He would plan to, maybe. But the reality would be a brutal stoppage unless he finessed his style to deal with the new reality of being mismatched for size and weight. If you argue otherwise, you're either being disingenuous or exposing huge gaps in your boxing knowledge. I'm plumping for the former as you play mental twister trying to make the case that Loma is some kind of chicken **** front-running bully. He's not. He's an incredible talent who raced through weight divisions until his skills were mitigated by the physicality of bigger men...
I know it's besides the point of the thread, and I actually know where you're coming from to a degree with Loma being risk averse against certain opponents, but... still, do you see how misplaced calling him a frontrunner is, when he's been the one coming on and taking over most of the championship rounds in his losses? That's literally the opposite of a front runner.
I'm thoroughly biased. I loathe Loma as a fighter, tremendously. My 3 favorite fighters of all time are Pacquiao, Beterbiev and Kovalev. As you can see I dont like weasels, duckers, runners and braggadocio. My 3 most despised fighters of all time are Canelo, Mayweather and Loma. Probably in that order. I dont like their in ring style. I dont like their inflated sense of self achievement in the ring. I hate their egos and I cant stand any of them. Beterbiev probably gets caught by Wilder eventually and takes a nap, but he would take his nap like a fighter.
Typically, I don't emotionally invest in fighters. Not saying that's a better perspective, it's just mine. As a result I can admire all six you've listed even if I don't especially like some of them as people. The closest I've come to hating a fighter in recent years is Joshua and that was more to do with his fans here than anything else. Now his myth is shattered and the fans have moved en masse to Fury, I could even root for him again. So I do struggle with people's blind spots based on how a boxer makes them feel. You're probably best just leaving it at this: You hate Loma. You're entitled...
Cool. But also recognise when that colour's your judgment. I love boxing and that probably colours my judgment of MMA....
Maybe that's your problem, it's clearly hampering your judgement. And I say that as a guy who emotionally invests in fighters quite often, but not to the point where it blinds me to reality. Sure, I'll stick with them out of loyalty, but make no mistake, even if I'm backing them publicly on here to win a match, and give my reasons.... I don't always post my deepest fears for them, which are always right below the surface.
I actually wish I was more invested in fighters as people. Froch and Brook are the closest I've got to that sense of engagement, and since retirement Froch has turned out to be a right bell end
Tinman thinks Loma isn't physically strong and tough He's very physically strong and very tough. It's absolutely ludicrous to claim otherwise This content is protected Timestamped This content is protected But you only have to watch him in the clinch against all these way bigger and heavier fighters to know this And claiming someone who has taken risks like few others coming out of the gate is ''risk averse'' And understand, unlike so many other multiple weight champions, many of whom are proven PED cheats, who only moved up because they were massive for the weight, were rehydrating lots of weight and simply could not make said weight anymore or had outgrown the division He moved up because he dared to be great and when he did so, unlike many of them, he is actually fighting opponents who are bigger or way bigger, heavier and longer than him Not to mention the supposedly ''risk averse'' Loma is one of the most aggressive fighters in the sport whilst simultaneously being one of the best defensively even though he's campaigning in a weight class he doesn't belong in full of fighters who are way bigger and heavier than him and full of big punchers and KO artists who hit very hard against opponents their own size. All he's basing that on is the first six rounds of the Teofimo fight, a fight against a very physically talented and explosive massive 135 pounder who was at least two divisions heavier than him and was the then hardest puncher in the division with vicious one punch KO power in both hands and when Loma was injured ''Skinny Fimo now, but then you get the monster tomorrow'' ''By tomorrow I'm going to look like a different man. A whole new man'' --Teofimo Lopez Teo looking like he's just walked out of a concentration camp, his face all sucked in and deathly ill and literally slurring his words. Loma not skipping a single meal all week looking very healthy and no different on the scales to how he does on fight night. Loma looked healthy on the scales at 126, these massive 135 pounders look like death at 135 Timestamped This content is protected