Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Shane Mosley Vs Floyd Mayweather: Preview & Prediction


Two individuals, who at a time before, decided to carve their name on the epitome of boxing greatness. Today, these two are regarded as the top fighters in their respective division. One an experienced superstar who's in it to prove he is the best among the rest and the other, a representative of a long blood of champions, who is looking to cement his position as the greatest boxer of all time. On May 1st, reigning WBA welterweight champion and future Hall of Famer "Sugar" Shane Mosley takes on the former pound for pound king and 5 weight division prizefighter Floyd "Money" Mayweather in a fight billed the biggest & baddest fight of the year. I'll be profiling both fighters and give my prediction on who i think will emerge victorious on May 1st.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. (40-0-0, 25Ko's)

The perfect record speaks for itself. 40 fights, 40 wins with 25 by way of knockout has brought Mayweather to the very top level of boxing super stardom and is regarded by many as the purest boxer of all time. Known for his ability to hit ans slip from punches with great ease, Mayweather is a gifted boxer who in his long professional career, has never been hurt. Question can be raised however on the opponents he faced, whereby most of them were either past their prime or just looking for a payday. He has been known to ignore challenges from fighters that might blemish his record, choosing instead those whose style of fighting put them at a disadvantage against Floyd. Nevertheless, he does possess great speed, god-like defense and with long time trainer and uncle Roger Mayweather by his side, there is no doubting that Mayweather will be ready come May 1st.

Shane Mosley. ( 46-5-1, 39Ko's)

A professional boxing career spanning 17 year and 52 fights, Shane Mosley has seen it all, and done it all. Shane has been in the ring with the best of the best in the sport and is still going strong when everyone else has called it a day. His physical condition, and his previous fight against Margarito clearly shows he has the desire for it. The dilemma facing him is which Mosley will show up on fight night. Before the Margarito fight, we saw a washed up Mosley, one that should retire from boxing. At 38, he might have lost some of that speed that made him great, and having not fought in over a year, stamina will be put into question. But with new trainer Naazim Richardson beside him, a rejuvenated Mosley was brought back against Margarito whom he destroyed to win the title. Still quick with both hands and feet, and possessing brutal knockout power, look for Mosley to send out a statement on the 1st of May

Prediction

Look for the first 4 rounds to be fast and action packed as Mosley will try and catch Maywather off , and Floyd moving back and countering. Rounds 5-8 will see Mayweather having some control over the pace as Mosley will look to conserve energy. Rounds 9-12 will decide the fight with Mosley giving his all and Mayweather forced to engage. The fight looks like it will go to the scorecards and expect a win for Shane Mosley 115- 113 by unanimous decision


Monday, April 26, 2010

Is Bute the best super middleweight out there?


A 3rd round brutal knockout over Edison Miranda puts Lucian Bute at 26-0 (21Ko) and build up a reputation as a devastating one punch finisher. Miranda was taunting Bute's alleged lack of power when he was floored with a left uppercut that could have detached his brain. So can we regard Bute as the lead Super middleweight ? or does he still have lots to prove?
Bute is currently fourth on my list of Super middleweights, behind Andre Ward, Mikkel Kessler & Andre Dirrell. Bute has only faced one top level opponent (Andrade) pre Miranda so his wins have no strong credibility. With his latest win however, it will only be a matter of time (as soon as the super middleweight tournament ends) until he gets a fight with the big guns. I do see Lucian having a very difficult time against the likes of Ward, Kessler & Dirrell. He might do well against Arthur Abraham, or Allan Green . I would like to see a fight against Hopkins, as this fight can be a good test to see if Bute is indeed the real deal

Kessler earned the win.... but Froch will bounce back




Newly crowned WBA super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler has definately earned the victory over Carl Froch, and should not be excused for getting the benefit of home advantage. Reports are quoting Froch accusing the judges of scoring the fight based on the home fighter and not the fight itself. Having watched the fight, i think Kessler deserves the win, especially with the chaotic final round.


