2021 - 5 who will, 5 who won't

First topic message reminder :

Welcome to 2021 - here's hoping it will be a much better year for all, and Boxing will be back - with crowds! Time to do the usual who will/who won't predictions.

5 who will:

1. Ryan Garcia. Genuinely believe that this kid has it all. Yes there's a lot of hype but he's proved it with every obstacle thrown at him. I think he will walk through Luke Campbell.

2. Saul "Canelo" Alvarez. Continues to beat all in front of him. Picks up the IBF belt by practically decapitating Caleb Plant.

3. Tim Tszyu. Gets his WBO shot late in the year and obliterates Teixeira. Definitely a chip off the old block. Wants to set up a unification bout with Jermell Charlo.

4. Josh Taylor. Gets his meaningful 4 belt fight against Ramirez and continues to impress, beating him in a lopsided UD. Hopes for a huge fight against Teofimo Lopez in 2022.

5. Artur Beterbiev continues to chase belts in the Light Heavyweight division and goes after Bivol. Doesn't get him, but knocks out mandatory Fanlong Meng and Deines in brutal fashion. Edit: once he's recovered from Covid!!

5 who wont

1. Andy Ruiz Jr. Has had his moment of glory. Has a couple of fights at close to 280lbs against no-hope opposition. Nobody cares. His trainer leaves him because Fat Andy won't train.

2. Billy Joe Saunders. Makes another stupid video in the build up to a potential Canelo fight - he then doesn't get the fight.

3. Gennadiy Golovkin. Continues to rack up meaningless IBF contender defences. Charlo and Canelo are not interested.

4. Carl Frampton. Quickly realises that he's out of his depth against Jamel Herring and his corner retire him after 8 rounds. Announces his retirement shortly afterwards.

5. Gervonta Davis. On the cusp of landing a superfight against Lopez, gets arrested for starting a brawl outside a bar. Legal issues keep him out of the ring for several months.

Don’t see what Benn gains from fighting Broner. He’s pretty much shot to pieces and irrelevant at this stage.

Broner is washed up and has no power at 147...

Just about milking the Benn name whilst knowing he isn't anything special..

AJ is a blow to the Hearn empire...

Wants to do the same with Hatton but as with Miss Courtenay who is marketed as street girl turned good...They both are lacking in the ring.

Courtenay is luckier to be in a smaller pond with lots of belts.

I'm sure Hearn can find a stiff with a belt at some weight in the vicinity.

I thought Benn did well tonight. He stuck to the basics, jabbed really well and he obviously has some power. Whilst I wouldn't call him special, I would certainly put him at Euro level for now.

An excellent finish by him.

Easy to look good against a faded limited boxer that couldn't dent a marshmallow.

See what happens when he fights a decent operator with a shot.

Why Hearn wants Khan/Brook/Broner...Doesn't trust the kid yet with live opposition.

Vasiliy Lomachenko beat Richard Commey by fairly straightforward UD, dropping the Ghanaian in the 7th round. Lomachenko set go be named WBO & WBC mandatory.

In Russia, Dmitry Bivol once again defended his WBA light heavyweight championship, with a rather boring UD over fellow Russian Umar Salamov. Bivol has joined up with World of Boxing in the hope that the all Russian showdown with Artur Beterbiev can finally be made.

Loma had him down bad in the seventh, motioned at Commey's camp to stop the fight, and then tried to finish him off. Probably could have had him out of there if he didn't waste time randomly negotiating with Commey's coach to stop it, and as is, while Commey survived the round, he probably took more damage in the next four-five rounds than he would have with a one punch KO. Strange all round.

Loma, like every other contender at 135, seems to think he'll neat Kambosos without much trouble, which makes the division very interesting. I think Loma beats everyone else in the division if he comes in this focused and athletic, except maybe Haney who would be faster and stronger than him. Makes for, hopefully an exciting 2022. Haney-Kambosos should be an easy sort. Then the onus is on Loma to cross the street and fight the winner. Or for Bob to make a winning bid, which to be fair, doesn't seem likely given the juice DAZN seems to have when it comes to making those $3-6m purse bids.

It’s early days but he’s starting to look the part

Come on you can beat Avenesyan can’t you?

