Morrade Hakkar was Bernard Hopkins mandatory. Punch stats Hopkins 233 landed 45% connect rate 50% Power connect rate Hakkar 39 landed 9% connect rate 18% Power connect rate The real fight was the interview. Merchant starts the interview with "Bernard aren't you embarrassed by this?" This content is protected Bhop: "Larry! Stop being ignorant" Merchant: You think anybody wants to see this kind of fight again? and you a middleweight calling out junior middleweights?
Rocky Juarez makes my fighters who got too many shots-at-a-title list https://www.boxing247.com/weblog/archives/115119 Article mentions how he had 3 shots in 3 years, asking how Soto beat Juarez, yet sat on the side lines watching Rocky fight for yet another title. The article mentions Holyfield as most undeserving against Ibrigamov for WBO title shot. I don't really remember how or why he go the shot, but I guess it could be seen as a bad mandatory.
Rocky Juarez did have a pretty high standing, but Soto not getting his shot ahead of the man he beat after winning the interim title was obscene.
I love GGG, and his opponent WAS undefeated ... but damn, Wade sucked. Edit: I see that Wade is on a tear right now, destroying prime Obando and Rios by KO! That win aged well!!! (/s)
Without fighting for 2 years, and his only win in the last 3½ years being a gift decision in a fight he got dropped in. Still, we're still waiting for the upcoming WBA Oquendo mandatory before he dies of old age, being out of the ring since losing to past it Chageav way back in 2014... hard to top that douzy.
**** Merchant. All he ever did was ***** and moan about everything. And Hopkins was right in calling him on his BS and telling him not to be ignorant. Merchant knew perfectly well why this fight happened. Yet he wanted to act all high and mighty. Damn old ****. Merchant acted as if Hopkins picked the fight. It was a bizzare ****ing interview. And those Junior-Middleweights at the time were some of the P4P best out there. Why the **** HBO kept his old ass around is beyond me.
It should have been Soliman. Wade got a nice little gift win over the ageing veteran. Soliman was still quite capable and would have given Golovkin at least some resistance. Wade got knocked down by a punch to the shoulder
You know what, I wouldn't have minded seeing GGG vs Soliman. Certainly more than Wade. Soliman has a very unusual style and it would have been interesting to see Golovkin deal with it.
