13-03-2010

Mark this date in your calenders, diaries, Pda's & laptops people coz its a date you should not forget. This date will bare witness to the greatest fight of the decade and potentially in the history of boxing. it has been compared to Ali Vs. Frazier, Ali Vs. Foreman & De La Hoya Vs. Trinidad, and is set to break every financial record that exist in boxing history. The American Dream will finally go head to head, fist to face against the Fighting Pride of the Philippines. The questions that has been frequently asked, will finally be answered.

MANNY PACQUIAO VS FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR.

Long Live King Khan!!

What an exceptional performance by Khan. He knocked Salita down 10 seconds in with his first and second punch ( a left straight and a right hook) of the fight, knocked him down again 36 seconds later and ended the fight with a KO victory within 72 seconds of the first round. That is as good as it gets. Salita had no chance to do anything at all. He was destroyed, annihilated, obliterated with such speed and precision from Khan. Khan just couldn't miss him, connecting with powerful shots at ease.

This kid has a very bright future, and I tip him to shine in Las Vegas, which shouldn't be too far away.

To Salita, you seriously need to figure yourself out. You boasted a record of no defeat and yet you were out in the first round. The world of boxing is very tough and unless you make a convincing comeback, your future in the ring looks bleak

Khan VS Salita (Khan wins via 1st round KO)

Rematch? More Like Retirement

It was billed as the ultimate rematch between two boxing greats. 40yr old Roy Jones Jr. & 44yr old Bernard Hopkins thought they had it all planned. Have a "prep" fight and then square off against each other to finally determine who the better fighter is. Hopkins, who had a 1 year layoff executed his plan perfectly, winning the match via a dominating unanimous decision against Enrique Ornelas (I was expecting him to get a KO). Jones Jr. on the other hand, an active boxer thus far got executed in the first round against IBO cruiserweight Aussie champion, Danny Green via TKO. So how did the "Fighter Of The Decade " get humiliated so badly?

Lets face it. RJJ is not improving with age. Unlike Hopkins who is, RJJ has lost some of his speed and instead of boxing with his experience (adopt a more technical, strategic & defensive approach) he tried to use the same techniques that made him a legend. Just not gonna work buddy. Physically he just doesn't have it anymore. The agility that made him great has gone, his amazing footwork that made him unpredictable has slowed down and his body has ran its course. He no longer strikes fear into opponents nor will he win any mind games.

Roy Jones Jr., you a truly a boxing superstar but I believe that it is best if you retire from boxing. You have already cemented your name in history and there is nothing more for you to prove or achieve. Before you get hospitalized, take the wise road and leave while your head is still held high.

Danny Green Vs. Roy Jones Jr. (Green wins via 1st round TKO)



Roy Jones Jr. Career Highlights

Roach Wants Pacquiao to get an 8th title against Foreman

My my my. Is the sky really the limit? or did Freddie Roach tore it up and went higher. Buoyed by the success of his superstar protege, Freddie Roach has come out flaring saying that the Pacman's' penultimate fight will see him up his weight to 154lbs and challenge Yuri Foreman for his title.

"Yuri Foreman might be the opponent. It is a possibility, and then Mayweather in September. If they guarantee me that, we'll do that, but I need more of a commitment from Mayweather because he's not negotiating too well," Roach told the British press.

I guess it does make sense, both financially and reputation wise. Mayweather does not want to fight Pacman in March (pussy), so Pacman will go for title number 8, smashing the record for titles in weight class (which he recently set) and seal himself as a legend in the history of boxing. Floyd might then fight Shane Mosley in May, prepping himself up for the big showdown in September when two of the worlds biggest boxing stars collide. Roach is definitely a smart man. 154lbs may seem too much for Pacquiao, but I think he will be able to pull it off. One question though. Can Pacman fight Foreman at 154lbs, and then come down to fight Floyd? Wouldn't that have some sort of implications on his body? Unless they are planning the Mayweather fight at 154lbs (Mayweather vs De La Hoya was contested at 154lbs). Whatever it is, I think Freddie & Manny will be looking at this issues closely and see whats best for Pacman

Yuri, you better be reading this coz you might be next!!

