Boxing in 2024

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Happy new year, fight fans. Any optimism for bouts or fighters out there? The flagship fight for the sport is the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and correct me if I’m wrong but it’s surely going to be a disappointment. Here’s why I think that.
Fury has been past his best for so long but has managed to hide it with hand-picked second tier opposition whom he can simply bully. He’s out of shape and needs injections in his elbows regularly as well as his thin legs after carrying between twenty and thirty stone for so long are nearly gone.
The pathetic outbursts against Usyk and the assertions of superiority were the desperate egotistical bleats of a charlatan. Wilder? One of the most hyped boxers in history. Wallin, exposed as mediocre. And humiliated by a man who hadn’t boxed professionally before. And this guy is talked of as a top ten or twenty all time great?!

Even he must know know that to beat Usyk he needs to show some fleet-footed movement as he will not win by attempting to rag doll him;Usyk has such a ring iq that he will be one step ahead that if Fury tries to walk him down.he will look like a lumbering oaf.

Sadly I no longer care about there being a British champ because on merit Fury has no right to call himself undisputed. When Lennox achieved the feat twenty odd years ago it was the culmination of years of hard work and I was right there with him sharing his joy. But now I simply want the better fighter to win and that’s Oleksander Usyk.

Anyway, I guess there are proper fighters to support, like Naoya Inoue . For those who still take an internet in the sport, don’t pay up for the Saudi funded insults, let’s support the real warriors not cheesy selfish dossers like Fury. Rant over!

The pool of talent in women’s boxing is still quite shocking Mochyn, so if “legacy” (that she is chasing) means beating up on a couple dozen part-timers then I’m sure she will be spoken of in awed tones in the year 2525.

I see john Fury has head-butted someone in Saudi Arabia.....

Sick to death of this complete idiot....Feral coward who could empty a bar of decent people by just walking in...

These Social media interviewers need to stop laughing at his pathetic behaviour and encouraging him.

Derek Smalls wrote:The pool of talent in women’s boxing is still quite shocking Mochyn, so if “legacy” (that she is chasing) means beating up on a couple dozen part-timers then I’m sure she will be spoken of in awed tones in the year 2525.

Yes, just thought I'd mention it. Whilst Price looks useful, her opponent was absolutely shocking. I can't imagine what the male boxers must have felt being on the undercard of that fight. Nice car by the way.

I hope she does well, the Welsh really get behind their boxers, and a sporting night out in Cardiff is hard to beat.Showing my age, but I remember when Robbie Regan won his title there-sheer pandemonium

TRUSSMAN66 wrote:I see john Fury has head-butted someone in Saudi Arabia.....

Sick to death of this complete idiot....Feral coward who could empty a bar of decent people by just walking in...

These Social media interviewers need to stop laughing at his pathetic behaviour and encouraging him.

Just saw this, he really is such a disgrace to Boxing. The big bad fighting man going for the youngest and smallest guy there. Just cannot stand that his son has the spotlight so continually makes it about himself. I bet it wont be him footing the bill when he is sued...

Bit of a low buzz reported around the world with the Unification. There’s no interest in the States according to Hauser. I’m surprised that every article still seems to go on about Fury being six foot nine- he’s more like six seven. And with Usyk being five inches shorter than him I think the size disparity won’t be as drastic as we are led to expect. Still a good advantage but it all depends on whether Fury’s legs have still got it.

Mochyn du wrote:That Lauren Price won the world title then after just 8  fights.  There we are.

I'm not a a huge fan of women's boxing but good luck to her and nice to see a Welsh athlete that has worked very hard do well

This crap about Inoue having to leave his Country is tedious......20x20 ring, two fighters..two pairs of gloves....

Personally he'll never be number 1 even if he won 7 belts at 7 different weights because he's Oriental.....Number 1 for me...Then Crawford.

Chris always seems to be on Canelo's case and yet can't recall him ever moaning about a guy that feasted on Daniel Geale types for years while Ward and Froch lay a couple of pounds above..

I will always have lots of time for the Canelo types of this World and as for the drugs. Well all the best Doctors are working for the cheats....If you want me to believe a 108 pound Filipino can knock out guys Mike McCallum's size without help then it's a river too far.

