Anthony Crolla vs. Ricky Burns & Sam Eggington vs. Mohamed Mimoune RBR.

Gatti or Rosado?? Dude he's a feather duster. He enjoyed a nice little Cinderella run for a while there but eventually the coach turns back into a pumpkin and the ride is over. Eggington isn't and never was going to be some world class knockout artist or somebody that "shouldn't lose" to any decent operator circa "reasonably could he in contention for a Euro title". He isn't on that pedestal just because he strung together a few laudable domestic and international victories and happened to do so in style on a good (but not like "omg we've never seen anything like this!" run of form. He didn't ever fully step up to a high enough level to say "yeah, he's the real deal and he knocks Amir Khan the FO, no question". He is what he is, and has always been, very good, a bit above British level but certainly plateaued off short of elite until proven (with a repetition of results against steadily increasing quality of comp - either over a longer period or versus better comp than he did) otherwise.

 

And come on, be objective, don't hate on Mimoune just because he made good on his awkward helterskelter style and (figuratively speaking) punchsd above his weight to upset the apple cart and derail a guy you'd been rooting for. Mimoune has to do more with less (even more feather-fisted than Eggington was considered in his early career, literally couldn't bust an egg) and put on a spirited performance on the road. Absolutely no call to **** on the guy, he deserves props. They can't all be pretty to watch and the Mimounes and Bradley Skeetes of the world have their place...and that place is whooping Sam Eggington's azz.

 

Still has a great story.
Declared bankruptcy in 2015 and he was in serious dept. 400 000 pounds or something like that.
Prior to that, his biggest purse was 500 000 vs Crawford.
Made a heck of a comeback after that.

 

Yeah but Mimoune has to fight that way to be remotely effective, lacking any other major advantages or intangibles to put himself over, so doesn't part of you feel like you have to respect him for the hustle of "uglying" his way to an upset road W, local crowd (or spectators period) be damned? Like, don't hate the player, hate the game? I just don't get the vitriol aimed in Mimoune's direction. He knows he's nobody's favorite boxer. He's just making his living, dude.

Not his fault you happened to let yourself get invested emotionally in Eggington. (whose Cinderella run always had that looming expiration date, honestly I thought for sure he would get found out against C-Rod)

 

I'm sorry Mr. Intentionalbutt, but you can't be so grey with language and expect 100% credit for calling that upset.

 

I heard fish eyes done him out of money, is that why he went bankrupt ??

 

I mean yeah, I didn't outright tip Mimoune in that post or anything, just meant to remind everyone that Eggington did have a fight coming up. That's a common theme with me if you look back through my posts. Unless there's a gigantic class mismatch, it always seriously annoys me when fans look past a plausibly competitive match-up because of the assumption that a favored combatant is going to without a doubt be in a position to engage in their hypothetical later/"bigger" match-ups (that are contingent upon them actually putting in the work and getting the W) - it also bugs me when promoters make those "just get by fighter X, and this fight with Z is as good as signed" type of handshake deals. Like screw them. Nothing's a given. Especially in a case like Eggington vs. Mimoune, these guys were not on that dissimilar a level. Eggington just benefited from a nice sequence of lucky matchmaking (Gavin mending his wounds from Brook, shot ass Malignaggi, C-Rod after his tough win over Mousaoui where he got dropped) and, to his credit, executed well, but he never stopped being a "probably tops out at Euro level" guy and Mimoune is also pretty much in that stratosphere. This was never some gigantic mismatch where it wasn't disrespectful to look past the guy that didn't happen to build up a name in a country with more of a focus on nationally televised boxing and privileged with the backing of a friking Eddie Hearn.

 

Yeah. I thought it might be competitive but figured there was no way Mimoune would get the nod in the event that went the distance and was even remotely close... Still haven't seen the fight - going to sit down and give it and Crolla/Burns a good watch next week.

 

I mean, CST isn't wrong, it's butt-ugly.

...but I curiously found myself nodding along in approval watching Mimoune shart all over the ring with his ultra-light drift-in lead southpaw hooks and weird melting away/turning his shoulder almost completely around like a protective cape thing, and somehow managing to befuddle Sam with all that.

 

Aww, you bitter ol' fuddy-duddy. So then, speaking of guys with hideous styles (and W's over Eggy), you must be chuffed that poor Skeete's rumored big-payday world title shot at Horn went up in smoke, passed over for an inferior Brit?