Anthony "The Magician" Sims, Jr.

Okay, did you skim over the part where he was under Murad Muhammad and Don King for the first four years of his career? So relax. Look at it as if he functionally debuted a year ago.

 

Yes, by management that knows wtf they're doing/gives a hoot. Which he just now finally as of recently has. It's been I think 5 matches since he signed with Matchroom? They've been progressing him slowly but surely (as opposed to just plateauing as he was under King), and if his next opponent after Fitch isn't a big step up then I think we can begin to criticize.

 

We've double-dipped on fighters numerous times, all good, we have our distinctive spin on things...and like you say, especially if the person is worthy of an embarrassment of riches in terms of attention, the more the merrier.

If the inspiration strikes me to do a thread on someone and I see while searching for reference on them you've happened to make one, I'm not going to not go ahead with mine...but I also explicitly don't click yours open until after posting my own to ensure that I'm giving a completely fresh take (which still leaves room for some incidental duplicate information, but c'est la vie)

 

Too bad DDLH is so tiny in comparison... it would be kind of epic to have the second cousins of Floyd & Oscar, who each subsequently got snubbed by their ATG relatives (neither Oscar nor Floyd cultivated a warm relationship with Diego or Anthony respectively; they gave them some equipment and gym access, but no real guidance or even words of encouragement, which motivated both to become self-made men and probably left them better off...although I think both ODLH and PBF were likely motivated by their own aloof haughtiness and perhaps jealousy/resentment at the prospect of a younger kinsman making bones off their name and potentially rising up onto their level), go at it...

But you can't have a super middle fight a super bantam. That is beyond the pale...unless you're Canelo. (who is, today, a SMW and has probably always been destined to grow into this as his "natural" weight, and who famously beat up natural light flyweight Ulises "Archie" Solís in the streets, over a girl...)

 

There's a lot to like about Sims - he is a skillful and slick boxer without being a runner, kind of like a bigger and smoother Gervonta Davis - but what strikes me the most is how fluid and composed he looks at pretty much all times. Remains to be seen whether or not his feathers get ruffled when he faces a top-notch pressure fighter...I, for one, can't wait to see & grade such a test.

 

...and before anyone feels compelled to white-knight for Canelo with some "b-b-but he is bigger now than he was then! He wasn't a SMW yet!! ".... true, he was then still "merely" a gigantic welter/light middle. Totally appropriately sized to bully a half-retired lighy fly. Mea culpa. Excuuuuuuse me.

 

You know the way people hype up Tank Davis and Devin Haney and (to an extent, but increasingly less so) Boo-Boo Andrade...or, previously, Felix Verdejo?

Yeah, those fuckbois ain't it. Sims is...and he snuck up on the scene and is going to get huge seemingly overnight with little in the way of telegraphing fanfare, much like Bud Crawford did.

The only kid receiving that crazy level of hype that deserves it IMO is Shakur Stevenson ...but unlike him, ASJ is a complete package as he actually has power.

 

I think he'll do some damage there, pick up a belt or two, and ultimately wind up at 175 and build the bulk of his legacy there.