If you have criticised GGG then I apologise Christopher.

I have to admit, I’m liking the Gypsy for this fight the more I see of him. He’s doing the right thing by getting slim at this stage- the good old fashioned way, of losing a little too much weight,and then putting more on as the fight nears.
I guess I’m something of a puritan when it comes to the ballooning -between-fights issue. It’s so counterproductive.

All the countries that want Tyson Fury to win marked in red

In reply to Jimmy Moz, I don't think everyone in England is a fan of Fury. It's over 50 years since I lived in England and usually support the UK fighter. But not this time, I hope Usyk gives him a boxing lesson and shuts his mouth for good.

There's a lot of support for Usyk in the UK, personally hope he embarrasses the loud mouth cretin.

I used to like Fury and was very happy when he became world champion but the inactivity from him by pricing people out of fights, his continuous spouting off and his absolutely horrid father have got me wanting him to taste the canvas.

I think Fury can win this if he is allowed to lay all over Usyk and drain his energy but if Usyk does not fall for this tactic then I think he is the better boxer and may snatch it on points.

I've just watched a press conference now. I am no prude, in fact my own language can be bad at times, but oh my word, Tyson Fury just shouting and swearing and acting so aggressive. I know it's all a bit WWE at times, but this doesn't really do the sport any good in my opinion. Makes you want Usyk to win even more if I am honest.

I hope Usyk wins, but I think the size difference is going to be too much and Fury will triumph.

Fury in October-January looked awful, but he has got himself back into condition and is looking reasonably sharp again. All those delays were crucial for him.

Probably going to be a very ugly fight with not much excitement.

Duty281 wrote:I hope Usyk wins

Are your friends at the EDL aware of this?

Jimmy Moz wrote:

Duty281 wrote:I hope Usyk wins

Are your friends at the EDL aware of this?

I have checked, they're also supporting Usyk.

Duty281 wrote:

Jimmy Moz wrote:

Duty281 wrote:I hope Usyk wins

Are your friends at the EDL aware of this?

I have checked, they're also supporting Usyk.

Judging by what I have been reading on social media it seems most of England is supporting Usyk. Have things have changed hey.

Time waits for no man, and my God didn't Kovalev look shot to bits there? Comes as no surprise, of course, but always a sobering sight when you see a formerly top fighter looking as if they're fighting under water. Credit to him for just about going the distance, but he's got nothing left.

I had the pleasure of watching Kovalev live even if I was on the opposition's (Cleverly) side.

Hoping Cordina looks good in this fight.

Jimmy Moz wrote:Hoping Cordina looks good in this fight.

He didn't.....

A little controversy about it, given that Cordina's problems started after that foul shot he took. That said, he had a few rounds afterwards to get himself together and couldn't manage it.

He fights at a higher level than them, of course, but the way he abandoned his technique and got caught up in the moment, duking it out when he didn't need to, reminded me of Josh Kelly or Anthony Fowler etc.

Big upset, and credit to Cacace.

Here we go. Probably going to be eating humble pie in under an hour for my spoutings…

Very close fight and of course Fury gets the chance to reclaim the belts.
Massive congratulations to Olexsander Usyk and a lift for Ukrainians .

Deserved win for Usyk in a better fight than I expected.

The first few rounds were close, then Fury established control in rounds five and six, using the jab and uppercut excellently, plus mixing it up with good body shots. After that though....hardly anything. The punch output dried up. His nose was busted in, I think, round eight. Usyk kept landing so many slick combos, nearly scoring a near unbelievable KO win.

Fury was far too passive in the last few rounds. I don't know what advice he got from his corner, but he was coasting far too much in the final few rounds when he needed action.

I had Usyk winning 116-111, but there were a lot of close rounds. Knockdown the overall difference between a draw and Usyk win.

Fury laughably claiming Usyk got the decision because Ukraine is at war.

Rematch in October? Would be hilarious if Usyk kept Fury waiting.

I knew Usyk was great - he's even greater than I thought. Looked like it was going inexorably against him by the middle rounds and I never envisioned him hurting Fury like that.

Fury might rue the fact that he clowned away a round or so, and didn't fight in as bullying an aggressive a style as we expected....But then again, he was boxing well and controlling things using his skills on the outside between rounds 3 and perhaps 7, so who's to say? Based on that, while he's clearly not shot, he has definitely slid - but I remain convinced that Usyk has declined too, so his victory can't be cheapened.

