Some are epic but other rematches don’t live up to expectations raised by the previous bout. Benn Jr v. Eubank Jr II is one good example and other is Wardley v Clark II where the first fight was 12 rounds of toe to toe mayhem and then the second one was over within 90 seconds.
Nah! The corner should have pulled Wardley, long before the ref decided to stop the fight. He was virtually incapable of walking back to his corner, at the end of the previous few rounds, yet Ben and the boyos sent him back out again and again to get beaten up in a big way. I struggled to watch the last 2 or 3 rounds and just wanted it to end.
I agree with that….sort of. Wardley has a habit of getting battered but then winning late on and although he was taking a lot of punches, at times was not really defending himself and appeared to be out on his feet, he was also rallying for periods and still throwing effective punches, any one of which could easily have floored DDD. It’s a very difficult call for a corner to make as a fighter can interpret it as a lack of faith in his ability to pull it out of the bag once again. It was marginal though and I think the ref or doctor should have taken the decision out of his hands.
In answer to the thread title, this one Jake Paul: Boxing career in doubt over injury from Anthony Joshua fight - BBC Sport And it serves him right.
Don’t know who’s scoring card that is, but, they are a mile out. Verhoeven was another 2 or 3 points ahead when he was stopped, with 1 second left in the round. Should never have been a stoppage. I am an Usyk fan, but fuming that Rico was stopped.
£25 to watch another mma fighter pretend he can box. Boxing and especially dazn can fuck the fuck off and then fuck off some more once they’ve done so quite frankly.
Moses Itauma must be thinking “just crown me now” I think we’ve just seen the last major player from the old guard (Usyk). I simply cannot see anyone coping with Itauma. Too fast, too strong, too young, too good!
Subsequent BBC Sports: "Two judges had it 95-95 while Procopio had it 96-94 to Verhoeven at the time of the stoppage." So one point difference on the card I posted earlier. I wonder whether Usyk is thinking today about a rematch with Rico?...
Not sure what you mean? The scoring was giving Rico the win. I get that the last seconds were "lost" but I don't think that changed the result. Usyk could have likely turned his lights off again, Rico was staggering/ shaky and could also have been hurt. The refs have to make decisions. They do the best they can and that's part of the game. It will be interesting to see how many more MMA challengers will get fights with top boxing champions in future, without going through the ranks.
True. But so was Tyson at the same stage of his career. However, it was pretty obvious he was going to carve through the heavyweight division with ease. And so he did. Itauma does hang his chin out a tad and he’s yet to be properly smacked. But it’s hard to see anyone close to him right now.
I'd hope he is seriously considering retiring. He has done enough in his career IMO. Great fight though even if for some the fight was rigged before it started. Rico had been given a lot of time when he lost his mouth guard to recover. I agree with your take that in the twelfth it could be that Rick could have been knocked down.
That's right, Wardley had rallied in the seventh and even in the ninth after the doctor looked at the cut (well wound) on his nose he kept on fighting. For sure he was shipping a good deal of punishment, quite how I'll never know, but the ref & doctor looked at him at the start of the tenth and we've got to assume they thought him clear of mind & fit enough to continue plus his cuts weren't impairing vision. And when it was stopped in the 11th he was just unable to defend himself. The fight showed how brutal boxing can be (and is) and because it so rarely happens nowadays it comes as a shock when such heavy bleeding & gruesome injuries occur. I for one though it a fabulous, clean & honest bout (listened to live on the radio in the kitchen with a tot or two of whisky like Randolph Turpin fighting Sugar Ray on the bakelite radiogram in the 50s ) with both boxers showing heart, toughness & power. Puts to shame some other match ups that claim to be a 'war' or some such other hyped pre fight tosh. It wouldn't surprise if Wardley takes some time out because defeats such as this can take a lot out of a man's character. See Foreman.
