Irish Boxing

I think Mickey Rourke said he would best Canelo not Spike,how old is Spike?
He's needs to fight Fitz and beat him before he mentions anyone outside of Ireland with a pulse.

 

Agree, it was stated on one of the Irish boxing websites two weeks ago that Spike had proven he was beyond domestic level following his win over Long. He would need to successfully overcome Fitzer first and even then I know of a Belfast man who believes he beat Spike when the met and would relish another shot the the Corkman. Regarding a European title shot I can't understand when you consider his opposition to date how he could even consider such a thing, Spike is a really nice guy, which is probably why he can make such comments with out receiving some serious stick, but IMO he still has some domestic business to take care of before he even thinks of European titles.

 

In fairness to him - he was probably asked outstraight "Having watched Macklin in Germany would you be wary of travelling there to fight Sturm?".

There's three possible realistic answers to that - 1. Not right now but down the road I'd like to fight him 2. No way, you'd get robbed in Germany 3. Yeah, I'd love to fight him and I'd like to fight Macklin too.

When you think about it.. what likely answer is a young hungry fighter on an upward curve going to say when he's being interviewed by his local / a national newspaper (I'll sit on the fence on the examiner's classiciation). He knows he doesn't have a prayer of getting a fight with Macklin or Sturm but obviously his career plan has Macklin somewhere in his sights further down the road.. No harm in going on the record now to say your willing to fight him...

Regarding a possible European title shot - is it that unrealistic...? I'm not saying it's deserved but take into consideration a certain UK based promoters influence

 

You're correct that Rourke said it but ur wrong in saying Spike did not!
It was actually Spike who said it first....Fact!! I read that he said he was getting excited watching the Hatton-Alvarez fight (jumping around his front room or something similar), because he knew he had the tools to beat either boxers. When i left that post it was about 2/3 days before the Clarke fight and I said it might be a bit soon to be talking about these 2 lads. After he knocked out Clarke, which was witnessed by Rourke, someone left a post informing me that Rourke also now believes that Spike could beat Canelo. I didn't reply, because if Rourke said it, it must be right.:huh It should also be noted that Rourke was there as a friend of Steve Collins (whose brother is Spike's trainer)

 

If that's what he was asked then the journalist who asked him should be taken around the back of the nearest sheds and shot.

He may as well have asked him if he fancied walking on the moon as fighting Sturm in Germany because both are about as likely as each other

 

The thing is, it's not that he simply said he would be willing to fight him. He said that Macklin is easy to hit, which would suit Spike. That is the part that really got to me! And regarding what he said about Sturm....I doubt he was realistically asked that question in the first place ("Having watched Macklin in Germany would you be wary of travelling there to fight Sturm?"). Unless the reporter knew **** all about boxing.
That's like asking the Shamrock Rovers manager, after their win over FC Flora last night, "how would you feel about travelling to Germany for the Europa League final?"

 

I stand corrected.

 

Fair enough, and obviously I don't know what was asked. I'm just reckoning that like most journalists he likely asked a few general questions, a few questions about his short term and long term plans and if a non boxing journalist he most likely asked a question referencing the last big fight that journalist might have seen, which in this case is likely to have been Macklin and Sturm, the fact that it was a world title fight involving an Irishman at the same weight it's an understandable question.

 

Maybe, it's just me but I don't know what the big deal is here. He seems to be going places and we're getting worked up over him talking himself up. To be honest I'd rather he was making these type of noises then playing it too cautious. Make some noise now (as long as it's respectful) and you people will start to take notice and down the road you might get the fights you want.

I'm a Macklin fan but I think we all agree that he gets hit too often, Duddy was a bit the same and maybe Spike reckons he could capitalise on that given his power.

As for the journalist - not sure what was asked but journalists usually push for a big quote - either way I wouldn't be overly concerned if it was the journalist or Spike that brought it up...

 

I am in no way a fan of Anthony Fitzgerald (neither his boxing skills nor his antics on facebook, etc.) but he is constantky ridiculed for talking himself up (in the manner spike also tends to do)! Basically, I hope Spike does not go down the same road because it will turn boxing fans off him. You can make excuses for him if you want, but there has been plenty of Irish boxers- amateur and pro- in recent years that have done brilliantly while keeping a low profile. I'd even say the majority of Irish success stories in boxing have centred on modest guys.

 

I'm sick of people talking themselves up with nothing to back it up. Talk is cheap. Sure ia a fight is already made you can throw out some jibber jabber to sell a few tickets. But this idea of domestic level Irish lads who haven't even dipped their toes at EBU level talking about fighting and beating elite fighters is laughable.

Spike has done nothing in his career of particular note to date. I'm not against the lad. I don't dislike him. That's just a fact. He's fought 2 or 3 lads with winning records in a dozen fights.

He doesn't seem to be going places. He'd need to do better than stop Robbie Long and beat Ciaran Healy on points to register in the 'clearly going places' bracket. Robbie Long is 6-3 ffs! And Healy has taken a half dozen or so savage beatings and been stopped almost everytime he's made a minor step up in class.

He's a box standard pro who hasn't been tested in his first half dozen fights but is now talking about world level boxers?!? To be talking about Macklin being easy to hit and going out to fight Sturm is Walter Mitty stuff. If I was in his shoes and I was asked about the fight I'd say it was a good fight, Macklin did well and that I hope to work my work up the rankings and get those big nights at title fights in future. For all people go on about it's okay to talk yourself up let's not forget no amount of talking can make you a better fighter than you are.

The most bizarre thing of all is how he thinks he's going to win the EBU title in September. I don't think he has an EBU rating and he thinks he's going to win the title in 2 months without any fight having been made and him not being on anyones radar. That was a really, really strange thing to say and it's that more than anything else that leads me to believe he's conning himself.

 

Khan reckons Dudey beats Prescott easy but will then lost to Maidana. Thing is he wont have to fight Maidana as Guerrero will have beat Maidana a lot easier than Khan did by then

 

I agree with this, with all due respect to Spike and Fitz, they have to get a sense of perspective of where their careers are. They havent earned world or euroopean title shots and they should know it. Speaking out constantly about how good they are and how they deserve title shots is not going to ger them any close either, its only going to turn people off watching them fight. Their trainers and managers need to let them know this.

 

Exactly. It's their trainers/managers that should advise them what not to say. Take Carl Frampton for example. He never mentions possible bouts until they are realistic. He may have the same amount of fights as Spike and a similar record- but the difference is who their opponents were. Frampton's most impressive win i.m.o. was against Voronin in only his 7th fight. I'm fairly sure that Voronin took Bernard Dunne to a close points decision. For Carl to KO him inside 3 rounds, so early in his career, was extremely impressive. Then he had the tough Robbie Turley whom he beat quite convincingly on points. Throw in the fact that Kiko Martinez actually sees him as a threat and wants to fight him and you have the perfect example of a boxer making big strides very quickly. Yet we still hear no cheap talk from him.
I hope things work out well for spike, as i do for every irish boxer, but i genuinely think his comments tend to be very unnecessary. There was certainly no need to take a dig at Macklin, who is and will always be (i.m.o.) WAY out of his league