There's no way Wright deserved his top ten ranking. This is a guy who always falls short when he steps up a level (except a faded AAA who he hadn't beaten at that stage). Lynes was a definitely a decent scalp. But to be fair you may be right; there might not have been any other decent contenders at the time - if you've got the EBU rankings for that period i'll have a look and see if any names stick out. Kotelnik is probably the only obvious choice as somebody who definitely deserved the nod ahead of McCloskey. Maybe he felt he'd bypassed European level & wasn;t interested in fighting so quickly after losing his WBA belt. McCloskey's resume just seems a little lacking for a fella who holds the EBU belt. Through no fault of his own, he didn't clean up domestically; but he can't be held accountable for Barnes & Daws's inactivity & Morrison's injury problems. If he had beaten the above mentioned trio (which I think he would've) we wouldn't be having this discussion.
This is classic British forum stuff, McCloskey has a bad night but still manages to win and now suddenly all his opposition to date has been ****, he didn't deserve the Euro title shot, blah, blah ****ing blah. Pathetic really.
Not from me doesn't. I'm appreciate he's got an inept promoter, but his level of opposition is terrible. Hopefully now that Zbik's backed out of fighting Ghevor, that bout will be back on the horizon.
He beat Lynes who I think was number one contender at the time having just lost to Branco - beating Lynes put McCloskey in the driving seat in the ratings. Despite this Lynes got another shot at the EBU title against MBaye and lost - then MBaye pulled out of the fight with McCloskey. I dont think a fighter could be in a MORE deserving position!
Khan wouldnt have stood up to McCloskey's uppercut in the second let alone that haymaker he decked Lauri with in the 11th.
I can see what you mean but imo Khans power is getting a little underrated now and seeing how quick and accurate he is he would land on regularly on the not hard to hit Mcloskey unless he was to tighten up. I think Khan is special and would prove so in a supposed bout
Seriously, it happened after he KO'd Salita in the 1st round. Everyone was like "Khan has serious power" rather than voicing the more pertinent "Jesus Christ, Salita is even worse than I thought, and I thought he was seriously ****".:scaredas:
Ya I'm not sold on Khans power, but I wouldn't give Paul much chance against Khan. He'd be getting tagged regularly and might be stopped late alright. I'd like to see McCloskey getting a chance to step up and try though.
:huh...he is average, he has only average power and he is bloated at the weight, whats to argue about.... who mentioned Khan?