Was Frampton really that good on Saturday night?!

Seen him being touted as a genius in some places because he beat Quigg who barely threw a punch for 6 rounds, really?! It's not hard not to get hit if your opponent isn't even throwing.

Quigg actually landed more punches, and that's with barely throwing for 6 rounds. As soon as Quigg put pressure and intensity on Frampton, he couldn't deal with it.

Far from a genius, but he boxed good. Got the win against a fierce rival. Good enough for me.

I think Frampton did what he needed to do, I don't think it wasn't he couldn't handle Quigg but didn't want to start opening himself up when Quigg needed to knock him out to win it

I haven't seen anyone call him a genius, better than Quigg maybe but needs to develop some more still

Neither of them were that great IMO.

Quigg definitely the stronger of the two but I wouldn't say Frampton couldnt deal with him.

Terrible tactics from Quiggs team. Joe Gallagher on another planet sometimes. He set Quigg up all wrong they should have been making a fight of it from the third round onwards.

He basically set Quigg up to not lose the first six rounds and then come on strong in the second half of the fight. Ironically they did lose the first six rounds and although Quigg was much stronger in the second half of the fight he still wasn't landing a great deal of hurtful shots which was absolutely necessary after giving half the fight away for free.

Quigg and Gallagher seemed to have this bizarre sense of an even fight after the first half because in their eyes Quigg was defending well. Ok he wasn't getting hit but there was no aggression from Quigg so how did he expect to win any rounds?

Was a poor fight. Poor tactics from Quigg and a lack of impetus from Frampton to take it to Quigg because he never actually needed to.

I didn't think so Mark... but it's being positioned as a technical masterclass by many.

Quigg didn't just decide not to punch. He was drilled to let Frampton lead, step back and then counter. Frampton moved every time Quigg set his feet (which were awful on the night) leaving Quigg chasing shadows and swinging at fresh air. Frampton also feinted really well.

By his own admission Frampton didn't do anything more than win the rounds (his corner had drilled him not to get greedy in his attacks as Quigg counters very well after blocking a shot).

While it wasn't a great fight, I thought Frampton was excellent and he'll move on to bigger things. It's unfortunate the fight ended up being a cagy affair but with so much on the line, this can often happen these days (as fighters fight so infrequently the stakes are so much higher).

If Quigg was coupling up his defensive skills with some effective counter punching and a few combinations of his own then fair enough. But he wasn't.

It's ok employing defensive tactics in the first half of a fight if you believe you can come home stronger than your opponent in the back stretch, which is what they evidently believed. But you can't do next to nothing in the meantime which is exactly what Quigg was doing.

Frampton wasn't leaving many opportunities to counter punch as he wasn't throwing much himself so if you were Quigg and wanted to continue your defensive stance why not turn the screw in the last 30 seconds of each round and at least give the judges something to think about? He just made it far too easy to score the rounds in Framptons favour.

EX7EY wrote:If Quigg was coupling up his defensive skills with some effective counter punching and a few combinations of his own then fair enough.  But he wasn't.

It's ok employing defensive tactics in the first half of a fight if you believe you can come home stronger than your opponent in the back stretch, which is what they evidently believed.  But you can't do next to nothing in the meantime which is exactly what Quigg was doing.

Frampton wasn't leaving many opportunities to counter punch as he wasn't throwing much himself so if you were Quigg and wanted to continue your defensive stance why not turn the screw in the last 30 seconds of each round and at least give the judges something to think about?  He just made it far too easy to score the rounds in Framptons favour.

I honestly don't believe Quigg was hoping Frampton would blow up (or that he was conserving his own energy like Eubank Jr. against BJS) - he just had nothing to hit and every time he tried he was being caught. He looked totally confused.

I think it was 50/50 to be honest. I'm not trying to discredit Framptons win. He fully deserved the win and boxed the better of the two.

Yes Frampton made Quigg miss badly at times, I said as much on another thread. but, I still think Quigg could have done a lot more and i think it's a bit naive to just think Frampton was too good int he first half of the fight because as soon as Gallgher told Quigg he was massively down the fight changed and Quigg was coming on a lot stronger, with more success.

