After defending his British Welterweight Title last Friday, Bradley Skeete said he wants one more fight for that belt before moving on to better opposition. The person he wants to fight is Dale Evans. How bloody unfair is that? Talk about thuggery. The first pic below is of Skeete the second is of Dale Evans ... once the wife of Roy Rogers. It's a disgrace. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Just under a fortnight until the monster clash. Ward v Kovalev 11. Ring Magazine rate these two men as 1 - 2 P4P, they can't be too far off the mark, if at all. Ward 7-10, Kovalev 13-10.
Ward to confirm the result of first fight but more comprehensively this time. I suspect this time it could be completely one sided in favour of Ward
Wow, that's a big call Smoke. I'm more of a Kovalev fan, but Ward will have learned a lot from that first fight and should win. Bit I'm hoping Kovalev will be more aggressive this time out. I'm no expert, but if Kova can bring more mongrel, ( and he says he will ) it could be better fight than the first, which was at times a bit too cautious. I can't wait, these are two great fighters.
Tyson Fury has his IBF belt stripped from him for refusing a mandatory defence after beating Vlad, Anthony Joshua gets a free pass. Wonder what the Fury camp have to say about it all?
I'd fully agree with you. Without watching the first fight back I recall it was a pretty close fight with Kovalev probably not doing enough late on, after getting the earlyish knock down, to win the judges over. I think he'll press on this time once he gets through to Ward and he knows he can put him down. In general terms in a rematch I often suspect the defeated man (especially in a close encounter) comes in more motivated, more hungry and probably more ready than the man who won, a very generalised view but in this case I think Kovalev will be so, so ready for a war. I've been pretty good with my boxing predictions here (more so than the horses lol) and I see Kovalev knocking Ward out. He simply won't be denied this time and he won't let it go the cards. He'll take Ward to places he won't want to go and he'll stop him in a belting fight.
Aww Beefy did you have to?! Like you said above you're in some decent form with your boxing predictions and opposing me here to knock my confidence ha ha. I just can't see Kovalev getting to him again. Ward knows he ****ed up in letting Kovalev chin him and you can see that in the way he controlled the rest of the fight. This was the only fight Ward was taking, he's been quite open on saying that it was either Kovalev or retirement and he's pissed off because he feels like he won the fight easily but plenty people out there thought Kovalev won it. I think Ward is an extraordinary fighter. I won't go so far as to say best pound for pound but I think he's top 3 of the best fighters on the planet right now. I think Kovalev might fight a bit more crudely this time, try upset the rythym and try and rough Ward up but I just think Wards defence, movement and general ability will prove too much and frustrate Kovalev. I am by no means writing Kovalev off, not by any stretch, I think he's a great fighter and rate him very very highly. I was more impressed with him in the Ward fight than I have ever been. I've always liked him but have been critical of him at times in the past, picking holes in his form or ability (especially his defence) but in the Ward fight he showed me I was wrong about the things I'd been critical off. My opinion (I know doesn't count for ****) is though that Ward is a level above. Whatever the result let's hope there's no controversy, both fighters come out safe and sound and it's a great fight. As a fan and neutral and for the sport the best result would be a close fight with a Kovalev decision to set up the trilogy. I don't think I'll be having a bet on it, I very rarely do with boxing. Unless I'm massively behind a certain boxer I like watching as a neutral without a preference for a fighter, it makes it more enjoyable for me and if I have money on, I then have a bias in the fight.
These guys don't like each other. Ward's team say they'll smash Kovalev, while the latter says he'll beat the **** out of the former. As much as I'm a Kova fan and want him to win, he'll most likely lose. So when it comes to P4P ratings, I'll have to disagree with the venerable Smoke, and say that I'd have Ward as No.1 at the moment.
I don't know too much about either Lee Haskins or Ryan Burnett, but the betting houses seem to have some pretty strong opinions on what will happen when they clash this weekend. Haskins was awarded the IBF World Bantamweight Title in November of 2015 when the then Champion Randy Caballero as stripped of his belt for not fighting Haskins. The Bristol fighter will be making his third defence of his title, this time against Belfast's Burnett. Haskins is by far the most experienced of the two, with a record of 34-3-0 against Burnett's 16-0-0. The bookies are all over the Irishman though. He's 2-5 favourite to rip the title away from Hoskins, who's at 41-13. Is Ryan Burnett something special?
He is quite highly regarded by those around him. There was some excitement around him turning pro and so far he has done nothing wrong along the way to his first world title shot and looks pretty pretty good. Haskins is one of these fighters who is decent but shouldn't really be a world champion (see Tony Bellew, Ricky Burns etc...). He wears is heart on his sleeve in the ring and there's no real surprises in how he fights. His experience will count for a lot but if Burnett is to be what his people think he is then you'd expect him to go through Haskins relatively comfortably. We shall see.
