As is his power, speed and defense. Amazing talent and a surefire world champ, if he can adapt well to the pro ranks that is.
Up there, not a chance he's the best. Can you honestly say he's got more than Joyi? I can't, not at all. Bute, Pirog, N'Jikam, Syllakh I'd all rate as having more too. I'm not knocking the guy, I like him, I just find that claim absurd. Raul Garcia. Very good fighter, looks like he's up against Calderon next. I think Joyi's a supreme talent, maybe I overrate him but I'd have him in the top 5-8 pound for pound in terms of ability. Problem for Gonzalez is, watching his fight against Chango Vargas, he can be overpowered and worn down by fighters who are bigger than him. Joyi has the frame to arguably climb to super-flyweight, he's an absolutely massive strawweight, who at the same time has so much abilities to go with it. I'd have to think about it, it's probably 50-50 for me right now.
thanks, will check him out once I've completed what I'm doing online at the minute. I assume he will turn pro after London 2012. very impressive record. any indication who he will turn pro with?
Lomaschenko wanted to go pro after Milan in 09 didnt he? Think his dad/coach talked him out of it. If you believe things you read on the web hes actually gone backwards a bit since. Perhaps hes disenchanted with the ams.
Not seen a lot of Joyi. Bute isn't this side of the atlantic most of the time, if we're going to get technical about these names. Don't rate Hassan's talent that highly, good mover yes, but quite easy to hit especially as a fight progresses, not naturally talented like Gavin. More a natural athlete than a natural boxer in my honest opinion. I love Sillakh but again I don't think he's more naturally talented. Or well, that can be split into 2 parts, offensively he may well be as he's blessed with more natural power, but he's very stiff and hittable and hasn't got the defensive skill of Gavin. And again, he's not this side of the atlantic. We're talking Europeans based in Europe here, or Africans I suppose. Gavin is RIGHT up there.
His ould lad said he wasnt mature enough for the pros after the olympics i think. He might very well be, hes accomplished everything a boxer can accomplish in the amateur ranks.
Looking at Joyi since he's getting unreal props, he reminds me stylistically of Mike McCallum. A very tiny Mike McCallum. No bad thing. Though he appears big for straw.
Why do they have to be based in Europe exactly? They're from Europe, hence, from this side of the Atlantic. Gavin's hardly flawless now is he, I mean, sure, you can pick out aspects of a fighter and say ''that's why they aren't as naturally gifted''. Gavin's jab is quite poor, he's not very imposing with it, doesn't use it to set punches up very well, nor is it used effectively as a range-finder. It's just there, being tossed out while he finds a way in which to land his more damaging punches. He's not particularly defensively adept either, he's always within his opponent's punching range, that's something that, in my opinion, Syllakh does possess, sure, he hasn't got anything flashy about him defensively, he doesn't wield a shoulder roll like Gavin does, but he knows when to get to a relatively safe distance when he needs to for the most part. When you're constantly in range, you're always vulnerable, and it's pretty easy to find Gavin to the body.
Because the quote you were replying to clearly stated 'best talent this side of the atlantic'. If you're not on this side of the atlantic, its very difficult to be this side of the atlantic. I really don't understand what you mean by 'he's always in his opponents punching range'. You must have a different philosophy to me because the fact is Gavin is not a big guy so more often than not to be in his own punching range he neccessarily has to be in his opponents punching range. Thats the art of being a defensively skilled fighter, being able to stand infront of somebody and remain adept. Using your legs isn't really defensive prowess, thats a different skill. One which NDNJ posesses for example, yet we can clearly see that he's not actually defensively skilled when his opponent is indeed in range.
I think N'Jikam gets underrated too off the basis of that uninspiring performance he had against that 5''4 guy who's spelling of his name escapes me. Look at him against Lorenzo, the way in which he transitions from offense to defense is underrated, and he does both at the same time effectively too. He's slipping shots very well, and always follows it up with the correct punch selection. His pull back counter is overlooked also he times it well, as he does with the vast majority of his counters. Against a higher level of opposition, he's shown a higher level of overall ability thus far until Gavin can prove otherwise.
I don't really rate Lorenzo at all, but granted that was a good performance. My issue is with his defence under pressure. Both times he's fought squat pressure fighters that really had no skills at all except to hold a high guard and plod forward relentlessly i.e. the typical tough guy style, he got hit a bit. And stung, quite badly. His defence was shown up. Thats why I think he's only got legs. Against certain styles relying on athleticism is going to be grand, but against somebody excellent, or against someone average even that can extend him with sheer will and willingness, you simply can not keep up that excess of movement for 12 and thats when you need fundamentals to fall back on. NDNJ ain't got em defensively. I predict a violent knock out loss in his near future based on his chin and the fact you can not keep that style going.
Ive always thought that using your legs and footwork was both a defensive and offensive ability. It can help your offense, by getting you into the proper range to land punches and it can allow you to land punches from different angles which your oppoent will not be able to defend against. But it can also keep you out of range of your opponents punches obviously, and it can keep you off the ropes and allow you to dominate centre ring, should you want to fight like that. Thats why ive always thought of it as a defensive ability as much as offensive. Good footwork definitely adds to your defensive abilities greatly.
Fair points SOK. But the best people to look at to show that using your legs is not really a primary defensive skill but more a last resort if you don't have natural defensive gifts and/or havn't learnt the fundamentals of defensive boxing are N'dam N'jikam himself and our own Amir Khan. Both use their legs and have good athleticism, but if you get near their mandible...theres a great chance you're going to be laying hands on it. Thats my whole point about using legs. When Roach got hold of Khan, he knew that was the only option based on the fact Khan has never really moved his upper body and doesn't have great instincts for slipping. Another way of looking at is this, to use your legs for 12 and remain one step ahead of your opponent you pretty much have to be more athletic than they do so you're relying on something that isn't technical. Whereas if you look at Locche, he wasn't a natural athlete as far as being amazingly fleet of foot nor did he have Salividor Sanchez type speed, but he had the art locked down.