One for the Boxing fans!

[dbboy]

Joshua just beat Charles Martin in 2 rounds to become the new IBF heavyweight World champion.

[jacks09]

I was one round off. Well played AJ. I'd like to see him fight Chisora next!

[Otta]

jacks09 Wrote:

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> I'd like to see him fight Chisora next!

That statement alone tells you where he really is. The fact he holds a world title is a nonsense, and he'll probably have several defences against no hopers. Martin was about as impressive last night as Harrison was when he took on Haye.

[Otta]

The punches that put Martin down were very impresive, but they were far too easy for AJ to land.

[jacks09]

Agree he has won the weakest belt in history.....but Chisora went the distance with klit schmo. He has on,y had 16 fights......he shouldn't be fighting better opposition now......he has knocked out every one in front of him, I don't get the negativity....

[KidKruger]

In my view AJ should fight level such as Takam, Pulev, Helenius, Haye (who after 2yrs out cannot be rated any higher).

There's talk of him fighting Briggs, which would be a suitable level, also he could face Tony Thompson.

Then he can go for the 1st-tier contenders, then the other belt holders - although he'd probably be OK with Lukas Browne right now.

The PPV aspect of AJ's promotion is a total turn-off though, especially as it's already been PPV on his earlier contests.

[dbboy]

Agree the IBF title is probably the weakest belt, I'd like to see him in against Haye, thinking the outcome would be different, only time will tell. As said above his opponents will be well picked to get some defences under his belt before he tries one of the other heavy weight champions. As Joshua said, it is only a 1/4 of the way there. Lets see how far he can go.

[Otta]

jacks09 Wrote:

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> Agree he has won the weakest belt in

> history.....but Chisora went the distance with

> klit schmo. He has on,y had 16 fights......he

> shouldn't be fighting better opposition

> now......he has knocked out every one in front of

> him, I don't get the negativity....

I don't mean to be so negative. To be fair, it's not his fault that a chance came up for him to win a world title, and it's not his fault the guy with that belt was so poor (had Martin not been so poor, he'd have probably fought someone else).

I just can't stand all the press today raving about it and telling us about how he's become a champ quicker than the likes of Ali, Lewis, Tyson. Real greats.

I think AJ has every chance of becoming a real great, but he ain't there yet.

[Jeremy]

Yep, Thompson, Helenius, or even Malik Scott would be OK fights for AJ next.

[KidKruger]

So we're all agreed on the kind of opponent we think AJ should fight next.

Regarding him being a great, there's obviously a lot of potential but I don't think anyone is actually calling him a great just yet. The comparisons against Mercer, Tyson, Spinks are all valid because they are just mathematical comparisons. i.e. (something like) AJ has got a world belt in less rounds than Leon Spinks, if that's what the record says then that's the fact. It doesn't mean (and I don't think anyone has said) that AJ is >= the greats.

We've seen it all before with Audley, so let's see what happens.

I thought he would lose last night so I'm certainly in Otta's camp regarding not getting our hopes up too soon, but I've not seen him declared best ever by anyone yet (and you have to ignore Hearn, because he's just a promoter and will say whatever is required to fill stadiums / sell PPV !!)

[Otta]

To be fair to Hearn, before the fight he was saying he'd have been a lot more confident if it had happened a few more fights down the line.

[KidKruger]

Looking at the manner in which Errol Spence dispatched Chris Algieri to become the IBF mandatory this weekend. I'm genuinely interested to see whether Kell Brook will defend against him.

I don't think Brook is chicken, but there are certainly easier defences available (I think Brook can defend against a couple of optional opponents first) and Hearn will surely steer this according to his needs.

Spence is a nightmare opponent. I think Brook would beat him actually. But for me Spence would beat other WW champs.

[Jeremy]

Rumour mill is rife with talk of Brook/Cotto...

[KidKruger]

Hadn't heard that one, would be another (understandable) reason not to face Spence as the dough would be significant.

[Jeremy]

Lamont Peterson now looking a more likely option for Brook. Peterson is keen, apparently.

[KidKruger]

Cotto v Alvarez would be another good (money) fight for Canelo, guaranteed PPV and I wouldn't be surprised if we see that announced soon, regardless of whether Khan wins or not.

[Otta]

OUCH!!!

 

[Jeremy]

It's a shame, as (by all accounts) Amir was doing very well for the first 4 rounds. But that was very, very sloppy indeed.. he should have seen that shot coming from a mile off... but he had both hands down and chin up in the air.

[Alan Medic]

I listened to it on the radio. The commentators thought he had won most of the rounds to that point. Strange then to read two of the judges had him behind, one by 4-1.

[Otta]

With a huge Mexican crowd at the arena he may have struggled to get a decision even if he had gone the distance.

[KidKruger]

I think the result was all but certain, Khan's had the big fight he wanted and will never need to work again - pretty good for a man his age.

He seems to switch-off and at this level there's a price to pay.

I hope the KO doesn't damage Khan too much.

I think he should fight Brook in UK then retire, win or lose.

He's a young man with a young family and could train his own stable, commentate, the list is endless.

So Canelo beat a guy that came-up two weight divisions to face him (which is an enormous physical effort to do) and was still 15-20lbs lighter than him on fight night. He was outboxed for 4 rounds by a guy so much lighter than him.

I'm losing respect for the Mexican fast (but I accept he may not be overly stressed about that!), he needs to stop using his amazing ability to boil-down just so he can get advantage over other fighters. It's totally taking the mick out of the weight divisions and belts and is somehow allowed due to powers that be in boxing politics. If Khan had faced any other (on the night) fighter 15-20lbs heavier than him (and USED to fighting at that weight) it would have been called a mismatch, ie. George Groves.

But JUST because Groves, and other fighters cannot boil-down, but Canelo can, he's allowed to fight smaller guys.

It's perverse, dangerous and unfair.

[Jeremy]

I agree, he seems to switch off. People say he's chinny, but I think discipline is more his problem. All that skill, speed and heart... but he gets caught when he could have covered up, or even darted back out of range. Nevertheless, I quite like him (even though he says stupid things) and I think he could maybe beat Brook.

As for Canelo, I can see why he's popular as he's always entertaining. But I'm kinda sick of this catchweight thing. You want to call yourself the middleweight champ, then fight GGG at the full weight, and then let's see what happens!

[KidKruger]

Canelo still has a rematch clause to honour with Cotto, I believe.

Khan's chin is fine, the KOs he's had would drop most guys at his weight, but he's open to some huge shots it's so careless and he throws away all the good work from earlier rounds (just like with Garcia).

I am reading that Khan gassed a bit, I haven't seen the contest so can't comment (yet). But keeping your arms up in Rd6 is not a tall order, even for amateurs - let alone Olympians and top-tier fighters.

[Otta]

[Jeremy]

No audio at work... what does he say?