Povetkin vs. Chambers

I've been impressed with Eddie Chambers as far as his skill set goes. His fighting style is very reminscent of former Heavyweight contender Jimmy Young. He waits patiently and boxes from the outside. I won a small chunk of change on him when he defeated Calvin Brock not too long ago. Fundamentally, he is as sound as they come.

His weakness? Size, obviously. At 6'1 and 215 he resembles too much like the heavyweights of yore. How big of a weakness his lack of size is will tell in the years to come.

Another weakness I detected is that he is a hair too patient. He is a points only fighter and does not really push the issue. He goes into third gear, takes the lead, and stays there.

Povetkin, on the other hand, I have not seen much of aside from various youtube clips. He stopped a now faded Chris Byrd. The Byrdman is tough as nails though and for Povetkin to stop him with such minimal professional experience is impressive. It was hard to gauge how good Povetkin is from the fight as Byrd has slipped considerably. From what I can tell, Povetkin is both aggressive and patient. He does not fight like someone who has only 14 bouts experience and I can only surmise he has a huge wealth of amateur experience.

Based on the clips I've seen of Povetkin and what I've seen of Chambers, I slightly favor Chambers. But the bout is taking place in the Russian's adopted home country of Germany. Big problem.

So we'll have to go with Povetkin by the slimmest of margins.

Upset...um...yeah...

Well, so much for my *gut feeling*.

I thought Trinidad held tough through the first six rounds. I had him up 4 rounds to 2 until Jones dialed it up a notch.

Jones was the clear winner, but again, it was hard to tell how much he has actually slipped.

One of my primary reasons for having thinking Trinidad would be competitive was that I thought they looked comparable physically while on their press tour. Standing side by side, Jones did not dwarf Trinidad in terms of stature.

But they were wearing street clothes.

From the opening bell it was apparent Trinidad was the much smaller man. I think he looked good in remaining competitive through the first six rounds. If he could drop down to middleweight or better yet, junior middleweight I think he could be a threat, even in his mid-thirties.

Too bad he couldn’t still make welterweight.

I thought Jones looked good also…but…he was expected to. I got the impression he could have stopped Trinidad after the first knockdown (a delayed reaction by Trinidad). I thought Trinidad was really hurt.

If Trinidad continues fighting I’d prefer to see him go on the Senior’s tour. He could fight Shane Mosley. But damn, I wish he could still make 154 or 147, that would make for some great match-ups. Technically, I thought he looked sound. He just lost to the bigger man.

It is hard to figure Jones out at this stage of his career. He’s slowed down but still has enough to surprise some of the top names. I would not rule him out against the top tier names. He has stated he wants Joe Calzaghe or the winner of the Taylor/Pavlik rematch. Could the Jermain Taylor thought plodded through a decision victory over Cory Spinks have defeated the version of Jones that we saw this past Saturday? I doubt it. I think Jones still has at least one more big fight left in him.

No real losers in this bout.

Trinidad KO6 Jones?

For some reason I am excited about this match up even though I know I shouldn't be.

When it comes to *Superfights* or in this case, a Super Fight ten years too late I have to admit that sometimes I look for ways that the underdog can win. I did the same in the Mayweather-Hatton fight.

I sincerely thought Hatton had a chance to outwork Mayweather so you can take my comments here with about eight pounds of Morton Salt.

But I think Trinidad has a chance.

Admittedly that feeling is only that. A feeling. I was surprised at how Trinidad looked bigger than Jones in their press conference stand offs. He doesn't look like the smaller man at all. Granted, he does not possess Jones' musculature but there doesn't seem to be a huge size disparity here.

I bring this up because I think some of the on-line fight scribes are pointing to the size differential as one of their primary reasons for favoring Jones. Jones has campaigned the majority of his career at light heavyweight while Trinidad's legend was made at welterweight.

The "you're only as good as your last fight" theory applies here as well. Trinidad is coming off a two year layoff following his most horrible performance to date, the shut out loss to Winky Wright. Jones, on the other hand, is coming off wins over fringe players Anthony Hanshaw and Prince Badi Ajamu. Now, if Jones were coming off his knockout loss to Glen Johnson, the experts would be saying things are "even money".

And that's where I stand. This bout is a pick-em affair. Trinidad is a -300 underdog at some sportbooks. And I have this feeling...

Should I bet on this one?.

Let's go small...$50 on Tito and roll the dice.

Looking forward to this fight and I think it may be more competitive than people think.

Malignaggi W12 Ngoudju

Well the odds for this bout came down from 8-1 to 7-1...I thought it was a bit too high only because I wanted to bet on Malignaggi. I think of Malignaggi as a poor man's Hector Camacho Sr. Granted, he fights orthodox but he has the same kind of New York swagger either makes you want to watch him or hate him.. Ngoudjo, a native of Cameroon, is a fighter I haven't been impressed with. He lost to a faded Jose Luis Castillo. Then won a razor thin decision to another faded veteran, Randall Bailey. I didn't have high hopes for this one.

Overall, this fight was better than I had anticipated. The normally astute Al Bernstein stated before the match that Ngoudjo might possibly be one of the best
infighters in the game today...Huh? Nontheless, Ngoudjo proved to be a stern test for the young Malignaggi despite my preconceived doubts about his ability.