The ageless Nonito Donaire defended his WBC bantamweight with a 4th round KO of his mandatory and fellow Filipino Reymart Gaballo in the unification of the full and interim titles.
Donaire looking for a rematch with Inoue.

The great man produced one hell of a body shot, he's slowing with age but that left hand still provides the hurt.

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:Easy to look good against a faded limited boxer that couldn't dent a marshmallow.

See what happens when he fights a decent operator with a shot.

Why Hearn wants Khan/Brook/Broner...Doesn't trust the kid yet with live opposition.

Same as any prospect, pretty much. I say give the kid some credit. I doubt he'll win a world title (certainly not with Crawford and to a slightly lesser extent Spence Jr as an opponent) at present, but he can only fight who's in front of him. He didn't waste any punches, didn't get sloppy and did his job well.

We wait to see what happens when he faces tougher opposition, but he's one of the few "sons of" former fighters that actually look like he has something. Hatton's boy, as you say Truss, is useless by comparison and loses to the first half decent fighter when the ref isn't in his pocket. Let's see what Conor can do before writing him off.

There's also no shame in operating at fringe world level, not everyone can dominate the sport or win a world title. If boxing didn't have levels it wouldn't be an actual sport any more.

I think some of his harsher critics need to cut Benn some slack here. Considering who he's been fighting until now and the fact that he's not yet on the doorstep of a world title fight, Algieri was a reasonable opponent and he did a very nice job on him. Right from the off you could tell that Algieri wasn't there to engage much and I thought it could potentially be one of those frustrating nights for Benn, where he won every round without looking like getting a cagey and negative guy out of there. But by the third round he was finding that heavy jab to put Algieri back on his heels and the finish was excellent. Plenty of people thought Algieri might get stopped, but as devastatingly and suddenly as that?

Hopefully he doesn't go down the route of calling out the winner of Brook-Khan. I think next year the aim should be to beat a couple of genuine contenders (DAZN were hinting at Avanesyan which would be a commendable fight for both of them to take) and perhaps look for a title shot in 2023. No easy belts available at 147 right now (unless we're talking the WBA 'regular' title) but a chance that something might be a little more gettable by then, especially if Ugas vacates which he's threatened to do a couple of times.

Been a while since I enjoyed a Lomachenko fight, but have to say I enjoyed that last night - I thought he was brilliant even if Commey was in over his head. He was sitting on his shots more, threw far fewer distractors / range finders than he's been doing in recent years and his reflexes and hand speed seemed to have picked up a couple of notches, too. Just looked sharper and meander all-round again with a lot more combination punching and devil in his shots. Much more willing to exchange and take chances in close, too. A joy to watch really and on that form it's going to be hard for anyone to stop him getting those Lightweight titles back.

The Bivol fight was seriously turgid for the first five rounds or so. Picked up a bit in the second half once Bivol let his hands to a bit more and realised that the threat from Salamov was minimal. Early doors, he basically controlled the fight with one hand / one punch (the jab). I'd never seem Salamov fight before and I won't be upset if I never do again, because at this level he sucks. Bivol was just Bivol really - defence on point as ever (albeit he had very little to worry about coming at him) and he's a fine technician. But he really is in the 'Who Needs Him?' Club. He's so wedded to this cautious, light-punching style and I guess if it's winning him fights you could argue there's no need to change it, but he can forget about tempting guys like Canelo (for sure) and possibly even Beterbiev into the ring with these kind of performances against overmatched mandatories. He might be shaping up to the Virgil Hill of his generation - lots of title defences, but not many you'd be willing to re-watch and unlikely to make that transition from respected operator to star status.

As for Donaire, much like his countryman Pacquiao he seems to be performing better in some ways (or at least with more confidence) in his late thirties than he was in his early or mid thirties. He doesn't really seem bothered about losing rounds these days and you can outwork, out-speed or outbox him at range, keep his output down etc. But he backs himself to time you with something big when you open up or just make you timid with his power. That's probably not going to cut the mustard against Inoue if he gets his rematch, but Inoue does need a decent name opponent soon as he's been treading water since beating Donaire the first time. If Donaire is chasing a rematch I'd much rather see him try to avenge that defeat (not that I think he can at this stage) than the Rigondeax one. Rigondeaux is an afterthought these days who fights with hardly any self-belief, and I don't think there'd be much glory in Donaire getting a revenge win there.

