Author: Steven Donnell

Views on upcoming fights in UK and world scene

Is Brook Ducking Spence ?

“Dodge, duck ,dip ,dive and dodge”these famous words of dodgeball Guru Patches O’Houlihan seems to have been adopted by IBF welterweight world champion Kel Brook when it comes to facing his manditory Errol Spence Jnr  .

For well over a year now, I’ve been shouting to anyone who would listen that this fight needs to be made. It did look like it was going to happen when Spence beat Chris Aligieri (very convincingly with a 5th  round stoppage) then called out Brook.  Now with Brook having a long lay off with injury, then coming back to defend his strap against Kevin Bizier, this looked like a great a fight and at the right time for both. As loud as Spence shouted, the silence from Brook was deafening . Then we had Eddie Hearn say in an interview “No matter how loud Spence shouts for the fight behind closed doors him and his people don’t want it, we would have no problem making the fight otherwise.”

Now anyone who has watched Spence over the years knows this is a down right lie, the kid has always looked to challenge himself and move up as fast as possible. As for Kel Brook, he has one world level win against Shawn Porter to his name, which was in August 2014, and although that was great win for Brook it was a close fight, in fact I know a few people who scored it the other way. Now Brook was supposed to fight Jessie Vargas which would have been fine with me but then we find out Brook never actually signed to fight Vargas in a unification fight, instead he elected to fight P4P superstar GGG at middleweight. Now this was ballsy, as he didn’t really have a chance in the fight or was it? Brook went into that fight knowing no matter what, he had a pass and not only that but his IBF title was safe at home where he likes it .

Now onto this week, we finally see Errol Spence Jnr brought up in an interview with Brook as the IBF have ordered him to fight the Spence fight next. As it turns out Brook only wants big paydays if he’s to bother making the weight but I can’t imagine he got paid big cash to fight Bizier. The massive stadium fight with Amir Khan is on for the end of the year, but Khan says “only if he fight Spence first.”

I was once a big Kel Brook fan, right the way up to the Porter fight. I thought Brook might just be in top 3 welterweights in the division but as it turns out Brook getting his hands on that IBF title was the worst thing that could have happened for the division, and for his fans . He didn’t want to go on the road to get the big names like Garcia or Thurman, he would rather stay in UK and hold the title hostage becoming an irrelivence . If I am being honest, I cannot see this Brook/Spence fight happening now which is a real shame as it would be a great fight. I can however, see Brook going up to 154lbs to try his luck .

Steven Donnell

Twitter-@dinobhoy86 @Djayboxingblog

 

The Weeknds Review ,Davis/Pedraza + DeGale/Jack 

well what a way to kick off the year,we where promised a big night by Floyd Mayweather and Eddie Hearn and we weren’t disappointed .

As a starter before the main course we had Jose Pedraza v Gervonta Davis for the IBF  super-featherweight title , a fight i had been intrigued by as it was my first time seeing Davis after hearing he was a top prospect but against Pedraza he was testing himself at a whole new level, refreshing for a lad of just 22 . Right from round one Davis looked to settle quickly, also sending a warning shot to Pedraza with a beautiful upper cut that he had came to win. As the early rounds went by anytime Pedraza tried to get his jab working he would be caught with by Davis ,backing him up ,Pedraza just couldn’t read these awkward shots from Davis .It looked as if Pedraza was trying to let Davis gas himself , which for me was crazy and letting the youngster build up an early lead, whilst landing some big shots . By round four Davis was still unloading and obviously trying to finish this one early but now Pedraza was having his success landing on Davis body also postuturing at every opportunity trying to get under Davis skin .At the halfway mark it looked as if Pedraza had sussed he could get to Davis on the inside and had some success there, but it didnt take this talented youngster long to work it out and he really shook Pedraza up with a beautiful left hook to the body then another to the head , by now Pedraza must have known this was slipping away. The victory came for Davis in the seventh,by this point there was very little coming back from Pedraza . Davis was ruthless with his bodyshots then switching to the head with unbelievable accuracy and it all eventually became to much as Davis sent Pedraza to the canvas thru the ropes and altho he made it to his feet the ref has seen enough . What a performance from this lad and what a way to announce yourself to the world, on this evidence there is plenty to come from Gervonta Davis and i can’t wait to see him in action again .

