BOXING: taylor-spinks / miranda-pavlik

[marsyas]

oh yeah i think it said hopkins vs wright in july ?
thats interesting...

[lone wolf]

No worries man. It's a very good site. I didn't see the Uma fight but I know he was pretty bad, and has been not exactly on top form the last few.

I know what you mean about TAKING the title, however for me Taylor didn't look like a Champion trying to DEFEND his title, so in which case he could have had whatever came to him. I don't know where you live, but here in the UK all the ex pro's reckoned that it could have gone either way. Glenn McCrory had Spinks up by 1. Opinions at the end of the day innit

I really want him to face Calzaghe later in the year.

Yeah Hopkins vs Wright would be good. It's on the 21/07/07.

Here's another good factual site: http://www.boxrec.com/index.php

[joenicedj]

i want to see andre berto fight a real contender soon

Wouldn't you know it -- Berto was the "dark match". The "dark match" is the fight that's not on TV. Berto won easily....by KO.

as far as last nights fights go...

pavlik v miranda was a brawl thats it. i know that is exciting to watch, but it really doesnt amaze me. miranda looked like shit, couldnt defend for nothing. and pavlik was close to throwing himself out, but the fact that miranda couldnt defend any right hand that pavlik threw was insane.
if miranda was a "smarter" fighter it would have been a very different story.

Agreed. earlier in this thread, i said that "you didnt know what you were going to get" with Miranda. Last night -- he caught a steady diet of right hands. Pavlik wasnt great defensively, but his punches were flawless. While Miranda was throwing looping punches, Pavlik was shooting straight shots and used his jab to perfection. The second knockdown was textbook. Jab -- right hand. Miranda didnt see either punch. I love Steve Smoger -- last night's referee. He's been involved in some huge fights, most notably, Hopkins - Trinidad and a personal favorite fight of mine, Jirov v Toney. The fight shouldnt have gone into the 6th round. After the second knockdown, the fight should have been stopped. Miranda had no legs and no defense for anything Pavlik was throwing.

the spinks v taylor fight was interesting.
i could see why it was a letdown to most fans of the sport.
but if u watched the last fight taylor fought against uma, where he looked ridiculous throwing haymakers and trying to knock him out, you would see that taylor didnt want too look like that again. and what could he really have done against spinx? spinx was way faster and much more defensive minded...all he did was run around and occasionally threw a combination.
i am a firm believer that u have to TAKE the belt away from a champion, and spinx did not come close to taking the belt away from taylor.

Remember what i typed earlier in the thread?

I think this is a difficult fight for Taylor because of Spinks' southpaw stance. Taylor isnt technically sound and he's possesses poor fundamentals. You're not going to confuse him with JM Marquez or Mayweather. Taylor swings wide right hands and that will leave opportunities for Spinks to land the left hand lead. The question -- will those punches have enough steam to do any sort of damage? Spinks is noticeably smaller than Taylor.

Here we go. The first two rounds, which Spinks clearly won, was exactly what i discussed earlier on. Taylor got off balance and started eating left hands. Spinks' punches didnt have the starch needed to put Taylor on the seat of his pants. After last night's performance, Spinks is on the list of "guys i don't want to fight". He's what Winky Wright was a few years ago. Tough defensively, a slick boxer and a guy that will make you look bad in the ring. Spinks lost this fight because of Taylor's size. Taylor made the bout physical, although his punch output was curtailed by Spinks' defense and upper body movement. Personally -- I thought Taylor won, but only by two or three rounds.

i think the bigger question here, is taylor gonna skip out out on pavlik and move upto possibly fight calzaghe? or is he going to hang around and cement his legacy at this weightclass?

Taylor wants no parts of Joe Calzaghe. The Welshman would beat Taylor's ass. Before that fight happens, Calzaghe - Kessler has to take place.

If Taylor is gonna fight anyone else at middleweight, he needs either Pavlik or a rematch against Winky Wright. I believe Winky beat Taylor -- and if the chance comes again, you'll see the same result. Part of the reason the rematch hasnt happened -- money. Winky isnt getting a 50/50 split of the cash, which he rightly deserves. Plus, Taylor doesnt want to fight him again, because Winky made him look terrible and Taylor doesnt need a third bad showing in the ring.

[marsyas]

smoger is the man, for sure.
let em fight !!

and yes, look forward to berto facing some real comp !!