Month: November 2016

2016 ….A Boxing fans Review 

So as 2016 draws a to close what has been the hi-light of this years boxing calendar?. If I’m brutally honest the majority of 2016 has been poor for fight fans, yes we got to see GGG come over to the UK which was great for fight fans over here to see the man himself but the planned fight against Chris Eubank Jnr fell through which seen the Middleweight superstar pitted against Kel Brook the Welterweight IBF World Champion so for me this fight was to one sided from the start. We where also expecting Fury/Klitschko 2 but due problems outside the ring this fight never materialised and to be quite frank that has been the story of the year far to often. We did have a great fight recently between Ward/Kovalev which was a tactical masterclass from both which divided the boxing community trying to pick a winner, definitely a great fight but fight of the year ,no thanks .

 For me there is only one fight worthy of the title “Fight of the Year” and that was the all Mexican encounter between Orlando Solido and Francisco Vargas  for the WBC Super Featherweight title .My god this was a hell of a battle,a fight that if we seen more of ,boxing would be in a much healthier position today .From the first round there was no settling in by either man,they just both went for it, it was one of those fights that I’m not sure either boxer fully recover from and really hope 2017 delivers part 2 ,well if Vargas’s face ever recovers from the bloody mess it was at the end Of this classic . Now some of you might be wondering why you missed this fight ,well it just so happens the powers that be really dropped the ball when Sky sports and Boxnation both decided not to cover the fight which had me going to dark places to try and find a live stream to catch it , but not to worry the full fight is now on YouTube complete with Mexican commentary so no need to worry about commentators swaying how you may call the fight so if you haven’t seen you have to go check it out .

And that is pretty much 2016 for you,this has been a year when the sports superstars have really failed to deliver but fear not, 2016 is ending with on a high and with Frampton/Santa Cruz 2 all set along with Garcia/Thurman along with the promise of AJ/Klitschko and AJ/Wilder being touted it seem the boxing gods have heard us and they are looking like they are gonna make 2017 a year to remember for the sport .

Dino 

Ward V Kovalev …A modern day Hagler v Leonard 

Well now that everyone calmed down from the Ward/Kovalev fight what can we really say to review and recap on what i thought was a great fight which has divided the boxing comunity down the middle .
From the off i will just say i thought Andre Ward DID DO ENOUGH to win the fight after a very tricky start , which saw him have to get up from the canvas and dig deep to find that skill he has that virtually saw him take Sergey Kovalev’s strengths away from him,but if the descision went the other way i could have seen why ,it really was that close  .

The old cliche ‘styles make fights’ works both ways,this one was not a classic by any stretch of the imagination but my god it was so intriguing, i was mesmerised by it .Sitting there and watching Kovalev give Ward ,a master at spoiling, so much trouble from the first round where he shook Ward with a jab which threw Wards head back,and from that point you could see Ward’s respect for Kovalev’s bone crushing power. That jab in the first seemed to put Ward off his gameplan which lead to Kovalev sending Ward to the floor, after Ward had mistimed a one,two  . For me the most important round of the fight was the third, here Ward put a stop to the rot and had clearly took in Vigil Hunter’s advice about putting the knockdown to the back of his mind and start implementing his own gameplan. Ward got off a few of his own on this round which for me gave him in the edge, Infact I gave ward the next three rounds but I could totally understand anyone who might have gone the other way,it truly was a fight where it depends on what you like .

From the middle,until the end of the fight,I have a problem and maybe a little criticism toward Kovalev and his corner. Although I had Ward up at this point, I thought Kovalev was just pacing himself for a big finish but no I think from the sixth there was real signs Kovalev was feeling the pace and wards stiff jabs to the  body where certainly taking there toll  but more than that Kovalev seemed to let Ward take control of the fight, he let Ward back in and his his corner didn’t advise him to start cutting the ring off and force Ward to exchange ,instead Kovalev just followed allowing Ward out of tricky situations far to easily . As Ward won more and more of the  battles Kovalev ,the power house seemed to shrink in stature,he needed advice on how to change it up the way Ward was getting frm Hunter and to be honest he never got it ,now don’t get me wrong he was still doing a good job but you could certainly see doubt set into the big Russian .