As I say, the first 6 rounds were 50/50 in terms of Frampton disctating the pace and Quigg jsut not doing anything.

EX7EY wrote:I think it was 50/50 to be honest.  I'm not trying to discredit Framptons win.  He fully deserved the win and boxed the better of the two.

Yes Frampton made Quigg miss badly at times, I said as much on another thread.  but, I still think Quigg could have done a lot more and i think it's a bit naive to just think Frampton was too good int he first half of the fight because as soon as Gallgher told Quigg he was massively down the fight changed and Quigg was coming on a lot stronger, with more success.

As I say, the first 6 rounds were 50/50 in terms of Frampton disctating the pace and Quigg jsut not doing anything.

Does that not say something about Quigg, though? Is he overly programmed?

hazharrison wrote:

EX7EY wrote:I think it was 50/50 to be honest.  I'm not trying to discredit Framptons win.  He fully deserved the win and boxed the better of the two.

Yes Frampton made Quigg miss badly at times, I said as much on another thread.  but, I still think Quigg could have done a lot more and i think it's a bit naive to just think Frampton was too good int he first half of the fight because as soon as Gallgher told Quigg he was massively down the fight changed and Quigg was coming on a lot stronger, with more success.

As I say, the first 6 rounds were 50/50 in terms of Frampton disctating the pace and Quigg jsut not doing anything.

Does that not say something about Quigg, though? Is he overly programmed?

I think if you have faith in your corner, which every fighter absolutely should, then you will box as you are told to box.

If Quigg goes back to the corner inbetween rounds and Gallagher is telling him to keep doing what he's doing then why would he feel the need to change? I think Quigg genuinely felt it was going to plan as he was hardly getting hit so he was carrying on in the same vein. Joe Gallagher said in the paper that he had it even and then he learned they were down big on skys card and thats when he relayed it to Quigg immediately.

I think the problem for Quigg, and us as viewing spectators was that neither fighter was landing much. So Quigg obviously felt like he was where he needed to be, but he wasn't he was miles down on the cards because Carl was doing the craftier work.

I genuinely think we were robbed of a really good fight because Gallagher tried to make it more tactical than it ever should have been and it back fired badly.

I have seen absolutely nothing from Gallagher that impresses me.

EX7EY wrote:I genuinely think we were robbed of a really good fight because Gallagher tried to make it more tactical than it ever should have been and it back fired badly.

I have seen absolutely nothing from Gallagher that impresses me.

I think Quigg was overawed by the occasion, especially the first round and most of the second. He was very stiff in his movement, he loosened up a bit but his whole body movement was just wrong

EX7EY wrote:

hazharrison wrote:

EX7EY wrote:I think it was 50/50 to be honest.  I'm not trying to discredit Framptons win.  He fully deserved the win and boxed the better of the two.

Yes Frampton made Quigg miss badly at times, I said as much on another thread.  but, I still think Quigg could have done a lot more and i think it's a bit naive to just think Frampton was too good int he first half of the fight because as soon as Gallgher told Quigg he was massively down the fight changed and Quigg was coming on a lot stronger, with more success.

As I say, the first 6 rounds were 50/50 in terms of Frampton disctating the pace and Quigg jsut not doing anything.

Does that not say something about Quigg, though? Is he overly programmed?

I think if you have faith in your corner, which every fighter absolutely should, then you will box as you are told to box.

If Quigg goes back to the corner inbetween rounds and Gallagher is telling him to keep doing what he's doing then why would he feel the need to change?  I think Quigg genuinely felt it was going to plan as he was hardly getting hit so he was carrying on in the same vein.  Joe Gallagher said in the paper that he had it even and then he learned they were down big on skys card and thats when he relayed it to Quigg immediately.

I think the problem for Quigg, and us as viewing spectators was that neither fighter was landing much.  So Quigg obviously felt like he was where he needed to be, but he wasn't he was miles down on the cards because Carl was doing the craftier work.

I genuinely think we were robbed of a really good fight because Gallagher tried to make it more tactical than it ever should have been and it back fired badly.

I have seen absolutely nothing from Gallagher that impresses me.

