I don't want him to fight a different way, I simply think it would benefit him to use a bit more variation as he moves on. You can pick up habits early in your career that are difficult to dispose of, and if he gets in the habit of always standing in the ''danger zone'', if you will, he'll find himself in trouble in the long run. I think it's a valid point, he will come across smarter fighters who can exploit that, who'll fire shots off both high and low at the same time, and he won't get out of the way, he'll be there to be hit. I don't think that's reading into things too early, I think it's something he clearly does, and something he'll have difficulty shedding that as time passes. He will, at some point, without doubt come against an opponent who can and will do that, and he'll need to be able to get to a safer distance, and reset himself before going back to work, otherwise he's a sitting duck.
I sound like a Gavin nuthugger now and thats not even the case I've a lot of concerns about him. His power if he's going to stand with opponents is ultimately going to be critical. It makes the reliance on his defence being absolutely stellar even greater. Very difficult to stand and outbox somebody with a large power differential, you really have to be superb. His strength at welterweight. Why he suddenly went into his shell against Mutley. What he's like under pressure considering he likes time to think. Cuts. Staying dedicated. He's got a lot of hoops to jump through. Just lb4lb, I like his talent thats all. He displays some rare gifts at times.
The interesting thing is this 'style' came about as soon as he turned pro. There is a marked difference between Frankie Gavin the amateur - and the pro. I think its possible he's adapatable. Though against these opponents he hasn't really needed to stray from 'Default Pro style' as it seems to be. Whether he gets stuck in the same rut or not, its possible. But not a certainty. Is he going to do this if he fights Selcuk Aydin? Possibly not, he's possibly going to think about whether using more footwork would be beneficial. Maybe he will. Point is he don't really know for sure, and he has not been given a reason to change so its difficult to deduce whether he's 1D.
To be honest, I have the same feelings. I have a feeling Frankie is gonna be one of those who looks good defensively against domestic opposition, but a guy who's defense starts to leak as he moves up in class, not to say he's not a very good fighter, as I think he has the potential to win an ABC title, but I do see certain holes in his fundamentals. I think you might be able to counter off of Gavin's jab for start, as he pushes it rather than snaps it, I also think he leans his head foward too much, too close to any potential punch. Gavin also points his lead foot too much, where as it should be turned in more, he also fights with his shoulders square, now this might seem insignificant, but it puts your body in an uncompromising position, not uncompromising position, as in he's probably doing it so long, he feels comfortable with it, but its not a natural posture, your almost unnecessarily torquing your body in an awkward position, now this kind of thing seems insignificant, but it has a knock on effect, as your never gonna be truly sound defensively imo, unless you have the basics down properly, I aint saying he wont still be a very good fighter, that at times, he wont display good defense against the right opposition, but I can see potential holes in his defense due to his foundation, against certain opponents. Little things make a HUGE difference, that's why not everyone spots them, they seem so insignificant, however the smallest detail, like having your backfoot a few inches out from your lead foot, makes a big difference, cause if your back foot is underneath you, and not two inches out from the lead foot, when you throw a right hand, your gonna leave yourself off balance, reaching, when you try to get full extension on it, and you can try that theory out now.
Judging from the one fight where he did have trouble, against the French dude, he did have those problems though, that's the thing. I'm not just basing this out of nothing, nor am I saying that he hasn't eradicated such tendancies, just that they did/do exist and they may or may not do him a disservice in future fights. He's clearly an excellent talent, all I'm saying is that, where there are ch1nks in the armour of certain fighters that are comparable to him, Gavin isn't immune to them either, and has just as many, if not more of those difficulties. He's had trouble with a much lesser fight than a Lorenzo, a Johnson, or a Garcia, so I feel they're relevant points to bring to the proverbial table. Oh, and Frankie if you do read this, I am a fan of yours, I just don't think that you're unfallable is all.
Yep, very, very difficult to work out how defence holds up. Truth is nobody has really punched back yet. He's got a better start than most of our fighters though. Even our best usually get hit all too frequently at this level.
If Frankie's gonna fight in the pocket consistently, he needs to move his head more imo. You need perpetual head movement when fighting in that range, so if any potential punch does come, your is already in motion giving yourself an opportunity to slip it. Gavin seems to only move his head when he's inviting someone to punch at him, however there are times, even against Lomax, where by he left his head on the line too much imo, that a better fighter might of been able to get off first on him with their speed. This is all conjecture though, for all we know, Gavin might be just as good defensively moving foward, that said, I have my reservations, not that I dont think he will still be a very good fighter.
I can't recall that fight with the French dude. Probably because I was absolutely spewing at the time when the Referee robbed me of 400 quid by stopping the fight in disgraceful circumstances.
Raul Garcia who Joyi fought and my apologies for getting Yordanis Despaigne(who Syllakh did fight) confused with fellow Cuban Yudel Johnson.
With ya, when you said Johnson, I thought you meant the American Marcus Johnson. Yudel Johnson, man is he boring, good prospect, but boring Syllakh is the business. Despaigne, never got it with him, too flat footed and methodical, boring to watch to. All these Cubans seems to fight the same, except for Gamboa, a lot of them seem to lack foot-speed imo.