Murray too much for Thaxton!

Thaxton looked good and really up for this fight and he had high hopes of doing the business, which the public and everyone who counts in Boxing all said he couldn't do. It was a case of last chance saloon for the ageing and well loved Norwich fighter. And he reckons he didn't get a proper chance to do himself justice. I can sort of agree with that in so far as he looked good during the first round and easily won it, but by the second just looked sluggish, dropping his left hand and it all seemed to be wrong from that round to the fourth. Murray completely dazed him and took the fight right out of Thaxton's hands and so was called by the ref and I would normally say it's too early but was it? Thaxton looked gone and I know in the past, present and future, heart filled fighters can and will get up to take the win. But Thaxton was being punished and the ref did right by him especially since Murray found his range with the big right hand which by this time was landing consistently on Thaxton since his left hand had dropped. Murray from the start looked composed, so much so that he never once dived in head first which he normally does and usually with great effect. But this just goes to show that he looked at Thaxton as a proper opponent, with vast amounts of respect for the power Thaxton can unleash and still has even though he didn't really get the chance to employ it. I believe if they had let the fight go on it would still be a Murray victory who is now 28-0 but also believe that Thaxton would know he did all he could and therefore be more certain of his future in the sport. As it is I don't believe that Thaxton will end his career just yet but there are few options for him after his fourth loss in five fights, I wish him well though. Murray however can now look to his future and hopefully a well deserved crack at a world title, he is capable, hungry and indeed "well deserved" as his record now shows 28-0.

Good to see a couple of Fury fights as well on ITV4 with Phil Fury, Tyson Fury's cousin throwing vast amounts of hooks, but unfortunately I missed the outcome due to boredom whilst watching him and concentrated on my Poker game instead. I did watch Tyson who looked very much as he always does and was not very exciting but then noticing he had hurt his hand and suddenly he was so much better, taking the fight to his opponent and really hammering at him. I would personally suggest strapping that arm to his face when he tee's off on McDermott again to get a better result. Because as it stands if he fights the same as always McDermott will have have his number and tear him apart.

Still bang on the Money? 1M Pay Per View said he was!

I reckon you can say he is gifted, beyond the fact that he hasn't really tested himself against the best the Welter weight division has to offer. He looked awesome against Marquez and huge! I'm not going to compare it to De La Hoya v Shaquil O'Neil's exhibition fight which was pure comedy due to the size... Actually I am! Mayweather looks normal as a Welter weight and Marquez... Well Marquez looked tiny! He also gave away 4lb's of weight which I'm sure made Mayweather look bigger, but that coupled with the speed and handwork just made Marquez look good. Now most will agree Marquez is amazing! So that just goes to show what this fight was like, although according to the Sky sports commentator's Marquez couldn't do one thing right, which I didn't see for a second. Marquez did plenty right! It's just that he started slow (no real surprise) and lets face it the whole point of moving up in weight is that you carry something whether that is speed, stamina and most importantly gain power to add to your arsenal. I just don't think he had the power everything else was there, just not the power.

It was all a bit suspect when the weigh in announced that Mayweather was 2lb's above the agreed catch weight limit, which he was penalized to pay Marquez an extra $600K thats $300K per lb over the agreed weight. I don't think Mayweather was ever intending to shed the weight in the first place, think on it like this "I'm comfortable at this weight, I make $10M, it's a non title sanctioned fight, I just won't bother". And that is exactly what I or any one else would do if possible. You need every advantage with this game and by saving energy, not draining yourself to make the weight makes you feel strong.

I think Mayweather needs to fight any of these guys to be able to say he is the man - Cotto, Mosely, Williams and of course Pacquiao, these are the fights that will not only make the "Money" (sorry about the pun) but will also give "Money" the credibility. Win, lose or draw just for taking the fights and proving he won't duck anyone. Not saying that he has ducked anyone but a lot of the public see it that way, so why not prove to them he is the real deal!

Back to the Marquez ordeal, had he been able to bring the power up with the weight and also had the tables been turned, say Marquez was the heavier and larger opponent then Mayweather could have been in real trouble. I guess Pacquiao will prove to be the better contender for Mayweather due to his proven speed, power, workrate and the ace up Pacquiao's sleeve Roach! I do hope this fight happens but can you really see Bob Arum signing up Pacquiao to fight Mayweather with the history promotor and fighter both have, not to mention the purse split.