Maybe I am a bit harsh happy to be proven wrong . Seems a nice kid......But Algieri got slapped by Spence 6 years ago...Was 37 and had only fought once in nearly three years.

If Provo makes anyone world class.. Then Eamon Magee would have been if he had fought him..

Great marketing by Hearn...Pick a gun shy pillow puncher that won a crap title from a face first stiff years ago...Not forgetting that was at a lower weight.

Why not ???...He can sell Whyte on PPV to some over here.

I haven't said Benn doesn't have talent but like most Brits when he does finally meet the cream he will be searching without a compass..

I do respect all your opinions... We just disagree..

His Dad learned the hard way...Needs a test before facing a Watson type...

I started watching Boxing 40 years ago..Seen a lot of prospects like Engels Pedroza.. Robin Blake...Tyrone Crawley on ESPN. NBC..etc

They got found out when they stopped eating stiffs.

Enjoyed the Lomachenko v Commey fight, Loma looks to be back at his brilliant best. His footwork and hand speed were a delight to watch. Should get his belts back soon on that showing.

WBC announced that #1 contender David Benavidez and #2 contender David Lemieux will face off for the interim WBC super middleweight title.
Winner could inherit full title depending on what Canelo Alvarez dies after his cruiserweight fight.

Beterbiev almost lost his belts on the scales earlier today, failing to make 175 at the first time of asking and having to return a couple of hours later to get under the limit officially. Not ideal preparation and valuable rehydration time lost.

There have been rumours circulating for a while that he has to really boil down to make Light-Heavy, and of course the back end of his amateur career was spent fighting at 200 lb...But whenever I've watched him, he's never really struck me as being a particularly big Light-Heavyweight. His in-ring weights have tended to be around 183 or 184 on the couple of occasions that information has been disclosed. Not a small increase overnight by any means, but by the standards of today not all that big a one either and to put that in further perspective George Groves, despite ostensibly being a weight class below Beterbiev, was 184 on fight night when he boxed Eubank Jr at Super-Middle.

That said, Beterbiev is 36 now and did look a little bit drawn at the weigh in, so not beyond the realms of possibility that this could be his last fight as a Light-Heavy.

Quite a few people picking Browne to spring the upset here, thinking he might have got Beterbiev at just the right time. Browne's a bit of an odd fighter and it's not easy to rate him accurately. Incredible how he managed to squander that fight against Pascal when he had full control. I get the impression that in the face of Beterbiev's power he might become a bit too cautious. Against Jack he only really opened up and got on the front foot once Jack went into his shell because of that horror cut.

He's got size, that southpaw stance, nice body punching and very decent countering skills...But he's also got a leaky defence, no inside game (neither has Beterbiev, to be fair) and can be slack with his output when he's on the back foot. He's shown glimpses and put it together in spurts but I think he might be a bit too prone to lapses in concentration and lulls in his activity to pull this one off.

Could be a decent fight, though. Expecting him to give Beterbiev a good test at the very least.

Artur Beterbiev battered Marcus Browne into a 9th round KO. Browne started off fast winning the opening two rounds. Beterbiev started finding his feet in the third. Beterbiev badly cut in the fourth after an accidental headbutt from Browne.
After the cut Beterbiev literally pounded the life out of Browne.
Browne down in the 7th. And stopped in the 9th.
Beterbiev is clearly slowing down but those hands are like concrete. Still fancy him to break Canelo apart.

Best pressure fighter in the game right now, unless there’s someone in the lower weights no one’s heard about

Beterbiev against Ant’ny Yard you see what I’m talking about

Head clashes causing very, very bad cuts are a running theme in Browne's fights. Jack, Pascal (where he came off worse, in fairness) and now Beterbiev. That one last night didn't look totally innocent either. Yeah, southpaw versus orthodox and all that but you have to wonder.

Also has a nasty habit of hitting opponents when they're down (the Williams one was awful). Didn't even acknowledge Beterbiev when Artur went over to say good fight afterwards and shake hands with his team, so all in all it turned out to be pretty satisfying watching Beterbiev give him a beatdown.

Anyway, the cut seemed to spring Beterbiev into life and he basically just beat the snot out of Browne from that point on. Browne had a couple of decent early rounds but even then he looked a bit intimidated by Beterbiev's power and wasn't committing to his shots enough. All well and good trying to box someone off the back foot but you've still got to plant your feet sooner or later and step into the punches. He was pulling back with his jab before he'd even finished throwing it at times and had no idea what to do when Beterbiev got close.

