De Gale out a jail with the early knockdown there. A more go forward boxer will take him apart but fair play for becoming a World Champion all the same.
I think because of the knock down he thought he was cruising but from round 5 onwards he was far too negative for my liking and let Dirrell control the fight. I'm happy with the result but if I was in Dirrells camp I'd be far from pleased and would be pushing for the rematch. The hope now is that George Groves beats Badou Jack for the WBC title and we can have a big domestic unification scrap between De Gale and Groves
Think Groves will take him apart if it happens. I rate Groves, Froch's a true warrior and he showed he can mix it with him. De Gale wanted to cruise it tonight after the knock down and because of this he was nearly humbled. He dug deep in the last round however, but being honest Dirrell, as you say, is on the downward spiral. A younger, more energetic fighter like Groves will put him on his arse.
I'd have to disagree with you about Groves, I think De Gale is a better fighter and would beat Groves if they fought. Froch didn't take Groves seriously in their first fight and almost paid the price for it but in the second fight Froch was dominant. Groves might have just been coming back into when he was knocked out but it was still fairly comfortable for Froch and he was a class above
Away from the top end of town. I came across a man mountain from China called Taishan Dong who has signed with Golden Boy Promotions. He's 7 feet tall with a reach that can just about stretch to the moon. He's had 5 fights, winning them all. The records of those he's fought are appalling. 2-6-0, 3-6-0, 3-2-0, 6-18-3 and 5-8-2. They are clearly feeding him meat. He's never fought as an amateur, though he's had kickboxing experience. They must see something in him. He's tall, has reach, is well built, weighs 20 stone and carries no flab. May never be a champion, but it will be interesting to see how far he goes.
He won't go anywhere Cyc. He's cumbersome, far too easy to hit and clearly his punching power is incredibly poor for his size. Any decent heavyweight will put him to sleep..
My favourite era was the time of the four 'middlewights'. These individuals never avoided each other for whatever reason and the fights were always brutal but beautiful. Sugar Ray Leonard - Marvin Hagler - Thomas Hearns - Roberto Duran There were others just below the level of the above four: Alan Minter - Vito Antuefermo Nothing like it now! We will always look back at heavyweights; Larry Holmes never given correct credit. Currently Klitsckow is a far better 'fighter' than we give him credit.
Wlad has had the advantage in fighting during a pretty lean period. But that's hardly his fault. For all of that though, I think he'll be remembered as one of the greats.
Better get on Amazon. I have a DVD which will be roughly on the same subject. My comment - Nothing like it now. This refers to the recent fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao. Different TV companies meant this fight was about four or five years late.
I'd have to disagree about Larry Holmes, I actually think he got more credit than he deserves, I never rated him and don't think he'd stand up against any of the greats. I agree Mayweather/Pacqioua came a few years too late. The couple of defeats Pacqioua suffered (although the Bradley one doesn't count because there's no way he lost that) in that period kind of ruined some of the aurora surrounding him. But whether it had been five years ago or not, the result would have been the same, Pacqioua is tailor made for Mayweather and we'd have had the same masterclass performance
We have Ken Buchanan up here in Edinburgh; it's a shame to see him surrounded by a bunch of toerags in the local bars. You try to keep your distance and wait to see if he comes over for a chat. He talks with great relish about the way he was welcomed to Madison Square Garden and the joint respect between himself and Roberto Duran.
Anyone watching Joshua tonight? Apparently Johnson has never been knocked out, including fights against Fury, Chisora and Klitschko (all of which he lost). Joshua has never gone beyond 3 rounds. So unless Joshua can do what Klitschko couldn't it's going to be a long night for him. Hope he has a good chin. I would hate to see him exposed as another Frank Bruno
Amir Khan fights tonight however on Box Nation starting at 2am. I think tomorrow's show starts at 6pm
So Amir 'King' Khan wins against another carefully hand picked opponent. Straight afterwards he calls out Mayweather. I watched the Khan/Algieri fight this morning and had Khan winning the fight by two rounds. This was a much closer and tougher fight than Khan and his people were expecting. Khan looked slower and chubbier than usual and took a fair number of clean shots. If Algieri had have had any power whatsoever Khan, with his suspect chin would have been knocked out! If he's wanting those big fights he needs to perform a hell of a lot better than he did last night. Algieri's last fight was a loss to Pacqioua where he was knocked down 6 times and didn't win a single round. If you can compare the fights against Pacqioua and Khan then Khan has a long way to go before he's anywhere close to been able to mix with the top names. I'm very much looking forward to seeing Kell Brook in action tonight. I'm a big fan of his and he'll need to perform well on the way to victory if he's also wanting those big fights. Frankie Gavin should give him a tougher test than most people are expecting. He's technically a very gifted boxer but has been a bit of an underachiever in his professional career. Tonight might be his one and only shot at a world title so expect him to give everything. However in my opinion Brook is a class above and can get the late stoppage, 10th or 11th round It's a cracking card tonight and deserving of box office, which isn't always with these shows. For what it's worth my predictions for the main fights are: Selby win on points Mitchell win by stoppage Brook to win by stoppage late on Joshua to be first man to stop Kevin Johnson but in second half of fight
Do you think it's worth the one off payment for this evening's programme? I would add that I have not watched much boxing involving British boxers for years. I will also be concentrating on the football until the end of the Spanish Cup Final - say 23.30.
