Ibragimov is gonna outbox mitchell!!! Hopefully a great fight!!

Possibly, though it seems Mitchell can take a punch a bit better than Walker. If Walker could take a punch and had decent stamina, he'd probably be a top 20 guy. Was beating Leapai before getting knocked out, arguably should have gotten the nod over Chagaev, held his own against Arreola, beat Estrada. The only guy to really outbox him was Pulev, who should be a top 10 HW by this time next year.

 

How do you know that Mitchell can take a punch? I thought that was one of the open questions about him at this point. Nobody has really hit him. Do you have anecdotal evidence, based on Mitchell's sparring sessions?

 

Not even a little. Agreed with your assessment. Then again, while I can't stand watching the guy fight, Oquendo might be the most frequently jobbed fighter in recent memory. He very clearly beat Toney, Holyfield and Mormeck, and he could have easily gotten the nod against McCall and Byrd.

 

Definition of "very clearly beat" has changed over the years.
He had a close fight against all of them, but lost them because he didnt press the action and runned away the entire match.

 

I don't know if he can take a punch WELL, but I don't think he's glass jawed like Walker. I've seen him take a few shots from guys who aren't feather fisted, and he didn't get wobbled. Walker had already been down a number of times by the time he was fighting this level of opponent.

 

He landed more punches than Toney even threw. That fight was one of the most clear-cut robberies I've seen in the past decade.

 

Who did you see hit him? I'm very interested in this.

The only puncher Mitchell has fought is Derek Bryant, and Bryant went down fast, possibly without having a chance to hit back. The guys that have landed something on Mitchell -- such as Ferrerya, Sykes, and Page -- are not punchers.

 

I scored that fight 8-4 in rounds for Oquendo. It was a robbery. I saw the McCall fight live (I was there), and that was a robbery too.

 

No not really. Close fight but not a robbery.

Oquendos gay fighting style is reason he lost

 

My point was that Walker had been down or wobbled by nonpunchers. Mitchell hasn't. I don't know if his chin is good, and hell, it could even be below average, but I'm pretty confident his chin isn't as bad as Walker's. That's all.

 

I watched the McCall fight live via stream (yeah, I was one of the jackasses to actually pay money to watch on the internet PPV) and had it 114-113 Oquendo, but I had no major beef with McCall winning. That said, my view wasn't as good as yours. The skirmish between camps after the fight was more entertaining than the rest of the fight though.

 

Fair enough. For what it's worth, I did notice that Mitchell has a thick, powerful looking neck. I don't know if it's just a boxing "urban legend," but they say neck thickness is commensurate with a guy's durability.

 

Funny thing is, I missed the skirmish between the promoter and Oquendo's manager. Immediately after they announced the decision, I stepped into the hallway to call a friend. Ha ha...I missed the best action of the night.

I scored the bout something like 7-4-1 for Oquendo, as he seemed to be the only guy actually landing punches for much of the fight. However, I very rarely did Fres land more than a single punch at a time (usually a quick jab). He never landed more than 2 punches in succession. He basically pecked away and ran. That gave the judges an excuse to award McCall points for aggression.

I credit McCall for coming on like a steamroller that night, and for showing good ring generalship. But I didn't think he connected enough to win the majority of the rounds.

 

PM sent.

 

I'm going to watch the fight tonight. I'll let you know what I think. So far, you are one of the very, very people I've encountered who don't think it was a robbery.