I know he didn't fight well against Takam, but considering the absolute war he had with Mago, and the obvious effect that would have on two things, his health/attitude and willingness to go in for a kill - I think we're being too harsh on Perez. I had him losing the fight but he got a bit of a gift, but also Takam fought very well and was very fired up and is clearly an IMPROVED fighter who was hungry. Now, Perez showed everything required of a HW champion against Mago, and he came through in a bit of adversity against Takam. He's not got the natural power to be a champion but in terms of heart and ability I think he'll get a belt of some kind post-klit. I'd like to see him in an all-cuban affair against Solis next, not a great match on the eyes but it will be interesting who would win.
This is a rare exception where I give him a pass. I think he should have got an L but I think he was affected by his last fight. A rematch would be the right move for everybody here. Hopefully mike can shake off the devastating Mago fight.
If the Mago-fight has such obvious effects on his health/attitude and willingness to go in for "the kill" and took so much out of him, then no, he doesn't have all that is needed to be the HW champion in the future. Kovalev killed a man but when he steps into that ring you see no ill effects, his killer-instinct is still intact. The way he reacted to being cut was alarming as well. You don't turn away from your opponent EVER during a fight, and after that he was looking tired, distracted, stressed, and there was nothing behind his punches from like the 4th round on. He just looked like he didn't want to be there. Champions fight through adversity and come out on top anyway, Perez folded when the going got rough. I've learned quite a lot of things about Perez in that fight, but nothing that suggest that he belongs at World Champion-level, sorry.
That's not true, Perez came back firing but lacked pop in his punches and came through a couple of torrid rounds. I think you'll find Kovalov is an extreme example, in some ways it's changed him in a way where he WANTS to end fights early, it's less damaging to knock someone out in rounds 1-4 than it is to put on a sustained beating like in the Simokov fight. Also, the cut was actually pretty bad and I was surprised the fight wasn't ended - however he should not have reacted like that, it looked more like shock to me. Let's see how Perez fares in a rematch and in his next bout or two, any fighter can have an 'off night' - the fact is he had one and still came away with the W.
I think he is too bulky. When I watched him in the Prizefighter series he was very quick, but he isn't that way anymore. He can't have slowed down due to age as he is still in his prime; it must be the weight. If I were him I would gradually come down in weight. I can't see any reason for him to be above 222 lbs. The average heavyweight today is much too heavy for his height and frame.
Supposedly Perez went straight back into the gym after the Mago fight to keep his mind off what happened. Surely from a conditioning point of view both physically and mentally this was a bad idea. I think he needs a good couple of months away from boxing to recover and then he'll come back better than ever. It's a poor division and potentially Perez has the beating of a lot of guys in the top 10.
The cut looked really bad, I was shocked they didn't stop it right there and then, it looked horrible. But thats not the point. He was supposed to stop that Takkam-guy no matter what. The thing is, sometimes boxers are ruined by wars like the Mago-fight, and I'm afraid we might be looking at one of those unfortunate cases here. It might be that the cut played a mayor role too, but that is not a good sign either. I'm all for a rematch so he can proof that it really was just an off-night, but I don't think that's the truth. And he didn't come away with the W by the way, the fight was ruled a draw and even that was quite generous.
Mentally the Mago fight had no effect on him it was all physical, only prospects fight twice in 10 weeks he had a war then fought 10 weeks later shouldnt have done that