McDermott's Fury(ious) over decision...

And it would seem the BBBoC agree and have rightly enforced a re-match on the two English heavy weights. Fury looked to be troubled during their first encounter and was unable to control the majority of the fight. McDermott's come forward style worked a treat against fury's jab which rarely found it's target. Whilst I thought both of them traded well and hat's off to Fury for going the full ten rounds, it was his first fight above four rounds and to do it against a seasoned veteran like McDermott is good going. But I feel that McDermott looked to be the better on the night and took the early to mid rounds with ease. The latter rounds I would say I'm torn between Fury rallying well and pressuring the tired looking McDermott and the fact that McDermott at this point leaning heavily on Fury had done enough already to win the fight. It was a close call and to leave it all to the referee is a bit of a shambles to say the least, but at least we now have a re-match due for December which I still tout Fury to win, especially since he now has the experience and will to adapt to the one trick pony in McDermott.

Next time round we are all expecting a WAR!

Someone call "911" I just got mugged!

Well what can I say? I thought by first impressions Diaz would swarm all over Malignaggi and cause him some real problems. But Malignaggi looked really comfortable, keeping his distance, working the jab and throwing the most right handers I've seen from him in ages. Diaz as always fought like a true warrior and didn't let up but just couldn't apply much power to what connected. There was an occasion in the 6th-7th round where Diaz scored big and to be honest that really could of been the decider points wise. I personally would have said call it a draw or slightly edge it to Diaz for the middle rounds with his considerable cuts, but that said I don't really think he deserved it, as I said before Malignaggi looked comfortable and to a certain degree in control of the fight. The most disturbing thing about the whole incident was the scoring of 10 rounds to 2 in Diaz's favour I mean were these people even watching the same fight that I was? I feel for Malignaggi I really do and my money was on Diaz all the way but this is just a complete disgrace.

Plain sailing for Roy "Captain Hook" Jones Jnr.

I have to admit I expected a tougher night for Jones, with his rival Lacy looking hungry again for a title clash but I guess that was just a fools notion on my part. Jones came out of his corner and gave an impressive and entertaining account of himself, drawing Lacy close whilst using the ropes as a slingshot and idly talking to the crowds. Some may take this as Lacy is completely spent, has nothing left to offer the sport and to be honest it certainly appears that way. No matter what Lacy threw at Jones it did nothing to trouble the six time world champion, if he threw from outside Jones moved and countered, if he threw inside Jones took it, evaded it and generally made it look a little too easy. The fact that 40 year old Jones whilst coming forward would have his chin out and still be confident that he could avoid 32 year old Lacy's signature "left hook" and talk up the crowd when it suited him whilst delivering powerful combinations with superb hand speed.

To sum up Roy seems to be back and I would enjoy seeing some further success against a couple more fighters, preferably decent ones anyway! Before giving us a final showdown with the only viable opponent the "executioner" Bernard Hopkins. On Lacy there isn't much I can really say except that he hasn't been the same since Calzaghe tore him apart in 2006, but never count a Boxer out until the Heart is gone and Lacy still has plenty of it.

Boxing is most certainly all about the Money!

I would like to have reported on the Jones v Lacy fight but unfortunately I have not been able to watch it so that may have to wait, but as I understand it Jones took Lacy apart in what would seem to be alike to his glory days! Proving that "Captain Hook" has still got it!

As the title to this addition suggests I have a gripe about how expensive the viewing experience is for Boxing and I don't mean just PPV but also the live events. I just looked at the pricing for three different events all within the UK and only one of those is a world title fight, whilst the other two are English and British titles. Now I do appreciate the sport no end but minimum price in excess of £35.00 per ticket is somewhat aggravating especially when you look at the class of events themselves. For the English heavyweight title we have John McDermott and Tyson Fury... Now is it me or is that a seriously limited fight for the money your laying down? Next up is John Murray and John Thaxton for the British Lightweight title and let's face it Murray stupidly gave that away by not making the weight against Scott Lawton... Oh and again over £35.00 of your hard earned cash! The only saving grace is that the start of the "Super Six" tournament with Carl Froch and Andre Dirrell begins with a world title on the line, but here is the good part. You guessed it again priced at over £35.00! Which to me seems a little bit on the cheap side of things compared to paying the same for an inexperienced lad against a boring pro for the English title and a British title with a rising star and a fading, memorable and well loved character. So why is it that all these fights start their pricing at the same rate I wonder? No I really do! Because the last time I checked it takes a lot more to get a world title than an English or British one, so based on that alone I would mark up the world title ticket to at least £40.00 before booking fee's etc. I payed over £50.00 for a Khan v Barrera ticket and that wasn't for a world title either, but you would expect a hefty sum for the venue, two big name fighters and a great selection of bouts ensuring an enjoyable under card.

