The all things technical thread.

Just thinking about that southpaw fighting orthodox, fellas. Reminded me of something i've seen in Manny Pacquiao. I always see him doing things like playing the guitar and signing authographs with his right hand. It's interesting, i wonder if he's a right handed southpaw who converted very young.

Maybe it's already known.

 

You have T-rex arms, Michael.

 

Yeah, it's interesting. I never really thought about it before. Just seen him signing authographs and the guitar is what got me.

 

Trinidad did 'wreck' guys but i think Reid was ganna be ruined whoever he fought anyway.

Vargas one is interesting. Conventional wisdom is that he was too rushed. I tend to go back and forth on that. I think he was ready to face Trinidad but it was just the type of fights he'd had. Maybe Winky and Ike Quartey before were a little too much. The Ike fight was very high contact even though he did well. But it was also a character builder.

He was 23 which IS a little too young. But he had defended his title about 6 times. He had been champion since 1998, he fought Tito in late 2000. If Vargas had not fought Trinidad then, maybe he would have never got the shot. Tito was on his way up to 160 and the middleweight tournement. Trinidad was also not an overwhelming favourite because of his struggle the year previous against De La Hoya.

Remember at that point Vargas beat Ike Quartey much more convincingly than Oscar did. The feeling at the time was certainly that Vargas was more than ready, it was only afterwards when all the speculation surfaced. I think Vargas was as ready as he ever was going to be. He also wanted the fight and pressed the Duva's to make it. His lifestyle would have had him burn out early anyway. But Trinidad certainly did take a lot from him.

 

Yeah. Noticed that too. The guitar is what makes me thing he really is a right hander though. In some countries kids are actually taught to be right handed and do 'good things' with that hand. Being left handed is frowned upon in some places for cultural reasons.

 

Btw, that Trinidad vs. Vargas fight is probabily the best light middleweight fight i've ever seen. Fernando showed great heart that night. Tito's left hook off the pocket is one of my favourite punches. This is a really good highlight vid by GP as usual.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIVCTFenmqk[/ame]



Here is where Vargas went wrong for me.

Vargas made the fight too much of a fight i think. Now, i wouldn't expect Vargas to move as much as Hopkins and De La Hoya. That's not his fight. He would've probably burned out fighting a fight like that. Vargas could box his arse off but more so in the 'box' like he did Quartey. The reason why he was so successful against Quartey for me was because Quartey was 'rusty' and Quartey didn’t have a good imagination with his punch selection. Vargas had too much sauce for him.

Vargas also thought he was physically tougher than Trinidad, which was a huge mistake. The fight was too high contact. You can’t beat Tito like that. Tito is one of the toughest, most natural fighters I have ever seen. Vargas’ strong points are Tito's strong points. But Tito is a little stronger. He punches harder and he is tougher to stop. Vargas made the fight too exciting and he allowed Tito to punch while set.

I also feel his corner perhaps should have stopped it a little earlier.

 

Cheers, DrMo. :thumbsup