Damien Hooper

Geale simply dropped a decision at the oceanics
which cost him his place in the olympics. Criterias always been
winner of oceanics represents. many have dropped close dicisions
at a critical stage

 

i wonder how many people rate hooper based on hearsay and hype.
when fletcher and geale won their comm games golds it hardly made news - the current Public Relations crew in boxing oz would've made sure a gold to hooper was news everywhere. - and dont think i'm a hater coz i've been a fan since before the worlds of 09.
Hooper is a talent no doubt - but it is more about his age -its like Bernard Tomic (maybe thats a bad anology) but if you want to look at boxing amir kahn was winning medals in adult comps at 17 - hooper won medals at junior comps and did ok at 17 - certainly showed potential
as for jarrod fletcher his amateur resume is more than comparable to hoopers - and hooper has alot more support in a much better run system - in fletchers days they didnt do camps in cuba for 6 weeks for a start

although hooper has won gold in lithuania and serbia, fletcher won gold in 06 in a finland tourney and in the same year won bronze in the czech republic and in oslo tourney - in 04 he won a gold in scot/england tourney and just before the 08 games won a gold at the international grand prix also in europe.
but what-ever - coz winning those sorts of tourney are good but as an oz amateur boxing there is, in this order - Com games, Worlds and Olympics

so lets not confuse hype with talent - just because hooper is being talked up as medal hope wide and far doesn't mean that within the amateur scene the same wasn't done with fletcher - in fact in 2008 the winner of gold was chunky de gale whom fletcher beat at the Com games - fletcher was unlucky to draw the cuban (in the first round) who went on to lose to degale in the final
and someone will have to correct me if i'm wrong but i don't believe the rankings worked the same in geale and fletchers day - i'll have to research that
no fletcher had a great record as amateur 180 fights for 152wins - hooper's record may end up being better - you may argue he is a better fighter now but he's not the second coming - and nobody - in the amateur scene back when carr and hooper fought would do just enough to win - hooper has a flarey lairy style and as we saw at the worlds a solid, strong and disciplined fighter can break him down - pls don't downgrade jake carr because he is a ripper and should get a lot more support from the powers than what he gets.

 

Geale went to 2000 olympics won commonwealth gold in 2002 and lost at the trials 04 oceania games which omohoney won gold and went to Athens.

 

as i thought, the ranking system didnt exist when geale and fletcher were around - so sorry for being facetious but thats probably why fletcher and geale NEVER EVER had a world ranking like hoopers


http://www.aiba.org/en-US/news/ozqsp/newsId/2443/news.aspx

i'd go out on a limb here and say that there wasn't a seeding system at the competition if there was a rankings system in existence

which mean hooper given hell be seeded in the top 5 won't ever have to worry about fighting cubans in the first round

i will say this though - aside from oz boxing being run better including marketing the fighters - hooper makes this easy by having a pretty to watch style

 

I have seen Hooper fight in Australia a number of times, I have seen Hooper fight overseas and I have even assisted in his corner overseas. My opinion of Hooper is not based on hype or hearsay.

As far as boxers go I am more of a Geale , Fletcher fan (not based on just ability but the whole package) than a Hooper fan but I believe Hooper has the ability to go further providing he doesnt implode.

I am not downgrading Carr as I have not seen enough of him to have an opinion on him. I have seen him at the Australian Titles and he did well in the fights I saw.

Lastly, the upcoming Olympics will probably decide where Hooper will be ranked amongst the top Aussie Amateurs as he will probably go pro soon afterwards. Australia need a gold and Hooper is a genuine contender.

 

I rewatched his fight from the worlds vs La Cruz, what I noticed is that the Cuban really had him figured out and fighting desperately by the end. In the final round the Cuban landed a legit body shot that caused an 8 count, Hooper claimed it was a low blow and managed to get 2 points taken off the Cuban.
Hooper has the counter punching ability to go far but I think he switches too often and makes himself a bit sloppy at times, if he fights a tighter style at the games I think he could medal. I don't know if he is sharp enough to beat the Eastern Euro contenders though.

 

The Cuban did NOT land a legit body shot, it was a low blow. either your being ignorant to this fact or your a Hooper hater. which of the two? :huh

This content is protected

Below the belt line clearly shown via this screenshot.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5GoOQ0WCCU&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PL5D7AE9416EA33448[/ame]

 

Geez, am boxing has changed a lot.

 

It was a looping bolo punch, that screenshot isn't the point of impact. It hit Hooper above the hip which would have been on the belt if Hooper had his shirt tucked in like he should have. Notice the delayed reaction and Hooper holding his goods as if he got caught directly on the spot? He was hurt and played it off as a low blow.
Hooper is a talent and I'm a fan, I hope he does well in London. I think the Gold medal talk is a bit unrealistic, hope I'm wrong.

 

In what regard?
I think the am game has been brilliant since the 2008 Olympics, only heavy clean shots scoring, low scores with plenty of knockouts at the top level.
It annoys me when people (generally Americans) still claim it's like fencing or that only pitty patter punches are used and scored. They obviously haven't watched it for years.

 

can you provide a screenshot of this? i was unable to provide any screenshot of a bodyshot, it was below the belt. ive been wrong before so i wouldnt mind if you could prove me wrong again

 

I don't know how to do that, just watch the video closely and you can see for yourself.

 

In the reverse angle shot in the final highlights it looks like Hooper is struck low, hits low and comes up to the stomach. Didn't alter the result.
Hoper switches seemlessly. Not many can do this and look so natural. In the pro ranks this will earn him a few instant knockouts.....more time to calculate it and set it up. 3 rounders doesn't do the switch justice.

 

I think the switching is pointless, it throws the switchers range off. Hooper is very accurate until he starts switching. Look at Dirrell, the best switcher around. Always has to reset so he doesn't throw many punches. When he sticks to one stance he looks a lot better.

 

Whilst i agree he does switch up his stances, most of the time he is parallel punching :good