Time for the Main event, Badou Jack v James DeGale for the IBF and WBC super middleweight titles . In my preview i had picked DeGale saying he would have to much skill for Jack , and as the fight started thats how i looked like it would turn out . DeGale start quick and was moving well in the opening round against a cautious looking Jack . going into the last 30 seconds of the round DeGale sent Jack to the ground with a well timed over hand left which caught Jack off guard , even tho Jack was up quickly and didnt look hurt, it was a wake up call that he was going to have to slow DeGale down . Regaining his composure in the second round, Jack started to turn the screw by the third, landing some nice bodyshots which would pay back in dividends towards the end of the . Going into the middle rounds it was Jack who was really establishing himself , his bodyshops landing with great power and accuracy which was noticeably  taking the wind out of DeGale . When DeGale was landing most of his work seemed to be coming off Jacks gloves and arms , DeGale seemed to be taking a lot shots flush which was snapping his head back whilst only landing tapping jabs . Before this fight i had said i think DeGale could get to Jack on the inside , but it was Jack who looked the better and landing big on the inside . At round nine DeGale had to try and stop this onslaught from Jack and DeGale did show his class with a big round but altho he was landing more ,the quality of Jacks work was far superior. This late rally from DeGale set us up  for a nail biting finish,even tho Jack had dominated most of the fight that knock down in the first round could prove to be the difference . As both came out there corners it was clear that DeGale was a spent force , his face was in a hell of a mess and his legs looked heavy , in contrast Jack as ever was there showing no signs of slowing .After trading some early blows you could see Jack had lost respect for any power DeGale had and was ready to lay it on him hard . Jacks Hard work paid off sending DeGale to the canvas, as DeGale got up you could see he needed the bell, he had nothing left to give and was in survival mode as the relentless Jack went looking for the KO , the end came with both going toe to toe in the middle of the ring , what a fight this was from start to finish . For me there was only one winner, the tempo,quality and accuracy of Jacks work was far better than DeGales and when the judges scored it a majority draw i couldn’t help but feel for Badou Jack ,it was a close fight but Jack for me was the clear winner .

Steven Donnell

DeGale v Jack Preview and Prediction

Well folks its nearly time to kick off a great start to to 2017 with a mouthwatering unification fight between IBF Super middleweight champion James DeGale and WBC champion Badou Jack, in Brooklyn .

For me, James DeGale is the most underated boxer in the UK today. Not only  did DeGale pick his IBF title up on the road against Andre Dirrell, this will also be his third time defending it away from home, following tough tests against Lucian Bute and Porky Medina. On his day, DeGale is brilliant to watch. There are few that can switch from southpaw to orthodox as naturally as he can and these switches open up angles for DeGale to land his lightening quick combinations, and when it comes off, it really is a joy to watch. DeGale lacks power but after sending Dirrell to the canvas twice, he did prove that his timing can make up for that. However on DeGale’s last outing against Porky Medina he had a howler for his high standards. Medina’s high volume punching and constant pressure seemed to throw DeGale, resulting in him eating some big shots and spending most of the night fighting off the ropes, as well as long periods covering and tying up. Although his skills got him the victory on the cards, it was far too close for comfort.     Badou Jack has a totally different style to DeGale. Jack is really one of those guys with limited ability but what he can do, he does very well. When Jack fought Groves, he bossed Groves from start to finish also sending Groves to the canvas in stand out perfromance from Jack . His judgement of distance really was superb in that fight, he completely nulified Groves attacks before he could get inside (to expose what I suspect is his achilles heel). It really was a great performance against a George Groves that has given James DeGale his only loss to date. In Jack’s last fight against Lucian Bute, he was dragged into a fight that i didn’t think he had in him. Bute (as he did with DeGale), came for a war but in fairness to Jack, he stood up and showed heart and grit that I’ve never seen from him before in a very entertaining  fight that finished a fair draw .