Amir Khan Vs. Dimitriy Salita: Pre Match Analysis

What a way to end the year with an eye catching world title bout that will pit a hotshot Pakistani-Brit against a power punching Ukrainian-American. Lets have a look at how these two fighters square up, and who I think will emerge victorious.














As the reigning & defending champ, Khan has not set the world alight in his professional career so far. This has to be attributed to the fact that he has a glass jaw. In his 22 fights, Khan has been consistently knocked down by opponents, making it the biggest and most threatening weakness that he possess. Boxing fans alike will never forget the match against Breidis Prescott, who knocked him down within 25 secs of the first round, before shutting the lights 41 seconds later. I personally feel that Khan was naive to agree to face a bigger opponent, much to the delight of then trainer, Jorge Rubio. But Khan is not all weak. His credentials resides in his speed and punch accuracy, learning from sparring partner Manny Pacquiao. Under the eye of Freddie Roach, Khan will be fighting in front of a largely supportive home crowd who will be looking for a successful defense of the title.



















Step up Dimitry Salita. Not much is know about this orthodox fighter, other than he is the number one contender for Khans' title. with an impressive record of 30 wins and 1 bout even, Salita is definitely a darkhorse who might just steal that title away from Khan but it wont be that easy. Salita's strong points are his power punching. A solid left hook and a right hand has scored him the wins in his career and if compared to Khan, he does have the better chin. He does however, lack both hand speed and agility

Salita will need to neutralize Khan's hand speed and fancy footwork if he wants to land those power punches. This might be hard as Khan will adopt a similar fighting style vs Kotelnik. Salita might struggle to get to Khan but if he can land a few decent punches, than believe me Khan will wobble, and might just get knocked-down

Verdict

This fight is definitely too close to call as both fighters can fully exploit the others weaknesses. If Salita can get that knock down early on then he will have an amazing chance to topple Khan. However, I do feel that Khan will be an improved fighter thanks to Roach and strongly see him winning this via decision but he might even sneak-in a KO in the 9th or 10th.

Noob Guide: Style

So you wanna know more about boxing but not sure where to start, well then let's get down and dirty. Today, I'll be profiling the various styles that a boxer can adopt, depending on the strengths that the boxer possesses.

The Out-Fighter

Considered to be the traditional style, boxers fight at a range, making full use of their long reach ability and fancy footwork. These fighters are champion strategist, choosing to slowly weaken opponents and regularly aim for scorecard victories rather than knockouts. This style requires you to be agile, flexible and possess quick feet.

Famous Out-Fighters: Millie Pep, Meldrick Taylor & Muhammad Ali

The Puncher

Here we have my personal favorite among all styles. These complete boxers combine punch power and great technique and often destroy opponents in outstanding fashion. They are fairly similar to out-fighters but will look for knockout wins. This style requires you to be fast, technical, flexible and pack a power punch

Famous Punchers: Sugar Ray Robinson, Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao

The Brawler

The name says it all. These boxers can't dance or move with amazing agility so the make it up with sublime power. They tend to lean towards constant pummeling instead of smart combos and favor stability rather than flexibility. To adopt this style, you basically need only two qualities; devastating power and high levels of punch tolerence, especially against faster opponents

Famous Brawlers: Max Baer, Rocky Graziano & George Foreman

The In-Fighter

A short reach boxers tends to stay close to his opponents where he lets loose spells of combos to destroy them. A sturdy chin is needed as they're most likely to get hit a lot before getting close enough to hit back. To adopt this style you need to have plenty of aggression to carry out your non-stop assaults, bob & weave defensive technique and most importantly, high levels of stamina and endurance to take in all those punches.