I think if you're landing next to nothing, you'd know about it you'd and look to change things up yourself. He had to know he wasn't landing anything (he said as much afterwards).

Gallagher's a great conditioner. I'm not so sure about a tactician. His fighters generally don't have a good defence (which is a shame as under Brian Hughes, Quigg once did).

I agree Haz, he probably knew he wasn't landing much either but if you feel like you're not getting hit either then you would still expect it to be close in your mind. Not 5 or even 6 rounds down.

hazharrison wrote:

EX7EY wrote:

hazharrison wrote:

EX7EY wrote:I think it was 50/50 to be honest.  I'm not trying to discredit Framptons win.  He fully deserved the win and boxed the better of the two.

Yes Frampton made Quigg miss badly at times, I said as much on another thread.  but, I still think Quigg could have done a lot more and i think it's a bit naive to just think Frampton was too good int he first half of the fight because as soon as Gallgher told Quigg he was massively down the fight changed and Quigg was coming on a lot stronger, with more success.

As I say, the first 6 rounds were 50/50 in terms of Frampton disctating the pace and Quigg jsut not doing anything.

Does that not say something about Quigg, though? Is he overly programmed?

I think if you have faith in your corner, which every fighter absolutely should, then you will box as you are told to box.

If Quigg goes back to the corner inbetween rounds and Gallagher is telling him to keep doing what he's doing then why would he feel the need to change?  I think Quigg genuinely felt it was going to plan as he was hardly getting hit so he was carrying on in the same vein.  Joe Gallagher said in the paper that he had it even and then he learned they were down big on skys card and thats when he relayed it to Quigg immediately.

I think the problem for Quigg, and us as viewing spectators was that neither fighter was landing much.  So Quigg obviously felt like he was where he needed to be, but he wasn't he was miles down on the cards because Carl was doing the craftier work.

I genuinely think we were robbed of a really good fight because Gallagher tried to make it more tactical than it ever should have been and it back fired badly.

I have seen absolutely nothing from Gallagher that impresses me.

I think if you're landing next to nothing, you'd know about it you'd and look to change things up yourself. He had to know he wasn't landing anything (he said as much afterwards).

Gallagher's a great conditioner. I'm not so sure about a tactician. His fighters generally don't have a good defence (which is a shame as under Brian Hughes, Quigg once did).

To be fair Frampton was hardly battering him from pillar to post for the first 6. When Quigg actually started fighting he still maintained a reasonable level of defence even though he was getting a bit gung ho on occasions.

"You're 6-1 down". As someone said, and it made me chuckle, there was "You're blowing it son" and then "You've blown it son"..... Made me laugh. Quite why Joe decided to inform him that he was miles behind at that point rather than a couple of rounds earlier is beyond me. Is a bit like the missus doing the navigation from google maps and informing you you've missed a left turn 10 miles after you've gone past it.

Coxy001 wrote:

hazharrison wrote:

EX7EY wrote:

hazharrison wrote:

EX7EY wrote:I think it was 50/50 to be honest.  I'm not trying to discredit Framptons win.  He fully deserved the win and boxed the better of the two.

Yes Frampton made Quigg miss badly at times, I said as much on another thread.  but, I still think Quigg could have done a lot more and i think it's a bit naive to just think Frampton was too good int he first half of the fight because as soon as Gallgher told Quigg he was massively down the fight changed and Quigg was coming on a lot stronger, with more success.

As I say, the first 6 rounds were 50/50 in terms of Frampton disctating the pace and Quigg jsut not doing anything.

Does that not say something about Quigg, though? Is he overly programmed?

I think if you have faith in your corner, which every fighter absolutely should, then you will box as you are told to box.

If Quigg goes back to the corner inbetween rounds and Gallagher is telling him to keep doing what he's doing then why would he feel the need to change?  I think Quigg genuinely felt it was going to plan as he was hardly getting hit so he was carrying on in the same vein.  Joe Gallagher said in the paper that he had it even and then he learned they were down big on skys card and thats when he relayed it to Quigg immediately.

I think the problem for Quigg, and us as viewing spectators was that neither fighter was landing much.  So Quigg obviously felt like he was where he needed to be, but he wasn't he was miles down on the cards because Carl was doing the craftier work.

