Good lad!! It sounds like he loves the game enough, & is wise enough, to not tell his folks lest he gets into trouble... ha! And how could you be anything but proud? I'd certainly like to see any footage you may have of him because from what I recall he had good movement & balance and a little bit of that wisdom coming by being patient & picking his moment.
Thanks mate. I’m immensely proud of him. Not so much because he keeps winning but because he’s had setback after setback which have prevented his career progressing (grandad died, first attempt at uni was a disaster, Covid lockdowns, corneal abrasion x2, badly broken thumb then badly broken wrist), but he doesn’t let it get him down. I just hope the 5 years of fuckery havent scuppered his chances of making a living from boxing because whereas big guys can go on until their late thirties, lightweights have a shelf life and he’s 24 in a few weeks. According to him this fight was more of a war than the last one, so it should be an interesting watch
Never liked Naseem's showboating but he was a decent boxer when had to put his mind to it. That was a great fight.... speed, movement & aggression and up till the final knock down you'd have trouble deciding it on points. Round 1, Naseem getting all excited & rushing in square is never a wise move...
That's what boxing does - teaches you all about commitment & humility. Sounds like his wrist & thumb coped with the work mind.... or are they now shockingly swollen with an odd shade of blue about them. Yes, perhaps his living as an actual boxing may be scuppered but many make a living out of training and coaching. And as in football those that never achieved what they wanted to through injury or opportunity can often become the best tutors.
Exactly. He's quite sanguine about it and he loves the fight game for reasons other than its potential riches. It's a similar situation with my other son, who missed the professional football boat due to having a lot of issues in his early/mid teens (he's Aspergers), yet has recently been called up to play for England in a form of para-football where they have able-bodied goalkeepers. He knows that if things had been different he would now be earning millions, but he says that he never would have had the chance to meet so many inspirational people in the para-football field and that he considers himself very lucky (I must admit my bottom lip had a bit of a wobble when he told me that). My family has a bit of a tradition of this sort of thing happening tbh. My dad was a semi-pro goalkeeper but lost a kidney after being kicked in the back and had to stop playing. I was a promising cricketer and was being lined up for trials with a county side until I shattered my elbow playing American football. And one of my younger brothers played for the youth team of a professional rugby league club, was player of the year 3 seasons running and was being groomed for big things, but took 18 months to recover from a diaphragm injury when he was about 15 or 16 and by that time the ship had sailed. My youngest son (the footballer) has played with some incredibly talented lads over the years, yet none of them have gone on to play professionally. So much is down to luck, staying injury free and their life being stable enough to maintain the necessary consistency and intensity that perhaps only 0.1% of them actually make it to elite level. One Brazilian kid he played futsal with about 5 years ago had Messi/Ronaldinho level skills, but he also had a chaotic life which, in the space of 5 years, had taken him and his family from Brazil to Portugal and then to London, followed by them having to go back to Brazil due to some immigration issue.
Me neither, loved it when he eventually got his "comeuppance". I don't dispute his ring craft and his ability but glad he lost to Marco Antonio Barrera
Fury Usyk Fascinating fight. Neither big bangers but both excellent boxers. I can’t decide who will work who out the quickest. If I was to have a flutter (not with Jez, obvs) I’d go for Fury based on his size and great movement. Close though. Really looking forward to this… if of course it happens. It’s funny how styles make fights. Usyk struggled a bit with Chisora’s marauding style. Whereas Fury dispatched Chisora (3 times?) without getting out of 2nd gear. And he also brushed Dillian Whyte with ease. But struggled a bit with Wallin and Ngannou of course… and Wilder, who’s lost a lot of his lustre recently…
Yeah.. it's a real tough one to call and it's not necessarily just styles that have an impact on the result. What's going on in the head space can have a bearing... has the pre fight banter got you looking the wrong way, how did previous results against the same guy go, did your missus say summat earlier in the day.. and of course with the heavy weights one (lucky) punch or cut can decide things. I was gonna say for me it's tough to look past Fury's ability to change tactics mid stream & actually 'fight', if you know what I mean, but that may well be just favouritism on my part. He looked clean & in good shape when in the crowd at the Manu v Liverpool cup game. But of course saying that Usyk also comes from a place where such a fighters spirit isn't uncommon. So are we down to "a good big 'un beats a good little 'un?"
Fury certainly isn’t hugely difficult to hit. He’s been decked numerous times. Usyk isn’t a massive banger so it’s not such a problem, but AJ is. Fury does have a pretty sound chin and decent recovery powers. I think if Fury manages to get past Usyk over 2 fights (no mean feat) he’ll go on to box AJ’s ears off. Rather like Usyk did.
Some pics from the other night. My boy is the guy in the white. PS: that bloke who looks like Winston Churchill isn’t me!
Looked to be an old school night as well with gentlemen properly attired in suits & ties/dickie bows.
Haha. No. I’ve been variously described as “the Jason Statham of the criminal bar”, “Zoltar the fairground fortune teller”, “Ming the Merciless” and “a Poundshop Andrew Tate”, but never Churchill or Kinnear.
That name always makes me laugh cus it reminds me of the film 'Flesh Gordon' and 'Minge the Merciless'
Listening to a boxing show on the radio last night there was a consensus that Ngannou's big mistake against AJ was that he tried to be a boxer. One of the pundits said that as soon as he saw him on his toes in the first few seconds he knew it'd be over in a couple of rounds.