Better fight than I imagined and all to play for if there's a rematch.

Landed! A rematch about as likely as the dawn following the night. So much money.

Imagine if Fury was more popular they might have given it to him. His idiot father won’t help in a close fight.

Had it 115-112. Honestly, the ref saved Fury from a KO in the ninth there, and it would have been a travesty if he then also got the decision. It's like 15 unanswered punches, and then when he finally has him cornered, he calls a knockdown. Insane

Duty281 wrote:Deserved win for Usyk in a better fight than I expected.

The first few rounds were close, then Fury established control in rounds five and six, using the jab and uppercut excellently, plus mixing it up with good body shots. After that though....hardly anything. The punch output dried up. His nose was busted in, I think, round eight. Usyk kept landing so many slick combos, nearly scoring a near unbelievable KO win.

Fury was far too passive in the last few rounds. I don't know what advice he got from his corner, but he was coasting far too much in the final few rounds when he needed action.

I had Usyk winning 116-111, but there were a lot of close rounds. Knockdown the overall difference between a draw and Usyk win.

Fury laughably claiming Usyk got the decision because Ukraine is at war.

Rematch in October? Would be hilarious if Usyk kept Fury waiting.

Probably that he's on death's door. The fight was done as a competition after the ninth. Fury couldn't sustain any run, probably because he was both winded and concussed. I don't think he was coasting, I just think his body was operating on Safe Mode

Only concern about the rematch is Fury's mental health. He's been off the rails before, a first defeat may send him into a dark place again. Can he maintain focus for another six months and not have another blowout?

Knockdown was a fair call, although it should have come a few seconds earlier as Fury was held up by the ropes then. Shame for Usyk it didn't come a minute earlier because he would have surely finished Fury but for the bell.

I thought Fury tired a lot in the final rounds but probably pulled out 12 with some good counters. I had it 114-113 Usyk. A bit classless of Fury to bring up the “war” reason for his defeat but he isn’t the most classy guy in the world. Good fight, fair decision.

I wonder how Fury, Joshua, Hearn and Warren are feeling right now with the knowledge that they all f#*ked around too much and didn't make the all British heavyweight title unification fight when they had the chance? They tried to milk the British public for all that they could. True, Joshua and Fury will still make money fighting each other but it won't be as big or as significant as what it would have been if they had met when each was an undefeated champion.

Congratulations to Usyk for spoiling the pre-planned party.

More than deserved win for Usyk, two weight undisputed champion, can't do much more than that.

Duty281 wrote:Only concern about the rematch is Fury's mental health. He's been off the rails before, a first defeat may send him into a dark place again. Can he maintain focus for another six months and not have another blowout?

Knockdown was a fair call, although it should have come a few seconds earlier as Fury was held up by the ropes then. Shame for Usyk it didn't come a minute earlier because he would have surely finished Fury but for the bell.

That's the point, though. If the ref calls the knock down 15 seconds earlier, when Fury was bouncing from rope to rope, Usyk gets a chance to finish the fight in the ninth. Alternatively, having let Fury try to survive, he could have continued letting the action go with Usyk about to finish him off. Instead he picks the only option which allowed Fury to survive the round.

Regardless, Fury made some classless comments post-fight, but I'm not going to put too much into that. Fighters, especially the losing fighter, shouldn't be put in front of the mic immediately after a fight, and this was another example. The guy thought it was December, FFS.

On to the fight, I thought Fury fought a good fight. It was a high-speed chess match, which maybe didn't favour him, but still, he wasn't outclassed, and I had the fight 7-5 with the knockdown, so maybe if Fury wins the ninth, which he was competitive in until things went sideways, he wins even on my scorecard (although I acknowledge this is a bit of a "how was the play, Mrs. Lincoln?" viewpoint). But it will be interesting to see how Fury tries to counter things in the rematch. Fury lost the beginning of the fight, when it was a sharpshooting contest. He won the middle rounds, when he tried to bully Usyk, but that's also how he got caught on the eighth, which probably started his downfall. He could maybe come in 277 and lean into Usyk more, but by the 11th, Usyk was throwing him off him, so I'm not sure Fury could effectively carry more weight. I know he did against Wilder, but that was a different kind of fight

I had Usyk winning on a UD but I guess I did have good money coming back if it had been a UD to Usyk lol.