I genuinely think we were robbed of a really good fight because Gallagher tried to make it more tactical than it ever should have been and it back fired badly.

I have seen absolutely nothing from Gallagher that impresses me.

I think if you're landing next to nothing, you'd know about it you'd and look to change things up yourself. He had to know he wasn't landing anything (he said as much afterwards).

Gallagher's a great conditioner. I'm not so sure about a tactician. His fighters generally don't have a good defence (which is a shame as under Brian Hughes, Quigg once did).

To be fair Frampton was hardly battering him from pillar to post for the first 6. When Quigg actually started fighting he still maintained a reasonable level of defence even though he was getting a bit gung ho on occasions.

"You're 6-1 down". As someone said, and it made me chuckle, there was "You're blowing it son" and then "You've blown it son"..... Made me laugh. Quite why Joe decided to inform him that he was miles behind at that point rather than a couple of rounds earlier is beyond me. Is a bit like the missus doing the navigation from google maps and informing you you've missed a left turn 10 miles after you've gone past it.

Which mine does CONTINUALLY!!

"Tell me where we turn off"
"Ok.........it was that last exit"

Because Coxy, Gallagher has stated he thought the fight was even and then learned that Sky had Frampton miles ahead, at which he was apparently 'shocked'.

Deluded fool, talk about watching something through rose tinted spectacles.

Quigg from the 1st bell looked like a rabbit in headlights, almost frightened to throw a punch for fear of getting caught, although not a great fight its an awful performance from Quigg and Frampton pretty much cruised the 1st 8 rounds without really having to really step it up.

I thought Frampton was scared to throw the right much too... because he knew that's what Quigg was waiting for.

Seems a bit strange to criticise Quiggs defence, if you believe the compubox stats he took less punches than Frampton in the fight... about 7 a round.

Criticism of his rigidly boxing to orders? Well that's more Gallagher's fault than quigg's but says something about his personality type. Some fighters would take matters into their own hands. You might know you're not landing but if you think the other guy is missing, I can see how you might think it's closer than it was. He did seem genuinely surprised... probably because gallagher had been telling him it was going fine. He just needed Algieri's trainer to tell him he was right where he needed to be, and then let him out of the cage.

The early part of the fight reminded me of haye klitschko. No-one doing anything, points go to the guy who at least tried.

I don't think the first 6 rounds were actually a plan of Quiggs, Liam Smith who is in the same camp tweeted a large bet that he placed on Quigg within 5. Surely if he had been working on coming on strong late, his own team would not waste money on betting on the opposite? I personally think the occasion got to Quigg, people forgot in the build up that Frampton is far and away the best boxer Quigg has ever faced, and he just couldn't deal with it. I am also not convinced that he magically had the better of Frampton once he opened up, as per the 12th round, Frampton was more than capable of standing and giving it to Quigg, I just thought he gave away a few rounds between 8 and 11 more out of caution than anything. It must be hard to open up when you know if you stay on your feet you have the fight won...... one thing that did shock me is how easy they took each others shots, they were few and far between but they both did land with good shots at times, and neither seemed bothered by the other, they either have better durabillity than we thought or dont hit as hard as we thought, probably a bit of both.

What unfolded on Saturday was all down to Frampton and his tactics

They stopped quigg and made him think twice about committing Frampton was too fast on his feet

Quigg got his jaw broke in the fourth when he tried to open up

Great performance from Frampton

When you have two very high level operators they cancel each other out in a way

I enjoyed the fight looking back my mates were over so looking back I was overly critical

It's quite funny that we criticse fighters when they take a 50 50 fight and don't look totally dominant and still criticse when they fight a lower level and blow them out

Frampton did great yesterday let's not make the mistake of thinking anything less

milkyboy wrote:I thought Frampton was scared to throw the right much too... because he knew that's what Quigg was waiting for.

Seems a bit strange to criticise Quiggs defence, if you believe the compubox stats he took less punches than Frampton in the fight... about 7 a round.

