to be really sure he will.

 

Nothing id love more than for Fury to get healthy and then be focussed on winning back his titles- it would be a huge draw and great for boxing.

Personally I think he's a couple of levels below Joshua but he would be something different to anything Joshua has faced and would be trying all sorts of angles and stances I think. I get the impression though that if he were to lose all we will ever get is that "he lost interest" or "never regained focus".

You have to remember that Pre Klitschko no one had him down as world class and it's a shame he hasn't had the opportunity to prove otherwise after that famous win in Germany.

 

Dillian Whyte's the best boxer AJ has yet faced so how can you claim he's levels above an undefeated champion?! As I've said, I'll reserve judgement on AJ until he proves it against better opposition. I'm not saying he can't or won't prove to be this great machine we're being told he is but let's see him in with someone first eh! If he goes out and blows away Klitschko I'll be the first to say fair dos to him.

 

I'm sort of on Beefy's side here. Deep down, I don't think there's a more devastating puncher in the game than AJ, but that's only half the game. Like all fighters, he's going to be hit, and these mammoths hit with authority. For mine, there are only a hand few of serious heavies out there at the moment, AJ, Fury, Wilder, Klitschko and maybe Ortiz & Haye. Easily the most elusive of these are Fury, Wilder and Haye. The other three, AJ, Klitschko and Ortiz don't appear to be as mobile. The latter group would most likely be the ones plodding forward from centre ring, while the others circle and work from the outside. That doesn't mean they'll stay out there, when they get the chance, they pounce. We could pull all of these fighters apart and discuss them for hours, but as far as AJ is concerned, I think he's far from fluid. I've sometimes read of him being described as "clunky," something I think I agree with. I think he's there to be hit and when it happens, he'll fall. Hopefully not in the near future, but it happens to just about all of the greats, so it's likely to happen to him. I'm an AJ fan though. If I had the chance to "own" a heavyweight, I'd choose him over the others in a heart beat. But I fear for him. American form is proving to be rather soft, so maybe Wilder can be discounted, Klitschko has age against him, Haye looks very fast, but too small, Ortiz I'm not sure about. He looked so so in the States, but last up was wonderful, admittedly against a third rated fighter, but he looks dangerous. The real fly in the ointment for me is Tyson Fury. He's huge, he has arms like an octopus and he's the best spoiler in the game. And again, this is only a personal opinion, I believe Tyson has more ring smarts than the other five, with the possible exception of Haye. I don't think Haye has the same heart though. If Fury has his head screwed on properly, I feel he'll prove a bit too good for anyone else out there at the moment. How's that for going out on a limb.

 

It looks like the big Russian Alexander Povetkin has failed yet another drug test. He was supposed to fight Bermane Stiverne for the interim WBC heavyweight title today, but the WBC have withdrawn their sanctioning for the bout after the discovery of Ostarine in his system. This is the second time Povetkin has failed a test. His Title shot at Deontay Wilder had to be shut down after Povetkin tested positive to Meldonium.

Stiverne tested positive to Methylhexaneamine and last month was fined $75,000. Lots of it going around. Lucas Browne being caught twice as well.