Haskins looks a bit of a wild man. Hands around his waist, always on the move. He looks clever, but from what I've been reading, his chin might be a bit suspect. You clearly know more about them than me, so I'm more than happy to keep my pretend bet to myself. Even though ex IBF Champ Stuart Hall wasn't anything out of the box, he was far superior opposition for Hoskins than Reyes was for Burnett. So I'll risk foolishness and go for the champ. No rubbing it in though, when and if I lose.
I agree with most of what you say smokey, I too, like I'd guess pretty much all boxing fans, would have little hesitation in saying Andre Wards the better boxer of the pair in pretty much every department. Most especially movement I'd say but in general boxing acumen, agility and generally just a bit classier with his punches than the more robotic/predictable Kovalev. Makes you think why I fancy Kovalev to upset one of the very best boxers on the planet and it's hard to elaborate why I do! I just have a gut feeling, a strong one, that Kovalev will fight the fight of his life and beat Ward this time. And he won't outbox him, he won't beat him on points, he'll need knockdowns to stand any chance should it go on the cards so I assume he's going to have to try and become the first man to ever stop Ward. No mean feat but I do think Wards a lot more wary of Kovalevs power than anyone imagines and if Kovalev can assert behind his very strong jab (better than the first fight) I suspect he'll eventually crack Wards resolve. Just looked at the betting there and I'm surprised Kovalev is as big as 4/1 to win by KO/TKO, he's 3/1 to win on points and I can't see him winning that way. We shall see, I'll probably take the 4/1 before the fight on him to do so, I think the first fight will have given him massive confidence in running a true champion like Ward so close.
Reigning WBO Middleweight Champion Billy Joe Saunders' next title fight has just been flushed down the toilet. His opponent, Georgia's Avtandil Khurtsidze, known as Mini Mike Tyson, has been arrested in New York, and as such, won't be able to leave the USA for the bout in London next month. He is one of a large number of defendants charged under the Rico Act, a Federal Racketeering Law. A statement released by the Acting Manhattan US Attorney Joon H. Kim said. “Today, we have charged 33 members and associates of a Russian organized crime syndicate allegedly engaging a panoply of crimes around the country. The indictments include charges against the alleged head of this national criminal enterprise, one of the first federal racketeering charges ever brought against a Russian ‘vor.’ The dizzying array of criminal schemes committed by this organized crime syndicate allegedly include a murder-for-hire conspiracy, a plot to rob victims by seducing and drugging them with chloroform, the theft of cargo shipments containing over 10,000 pounds of chocolate, and a fraud on casino slot machines using electronic hacking devices." In the Russian Mafia, "Vor" is an honorary title denoting a made man. The honor of becoming a Vor is only given when the recruit shows considerable leadership skills, personal ability, intellect and charisma. Khurtsidze himself is charged with RICO conspiracy and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, 3 years supervised release, $250,000 fine, or twice gross pecuniary gain/loss.
Shame that fight's off, was looking forward to Danny de Vito ragdolling Saunders badly after the abuse he received from him!
Dereck Chisora has pulled out of the battle for the vacant WBC Silver Heavyweight Title against Robert Helenius and has been replaced by Ian Lewison. The fight due next weekend in Estonia will be the Lewison's first since the pounding he took from Dillian Whyte last October in Glasgow, when his corner stopped the bout during the tenth. Both Robert "The Nordic Nightmare" Helenius and Ian "Lay 'Em Out" Lewison seem a couple of rungs below the elite heavyweights, but it could prove an interesting fight. Boxing boards seem to think Lewison will run out of steam after 3-4 rounds and then slowly succumb to Helenius, the man they refer to as the lumbering, lump of wood.
What a disgrace that was. How on earth was Haskins a World champion. ****ing useless. As for the split decision What a joke.
Very, very good performance that from Burnett I thought. Looks worldclass already. Wasn't totally sure on him up until tonight. Regarding the scoring, Eddie says the judge who had Haskins winning was probably putting the scores in the wrong box on the card
Probably more ****, but twitter is afire with the latest tweet from Conor McGregor. Just four words. "Something BIG is coming."
It's getting quite heated and they're not even in the kitchen yet. Kovalev: "I don't like the guy, he knows that he lost. For me, he is not a real champion, he's a fake champion. He lives right now with this status, he's a fake champion." Ward: "Get mad. I want you to get as mad as you can get. Because it's going to get worse and worse and worse, round by round. I don't mind his anger or any of that. I welcome it. He's going to make mistakes and run into something."
