Kevin mitchell vs Daniel Estrada

Ay, but Fig was on that night (completely night and day from his tepid showing vs. Belmontes)

Arakawa, he didn't quite pull a Linares, but he did outbox him comfortably enough, and that's with spending half the contest with decreased vision as the cuts & swelling began in the 5th and kept piling on (from a mixture of legal blows and fouls).

Plus, the Verdugo war stands as Estrada's proof of mettle, IMO. He was cut in that one as well, and the action see-sawed all the way until the 9th (with Verdugo leading by a point on my card) before Estrada kicked into high gear.

So his skin is an issue, but in terms of chin and heart (and dig) I think El Tremendo more than has the measure of The Hammer.

 

He deserved his licks that night for his part in this:


http://178.32.177.128/5/5b/Michael_Katsidis_vs._Kevin_Mitchell_(poster).jpg


Still hands-down THE gayest boxing poster of all time.


...and the gayness had nowt to do with the guy in the freaking gladiator outfit!!!!

 

Ahem. :bart

 

Omar's a solid, world class operator regardless so I don't hold it against Estrada.

I usually don't hold performances like that against fighters. The Belmontes vs Omar fight. Rios is obviously a better operator than he looks to be in the Abril fight. Negativity usually makes fighters look awful against "inferior" fighters, as the entire premise of being negative is to extend your opponent, not take risks, so on and so forth.

I worry a lot about Arakawa disfiguring Estrada though... Arakawa had a shot against Linares and barely put a blemish on him, and Jorge undoubtedly has not only bad skin, but some of the worst durability, skin wise, in the past few decades.

Anyway, I hope Estrada pulls it out here. You'd imagine he has some momentum and promise if Nacho and Marquez are on board with him, and he's seems to have some favor with the WBC

 

You came through, I seriously didn't expect it. :tired

Normal conversation goes something like this...

"Man, there's this obscure fighter almost no one else on the forum has scene... I saw his debut and subsequent 12 fights on obscure Mexican late night boxing telecasts. He's got a great chance to spring the upset."

"Oh? What's so good about him?"

--- Crickets ---

 

Estrada is easier to hit than Linares, no doubt about it.

Daniel's style is a lot bolder than Jorge's, he's a lot more willing to mix it up (and rightfully so, because he's a lot tougher and punches harder...whereas Linares is faster, sounder technically, and certainly better defensively when he puts his mind to it)

You can bet your bottom dollar that if Mitchell can open up some cuts with butts/fouls (which aren't really his game, that kind of physicality) and he is up on the cards per WBC open scoring, they will be stopping it no matter the state of the cuts. :yep

And, of course, if ruled from a punch... even if only a flesh wound, boom, there you go: Mitchell TKO.

So the pressure is on Estrada to stick to game plan (bait Mitchell and be first and last in as many exchanges as he can, which he's capable of doing) and be exceedingly careful not to absorb too much facial damage in the process. Beristain & Marquez should be able to guide him through it.

I'd presume with the kind of team being put together around him, a world-class cutman would be part of the package.

 

Yeah absolutely, I'm hoping they don't "spare any expense" when it comes to bringing good people over there with him.

Mitchell just seems oddly fragile... I can't remember Ricky Burns ever just dumping someone to the canvas like he did against Mitchell. I remember people thinking it was some kind of turning point in Burns' career. "He's sitting down on his punches!".

Alcohol/drugs and partying seemed to of really ruined a lot of name fighters in the UK. Hatton is the foremost example, but there's also John Murray, who was a notorious party animal who tried to make a run in the sport after getting his act together.

But you can go back to Conteh for similar examples. It happens all over the world of course, you just seem to hear a lot about UK based fighters getting into that kind of lifestyle.

 

Jamie Moore fell into an odd crowd while "following his nose", so to speak, and was led astray by his thrill-seeking, didn't he?


Oh and then of course you have Calzaghe.