Tonights Action - Spoilers

First topic message reminder :

Just started on Boxnation, Adam Etches gets a chance to win the WBC Youth Title and Lucas Browne bids to become the first Australian to hold the Commonwealth title for 122 years! Klitschko is on Eurosport at 9.30 and then it's back to Boxnation for the Golden Boy card.

Anybody even watching this tonight?

I think fury is delusional enough to think he can beat wlad and so he may fight him wilder on the other hand no way he will get the WBC and fight that way

Leapai had the unfortunate combination tonight of not throwing any punches and being incredibly easy to hit. You'll go a long way to see a worse world title challenger. Bring on Fury (give me strength)!

Anybody stretching it to the Shotime card?


The three main events look like mismatches.

Matthysse v Molina.........I expect Matthysse to make a statement.

Thurman to walk it.

I will be.

Molina's a big light weight who relies on outlasting opponents then taking them out down the stretch. Getting hit clean is a part of the fight for him. He'll have to be a different fighter to upset Matthysse.

Belmontes looking like Figueroa's superior so far...

I think Crawford would mess up Omar

Shot of Matthysse backstage. Looks up for it.

I got Belmontes edging it. it's a fight that comes down to taste though, Belmontes' quality and generalship vs Omar's aggression and output.

Belmontes should have won it clearly though, he was clearly more talented, but barely threw anything in the last third.

Both guys acting like they lost before the result comes out.

Score cards taking a while to be read...

Split decision goes to Omar, however it featured and absolutely bullsh!t 118-110 scorecard in his favour. That was not an 8 point fight. I get the feeling he was meant to win that one.

I'm thinking of becoming a woman.

140 looks to really suit Molina's frame. He did well to earn Lucas' respect and this could be a more even fight than has been imagined.

Molina's two best weapons are his right hand and his head! Blood all over...

Matthysse looks a billion times better when working behind that short, ramrod jab. Molina is here to win.

Molina is taking the sting out of Lucas' right hands using his left arm. Lucas needs to keep him guessing by mixing his right hand between body and head.

Lucas wins most of the round, then Molina lands one huge shot

This is barbaric.

Fantastic fight!!!!!!

You guys really should have stayed up for this utter blood bath. At least two of the camera lenses are stained in blood. The commentators have blood on their notes and at one point thought a tooth had landed on their desk.

Molina's refusal to follow the script is stealing the show!

Very competetive first half.

Very violent second half.

Molina's coach was ready to smack the doc just there.

Brutal fight. A courageous gladiator vs an emotionless, relentless, MACHINE.

I'm a Matthysse fan, but it was genuinely sad watching Molina get ground down there. What a warrior.

Thurman pretty much blew Diaz away. Was a little frightening actually.

Welterweight division looks talent-packed. Thurman looked impressive, Porter looked almighty. Pac just despatched the P4P #3, you've got Mayweather. The talent that is Broner will eventually crawl out of wherever he's hiding, as will everybody's favorite P4P #8, Bob Guererro. You've got Danny Garcia, who can't have too long at 140lbs left, even if only due to a lack of money fights. It's really packed like Sardines... Almost remarkable that a guy who doesn't even hold a title in the lower division, no fights at 147, is most likely going to get a shot at the #1 next.

kingraf wrote:Welterweight division looks talent-packed. Thurman looked impressive, Porter looked almighty. Pac just despatched the P4P #3, you've got Mayweather. The talent that is Broner will eventually crawl out of wherever he's hiding, as will everybody's favorite P4P #8, Bob Guererro. You've got Danny Garcia, who can't have too long at 140lbs left, even if only due to a lack of money fights. It's really packed like Sardines... Almost remarkable that a guy who doesn't even hold a title in the lower division, no fights at 147, is most likely going to get a shot at the #1 next.

Not surprising given who is No.1. The quicker the No.1 gets out of boxing and into the jailhouse the better it will be for boxing.

I thought it was JBW messing about with his comments on the Matthyse fight but from all accounts it was an absolute bloodbath and war, looking forward to watching it.

Matthyse vs Molina JR was the fight of the night, absolute war but the referee and the doctor either have to pull Molina JR out at the end of the tenth or let the cornerman do his work, instead they did neither.

Loving your posts JBW.