Look what Teofimo was doing to actual natural lightweights and 154lb teak-tough fellow massive weight bullies like Commey This content is protected Loma is still #2 overall on the plus minus stats despite being tiny for the division and routinely facing opponents who are 1.5, 2 or even 3 divisions heavier than him and who hold big or huge reach advantages over him Only Shakur is slightly ahead of him and he's massive for the weights, is fighting opponents he's much bigger than or about his size and has fought 2 world champions compared to Loma's 11 in just 19 fight, which for the record is not only a crazy stat but is more or way more than everyone else in the P4P top 10 has in more or way more fights sans Clenelo who has fought like 20 in over 60 fights SHAKUR STEVENSON +18.6 VASILIY LOMACHENKO +17.5 DMITRY BIVOL +17 DAVID BENAVIDEZ +16.7 GERVONTA DAVIS +14.2 NAOYA INOUE +13.9 DEMETRIUS ANDRADE +12.4 KAZUTO IOKA +12 SAUL ALVAREZ +11.8 LEO SANTA-CRUZ +11.8 Now check out his plus minus stats when he was wasn't facing opponents who were way bigger and heavier than him If Vasyl Lomachenko looks like the most impressive fighter in the world, the numbers back him up: with his latest win, Lomachenko becomes CompuBox’s highest rated active fighter, and his numbers are the best since Floyd Mayweather Jr. CompuBox provides a Plus/Minus differential, which factors the boxer’s percentage of punches landed minus the percentage of punches landed on them. Lomachenko’s rating of +20.9 is the most impressive since Mayweather’s rating of +24.5. For context, here is the top 10 fighters in the world according to the Plus/Minus rating: Vasyl Lomachenko (+20.9) Gennady Golovkin (+15.1) Andre Ward (+15.1) Erislandy Lara (+14.4) Naoya Inoue (+14) Terence Crawford (+12.1) Lamont Peterson (+11.7) Juan Francisco Estrada (+11.6) Roman Gonzalez (+11.6) Adrien Broner (+11) Lomachenko also ranks as the most impressive fighter from a strictly defensive standpoint, even higher than Guillermo Rigondeaux, who is known as a mastermind of avoiding strikes. The following numbers represent the percentage of punches connected against the boxer in question: Vasyl Lomachenko (16.1%) Guillermo Rigondeaux (16.8%) Erislandy Lara (19.1%) Terence Crawford (20.9%) Juan Francisco Estrada (21.3%) Arthur Abraham (21.5%) Naoya Inoue (21.9%) Andre Ward (22%) Wladimir Klitschko (22.3%) Carlos Cuadras (22.4%) While numbers only tell a percentage of a fighter’s story, Lomachenko’s numbers are remarkable because of the style of fighting he implements. While boxers like Rigondeaux and Mayweather are often criticized for being too defensive and refusing to engage with opponents, Lomachenko is elusive while remaining ultra-aggressive.'
Beterbiev is old but the answer is still no. Bivol beats him tho at this point unless he decides to trade and gets caught.
Callum Smith has always been a big puncher but the added weight has looked to have transformed him a devastating one and of course he's very well-schooled and has very good skills. If that one happens over here it will be a big advantage for him too as it was for Yarde last night. That being said, let's not forget that in order to beat Beterbiev there's also that trivial little matter of you having to be able to take what he dishes out too and given he's one of not the most destructive punchers in the sport and the only champion within it who can boast a KO 100% that's far more easily said that done. Smith has never seen anything like Beterbiev in his life in that regard. He'll be dangerous against this aged Beterbiev but wait till he starts tasting what's coming back at him. Go look at the state of Yarde last night. Marcus Browne after going 9 rounds with Beterbiev. Hot Rod etc. They looked like they'd been dragged through hell. And I mean mentally and physically. Yarde worked really hard on his conditioning and stamina for this fight but a 38 y/o declined Beterbiev brutalized him in his own backyard. Getting dropped by Callum Johnson is not.. I repeat not.. indicative of a having weak chin. Johnson has extremely heavy hands and by the sounds of it and according to sparring rumours he's known for power and knocking out some top names in the gym, one of them allegedly being Callum Smith who has never been down This content is protected
I can’t see Callum Smith beating Beterbie, Yarde or Buatsi. In my opinion he is okay though a tad overrated. Beterbiev May have his weaknesses but I was impressed by his grit, determination and ring generalship yesterday which was the difference. That know how worked against a very strong challenger in Yarde.
Smith can't stop a cold. Smith can't stop a bus to get off. Beterbiev will bust up his head like Canelo busted up his arm.
Hah, Being open does not matter when you have power like Artur Beterbiev. Yarde did connect but that did not help him when Beterbiev finally landed the Big One.