The Ukrainian definitely won the fight though and Fury's nonsense after the fight along with Frank's is to be expected and ignored.

I think there's a big market for a Fury v Joshua fight now in England (even though they'll go to Saudi for all the money again).

Had Usyk ahead a couple of rounds at the end like most.
Do expect the rematch, there will be too much money not for it to go ahead, regardless of Fury's mental health. Do think Fury's dad is a detriment at fight night, having him as part of the team ring side shouting off instructions.

Expect the rematch will be just as close

kevchadders wrote:Had Usyk ahead a couple of rounds at the end like most.
Do expect the rematch, there will be too much money not for it to go ahead, regardless of Fury's mental health. Do think Fury's dad is a detriment at fight night, having him as part of the team ring side shouting off instructions.

Expect the rematch will be just as close

He's a huge detriment. If a rematch happens then Tyson needs to ensure John is in a different country for the whole event. I don't think John was around for any of the Wilder fights, and it was a huge benefit to Tyson.

Tyson's corner were terrible last night, telling him he was in front. Needs sorting out.

Really hope a rematch happens.

The venerable John Fury was giving opposite advice to his trainers but strangely maybe better advice to jab and smother and take the weight off the punches. Fury looked strangely weaker than Usyk though so if there is a rematch he might look to put an extra stone on.

Interesting if Tyson’s ego can recover though. Because to Tyson Fury, any man under 6ft 4 is a “small guy”. He lost to a blown up cruiser not a fellow giant. He’s going to be feeling the pain of that, after all he’s never had much good to say about the smaller heavyweights.

Mochyn du wrote:The venerable John Fury was giving opposite advice to his trainers but strangely maybe better advice to jab and smother and take the weight off the punches.  Fury looked strangely weaker than Usyk though so if there is a rematch he might look to put an extra stone on.

Interesting if Tyson’s ego can recover though.  Because to Tyson Fury, any man under 6ft 4 is a “small guy”.  He lost to a blown up cruiser not a fellow giant.  He’s going to be feeling the pain of that, after all he’s never had much good to say about the smaller heavyweights.

Yep, nearly got stopped by a smaller guy. That would have been the ultimate embarrassment for Fury's mindset.

Well done Usyk. If it was me I would retire and enjoy life with his family and let Fury and Joshua fight it out for the belts. My money would be on Joshua going on his last performance.

The brass neck on both Arum and Joe McNally last night.

The 117-111 cards were a bit wide for me, but I'm surprised that anyone could have Taylor winning that, and I think you'd need to give him every close round to even get to 114-114. For what it's worth, I had it 116-113 for Catterall.

Catterall should really have a few more stoppages to his name than he does. I think he had the wood on Taylor again last night and could potentially have put him away if he'd persisted with the body shots, and it was a similar story against Foley last year. He's not as defensively slick as he tries to appear and he goes walkabouts for spells, but there was a lot less holding from him in the home stretch last night than there was in the first fight, and when he lets those combinations go he really is impressive. So much fluidity and variation in them.

As for Taylor, who's had a very rough time since beating Ramirez three years ago....Well, I wouldn't say he's a shot fighter based on last night's showing (it was a really good fight, let's not forget) but I do think we can safely say his best days are behind him. He just doesn't look as robust and imposing as he used to, he's getting his too easily way too much (albeit that was always the case) and he just didn't really look like he was properly flowing in there.

We know that making 140 is a challenge for him these days, but at 147 he risks giving away the advantages which made him such a formidable force at Light-Welter. Although he did well to stay on his feet against Lopez last year and Catterall here, I also wonder if his punch resistance is just starting to wane. He doesn't have a style which lends itself well to weight-hopping or longevity, so I wouldn't be surprised if we never see him winning a world title again - but if he does carry on I'd really like to see him become more active.

He's said repeatedly that he doesn't believe in ring rust, but I don't think he can afford another year between fights now. They're talking about a trilogy fight, but Catterall's focus now simply has to be a world title shot, for me.