I was quite worried John had had his Jekyll and Hyde moment when he was thinking of becoming a woman, and thus expected the rest of his posts to continue with that theme, or aids, or something similar. Was pleasantly surprised

Matthysse-Molina was superb. The fact that this fight ended up turning in to a war might distract from the fact that, for the most part, Matthysse was actually pretty impressive.

Knocked down twice, but the second one had a hint of balance issue about it (and also a degree of him being pulled over as the shot landed near the back of the head, albeit without any intent from Molina) and aside from those moments, while he was taking shots, he always had the upper hand and that little bit more industry for me.

I was surprised that he was able to land so many flush rights to the jaw without putting Molina on the deck, but the way he cut off ring space and shortened the distance behind his jab when he chose to was impressive.

All credit to Molina as well, who showed that Matthysse can be countered and who demonstrated that he's one tough, tough man. Just couldn't quite maintain the pace that Matthysse was able to, which showed in the end.

All-round excellent fight, hats off to both.

Strange that Demarco can spark Molina within 45 seconds then he takes right hand after right hand against one of the biggest punchers in the weight division above. Great fight, missed the Thurman fight annoyingly, fell asleep when they were walking to the ring. Sparked him out in 3, not seen it yet but two fights ago Diaz gave Khan everything he could handle and made it close against Porter... Anyone got a link? Can't find one on Youtube yet.

I was thinking that Alex and had to revisit the DeMarco fight in case I remembered it wrong but one straight left hand and the fight was effectively over. It is then strange that he took so much punishment from Matthyse by all accounts, haven't heard many reports that he was struggling to make lightweight either.

It is a weird one, he got caught cold by demarco then trapped doubled up in a corner. If he'd taken a knee who knows how the fight goes. Some guys (whether struggling to make weight or not?) seem to take a shot better at a higher weight. Cotto was wobbled frequently at light welter.

Molina was caught totally clean, right on the end of Demarco's left at full power, while totally cold. If hed just gone down, landed on his ass and got up he would have been fine by the eight count. He basically forced the refs hand inn that fight by curling up in a ball rather than either going down or throwing back. Still surprising how he could take Matthysse's power. Lucky he didn't have aids or most of the crowd would have it too given how much of his blood was flying about.

I just hope Molina wasn't totally ruined by that fight as he should give a lot of the top guys something to think about. Slick movers have been his kryptonite in the past.

What about Garcia v Matthysse now? Neither really did as expected in their returns, Matthysse worked harder but won clearly in the end against a big warrior. Garcia didn't win at all against a small crafty boxer.

Yeah, fair comment Milky, it was so early that it's possible he was caught cold. Maybe Molina could have survived if he had been smart and taken a knee instead of bending over in front of Demarco like a muppet.

Garcia's kryptonite appears to be small crafty boxers, guys who come to him and engage will always give him a chance as he has good power and a terrific sense of timing coupled with a brilliant chin. He has quite slow feet though so guys who pick and run are always going to trouble him.

Aye, from what I remember Molina just froze a little bit when under siege against De Marco and never got a chance to get going in the fight. I think like Kalambay-Nunn was (or Marquez-Pacquiao I nearly was) it was a bit of a freak result which wouldn't happen again if they fought another dozen times. Not the fact that De Marco won, just how he won.

Never mind Molina's blood flying all over the shop, JBW - did you see that left uppercut by Matthysse which appeared to send one (or more!) of his teeth in to row Z?

As for Garcia-Matthysse II, I think it simply has to happen now, considering that talk of Garcia moving up has cooled off. Given that some feel the eye injury to Matthysse meant that Garcia's win over him was somehow unsatisfactory or not as valid as it might have been (not me, but some), and also the fact that he was very disappointing against Herrera, Danny does have something to prove at the moment, and some doubters to silence.

Broner, now that he's coming back down in weight, and Provodnikov are the only other two 'big' options left at Light-Welter, really. Wouldn't mind at all if Garcia was matched with either of those two in the next few months, but Matthysse would definitely be my first choice for him, and in an ideal world Broner and Provodnikov could maybe have a do with the winner facing the victor of Garcia-Matthysse II.

Jesus Christ, Provodnikov against Matthysse, you have a sick, sick mind Chris.

An easy win for Matthyse that would be.

Not sure, I thought Molina would be a relatively easy win for him, yet he had him down twice, Provodnikov hits at least as hard as him, can soak up serious punishment and has that ridiculous mentality to push him hard. At 140lbs he's a minibeast, would start Matthysse as favourite, but anything could happen when they both start swinging. Against the two biggest punchers (And the only big punchers) Matthysse's faced, they've both put him down.