Famous In-Fighters: Jake La Motta, Joe Frazier & Mike Tyson

The Counter Puncher

Defensive oriented punchers who rarely get hit due to their great defenses. A famous line that I often use is " if you can't hit'em, you can't beat'em" bodes well with counter punchers. Speed is crucial as they make their move when opponents misses theirs. To adopt this style you need to be a fast puncher, have quick feet and a sharp technical mind

Famous Counter Punchers: Marvin Hagler, Juan Manuel Marquez, Floyd Mayweather Jr.

The Multi Styled

A boxer who has mastered more than one style and is good at either combining them or switching between them in fights is a deadly fighter. To have the possibility to switch styles helps a boxer counter the threats of his opponents. If one style doesn't work, simple switch to another one or combine them both and exploit the opponents weaknesses. This style requires the same characteristics of the styles chosen with the addition of an intelligent mind

Famous Multi Boxers: Bernard Hopkins

Manny Pacquiao Vs. Miguel Cotto: Post Fight Analysis

Well the big match has come and gone. Many (except for me) were surprised at the way Pacman dispatched Cotto, in what was billed as the fight of the year. Sympathies for Cotto though as he wanted to go out with honor via decision, but the referee made the right choice in stopping the fight, with regards to fighter safety. Lets review the performance of both fighter, and I'll give you a glimpse of what the future might hold for these two warriors.

Post Fight Analysis: Manny Pacquiao




















I'm running out of superlatives for Manny. This fight was easily the best performance in his already remarkable career. This fight was nothing like what we saw against De La Hoya & Hatton, in the sense that Manny did not flurry his opponent with a barrage of non-stop punches, but tore him apart piece by piece, mercilessly. First round aside, Pacquiao dominated the fight impressively, dishing out deadly combos to Cotto, cutting and bruising him till he was literally a staggering flesh wound. The 3rd & 4th round knockdowns clearly showed that at 145lbs, Manny still has the power and ferocity to obliterate opponents. Cotto did sneak punches, jabs & uppercuts in, but Pacman merely shrugged it off, grinned and continued his onslaught. Manny's' stamina baffled the crowd as he showed no signs of fatigue right up to the 12th round, on-route to his TKO and I personally felt that he was only in 4th gear throughout. 10/10 for Pacman

Post Fight Analysis: Miguel Cotto


















Credit to Cotto for his lion like courage & heart throughout the match. No other boxers could ever take that kind of beating. Cotto had a plan, and it all looked bright after the 1st round. He got some good punches in, had a great defence against Mannys' attack and really brought himself well, but that was it. 2nd round onwards he seemed to have lost the strategy as everything went totally wrong. 3rd & 4th saw him go down once in each, taking some menacing looking punches from the Pacman. He looked to have come back from the dead in the 5th, composing himself and taking the fight to Manny, getting some good punches in which looked to have hurt the small Filipino. 6th onwards he lost everything again, and was constantly on the back foot, looking like he was "running away" from the Pacman. My personal opinion was that he could have have gone all the way till the end of 12, but the fight was stop after 55 seconds on the 12, when referee Kenny Bayless decided enough was enough and sounded the bell.

Pacquiao Verdict

Pacman has hinted that he might have 3 fights left before he retires, so we shall definitely see some big name opponents on the cards. A final bout against Manuel Marquez is on the cards, and I see Pacquiao winning that easily via KO. Then he may face either Shane Mosley or the highly anticipated, mouth-watering fight against Mayweather Jr. ( he'll knock both guys out, trust me). Whoever Manny's' future opponents may be, we can be sure that this record breaking, boxing extraordinaire will bring with him the kind of excitement and thrill that has made him a worldwide superstar.

Cotto Verdict

Miguel should not feel incredibly disappointed after this match. he did infact fight the #1 pound for pound boxer and managed to stay on his feet (almost) throughout the match. He is still a big name in the boxing arena and has a few exciting prospective opponents for the future. I feel Cotto should fight Margarito next, and prove to the world that Margarito did win the previous encounter with loaded gloves. If he wins that, then a fight against Shane Mosley might be up. A rematch against Pacquiao is possible although highly unlikely. Cotto is a very good fighter and I give him full credits for all that he has achieve, and see him returning to the spotlight in the near future.