Prediction: For this fight i just can’t see past James DeGale. I have a feeling Jack might just be taylor made for him. I think the way DeGale works his way inside will see him take this fight on the cards if not by a late stoppage. DeGale does have flaws that Jack has to exploit and Jack can’t let DeGale dictate the pace at which he fights. One big critisim of DeGale is he takes to much time off during the fight and as Medina showed , he can be got at and put off his stride . this should be good, intruiging fight .

Steven Donnell

@Dinobhoy86   @DJayBoxingBlog 

Sneaky Russian Povetkin and his Freakshow fight

Now i have been thinking of how i am going to go about writing this piece on a fight i have no interest in due to it showing massive flaws in boxing and it was taking part in a country that is embaressing most sports at the minute   .In Russia we where supposed to see Alexander Povetkin take on Bermane Stiverne for the intirim WBC Heavyweight  title, a fight i had joked about in the asylum writers chat should be good as both men will be like super humans with the amount of juice they will be pumping into themselves . Fast Foward a few hours and it was announced by the WBC they would not be sanctioning the fight as Povetkin had tested positive for muscle-building substance ostarine ,his second failed drug test this year, soon after it emerged that Stiverne would not be taking part in the fight now  it looked like Povetkin would not be fighting as he only had 24hrs to find a replacement …..enter Johann Duhaupas.

When i was watching this fight all that kept going thru my mind was ‘why am i watching this freakshow’ , i mean the thing was that disorginised that Duhaupas was in the ring with running shoes on,not that that made any diffrence because how prepared can you be on 24hr notice anyway . Duhaupas looked big and flabby,he didnt look like a guy who stays in shape between fights . The fight was only ever going to end one way and it came at the end of the sixth round, a lapse in concentration by Duhaupas saw him hit by three big shots which knocked him flat on his back out cold, was a great KO if not a valid one in my book .

Now that brief overview is as much time as I’m willing to give to the fight but there is something else i want to put out there thats been eating away at me. Why was Povetkin allowed to fight anyway ? . This is his second failed drug test this year, this guy shouldn’t be allowed near an event until he has proved himself innocent , we can’t have guys failing drug tests then going on and picking up a wage and winning a fight the next day, there has to be a deterant for cheats. Maybe Povetkin would think twice about doping if he was facing ruin finaccially due to lawsuits and massive bans but lets simplify this even more to a human level, ostarine is a muscle builder,for me that is the same as loading your gloves, if true he was trying to gain an advantage that would directly cause major damage to his oponent and that for me is the worst kind of cheat .

Povetkin KO
Steven Donnell @dinobhoy86 or @DJayboxingblog

Parker vs Ruiz “is Parker a hype job”

This fight was a great change of pace for us over here in the UK (something I could definitely get used to). Up and out of bed at 9.30 AM on Saturday morning. Sober, fresh and ready to watch the highly rated Joseph Parker take on Andy Ruiz (a man who might not look like a professional athlete but is still talented all the same) for the WBO World Title that had been stripped from Tyson Fury .

