*** British Class of 2008 - Discussion Thread ***

I understand the point about the dislikeable arrogance of DeGale too.

There's nothing worst than listening to some knobhead fighting over 8x3's bragging about getting £100k+ when there's ex-world champions without a pot to **** in up and down the country.

This can apply to anyone, there aren't many more annoying/patronising things than listening to someone tell everyone how much money they've got.

My cousin is much the same, he loves readies more than he loves his wife and kids, which is probably why she walked out on him last week, and why all his mates don't bother with him anymore.

 

:deal The other day I stumbled upon a video of the final press conference where Degale/McDonnell ambush Groves/Booth into those bets. So beautiful to watch it back.

 

I agree these guys should definitely more active!.... But you do get people on here saying I rather so and so not fight at all then fight this bum i.e Fury's next fight (just making the point that it is sometime impossible to please some people)

I've said it for a while now and I think Degale will go far and will probably be top 10 within the next 12 months.

 

Brill thread, read every post and not much I can disagree with or add, I do feel jeffries will come good however- I don't have any affiliation to him, or know him but i think he'll do ok! Remember another Olympic bronze medallist drew with a guy who was 2-6 (Danny juma) and went on to be a world champ!

Jeffries problem appears psychological, he knocked back decent opposition for that comeback fight- and chose maudby himself only to later complain about the opposition! Think he just needs to relax and enjoy what he's doing more! He's got talent and is improving!

 

He's just frustrating because all his flaws look so simple to sort. The constant falling in and crowding his work see to be the main ones. His trainers must work on this with him but he just strikes me as someone who doesn't listen.

His post fight interview was a perfect demo of this!!!

 

^^^
He looks like he has absolutely no understanding of distance whatsoever. Haven't seen his last fight but sounds like the same old story. Thats three **** performances in a row now (albeit with 1 brutal KO).

Also, he isn't as big a ticket seller in Sunderland as some suggest! The venue at Houghton-Le-Spring where he fought Banbula is pretty small - leisure centre size I'd say and there were far more Stuey Hall fans there than Jeffries.

Its not too late for him to sort it out though!

 

Think that's a confidence issue if I'm honest! His discomfort is written all over his face.. He needs to enjoy what he's doing or what's the point

 

I said exactly this in the other thread titled Tony Jeffries.

In his interviews he looks like an unconfident man.

He reacts very quickly to any sign of critism, almost defending before it has been said. Classic sign of an unconfident man.

 

Good post - if he can get through this unlucky period it may make him stronger and get his hunger back

 

Class of 2008:

Frankie Gavin
He’s actually progressing pretty well.

Frankie needs better opposition to bring the best out of him. As the most gifted of the bunch skill-wise, he also lacks serious firepower. That might work to his advantage since he hits hard enough to get respect, but not so hard that he starts to rely on it.

Many have concerns about his fitness, motivation, etc. He’s had some turmoil at home and in camp, but has never looked in danger of losing. He needs more development and I’d like to see him in with some more varied fighters. Ideally he could do with fighting five times a year.

He should be contesting the British title in the next 12 months then stepping up to Euro level right after.

James DeGale
The most overrated of the 2008 bunch, but fairly so since he did win a gold medal. His career so far has shown he still hasn’t improved technically and relies on his athletic skills to win fights. My opinion is that he’s been poorly matched and developed.

Scratch beneath the surface and the guys he’s been facing were custom-built for him to beat. They posed him no problems since they all walked right on in to his wheelhouse and let him do his work.

Following the Groves fight he needs to add more variety and work on his weaknesses. He’s got the wrong trainer and the wrong attitude. I don’t see him going anywhere notable until those things change.

David Price
I feel for David. He’s a good boxer, has serious power in that right hand, and seems a lovely bloke. The win over Tom Dallas showed all his best traits, but until we see him against better opposition we won’t know if his chin is the liability we suspect it may be.

That said, I think he’s being brought along at the right pace. In 12 months time he beats everyone on the UK scene as long as he masters keeping range. A few more opponents with different dimensions and he’ll be ready for British honours.

Don't have much to say about the others. Saunders is my favourite of the rest, while Gavin's my pick of them all.

 

its only really DeGale thats getting paid dramatically over the odds. 6 figures a fight etc. Pretty sure the others are on good deals but there not significantly better than other fighters that have shown allot of promise.

inactivity is the main thing. the 5 fighters that BB mentioned all had 6-8 fights in there first year as a pro and had stepped up to title fights within 2 years as a pro.

its going to be intresting to see Murray, Price and Saunders all stepping it up this season.

 

Another interesting point worth noting is the quality of those opponents.

Hatton faced some quality domestic opponents in his first 15 fights - Mark Ramsey x2, Tommy Peacock etc.... even the journeymen at the start were goodish.

Calzaghe's run was slightly weaker granted, but they all had a bit of form and importantly there weren't any long spells on the shelf.

The 2008 group have been fighting too infrequently, often against the wrong kind of opponent. Consider DeGale's first two fights - the first one was a reasonably skilled spoiler, the second was a glass jawed pub drunk.....

Surely there needs to be better consideration given to what styles they actually face - Gaz would no doubt cite the Leonard example, Dundee had him fight a mixture of everything in his first 15 fights, so by the time he was at ten round level he was an experienced, if young professional.

By that I mean genuine ten round level, not just a fight over ten rounds for some meaningless title.

 

Calzaghe was with Mickey Duff who basically left him on the shelf. So he did have a weaker run, leavened with some decent operators too.

 

I think Groves has had a decent apprentiship if you look at Haye and Groves the Hayemaker way was measured tests early on always progressing. It might not create a complete "Leonard" fighter but there isnt the tv dates nor the money for the oposition anymore. He also gained experience fighting on big cards and foreign oposition in the US and Germany.

I dont think the key is to create all round fighters now. Its unnecessary there isnt the strength in depth anymore as there was in 70's/80's its about getting to the top level in as fewer steps as possible without wasted fights. I dont mean rushing the fighters.

What i mean is that if you are going to have 5 fights a year they need to be fights where there is a progression of opponent so you arent going stale on journeymen and waiting 4 months to knock a journeyman over and then get thrown in after 10 fights at title level.

 

Surely it's the lack of rounded skills that leads to these guys losing when they step up to world class?

Unless you've faced a mauling pressure fighter, a cagey counter-puncher, or a slick boxer-puncher, even at a lower level, you'll never know what you need to do to beat them.

There's a reason that Hopkins, despite excelling in no physical area, beats much more talented fighters. He was built into a complete fighter and he can nullify almost anything an opponent brings.

I think it's a point worth investigating. Do you think that the only goal now is to get to a title fight ASAP?