The RedCafe Boxing Thread

[Pat_Mustard]

I actually took this the other day - mainly for the value. I opened the bet account to put Bivol on pts, but if Beterbiev can score a knockdowns and win a few of the rounds, it wouldn't surprise me if he got the decision.

People are underestimating his boxing ability - which whilst isn't on the level of Bivol's - he isn't just a puncher.

Nicely done!

Fight felt draw-ish to me, and 116-12 instinctively feels wrong, but many of those rounds were razor-thin, both on the initial eye-test and according to the stats. I wouldn't put that as a robbery, personally. From the Ring Magazine website:

The fighters were separated by four or less connects in eight of the 12 rounds fought, according to CompuBox. Bivol, who entered the fight as the WBA light heavyweight titlist, landed 141 of 417 total punches to Beterbiev’s 137 of 682.

 

[Pat_Mustard]

Everyone is. Every single fighter…..”thank you to his excellency”.

I’m torn between finding it absolutely nauseating……but actually being impressed with the quality of the overall cards, rather than just a bunch of unknown before the main fight

Aye, great as these fight cards are there's quite a bitter aftertaste. The sycophancy, the shite atmospheres, fecking Kadyrov rocking up to celebrate with Beterbiev

 

[T00lsh3d]

You could almost guarantee they have been told to say things like this. They must think the boxing fans watching are idiots. Absolutely nobody is buying it.

Out of interest, what's the script with the Saudis who turn up to these fights? They friends/ family/ associates of the royal family? Paying public? It just feels like it's probably one big flex from the royal family, as though they're putting a bit of evening entertainment on for their friends, who have no real interest in boxing.

Outside of general sportswashing, feck knows. Pick a popular western pastime and invest in it. If his excellency says you love boxing then you love boxing

Aye, great as these fight cards are there's quite a bitter aftertaste. The sycophancy, the shite atmospheres, fecking Kadyrov rocking up to celebrate with Beterbiev

Ironically, with a nod to the above, at least Kadyrov is a genuine boxing fan. Probably the most genuine fan in the whole building

Not overlooking the mass-murdering aspect of course, but still……

 

[Plastic Evra]

Does back pedalling count as controlling the pace ? Hmmm. Fight of two halves. Loved it, that was a case study of a fight in boxer vs puncher.

I think to around R9 his distancing, placement and defense mostly frustrated Beterbiev of opportunities and Bivol was often the most efficient for 2 minutes out of three in most rounds.

On a rewatch I might see things differently but in the moment I genuinely thought he was well ahead.

People frame it as a "do you value more activity or accuracy" thing but for the first half of the fight Beterbiev wasn't all that active (or more accurately did not tons of openings).

What I'll say is that I'm not sure there was a lot you could change to Bivol's game plan and I don't see a lot of ways he could improve his performance that was already very high level... So I'll think a rematch will have the same problems for him unless Beterbiev ages out of that form (and he was fresh post recovery !). Save of course for an insane flush counter perfect punch.

As an aside, the Japanese card this morning (headlined by T.Inoue vs Tsutsumi) was very good.

 

[Gentleman Jim]

Another good Japanese card currently underway.
Junto Nakatani is now in action against a Thai boxer with a good record in home country.
Assuming Junto comes through he will be on a collision course with Naoya Inoue which would be a massive fight in Japan and in the trade but overlooked by casuals.
Hope Turki is paying attention

 

[Devil81]

How do people see Bivol and Beterbiev against Kovalev? It was the first time I've seen Beterbiev fight and I actually wasn't that impressed if I'm honest. I didn't see the power his record would suggest.

These 20 KOs, are they from wearing an opponent down or has he shown one punch KO power?

To be fair I think the knee operation will have taken something out of him as he's a front foot fighter and speaking from experience of having several knee ops over the years it seriously effects your movement.

As for both of these fighters against a prime Kovalev, I think the fights could go either way if I'm honest. Kovalev was dropped a few times times but was a powerful puncher so I think he could finish both fighters if he caught them. I'd give Bivol the better chance though, as I think he's technically better, I could imagine Beterbiev walking on to shot with his front foot style.

 

[DannyCAFC]

Good fight, happy it lived up to the billing. Had it 115-113 Bivol with him winning 1-3 and 7-10 but it was close, hopefully we get the rematch and a more conclusive winner. Felt he landed a lot of the cleaner work but often wasn't busy enough when he had managed to hold the centre of the ring, and ended up on the back foot too much being outworked in the closing stages of rounds which is always going to sway judges.