Criticism of his rigidly boxing to orders? Well that's more Gallagher's fault than quigg's but says something about his personality type. Some fighters would take matters into their own hands. You might know you're not landing but if you think the other guy is missing, I can see how you might think it's closer than it was. He did seem genuinely surprised... probably because gallagher had been telling him it was going fine. He just needed Algieri's trainer to tell him he was right where he needed to be, and then let him out of the cage.

The early part of the fight reminded me of haye klitschko. No-one doing anything, points go to the guy who at least tried.

Quigg used to move really well backing up under Hughes - he was much more fluid. Now he tends to cover up and looks a bit wooden. Frampton took advantage of that.

Reminded me of Mourinho when he was still lovable where his teams wouldn't quite park the bus but only came with enough fuel to get over the lines. I don't think the fight proper was close and it was only competitive because Frampton saw no reason to make it otherwise. Little disappointing I suppose if you've paid good money for it but that's life. In any case if both opened up I'd still think the same fighter would have won. Let's not forget only one man went to the hospital for a broken jaw. Could have actually made good money on Frampton UD if the damn judge could open his fujking eyes

I don't quite get this that Frampton chose not to fight hard in the 2nd half of the fight because he just didn't want to

Like he lost 4 rounds on the trot pretty conincinlgy and took some decent shots in the process, he tried fighting quigg off and struggled to land anything cleanly and was pretty inaccurate with his own punches

I don't think he was close to being stopped but he didn't look comfortable in there and was struggling whether he didn't want to engage or not

Selby will beat this guy. A UD shutout

Steffan wrote:Selby will beat this guy. A UD shutout

No chance of that - Frampton's a lot better than little Montiel or Gradovich. It's a good fight.

It was pretty embarrassing for Joe Gallagher having decided to open up a personal subplot on training ability to have been left looking like a bit of a boobie who relied on Watt and Hallings scoring to actually make him change anything.

I wonder what would have happened if Watt and Halling were totally on the Matchroom blinkers and had given Quigg more of the early rounds? Would we have seen any action at all?

Frampton would have won 12 nil and Gallagher would have thought it was a draw. Lucky Jim Watt was there really.

Baby faced assassin wrote:I don't quite get this that Frampton chose not to fight hard in the 2nd half of the fight because he just didn't want to

Don't worry... You don't get it because it's a load of tosh.

hazharrison wrote:

milkyboy wrote:I thought Frampton was scared to throw the right much too... because he knew that's what Quigg was waiting for.

Seems a bit strange to criticise Quiggs defence, if you believe the compubox stats he took less punches than Frampton in the fight... about 7 a round.

Criticism of his rigidly boxing to orders? Well that's more Gallagher's fault than quigg's but says something about his personality type. Some fighters would take matters into their own hands. You might know you're not landing but if you think the other guy is missing, I can see how you might think it's closer than it was. He did seem genuinely surprised... probably because gallagher had been telling him it was going fine. He just needed Algieri's trainer to tell him he was right where he needed to be, and then let him out of the cage.

The early part of the fight reminded me of haye klitschko. No-one doing anything, points go to the guy who at least tried.

Quigg used to move really well backing up under Hughes - he was much more fluid. Now he tends to cover up and looks a bit wooden. Frampton took advantage of that.

Ignoring the aesthetics of quigg's movement, if you look at the stats, frampton didn't take advantage of it Haz. That was my point.

I definately feel like this was a fight where the two fighters brought out the cageyness in each other. How much of this is down to the occasion? the excessive build up and Sky hype machine? The ppv billing. Both fighters seemed afraid to take any chances and its not ordinarily what you associate with them. The pair of them have generally looked to make statements throughout their career. The big moment arrived and the stakes were too high then.

I wish Sky would can these ppv's once and for all. This fight should have happened years ago and we probably would have got a cracker between two ultra hungry fighters on the way up. Instead we all waited an extra few years and payed an extra few bob to watch another anti climax. Not enough of these ppvs are justifying their billing.

Both fighters stock fell and sadly, yet again, boxing failed to deliver.

Frampton may have won but if he's happy with that performance it says a lot about his level. Quigg offered nothing for 6 rounds so if he's elite he should have capitalised and done more. A 17 week camp and the best preparation he's ever had to throw so little and connect with just 14% of his shots? I wouldn't bother next time.