Beterbiev ultimately didn't have to show anything different here to what he's shown us before now, but I guess if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Nobody has been able to push him back or make him cautious about coming in yet and his accumulative power just wears everyone down. But I did like the way he switched from body to head for both the knockdown and knockout.

Joseph Parker vs Derek Chisora II tonight.
Weigh ins from yesterday:
Parker a career heavy 251lbs - 10lbs heavier than first fight.
Chisora 248.5lbs - slightly lighter than the first fight.

Loser should retire.

Hopefully Parker does it more decisively this time. I like Chisora's plucky attitude to the sport and he's been a respectable contender / trial horse, but watching him these past few years has been such a chore and his schtick has become tiresome. Warren and then Hearn have done very well by him over the years and he can't have any complaints, but it's time to start directing some of that effort and promotion towards younger and more deserving fighters, who need it a hell of a lot more than Chisora.

Joseph Parker beat Derek Chisora by UD in a thrilling crossroads fight. Parker dropped Chisora in the 7th with a magnificent uppercut. Chisora also took counts in the 4th and 8th.
Scorecards read 115-110, 115-111 and 114-112.
Cards are way too close. Parker won at least 9 rounds.

Not really that impressed with Parker. For all this talk of the more aggressive Kronk style he's going to be implementing, his lack of cutting edge and finishing ability was shocking here.

Had a practically decrepit guy, whose legs looked like they were struggling just to carry his own weight, down three times but couldn't finish. Easy to say Chisora was clever by retreating to the corners after the knockdowns and trying to bait Parker in, but Parker should never have let him get there in the first place. Chisora was allowed to turn his back and just saunter over there!

Even for the knockdowns, the damaging punch was usually followed by a shove to the ground rather than following up with another shot which could have actually ended proceedings. Just not sure if Parker can ever eradicate that tendency to over-cautiousness in his game. You don't have to be gung-ho but Jeez, you can still sense when a stoppage is there for the taking!

Chisora did okay for a while in the middle rounds and was actually getting through with some decent jabs (another concern for Parker) but overall looked like a shell and though the decline in him has been evident for a while, it looks as if it's hit precipitous levels in 2021. I'd fear for him if he carries on and they serve him up as a stepping stone to an up-and-coming contender who is hungrier and more unforgiving than Parker.

At least the knockdowns spared us the trilogy fight, I guess. Clearly that was the plan judging by a couple of those cards.

I also wasn't impressed with Parker, one of the judges gave Chisora six rounds which was touch generous, it could have been the English one but if Parker wants to gain any respect he should be knocking out the likes of Chisora.

Let's hope this is the end of the most over paid trialhorse in history..

Disgusting that some table throwing stiff with more than 12 defeats earns more than smaller champions who have achieved something in the sport.

And DAZN sign off with an enjoyable, quite exciting but ultimately still relatively one-sided fight as Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez stops Yunieski Gonzalez in ten rounds. Gonzalez had his moments and showed great heart and resilience to hang in there until the tenth.

Ramirez is a guy who I actually enjoy watching and I'm a bit surprised he's never become a bigger name than he currently is, albeit promotional issues have played a part there. I thought he was a bit of a weight bully at 168 and, coupled with Arum's indifference to him, that might have dissuaded potentially interesting opponents at Super-Middle from looking his way. But Golden Boy seem to be making a bigger deal over him, which doesn't surprise me. A well-promoted Ramirez would be excellent for the Light-Heavyweight division and though he doesn't make use of his height and reach enough (and didn't here against Gonzalez), he's still good to watch and does a lot of nice stuff in there.

He's mandatory for Bivol's WBA belt, which I think is a potentially great fight. Bivol needs an opponent with a bit of a buzz around them and Ramirez is a big improvement on the guys he's been facing recently. Same goes in reverse, mind you - Bivol doesn't give you an easy target like Zurdo's recent opposition, and he can make just about anyone potentially look bad. But Ramirez isn't without skill himself and can bang a bit.

Errol Spence Jr will face Yordenis Ugas to unify the IBF/WBC/WBA titles. Fight will take place March/April 2022.