88Chris05 wrote:The brass neck on both Arum and Joe McNally last night.

The 117-111 cards were a bit wide for me, but I'm surprised that anyone could have Taylor winning that, and I think you'd need to give him every close round to even get to 114-114. For what it's worth, I had it 116-113 for Catterall.

Catterall should really have a few more stoppages to his name than he does. I think he had the wood on Taylor again last night and could potentially have put him away if he'd persisted with the body shots, and it was a similar story against Foley last year. He's not as defensively slick as he tries to appear and he goes walkabouts for spells, but there was a lot less holding from him in the home stretch last night than there was in the first fight, and when he lets those combinations go he really is impressive. So much fluidity and variation in them.

As for Taylor, who's had a very rough time since beating Ramirez three years ago....Well, I wouldn't say he's a shot fighter based on last night's showing (it was a really good fight, let's not forget) but I do think we can safely say his best days are behind him. He just doesn't look as robust and imposing as he used to, he's getting his too easily way too much (albeit that was always the case) and he just didn't really look like he was properly flowing in there.

We know that making 140 is a challenge for him these days, but at 147 he risks giving away the advantages which made him such a formidable force at Light-Welter. Although he did well to stay on his feet against Lopez last year and Catterall here, I also wonder if his punch resistance is just starting to wane. He doesn't have a style which lends itself well to weight-hopping or longevity, so I wouldn't be surprised if we never see him winning a world title again - but if he does carry on I'd really like to see him become more active.

He's said repeatedly that he doesn't believe in ring rust, but I don't think he can afford another year between fights now. They're talking about a trilogy fight, but Catterall's focus now simply has to be a world title shot, for me.

Don't want to see part 3 Catterall has his number..........As for Taylor he is the modern day Curry...World at his feet and he some how let it go...

Maybe time to retire......Got a Good payday to add to others and he was Undisputed and those times are gone.

Better fighter than the last two years suggest.

Damn, Truss.....You really must respect and rate Taylor if you deem him worthy of any kind of comparison with your boy Curry!

I think these kind of defeats were always on the cards of Taylor sooner or later, because while his status as four-belt undisputed at 140 was thoroughly deserved, it was different in one notable way to Usyk's at Cruiser, Inoue's at Super-Bantam, Crawford's at Light-Welter just before him etc.

His results on paper were thoroughly dominant, but his performances and margins of victory weren't. Baranchyk and Prograis could easily have gone against him had he not been fighting in front of a home crowd (albeit neither were robberies - don't get me wrong) and he fought a lot of rough and come-forward types who were a decent styles match for him.

That's not a knock on Taylor, as there's no shame in not being at the same level of those freakishly good types such as Usyk, Inoue and Crawford. And it's often forgotten that he became undisputed in just 18 fights, fewer than half the amount Ricky Hatton had before he even contested his first world title at Light-Welter. But he never looked anywhere near unbeatable, despite managing to beat them all up until Ramirez.

So while I do reckon he's probably slid past his best, I don't think it's been a major fall from grace. I think inactivity, living the high life and a lack of motivation has blunted him, but if he can start fighting with a little more frequency again, I'd still be intrigued to see what he can produce.

88Chris05 wrote:Damn, Truss.....You really must respect and rate Taylor if you deem him worthy of any kind of comparison with your boy Curry!

I think these kind of defeats were always on the cards of Taylor sooner or later, because while his status as four-belt undisputed at 140 was thoroughly deserved, it was different in one notable way to Usyk's at Cruiser, Inoue's at Super-Bantam, Crawford's at Light-Welter just before him etc.

His results on paper were thoroughly dominant, but his performances and margins of victory weren't. Baranchyk and Prograis could easily have gone against him had he not been fighting in front of a home crowd (albeit neither were robberies - don't get me wrong) and he fought a lot of rough and come-forward types who were a decent styles match for him.

That's not a knock on Taylor, as there's no shame in not being at the same level of those freakishly good types such as Usyk, Inoue and Crawford. And it's often forgotten that he became undisputed in just 18 fights, fewer than half the amount Ricky Hatton had before he even contested his first world title at Light-Welter. But he never looked anywhere near unbeatable, despite managing to beat them all up until Ramirez.