Yet again I foolishly tried to sell the magic of boxing to friends, who by the end of the fight were all completely disinterested on their phones... probably telling their mates what a dull night they'd had thanks to me forcing them to watch 2 blokes with their tops off play tig.

Quigg froze in my opinion - the occasion was too big for him whilst Frampton was too cagey to take full advantage of it. A poor fight where the hype made for a much better spectacle than the action itself.

I think now the fight's finished and done with, we should remember that Frampton may have won, but was far from the finished article. Both boxers did themselves no favours. Frampton looked content doing as little as possible whilst Quigg simply didn't turn up. It was certainly not the boxing masterclass from Frampton, nor the exciting punch-up promised by Quigg.

Baby faced assassin wrote:I don't quite get this that Frampton chose not to fight hard in the 2nd half of the fight because he just didn't want to

Like he lost 4 rounds on the trot pretty conincinlgy and took some decent shots in the process, he tried fighting quigg off and struggled to land anything cleanly and was pretty inaccurate with his own punches

I don't think he was close to being stopped but he didn't look comfortable in there and was struggling whether he didn't want to engage or not

Looked to me that he tired quite badly in the middle rounds, so maybe Gallagher wasn't too far wrong with his tactics - maybe Frampton is struggling a bit at the weight or maybe at 29 he's starting to fade.

The mistake Gallagher made was thinking this, Quigg's superior engine, would be enough to win the fight.

Frampton won fairly comfortably for me but doesn't have many more fights at this level I think, so he and cyclone would do well to cash in now against Santa Cruz and maybe another against Quigg if Quigg can reestablish himself at world level.

His best performance was Kiko 1 and hasn't looked the same since.

rodders wrote:

Baby faced assassin wrote:I don't quite get this that Frampton chose not to fight hard in the 2nd half of the fight because he just didn't want to

Like he lost 4 rounds on the trot pretty conincinlgy and took some decent shots in the process, he tried fighting quigg off and struggled to land anything cleanly and was pretty inaccurate with his own punches

I don't think he was close to being stopped but he didn't look comfortable in there and was struggling whether he didn't want to engage or not

Looked to me that he tired quite badly in the middle rounds, so maybe Gallagher wasn't too far wrong with his tactics - maybe Frampton is struggling a bit at the weight or maybe at 29 he's starting to fade.

The mistake Gallagher made was thinking this, Quigg's superior engine, would be enough to win the fight.

Frampton won fairly comfortably for me but doesn't have many more fights at this level I think, so he and cyclone would do well to cash in now against Santa Cruz and maybe another against Quigg if Quigg can reestablish himself at world level.

His best performance was Kiko 1 and hasn't looked the same since.

I thought he was excellent against Avalos and Kiko (in the return) and supersonic against Cazares and Parodi. Kiko went on an excellent run after their first fight and was arguably better second time around. And I thought he boxed great on Saturday - came out with barely a scratch.

I genuinely don't think we'll ever see a Quigg rematch - Haymon pays extremely handsomely and there are a load of options there for him now. LSC is the big one. I'd love to see a fight with Abner Mares. Donaire is a great fight. There's Lee Selby, Gary Russell Jr., Hugo Ruiz and if Josh Warrington managed to upset Selby this summer, they'd need to find a stadium big enough to fit all the fans in!

Also, I'm not sure the casuals would wear another PPV fork out for the return.

He's been good in all his fights since Kiko 1 but he was sublime that night and hasn't quite replicated that form. Around that time I believed he could beat Rigo and would beat LSC. Changed my mind on both now. LSC would bully him from the start.

Hard to say if it's age, the weight or just his competition steadily rising. Could be a bit of all 3. Maybe LSC has shown more facets to his game through the Mares win which makes Framptons own progress look a touch less impressive than it did a few years ago.

Still believe he'll be too small for the top featherweights but he'll have to go there soon I reckon.

Personally thought Frampton was better against Avalos and the 2nd time round against Kiko than he was in the 1st.

Maybe time has eroded my memory a bit but seem to remember him struggling early in the 1st Kiko fight and looking under pressure at times throughout. Ok he got the stoppage but the 2nd time round against Kiko he seemed completely in control the whole way through and won pretty much every round in my opinion.