When has Provodnikov faced a puncher to warrant the tag of being able to take punishment because Alvarado, Herrera and Bradley certainly aren't punchers. Matthyse has been down because he has faced punchers though Alex, if he lands on Prov I don't expect him to stand there and grin he'll crumble having been hit with something he's yet to face.

Very possibly, Alvarado carries a fair whack on him though, ask Rios and Prescott (I know you'll try hammer me on the Prescott example, but the man has a decent set of whiskers) big at the weight and could back Rios up Alvarado could but couldn't put a dent in Provodnikov. Outside of the two punchers he has faced in Garcia and Molina, none of them hit as hard as Alvarado on his roster of fighters faced.

Provodnikov could well crumble under the assault Matthysse has, and I would expect to him, but he has more than a punchers chance and could give Matthysse absolute hell while it lasts.

Alvarado is a decent puncher and does not hit as hard as Zab Judah, people have come to forget how damn hard he hits down at 140lbs.

I don't see it Alex, will admit I don't rate him in the slightest, just an average face first come forward brawler who got lucky because of Bradleys machismo in a fight he was easily outboxed in for the most part.

I'm more inclined to go with what Alex is saying here. Looking at the three big-name 140 pounders right now, none of them have really had an outright easy victory in any of their big fights / against their best opponents, the sole exception being Matthysse against Peterson in recent times. Maybe Provodnikov-Alvarado too, but Alvarado is some way behind those names, for me.

I wouldn't feel comfortable installing any of them as a sure thing or big, big favourite against any of the others, really. Don't think any of them have put enough dominant performances in the bank for that. Right now, Garcia is deservedly considered the all-round top dog, but while it would be a bit of an upset, would anyone really be shocked or really stunned if he were to lose to, say, Provodnikov in his next fight, given how inconsistent he's been at world title level?

Same for a potential Matthysse-Provodnikov fight, for me. Matthysse has the upper hand in terms of record and is tried 'n' tested against more top-class fighters than Provodnikov is, but I don't see why he would be an overwhelming favourite, either. Both guys obviously have their strengths but we've seen that they're beatable too, and likely to lose as often as they win against their major divisional rivals.

88Chris05 wrote:

Never mind Molina's blood flying all over the shop, JBW - did you see that left uppercut by Matthysse which appeared to send one (or more!) of his teeth in to row Z?
.

The commentators were convinced a tooth had landed on their desk as I remember!


As for Lucas' whiskers, he laughed at Judah's best shot!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmKlASVTTzs
The Garcia knock down was a partial pull down, caught in the ropes while half blind. He's certainly a tough cookie, but I have no idea who I would pick between him and Ruslan. Ruslan's attacks are a little more sudden and dynamic. If there's one man in the division who can back Lucas up toe to toe it is him. I'd side with the more proven experienced Matthysse, but wouldn't be surprised by anything...other than a borefest.

Both of Lucas' recent struggles have been against guys who are taller, and also fill out as well as him at the weight. So part of the reason he "only" shook Danny to his core and left a lasting mark and "only" crushed Molina through huge output (the compubox was so heavily in favour of Matthysse) is probably that he's facing guys he's not actually much bigger than.

Push come to shove, Prov did get knackered against Bradley. I know it was a freakish war but he was gassing after not that long. Matthysse was still throwing power shots throughout the rounds late on against a rock hard foe. This makes it easier to envision Prov getting broken down late on than vice versa.

Provodnikov/Garcia and Matthysse/Provodnikov are really close fights and not easy to call, I totally agree.

In fact look at the division and you realise it's got some of the best fights in boxing. Rios/Garcia, Rios/Matthysse  and one that has been mooted recently Rios/Provodnikov.

Nigh on a tragedy some of them can't be made. But dare you dream- could Oscar and A-rum really patch things up?  Oscar needs to fire Schaefer. His personal animosity towards Uncle Bob is the stick in the ointment.

The one fight I would feel confident about predicting although it goes against the grain of opinion on this forum at least, is Rios to beat Garcia.

Schaefer supposedly came close to getting sacked from Golden Boy. The circumstances werent clear but word on the street was that while de la Hoya was in rehab he discovered Schaefer was sleeping in his bed and trying on his finest fishnets, heels and lipstick.