The last time I had watched Parker I wasn’t to impressed if I’m honest, but I was willing to put it down to just one of those nights that every boxer has once in a while. I was looking forward to seeing how he coped with Ruiz, and when the fight got started, his quick hands, power and movement looked as if it was going to be big a task for the American. As Parker came out for the second round he must have been thinking the same as me, and if he was thinking like that, he wouldn’t be for long. Ruiz had been told to throw solid jabs to Parkers midriff and that is exactly what he done, easily taking the second and the third round and as his shots were landing, you could see Parker wince. Going into the middle rounds, Parker was noticeably reluctant to engage, as any time he did, Ruiz was getting the better shots in. The middle rounds is where the fight was won in my opinion. Parker was still not engaging or allowing Ruiz to tie him up, and was using those fast hands of his to establish his jab perfectly, but the way Andy Ruiz was just letting the shots land before following Parker, rather than closing him off and tying him up. He needed to draw Parker out his comfort zone and into a fight, where Ruiz looked too much for the big Kiwi .You could tell Ruiz had never been 12 rounds before. He looked wary of closing Parker down, as he might gas going into the later rounds and it was this decision that I believe cost him this fight . This was a close fight and going into the 10th I had parker up by two rounds, but in the 10th you got the feeling that the tide was starting to turn towards Andy Ruiz. Surprisingly, it was Parker who was slowing up and Ruiz was finding it easier to get in range (it even looked like he shook Parker up on the bell). I gave Ruiz rounds 10 and 11, making the last round vital, which you had to give to Parker who went back to his jab and run tactic to stop the rot .

As it went to the judges cards, I couldn’t help but think that with Parker being the local lad, he would be up by 7 rounds or something crazy like that. Watching fights in the UK can do that to a person, but when the first card came in as a draw, you knew there wasn’t going to be any funny business here. The other two judges gave it to Parker 115-113 and you couldn’t really argue with any of the cards, however I couldn’t help but think that if Ruiz just had more faith in his gas tank, then there would have been a big upset in New Zealand. The middle rounds hurt Ruiz as Parker did not win those rounds, as much as Ruiz gave him them .

So to sum it up, again Andy Ruiz was a pleasant surprise. For a guy carrying so much excess fat, he really can shift (and by the looks of it can go 12 rounds no problem), but is he world level? Well, I wouldn’t go that far just yet but he is a decent prospect. As for Joseph Parker, I was underwhelmed to say the least. He didn’t win this fight by being a better boxer, he won this fight by being a taller person. The jury might still be out for me with Parker but I am leaning towards him being nothing more than a hype job when it comes to fighting at world level.

Steven Donnell @Dinobhoy86

Haye v Bellew : what a circus 

“I’m the money fight” he said “I’m the money fight ” and with that my fucking soul was destroyed. No folks this isn’t an extract from Floyd Mayweather memoirs,this was how far into the circus that is David Haye V Tony Bellew fight presser I was willing to go. Now let’s be honest with Bellew,Hearn and Haye all at one table this was always going to be a cringeworthy event but nothing could prepare me for what was unfolding. 

At the start we had the obligatory droning on of Eddie Hearn telling half truths mixed with shite, followed by a personal attack by David Haye on Hearn (which I did find rather entertaining) to which super Tony B jumps to his PIMPS defence which kicks off the worst kind of little girl argument you could imagine …..a little girl argument involving a scouser .

Now as I’m  writing this Iam still angry so might come across a bit harsh but I need to vent somewhere as the wife’s stopped listening to me. The worst bit of the full thing wasn’t David Haye all but gurenteeing ppv sales are massive with a well choreographed  left hook as the pair squared up, no the worst bit for me was Tony Bellew ,a man who was skooled by Chilemba started shouting “I’m the money fight” and then went on to talk about Hayes CV and shout he’s a world champion,due to his hostage WBC cruiserweight world title , it shows the shamelessness of the guy when he win a vacant title then defends it against a Doorman in Flores and now moving up to fight Haye so his titles safe and out of the reach of any mandatory challenger at cruiserweight, TONY BELLEW IS NOT A LEGIT CHAMPION 

I will be taking no further notice of this circus roadshow until fight night because to be quite honest Bellew/Haye are making a fool of the sport and it’s fans ,this is a massive mismatch let’s not butter it up I give Bellew next to no chance and after his WWE antics over the past few months I look forward to seeing him look a fool,laying on the canvas at Hayes feet ,the only down side is all we will hear from Haye is how good a win it is but hey it’s well worth it .

Dino @DJayboxingblog

Haye vs Bellew circus

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)