It really has begun to annoy me that titles and names mean very little when it comes down to pricing an event, especially for the cheaper seats.

Here is the link anyway to these events which no doubt I will attend at least one of them, probably the Carl Froch v Andre Dirrell fight in Nottingham which seems the best value to me.

http://www.hennessysports.com/events.htm

It really is days like today that I think to be an owner of a venue or promoter would have been a very lucrative career choice!

The fight that everyone is talking about?

I and many others have heard quite a few people ranting and raving about how good it would be for Mayweather and Pacquiao to clash in Vegas and I'm in full agreement. But I'm also of the mind that to see Mayweather and Marquez (Pacquiao's old super featherweight rival) battle it out is equally good, if not for the tactically marvelous fight that it will be, then as a prerequisite to the victor facing Pacquiao or Cotto after their 14th November clash.

Mayweather is a Boxing genius! Love him, hate him or sitting on the flamboyant pink Fence you have to marvel at his skills and wonder if he really is the (self proclaimed) best in the business. The way he sits on his back foot, chin tucked into his right shoulder using excellent foot work to move in and out of range of any adversary, to finally explode a few surgically precise bombs to his foe's Head... It truly is great! But that been all said and done he can make for the most dull of fights, dancing out of range by essentially running away (albeit with style) and then rarely trading blows except when vital.

Marquez however is one of those Mexican greats who at 35 is no spring chicken, but exudes experience and tactical genius in spades! Oh and did I mention he can pack a real, hard and precise punch! Sorry that is to say he can also counter with the best of them and in flurries! He is however a late starter and has only been tested and enjoyed his success at the lower weights so moving up to a catch weight nearing welterweight is going to be a real test on it's own, I personally hope he can carry the weight well (as Pacquiao has) and hopefully add some more power to his punches without losing anything else.

It will make for an excellent fight which even if it is seemingly a little one sided at the moment in Mayweather's favour. I do think Marquez can cause problems for Mayweather who being out of the fight game for nearly two years might be considered a little "ring rusty", In my opinion I can see Mayweather taking the win late on with a cut opened up above Marquez's eye. This is all hypothetical of course but maybe, just maybe Marquez could possibly start early applying constant pressure and using his vast experience to avoid being drawn into Mayweather's solid rights, winning rounds consistently and taking the fight by a split decision. Remember Marquez lost once to Pacquiao (current pound 4 pound king) who is in no doubt an amazingly fast and powerful fighter and drew with him once also, which tells me that Marquez can definitely hold his own with the best in the business. His most recent fight with fellow Mexican Juan "Baby Bull" Diaz was amazing and the stuff of modern day legends, if he can reproduce a performance at the new weight we may well see a rubber match called with Pacquiao should he beat Cotto.

Will "Money" Mayweather prove he still has what it takes to be unbeaten? Or will "Dinamita" Marquez show us all he's still destined for greatness? I guess we will all have to wait and see what the outcome is on 19th September, Can't wait!

Moving on to the Pacquiao - Cotto fight I predict a great night, full of all the thrills of Fillipino and Puerto Rican pride at stake. It could be like the recent bout between Fillipino Gerry Penalosa and Puerto Rican Juan Manuel Lopez (I do hope it's not so one sided on either party though) concerning national pride that is.

Pacquiao the current pound 4 pound king against another of the top ten pound 4 pounder's Cotto is going to be an immense action packed battle with all the makings of future commentators reminiscing back to the by gone days when Pacquiao and Cotto entertained the world for one night only... And what a night it will be!
Both fighters are brilliant and Cotto with only one loss to a disgraced Antonio Margarito who had suspect gloves is a real warrior who will fight to the finish regardless of whether he looks like Gatti or Ward after their famous trilogy. He can box clever and has body shots that can rock or take out a Boxer in one blow if they don't see it coming.
Pacquiao is as I have said earlier amazing and just seems to keep getting better and better, all thanks to his trainer Mr Roach who is quite possibly the best trainer going but he also gets the potentially best fighters to work with.

