Australian Boxing/SM Memorial thread

How did Opetaia look yesterday?

 

Jay-Ar Claveria Magboo vs. George Kambosos Jnr on the Matthysse vs. Pacquiao undercard next month.

Good fight. Crazy it will only be an eight-rounder; the winner takes a big step forward.

 

We've had three A-level fighters fight out of Australia in the last 30 years (whether we're allowed to claim any of them or not). Two of them never fought in the UK while the other did in the last fight of a long professional career.

Many of our best B-level fighters never fought there (Mundine, Green & Peden). Some did & won (Harding & Katsidis). Some did & lost (Bika, Lovemore & Skinny Hussein).

I don't think taking our fighters to the UK is the way to develop our best guys but apparently young Jai Opetaia is about to head over there soon so that theory may be put to the test.

I'd prefer to see our best young talent stay here & build up their quality of opposition. Without the necessary intermediate level fights, young talent will fall short when it has to travel overseas & step up (Fletcher).

 

Good. Controlled & measured, with heavy hands when he let them go. The opponent wasn't good enough to measure him by though.

I'm a little bit concerned by his lack of opposition in these fights because when he steps up he's going to need some tougher rounds behind him.

Some talk that he's heading to the UK. Would like to see them spend some money & import higher quality opponents for him here.

Mark Flanagan is apparently heading to South Africa to fight for the IBO title. Hopefully they get him as an opponent at some point.

One other thought on Opetaia - they also need to spend some money for him to do some media training. He's been doing media since he was selected for the London Olympics as a 16 year old but you'd never know it.

He's got great potential as a fighter but if he's ever going to generate a following he also needs to be able to tell a story when they stick a microphone under his nose or a camera in his face.

 

Aus Boxing Update
Renold Quinlan injuries have healed. And is preparing for a fight soon.
Aust MW Champ David Toussaint injured and won't fight Aug.
Aiming to fight later this yr.
Bunbury Nathaniel Cheeky May is back home after 6 weeks of intense training in UK. Freddie Roach has taken him under his wing and wants him back in Hollywood in a matter of weeks. Cheeky long term trainer sadly died in Feb. Cheeky is now IBF no 4 and WBO no 10 at FW and hopes to fight a IBF eliminator in UK before the end of the yr with the winner to face England Josh Warrington.

This content is protected

 

Updated July Rankings.
SMW Rohan Murdock is now WBO no 7.
LW Kyle Mackenzie is now WBO no 6 and George Kambosos Jr no 11 ?
JW Lenny Zappa WBO no 7 so brave in defeat against Alex Saucedo .
Lenny how about a match up with Gold Coast Jeff Horn stablemate Liam Prodigy Paro WBO no 10 next yr.
Jai continues to impress and is now ready for some more serious competition.

This content is protected

 

A few random thoughts:

Lenny Zappa has been a very good professional for a very long time. But I think it's time someone started putting his health first. It's time to call it a career. He should not be fighting beyond this year. I would love to have seen him pick up a decent payday against Jeff Horn to finish up (which would have been an excellent development fight for Horn) but instead he was fighting a long way from home developing someone else.

Speaking of fighters who need to start thinking about calling it a career, I saw on the weekend that Mundine's long-time adviser Khoder Nasser has told him to give it away. Even if he does have a couple of big wins left in him, it sounds like good advice to me. In one recent boxing broadcast, Mundine sounded like he might have been slurring his words (although he sounded okay on commentary later in the evening).

I hope Fly Guy Jai's "more serious competition" doesn't involve a Commonwealth title shot in the UK just yet (unless it's for a vacant title). He needs a couple of decent 10-rounders against tough American club-fighter types before he's ready to step up. I mean, his main sparring partner is Willis Meehan who is a novice pro who hasn't fought in 2 years. That's not sufficient preparation for a guy who spars with Anthony Joshua & holds his own.

The obvious local opponent for Fly Guy Jai is Mark Flanagan. Once again though, the best domestic fights are foiled by Flanagan going to South Africa to fight for the IBO Cruiser title. Sounds like a good development fight for the South African, but not our blokes.

Can we get a couple of our top super middles matched up for the vacant Commonwealth Super Middleweight title?

It's ridiculous that virtually every Commonwealth boxing title is held by an Englishman. The Commonwealth title has become a second or third tier British title to be used for the sole purpose of getting English fighters world rankings. When we do pick one up, our blokes immediately go over there to drop it to the highest bidder instead of defending it here & using it to develop our own fighters. If Michael Serafa goes to the UK to defend his junior middle strap, I think we can forget that sanctioning body as having any relevance to Australian boxing. There's plenty of local talent for him to defend it against here.

On the subject of the UK, it looks like our two best featherweights will be heading over there to try their luck. Featherweight looks to me to be just about our weakest weight division. It might have been better if they fought each other to see which of the two deserves the trip.

It's a little frustrating seeing fights that should be happening in Australia, that would develop our own fighters & strengthen the sport here, not happening. We all know what happens when under-developed Australian fighters go overseas & fight on the world stage.

The talent is currently there to achieve something meaningful in the next few years. But it needs to be developed properly.

 

This content is protected

 

Kali Meehan's son Willis is a southpaw heavyweight with a 5-0 (4) record, taking on a fellow unbeaten prospect.

How is he, chip off the old block or another no-mark being fed applesauce and selling on their name for as far as they can take it? Or somewhere in between? Or could he be actually better than his dad?

 

I've seen very little of him but from what I have seen he has talent.

He was a very good junior rugby league player also who got derailed with off field issues.

If he dedicates himself to one of those sports for a sustained period of time, he could achieve things I think.

Good to see him back in boxing for the time being.

 

Willis Meehan was a prodigy like Jai Opetia and he won the 2013 Aust SHW am Title by defeating London Olympian Johan Linde before loosing to a then unknown Joe Goodall for place at the 2014 CMW Games. He use to be one of Alex Leapai main sparring partners when he was world ranked.
His father said " He can box , he can brawl , he reads fights well, he can box southpaw
or orthodox and he can punch. " He could have been a Rugby League star but fell into
the wrong crowd and ended up as a standover man.
He was way more talented as League player than current UFC HW phenomenal Tai
Tauisva and there is no reason why if he stays committed he can be a force .
A pro rematch with Aust HW Joe Goodall or current Aust HW Champ Demsey Mckean
would be fireworks.
Fri Card
Willis Meehan vs Jonasia Kivikia ( Fiji ) 8 x 3 rds.
Luke Boyd vs Tanawat Phonnaku ( Thai ) 10 x 3 rds FW
Ty Telford vs Ruben Webster ( NZ ) 8 x 3 rds 154 lbs

 

Being reported Lenny Z retires.

 

Its seems to be official mate.

This content is protected

 

Horn v Mundine is a boring fight that shouldn't be happening.

It's a blatant money grab by Horndog that does nothing to advance his career as a professional fighter. In fact, it could end it.

Give me Horn v Lenny.

Good development fight for Horn. Good payday for Lenny.

 

If the fight is at 160 Mundine will KO Horn.