Now in my “Big fight preview” I had said I had my doubts about Kovalev’s gas tank and round about the tenth (a round I gave to Kovalev) something seemed to be missing from Kovalev’s punches,also when Ward was getting him in the clinches, Ward seemed to have more strength than Kovalev ,who gave as good as he got in the earlier rounds in the clinch but by the end it seemed Ward had the power not Kovalev .

All in all what a fight it was and really it was to close to pick a definitive winner,it really reminded me of  Hagler/Leanord for picking a winner it’s so subjective to each person. This must go to the rematch and I for one would love them to do it all again, it was a great day for the sport, two guys at there best pushing each other to places neither had been before, and who knows, if Kovalev makes a few tweaks to his gameplan there’s no reason why he wouldn’t  win and set up a trilogy 

Dino @DJayboxingblog

Andre Ward vs Sergey Kovalev Preview/Prediction 

So the big one is nearly here, Andre Ward will take on Sergey Kovalev in the biggest fight of the year by far and I for one cannot wait and any real fight fan must feel the same way. I have been watching every interview from training camps,I’ve watched every video to try and get any clues of either fighter not preparing properly or struggling with anything but I’m sure you will all be glad to hear that going into the wynd down part of camp both camps are 100% fit and happy with how there preparation have went …..this really is two guys at the top of there game and and maybe even the best in the sport just now .

I had my concerns about Wards commitment to this fight after a very poor tune up then a no show at a press conference but after hearing Ward talk about this fight he sounds like a man with fire in the belly and a guy out to prove any doubters wrong ,people who might think he’s past his best . Listening to Ward you hear a man with the upmost respect for kovolev and acknowledged he will need to be at his best to stop him as one big hit could end Wards night . Ward has been quite open that he has not done to much different to prepare for Kovalev and after watching tapes of his fights with his trainer and mentor Virgil Hunter they think they have there strategy picked for the fight but that’s as much as he is willing to give away. Ward does look in fantastic shape but in his last fight he didn’t look the Andre Ward we all know and love, his feet looked slows and didn’t even try to get into those angles that destroyed Froch, after taking 2 years out the ring the question still stands is Andre Ward past his best.

Kovalev is a guy at the very top of his game which really makes this fight so mouth watering. With his killer power Kovolev will always have the punchers chance but more than that Kovalev has identified that he has to become a more all round boxer . His tune up fight against Chilemba was enjoyable to watch altho I did see a lot of people question Kovalev’s comitment to the fight . I think what people forget is that Chilemba is an awkward top 10 fighter, he is very hard to look good against and my god he took some hammer blows from kovolev to take the fight the full distance. I said in our blog at the time this was a great tune up to prepare for Ward as Kovalev had to try something different , he actually had to show he wasn’t just a power house but a boxer aswell . Now I have not seen any insider stuff from Kovalev’s training camp but have heard him say he need to mix up the styles to keep Ward guessing to prevent Ward spoiling. Now against Chilemba I did notice Kovalev seemed to gas from about round 9 and that has raised big question marks with me as to his gas tank, can he go against an elite boxer like ward for 12 rounds …..if I’m honest I’m not so sure . 

Prediction : well anyone who can be confident on there pick is a liar or an idiot this fight is that close . My head just can’t seem to get past Ward , his ability to adapt to any situation and style will probably get him thru this and see him win on the cards . I also think if it goes to the card the judges will be kinder to Ward than Kovalev but let’s not take anything away from Kovalev he has a better chance than anyone of showing up Ward and that’s why this fight is so special. 

Dino (@DJayBoxingBlog)