I would personally advise to lay money on Pacquiao but you never know there could be an upset as Pacquiao has been stopped on two occasions and a split decision, with a couple of draws! the 14th November will prove all though and good luck to both of them, two of the best in the business!

Breaking News: Roger Mayweather faces charges after attacking a female Boxer.

The Uncle of Floyd Mayweather Jnr is reported to have attacked a female Boxer whom he used to train, apparently punching to the ribs and strangling her. This is not the first time this has happened with Roger and it has affected Mayweather Jnr in that his uncle was in prison during one of his fights and so had to battle alone.

This in my eyes is utterly despicable and Roger should be ashamed of himself, I wonder if this will affect "money" when he faces off against Marquez?

Witter the best of light welterweight?

Junior Witter was touting himself as the best Britain had to offer in the light welter division and in recent years was constantly calling out fellow light welter Ricky Hatton for a showdown. Now he is a slippery little Devil and he has done very well for himself but last Saturdays bout saw him come up short against Devon Alexander when he failed to come out of his corner for the ninth round. This fight was for the vacant WBC belt that witter lost last year to Tim Bradley, Alexander looked the better man on the night and rocked the switch hitting Witter plenty of times, apparently so much so that by the time the bell rang announcing the ninth round Witter was done. Witter has later claimed that it was all down to an Elbow injury to his right arm from the fourth round but I must have failed to see this.

Witter also claimed to be up for a future bout with newly crowned light welter champion Amir Khan, if Khan won his debut in the light welterweight division for a world championship belt. And as it happened he did but I fail to see Witter getting a shot at that title now, It's a shame really that he didn't pull it off, all things considered it could have been a good fight.

Well while Witter figures out what went wrong and decides on his future plans we can all look forward to the next few months of Boxing which I might add will be awesome! Check out my next post for the line up of the fights I will most certainly be watching.

First up who is "the greatest"?

Now this is a real tricky subject mainly because you always look at different weight divisions and then have to take a step back and think of the obvious like "Ali was a heavyweight!" which is not really comparable to say Roy Jones Jnr, who by all accounts fought at numerous weight divisions and was world champion at each of those weights to boot.
So the way I look at this along with many others is that you need the lb4lb ratings to confirm who really is "the greatest!" but recent or past greats are equally difficult to compare due to the way current promoters "protect" their fighters include this with nutrician, training techniques and even tactics that have all been developed and modernized. I mean if Ali were 22 years old now in 2009 and he was just starting out he truly would be the greatest of this era but people would always say "oh but you put him up against Frazier 30 - 40 years ago and he would have been beaten like a Dog!" and rightly so because that's the way we view heavyweight contenders now, like David Haye the British and world cruiserweight champ, he unified some belts and moved on up to heavyweight which is great for British Boxing since the heavyweight division has gone somewhat downhill of late and is mainly dominated by eastern European fighters who I might add are huge! But regardless of how good he is or becomes, Ali would always be the better in most if not all peoples eyes.

So all this in mind the lb4lb system is what we have to judge the best at the time provided they don't retire. And as far as "the greatest" goes I think we can only place them from an era of greatness, maybe just the decades in which those fighters dominated the sport. From that point of view Roy Jones Jnr dominated the nineties in the middelweight to light heavyweight divisions and was crowned lb4lb king for that. But I seem to remember that Oscar De La Hoya was also in the forerunners of that era, also crowned lb4lb king at a similar time in different weight classes to Jones Jnr except middleweight, I guess that the issue is probably just too difficult to piece together without the experts throwing every last piece of knowledge they have at you.

I will no doubt do a little more research and see what I can come up with, I'm certain many people will want to debate this as it's always a good subject.

Please be gentle this is my first Blog!

Well I thought I would get started by basically introducing myself, I'm Richard although most of my friends call me Bob, Bobby and the list goes on... No it really does! Anyway I currently live in Manchester working for our nations good ol' public sector with nothing glamorous of note within my job really, but it pays the bills.

I have been a life long Boxing fan but had a long spell of detatchment from the "sweet science" which to be perfectly honest has left me wondering why? So this in mind I will hopefully find the answer as I peruse the Boxing World and what it has to offer.

Well I really look forward to trying to find out just who is the greatest Boxer of all time and which was probably the greatest bout of all time as well.

"I'm the best. I just haven't played yet." Ali, On playing golf