:good Santa Cruz stops Mares imo, too big and relentless he will wear Mares down and stop him between 10-12 imo.
I hope so it's what Dublin has been crying out for since Peters finished up someone with TV and finances to bring title fights for Irish fighters. They also have the fighters and Irish boxing best interest at heart so hopefully contines and keeps building.
If Mares has vanquished his demons I have Mares winning by stoppage. Unfortunately I don't think he has and LSC could wear him down. Just met Eamon O Kane mid training session, I was driving around looking for Suger Shane's gym in Big Bear and saw him running gloves in hand, stopped to ask him where the gym was and got a cheeky grin as I was wearing a Celtic jersey, had a wee chat and wished him the best in hi title eliminator coming up. Nice lad.
Macklin looked sharp tonight - impossible to say too much about it though with the level of opponent. Still doubt Matt will ever make 154. Good luck to him anyway.
How was his power, and punch resistance at 154? Anyone else notice Lee is talking his power up more lately? Maybe Booth has put a confidence in him that Steward couldn't . He seems to have more self belief imo.
I have Mares winning this on ability but as you say it could come down to preperation and who has put it in, O Kane is a real gentleman always smiling amd time for a chat,Credit to the sport,
It wasnt at 154 - think he weighed 163??. But like with Andy a couple of years ago Matt is talking about trying to make 154 in his next fight. Crazy IMO. As for the fight - He did a carbon copy of what GGG did to him - a touch of a right uppercut to the head got yer man to lift his guard just enough for Matt to find a hole for a deve]astating left hook to the liver. As for Andys improved power and confidence under Booth, I'm not buying it. To me Booth comes across as a bit smug and full of himself. A bit of a snake-oil salesman to me. As for his coaching - Andy never got dropped under Stewart - not he's down in almost every fight. Ill believe in Andy and Booth a bit more if Andy gets past BJS, who is his first 'live' opponent under Booth, and which personally I doubt he can do to be honest. :bbb
Andy Lee has been with Booth for 7 fights. In that time he has been knocked down in 2 fights - or 28.5% of his fights, not really "almost every fight."
I didnt realise it was only 2 out of 7. Its still 1/3 of his fights though. Would you give me 1/3 of your money? Anyway I still dont think he is any better than he was with Steward. The BJS fight will tell a lot. BJS is a good boxer - unlike the other 7! If Andy can win well I'll take him a bit more seriously.
Korobov and Quillin are acceptable to the present generation of boxing fans....brick-swallowers who will believe anything they are told. But for people raised on Monzon and Hagler etc these guys are pale shadows of world champions, sorry. Korobov and Quillin are poor boxers - really really ordinary pros at world level, sorry again. Quillin had promise a few years ago but the Quillin Andy fought was a physical and mental basket case. Korobov just plain stinks, full stop. Andy faces his first real challenge in years, (his first real test with Booth) versus BJS - and I will remain skeptical in my judgement of him until he shows me that he can beat BJS. :bart Now where did I put those tablets....????
I'm really looking forward to LSC-Mares. Havent been this excited about a fight in a while. It will be a great fight. Finally we get answers to some questions. Plus its very relevant to Frampton. Lets hope for a decisive result so there wont be demand for a rematch leading to a trilogy - cos that would tie both these guys up for years and put them off Framptons radar, reducing his options even further than they are at the moment. Can LSCs fairly one-dimensional shell-up-walk-forward-and-throw style work against a genuine top class speedy boxing skillster like Mares? On the other hand there is nothing wrong with being one-dimensional if your opponent cannot cope with that dimension!! I cant wait !