Now on to the fight itself...The first two rounds were all Malignaggi. He easily controlled the pace with his jab. Ngoudjo was doing nothing but follow him around. Bernstein compared Malignaggi to Willie Pep in fighting style. Steve Albert then lowered the bar a little bit to cover for Bernstein's blasphemy, offering up less hallowed names like Joey Archer and Willie Pastrano. Malignaggi did dominate the first six minutes but...The next Willie Pep?

Ngoudjo, to his credit, soon made some smart adjustments and changed the direction of a fight that looked like another near shut out for Malignaggi. Ngoudjo nailed the cocky IBF champ with a good right hand in the third. He was coming full steam ahead and and the facial expression on Malignaggi's face turned from cocky to concerned.

Like I said, he was coming on strong but not as strong as the announcers would indicate. After suggesting Malignaggi was the second coming of Willie Pep, Bernstein began doing a hype job on the effectivess of Ngoudjo. Perhaps he was doing a sales job of trying to make the fight more exciting and competitive than it really was...

A cut opened over the left eye of Malignaggi in the fifth and the middle rounds were becoming increasingly more difficult to score. Buddy Mcgirt, Malignaggi's trainer, sagely advised his charge that he was making the fight "a lot harder that it needs to be." Malignaggi had abandoned his jab or perhaps he was getting tired of being countered. Bernstein aptly made this observation and stated when Malignaggi used his jab he controlled the bout.

Round seven was huge for Ngoudjo. He landed a crackling right hand to start the round and then wobbled the "Magic Man" a bit with another big right cross. His right hand counters, timed over Malignaggi's low left were finding a home. It seemed as if the momentum was changing in his favor.

In the eighth, Malignaggi regrouped. He coasted through the round and stole it. It was here that Ngoudjo should have pressed the advantage.

Malignaggi resumed control in the ninth with consistent flurries and a jab. Ngoudjo become content to try to land some wild rights and lefts. Ngoudjo stole the last two rounds on my card but it was too little too late. I scored it 116-112 for Malignaggi.

Bernstein had it 114-114 and scratched his head at some of the scores of the press row and judges. The problem wasn't with their scoring, the problem was with he and Steve Albert overstating Ngoudjo's effectiveness.

Not the best performance by Malignaggi but I thought he was a clear winner. I think he would make for an interesting match against the recently defeated Hatton or Gavin Rees if he wants to go overseas.

Mythical match-ups

From time to time I enjoy the subject of mythical match-ups. How would a fighter from one era do in battle against a fighter from another. In general, I prefer modern era fighters say, 1950s on to the present. And that is only from the light heavyweight division down. It is a bit unfair to take the heavyweights of the pre Sonny Liston time period and compare them to the fighters of today. Granted there were some big boys fighting but for the most part the pre-1950s era of heavyweights were dominated by men weighing in the vicinity of 185-205 lbs.

That being said, here are some mythical match-ups being discussed over at Maxboxing.com and I decided to offer my opinion.

I am curious to know who you think would have won these mythical matchups:

Hearns vs. Jones Jr. (at Jr. Middleweight, Middleweight, Super Middleweight, and Light Heavyweight)

Jones only had three or four bouts at the Jr.Middleweight limit early in his career so he hardly qualifies in this division. I would, however, take Jones over "The Hitman" at just about any weight in their perspective primes. A lot is said nowadays about Jones' questionable chin which has been breached by Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver. We can't forget, however, that Hearns never had a granite chin himself and was much more hittable than Jones. In his prime, I'd take Jones to knock out Hearns.

Jones Jr. vs. Trinidad (Middleweight - assuming they fought like they did when they were actually fighting at this weight)

Again, I'd take Jones. If Oscar De La Hoya could outspeed and outmaneuver Trinidad for at least nine of the twelve rounds, Jones would be able to turn the trick himself at his prime.

Pryor vs. Mayweather

Mayweather. And relatively easy. Pryor was a small guy. About 5'6". He was a natural lightweight that had to come up to junior welterweight in order to receive a title shot. Despite his awesome knockout percentage Pryor was not a hard, concussive hitter. He overwhelmed his opponents. There is no way in hell he'd be able to do that against Mayweather. Mayweather has too much discipline and skill for the erratic Pryor. I can only see Mayweather getting beaten by a tall, hard hitting fighter who can match his speed (Thomas Hearns or even a prime Vernon Forrest comes to mind.) Mayweather would beat Pryor.

Duran vs. Mosley (Lightweight, Welterweight)

Duran would be a bit too much for Mosley at both weights. Mosley would be made to order for Duran, he'd engage him on the inside, find that to be too hot but then would find that he'd lack the necessary boxing skill to stave off a hungry Duran.

Whitaker vs. Mayweather (Lightweight, Jr. Welterweight, Welterweight)

Tough, tough one to call. They would both negate each other. Call it a draw.

Trinidad vs. Cotto

Trinidad would knock out Cotto early. I don't think Trinidad would be defeated by a plodding fighter. Granted, Cotto has some boxing skill and would use them to full effect here like he did against Mosley but in my opinion it would be ineffective against a taller, stalking fighter like Trinidad. Trinidad would be way too sharp and powerful for Cotto to survive against him.

Leonard vs. Trinidad (Welterweight)

I think Leonard would outsmart Trinidad in a relatively close fight. He'd have his trouble against "Tito", probably more than De La Hoya did but as always, Sugar Ray would find a way.


Hearns vs. Trinidad (Welterweight, Jr. Middleweight, Middleweight)

I think Hearns simply overpowers Trinidad at any weight.