I do see Froch bouncing back from this defeat. in my opinion, this defeat will make him a better fighter. He will now approach future fights with caution and definately better defense. if he can get past Arthur Abraham, we might even see a rematch somewhere next year.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Berto Calls Out The Pac

Fresh from his KO victory against Carlos Quintana, Andre Berto (26-0) 20 ko's has called out Pacman in a showdown that will see the WBO & WBC titles on the line. A canceled bout against Shane Mosley meant Berto had to wait a bit longer to get a super fight, thus taking on Quintana and knocking him out in the 8th round.

Going through the list of welterweights out there, one will see that Mayweather & Mosley will be facing each other on May 1st, Miguel Cotto has a fight against Yuri Foreman & question marks still remains on the availability of names like Marquez, Hatton and the boring Clottey. One fighter however, is free to rumble in September or November, and would defenitely be the biggest fight Berto will ever have on his resume.

Would I wanna see this fight? well lets take things into consideration. Floyd & Shane will have a rematch in their clause in-case Floyd loses, so we might see some availability around mid-2011. This means a match between Pacquiao (WBO) and Berto (WBC) would be the second best fight available, if compared to Pacman against Margarito/Marquez/Valero. Even if Berto looks tailor made for Pacquiao, at least he is a reigning world champion and still un-defeated.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Cotto Vs Foreman At The Yankee Stadium

Puerto Rican star, and former welterweight champion Miguel Cotto will be facing light middleweight champion Yuri Foreman at the Yankees stadium. I guess its safe to say that this will be a make or break fight for Cotto. 2 deafeats (Pacquiao & Margarito) and a dodgy SD victory (Clottey) has seen his status as an elite boxer fall. Cotto now has a chance to make a new name for himself as a new weight class, but Foreman does pose a strong threat. I'll be making my predictions as fight night approaches

Friday, April 2, 2010

David Haye Vs. John Ruiz : Prediction

David Haye defends his WBA Heavyweight title against mandatory challenger John "The Quietman" Ruiz which promises to be a good fight. Can home advantage get Haye past Ruiz, or will the quietman pull an upset win and take the title away from him. Lets have a look on how the fight will unfold

Haye comes to this fight having registered some impressive wins and set some good records for British boxing. 13 straight wins, his last one against the giant Valuev will make Haye the favorite going into this fight. Haye is a good boxer, possessing hand speed and punch power that wobbled Russian giant Valuev and with home advantage, he will up his game, despite reports quoting flab & complacency. Ruiz, the heavyweight controversy king goes into this fight as the unfavored underdog. Ruiz has more notable losses (twice against Valuev & once against Jones Jr.) than wins, as his most impressive win came against Andrew Golota. Known to resort to dirty tactics in some fights, Ruiz has always been a tough fighter to put down. Try as you might, his willpower always takes him through.

Expect the first 4 rounds to be fun to watch, as Haye will look to put an impressive performance for his fans, and Ruiz will look to spoil the atmosphere. 5th round onwards, Haye's impressive boxing skills will take over, throwing 1,2 power punches and move away before Ruiz can react. This will go on till round 8 & 9 where Ruiz will get desperate. Ultimately, Haye will prevail ans score a unanimous decision victory

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Bernard Hopkins Vs. Roy Jones Jr. : Prediction



i kinda feel sad for Jones Jr. He's ego is still the size of a watermelon but his skills are as depleted as a sun-dried tomato. It is that ego which made him sign this rematch against Hopkins. lets break it down and see how the fight will unfold.

Coming into this fight, Jones Jr. was handed one of the most humiliating defeats in his career at the hands of Green via a first round KO. He remains bullish on his chances of defeating Hopkins but deep inside, he has doubts. Unlike Jones, Hopkins has aged gracefully and is still #4 in the pound for pound ranking. Back to back wins against Pavlik & Ornelas suggest he is still revving at high numbers. Jones has been KO'ed twice while Hopkins losses are by decisions.

I can see Jones making a better start than he did against Green. both fighters will be cautios in the first 3 rounds before making some bold moves. From then on, Hopkins will use his superior boxing skills & technical abilities to punish Jones. in the 7-8 rounds, Jones will be exhausted and will start making mistakes. the fight will be won in rounds 9 or 10 by Bernard Hopkins. Jones Jr. will announce his retirement from boxing.