Think the weight is catching up to him he says he made it easier than ever this time around but the fact he started cutting the weight down about 6 weeks earlier than usual probably had more to do with that than actually being anymore comfortable.

I think the actual occasion of the fight created a bit of a cagey stinker with both fighters not wanting to make any mistakes for 7/8 rounds.

To be fair, I thought Frampton looked his best in the last round when Quigg began to open up and was chasing the fight.

No chance Santa Cruz will box as cagey as Quigg if a fight happened. He is a punching machine. I think that would afford Frampton much more of an opportunity to capitalise and showcase his quality. I think it would be a great fight.

catchweight wrote:I think the actual occasion of the fight created a bit of a cagey stinker with both fighters not wanting to make any mistakes for 7/8 rounds.

To be fair, I thought Frampton looked his best in the last round when Quigg began to open up and was chasing the fight.

No chance Santa Cruz will box as cagey as Quigg if a fight happened. He is a punching machine. I think that would afford Frampton much more of an opportunity to capitalise and showcase his quality. I think it would be a great fight.

Very rarely does a fight with so much hype live up to expectations. The likes of Gatti-Ward and Corrales-Castillo were sleepers and sailed largely under the radar (I didn't even know Ward and Gatti were fighting until I heard the buzz afterwards).

The way Hearn builds up fights doesn't help (in my opinion). There was so much needle, so much animosity, I think it inhibits fighters and changes their aim from trying to win big to not losing. I found Hearn chipping in as chief wind-up merchant really at odds with his role.

Of course Fast Eddie isn't wholly culpable for recent stinkers. Tito vs Oscar and Lewis vs Holyfield I were other examples of fighters trying not to lose (rather than going for a big win). Fighters fight so infrequently (sometimes just twice a year) that an immediate rematch usually means 6-8 months down the line.

Contrast that with Ray Robinson who, after losing to Randy Turpin, rematched him within something like 60 days (and Jake LaMotta within 3 weeks!).

I think the reality is, only a certain proportion of fights are ever entertaining and better quality fighters doesn't improve the odds of it... Often reduces it due to better defences. Hence, we're often talking about enjoying the technical skills not the excitement.

Sweeping generalisations obviously as it just depends on how the respective styles gel. There are plenty of super-fights that have matched the occasion.

Ward gatti, at the time was a has been against a journeyman... Hardly surprising it went under the radar. Corralles Castillo was a lightweight unification fight that headlined in Vegas, not massive, but not under the radar, so not sure with that one.

I agree the relentless media circus we see these days does ramp the pressure up on fighters, and fighting infrequently makes each fight more critical compared to the old guys,

The more experienced can handle it, but Saturday was a step up for both, and the stakes very much higher than they'd previously experienced.

As an aside Robbo's 2 month rematch with  Turpin was him taking a break... He's been fighting twice a month on his European bum(s) of the month tour! Turpin just turned out to be a lot better than expected/planned

milkyboy wrote:I think the reality is, only a certain proportion of fights are ever entertaining and better quality fighters doesn't improve the odds of it... Often reduces it due to better defences. Hence, we're often talking about enjoying the technical skills not the excitement.

Sweeping generalisations obviously as it just depends on how the respective styles gel. There are plenty of super-fights that have matched the occasion.

Ward gatti, at the time was a has been against a journeyman... Hardly surprising it went under the radar. Corralles Castillo was a lightweight unification fight that headlined in Vegas, not massive, but not under the radar, so not sure with that one.

I agree the relentless media circus we see these days does ramp the pressure up on fighters, and fighting infrequently makes each fight more critical compared to the old guys,

The more experienced can handle it, but Saturday was a step up for both, and the stakes very much higher than they'd previously experienced.

As an aside Robbo's 2 month rematch with  Turpin was him taking a break... He's been fighting twice a month on his European bum(s) of the month tour! Turpin just turned out to be a lot better than expected/planned

On the old 606 no-one had actually seen the Castillo-Corrales fight live - which is pretty amazing considering some of the anoraks we had on there. It was defo a sleeper fight (no-one was talking about it beforehand - even though it was a title fight).