Irish Boxing

Talk about throwing away your title. Andy went from a very winnable fight in his hometown of Limerick to putting himself in a hopeless position, all in one go!
Effortless! Genius management alright!
Hear that spinning sound?
Its Emanuel Steward turning in his grave.....

 

A bad move but he had no choice unless give up the belt. He can rebuild I would like to see him against Macklin in new York paddy weekend then maybe canelo .

 

It occurs to me this could this be a way for Macklin to get back in the title picture? BJS is an MGM fighter now.......

 

Saunders has way too much skill for a faded Macklin

As I said last night I was amazed that Andy's team agreed to 3 English judges and that decision most likely cost him the fight.

 

The guy rapidly emerging as a quiet 'power behind the throne' in boxing is Daniel Kinahan. He has a low public profile (for obvious reasons) but BJS gives him an awful lot of credit. Also DK and Mack are close, so Id say the fight is a 'possible maybe', put it like that.

Credit to you Marty for pointing out very bad management by Team Andy. But it goes oes beyond just the 3 judges. Fight location, promoter - the challenger held ALL the cards here.

I - (in fairness I did) - had been saying all along that I was no way convinced about the "massive improvement" in Andy under Booth.
I pointed all this out about how he never got dropped before joining Booth and now he gets dropped regularly....etc etc

 

If I'm an Irishman fighting anywhere in the uk and the BBBOC assigns Dave Parris to have anything to do with my fight, I ask for him to be replaced.

 

Bit more to it than one single 'unsatisfactory' official though.
how often do you see a champion surrender literally every advantage?


Lets hope Team Frampton look and learn here.....

 

Andy was full sure he would win. That makes it all the harder to take. Doubt he is coping very well with losing his title like that. He may never recover from this.

 

The old conspiracy theory ?

I see the bitterness is oozing out of some folk.

Heres a few facts.......

BJS is levels above Lee in terms of skill.

Lee has gotten more than his fair shake lately, Quillin beat him and was robbed, Korobov was beating him and got silly.

Cannot believe anybody actually picked Lee to beat BJS.

Nice to see Len getting his excuse's in early for the Quigg Frampton fight.

 

If we didnt learn from our mistakes we'd still bein the stone age... seems like some of still are Shakey!!

So since we largely agree -whats your problem?

 

No great outcry for a rematch. Were people that disappointed with Andy they dont feel he deserves one?
Ive seen plenty of champions retain their title with less competitive performances than Andy put on?
Plus if he'd have gone all-out a bit earlier who knows?

But all Andys fair-weather fans have disappeared.

 

I didn't score the fight but going by boxnation commentaries ...who are clearly biased the fight was close...so on that there should be a rematch... but the fight was a bore so maybe that's why people don't care:good

 

Andy and his management were incredibly naieve. They gave up every advantage. They left no safety net in place if anything went wrong - and it did go wrong. They put all their eggs in one basket - that Andy would definitely win! you cant do that in boxing - ever!
Due to Wazzens involvement the dice was horibly loaded in Billy Joes fvour all along.

Remember how - even when the fight was supposed to be in Limerick I pointed out Wazzens dismissive attitude to the Limerick promotion? How he was clearly making no effort whatsoever - and was just sitting back waiting for the Limerick promotion to fail. Remember how he dismissed Katie Taylor? Wazzen clearly did everything he could to scupper the Limerick fight - and incredibly Team Andy let him get away with it. It was so blatant.
A champion who behaved like a desperate unknown challenger!
He went to the challengers country- fought a Wazzen fighter on a Wazzen promotion - with all English judges.
Andy must be fuming today. He must be kicking himself!

I bet he is devastated psychologically - he never thought Billy Joe would beat him, drop him etc. Never! We've probably seen the last of him in a ring. Andy will probably give up now.

 

A decent year for Irish boxing. While we lost some amateur stars since London 2012 some new ones have appeared on the scene.
Some talking points

1- Andy Lee definitely led the pack despite his recent losst ot BJS. Whether he continues now or decides to pack it in he has won a world title and will go down as a great Irish boxer up with the big names now. I'd argue he has been one of the most dramatic fighters in recent times with his come from behind wins.

2- A shaky year for Frampton but the super fight got made and 2016 is going to start with a mega fight for Irish boxing fans. Where Lee (not through any fault of his own) was a let down with Macklin Murray and Barker for not fighting each other it certainly isnt the case with Quigg and Frampton.

3- The Irish middleweight dividision professionally looks like it will still provide some fun fights with the prospects Cummings and Quigley and Keeler.

4- Nevin back in action now so maybe he has one last chance to prove he can keep clean and out of trouble and get back to the fight game with a renewed hunger and mature focus now. It's not too late.

5- Not sure Turner is a heavyweight realistically. If he got down to cruiserweight this could be an exciting development. Great to seee MGM doing shows in Dublin hopefully with some marketing their efforts will grow the sport.

6- Sad to see Billy Walsh go, perhaps the most significant event of Irish boxing this year. But I am not one to take sides in an public spat where really we can only go off a he said - we said back and forth arguement. Good luck to both him and the AIBA and the HPU. Hopefully things will get sorted. Hopefully Zaur Antia will stay.

7- Most exciting prospect? All the talk of Ryan Burnett and Declan Geraghty but can anyone deny Carroll? He looks the real deal. If I had to pick a dark horse for next year I'd pick Con Sheehan. I think it is almost incredible that Virgil Hunter won't let him loose after an 8 month fitness camp. And to be honest there could be genius in this method. Sheehan looks in outstanding physical condition. Watch this space....Honorable mention to Quigley for a very active year.

8- With the rise of MGM, Cyclone and Hearn having some vested interests I think the pro game is in a better place.

9- RTE lost the rugby rights and I think they are losing a lot of soccer rights. could be a good thing for boxing if they decide to finally take another punt on someone who will box here. They have shwon interest in Nevin and Conlon so far so maybe, just maybe someone can resseruct their investment in more boxing coverage.

10- Since it's Christmas here is a wish list
Dear Santa,
Thank you for Frampton V Quigg now can we please have

1- A disruption free amateur campaign leading up to Rio. Zaur Antia as head coach and more security for our boxers and coaches. Some good will between the Irish sports council and the HPU / AIBA.

2- For the next middleweight professional to have the same size ***** Andy Lee has displayed throughout his career. Don't care about the loss to BJS he wen't out there and delivered for his fans and is an Irish sporting great now let alone boxing great.

3- Greater cooperation between MMA and Boxing. We don't have to hate MMA and they don't have to hate us. Maybe they can help each other instead?

4- For the following Irish title fights
Jamie Kavanagh V Stephen Ormonde
O'Kane V Spike
Turner to lose lots of weight and get down to Cruiser.
Nevin to stay mature and focuse and fght some top 20 contender by the summer.
Promoters to cooperate more in terms of sharing irish fighters on each others bills.
For Sutcliffe to stay injury free and fight for a European belt.
For a successfull Rio summer and not contoversies.
For Ward to get in the shape of his life and deliver on his potential.
For DOJ to turn pro.
For Quigley to fight some sort of meaningful title this year.
For Jono Carroll to get a euro title shot by end of the year.
For an Irish based prize fighter again.
For a corrupt free olympic games.
For the winer of Frampton V Quigg to fight Rigo.
For Andy Lee and Matthew Macklin to retire successfully and healthy.
For Stepehen Ormonde title shot
For a Patrick Hyland title shot
For Jamie Conlan to fight Paul Butler
That is all