So while I do reckon he's probably slid past his best, I don't think it's been a major fall from grace. I think inactivity, living the high life and a lack of motivation has blunted him, but if he can start fighting with a little more frequency again, I'd still be intrigued to see what he can produce.

Rate Curry higher.....But Taylor was a top p4per who got humbled off a guy in Catterall that I just think is a good fighter but nothing special....A bit like Honeyghan...

Hate to belabor the point but Starling and Breland never saw anything in Honeyghan and rightfully battered him.....I imagine Haney and Lopez won't lose sleep watching Catterall who looks more like a Michael Watson type to be found out at the highest level.

Could be a Forrest v Mosley style thing...But Taylor should be beating Catterall.

DuBious came good! And there was me thinking Joyce had the better future only last year. I didn’t think he would be as good as Hrgovic, but his trainer has fine tuned him and now he has a much more rounded game.

No-one in their right mind would want to see Usyk DuBois Two, but it’s good to have him in the mix at the top.

Very sad to see Wilder going out like that.

Nick Ball's win was great in the fight of the night, a deserved decision win. His inside game and hand speed was very strong.

The two heavyweight fights were dreadful. Hrgovic landed the flush right hand time and again in the first few rounds, didn't get Dubois out of there, and ran out of ideas and energy very quickly. Hrgovic's conditioning and game plan was dreadful. And Wilder needs to retire. He's so very washed up.

I am happy for DuBois. Shows the value of putting young fighters in with fighters maybe a level above them, he's improved out of sight, especially mentally, since the Usyk fight.

All that said, he did eat a lot of right hands from Hrgovic, and if he does the same vs AJ, he's going to be eating dinner through a straw for a few weeks.

The Wilder fight is what it is. Mixed bag of a legacy for Wilder. I think, on the one hand, it is fair to point out that he basically lost to every B+ and above fighter he ever faced, and that none of those fights were even close. On the other, he was an explosive fighter who helped revive a previously dead division. I also give respect to his 10 title defences. It wasn't exactly a murderer's row, but boxing is littered with fighters who won a title, lived the high life, and then gave the title up the very next fight. Fury, for example didn't even make it to his first defence. So credit to him for that, and I think he made over $100 million in his last half a dozen fights, so he'll never need to work a day in his life again. But overall, flattered to deceive somewhat.

Watching the Bivol fight, when Turki got in the ring, it felt like I was watching a man take his first certain steps into centralising boxing. He announced when Fury-Usyk w2 would happen. He announced Bivol-Beterbiev's date, and then he told Bivol in the ring that he wants him to fight Benavidez next. I can't help but feel like he's beginning to really boil the crab. Assuming Canelo does fight on a Riyadh-sponsored card, as is rumoured, by my count all four belts at 154, 168, 175, 200 and heavyweight are Riyadh-backed. Only a matter of time before Turki looks at all these clowns "promoting the fights and charging belt and asking "the Frak I need you for?"

Starting to wonder if Inoue is all he’s cracked up to be. That really is massively disappointing not fighting MJ. Disillusioned with this sport, the so called stars avoiding their toughest challenges, Inoue surely loses his place in the top 5 for this:

https://www.boxingscene.com/naoya-inoue-eye-on-bigger-prizes-mandatory-assignment--184327

Herman Jaeger wrote:Starting to wonder if Inoue is all he’s cracked up to be. That really is massively disappointing not fighting MJ. Disillusioned with this sport, the so called stars avoiding their toughest challenges, Inoue surely loses his place in the top 5 for this:

https://www.boxingscene.com/naoya-inoue-eye-on-bigger-prizes-mandatory-assignment--184327

This is the problem with boxing, fans over-reacting to one fight. You don't become a two weight undisputed champion by avoiding challenges, simple reality is Inoue dismantled the guy who beat Akhmadaliev but sure he's ducking him and loses all his credibility.

The decision was met with harsh jeers from the crowd who felt Akhmadaliev had done enough to defend his crown?

Inoue can obviously draw a crowd fighting a mannequin. The one guy who can give him a fight Akhmadaliev, sums up the sport today. Horrible era of boxing the four belt era.

Bring on the Saudi takeover. Anything’s got to be better than the current model where one of it’s major stars can not defend his title for three years