This man has been anointed the king of 147. All I'm hearing is that he can beat all of the young 147 lber under 30: Benn, Ortiz, Stanionis, Buteav, Crowley, McKinson, Abdukakhorov Then he can beat the established top level fighter: Thurman, Garcia, Porter, Ugas, Avanesyan And then finally he can run through the elites at 147: Spence, Crawford But at 24 with 29 fights, when I look at his resume I see: Clayton, Dulorme, Lipinets, Heerden I thought we were all boxing fans here, the fight is WON IN THE RING, not on paper. You guys are going to get this man hurt if he goes in believing his own hype without facing 1 fighter with a heartbeat.
He passes the eye test with flying colours. He still has to pass the gut & chin test, but he will likely need a sizable step-up in competition first.
That's a very particular thing to say, Mark. Have you heard many, if anyone, actually say that Benn is a better fighter than Ennis? I haven't. You talking about the British press maybe?
He does pass the eye test, but we need to see him in there with someone that can take away some of his tools. His ability to adapt, think on the fly, figure it out in real time. Those are the questions that need to be answered.
He passes the eye test with flying colours But the chin test is a big test For every prospect and up and comer Can he take it like he can dish it out? Can he replicate what he's doing at the highest level against world class and top class opposition? We simply don't know yet He might turn out to be a glass-jawed hype job But my gut-feeling is he isn't as he looks electric Ideally he needs more experience and to face top 10 guys and be taken rounds before fighting for a title, but I honestly don't think that Errol and Terry, both of whom have hardly fought any punchers, especially their own size, will be able to take that power of someone that big, talented and powerful and he possesses the speed, skills, fluidity, size, range and variety to catch them too Maybe his chin won't be able to take what they can dish out But Spence is an accumulation guy and I don't see him getting Super Boots out of their early, unless that is his chin is eggshell But if he can't get him out of there early I don't see Super Boots not being able to land huge shots of his own on him Terry is a different proposition as he's not as easy to hit as Spence, and is much more skillful and hits harder too and he could catch Super Boots with something crafty of his own and hurt him and take him out. But, like Spence he's often been the bigger man which wouldn't be the case here and if Super Boots catches him I think he hurts him bad.
The thing is, he's already shown speed and power in previous fights, but he showed better positioning and composure against Clayton. He's displayed a good chin thus far, but improving his defensive awareness and staying poised will stand him in good stead going forward. My only question is whether he can maintain his form and carry his power into the second half. If so, then he'll match up favorably against pretty much every other welterweight save Crawford and Spence-and quite well against those two, as well.
I will note that he did bite on one or two of Clayton's feints, but was able to step back and out of range, which meant that Clayton couldn't negotiate the distance and capitalize on that. Maybe another fighter can, but they'll put themselves at peril in order to do so given Ennis's dimensions and speed.
Benn will never be able to get good footing because his defense is subpar. He might take a fluke win. But unless his conditioning becomes so good that he can absorb the inevitable punishment he’ll be on the end of, he’ll need a legitimate coach to teach him how to use his guard. With Ennis. These two fights have shown me nothing. Too quick to see his reactions to what the opponents bring. The Lipinets fight has been his best gauge thus far.
I don't think Ennis beats Spence or Crawford right now...the reason why we their flaws is because they are fighting with heartbeats, people that punch back. But let me ask you...can any of his fellow contenders (30 & under) give Ennis a run, what about the levels below elite like Thurman, Garcia, Porter, Ugas, Avanesyan.