The hype for Kelly when he turned pro was ridiculous. He really would have benefitted imo if he went through domestic level and was bought along at a slower pace but now that they've pushed him at such a quick pace, there's no going back. I feel for him a bit.
And I know Frank Warren is hardly Mr popular on here, but I think he's bringing Dubois along at a decent pace. The kid is 22 and has had some good learning fights in there (along with a bit of rubbish as well), but I think if he moves him onto Euro level prospects some time next year as there's no real Domestic competition for him out there and Dubois manages to come through it successfully, then 2021 and beyond he should be looking good for a World Title shot (most likely with the WBO haha). He's still very young though and is an amazing prospect who will unify the division in the next few years imo.
I wonder how truly committed Kelly has been in the pro's up until this point. His conditioning has looked somewhat poor on occasion and he looks a little fleshly for a supposed world level 147 lber. Maybe the Avenesyan fight is what's needed to bring the absolute best out of him. I feel he has the talent to outbox Avenesyan but, not the engine. If he gets dragged into a war, He's likely fooked. If he does lose I see the Conor Benn fight being a shoe in and would likely get him straight back on track so a loss is no biggee at this point in his career. Again though, if he beats Avenesyan, there are no easy/ gimme fights from that point onwards.
If Kelly beats avanesyn, I think the benn fight could still happen. Eddie gets the blame for a lot of pushing them to quickly. I think if you want to be the best then he can get you the fights. The trainer should be saying you look good and are improving massively but let's not skip the experience we need to pick up and and the different levels of opposition. Different styles also. Eddie hearn is the match maker. He makes sure about the tv and media, tickets sales. The promotion of the fight location. Eddie will have his thoughts on who wins the fight but if you aren't delivering what the fighter wants it can look like he doesn't trust them.
People use Dubois’ age as an excuse when Frank puts him in rubbish fights. As I’ve said before when he beat Gorman he was very similar in both age and record as Groves was when he beat DeGale. Groves went on to beat Paul Smith in his very next fight, and was soon fighting the likes of Glen Johnson. Dubois has had two typical Warren opponents in fights which were pointless. Let’s hope he steps up because he looks very promising.
I think his hand has been forced over the past 24 months. Big names have retired and left him needing not only PPV stars but also average Saturday night headliners.
Whilst i agree with everything you have said here, you have to admit some of it is Hearn's own fault to a point Like plonking many a UK fighter on his DAZN cards,those same fighters would be perfect for under cards or Saturday night fight night cards Sure i understand it from the boxers view,bigger purses and all that but from a fan perspective a guy such as Callum Johnson would be great on UK cards
Yeah I completely agree. I’m not absolving Hearn of any blame (well I didn’t intend to). But the DAZN thing adds to it. Stretched him even further to compound the loss of his “stars”.
If Paul Smith was a step down from DeGale then Dubois’ latest opponents are a veritable fall down several flights of stairs from Gorman. Nobody expects every single fight to be a slightly incremental step up, but as has been said elsewhere, there is little point in Dubois beating Gorman to then go on to test himself against an utterly outclassed hapless Japanese dwarf.
Frank didn't want to make dubios gorman somewhere along the way i think his hand was forced He thought it was a stadium fight Gorman aint a stadium fighter never will be He is deluded
Yes. A noteworthy point about Frank is that he’s prone to statements that make him look delusional. The Dubois Gorman stadium fight being one.
Personally I think he has had a few reasons. One is that he needs them to be headlining sky cards ASAP so needs to throw them in relatively big fights quick as many of the names in his stable are heading towards or have retired. Bellew, Coyle, Corolla, Brook, McDonnell even are all names that could headline cards but are leaving the sport. He then has the likes of Yafai who is a champ on champ money but doesn’t draw viewers or ticket sales and would lose money in the UK. personally I think in an ideal world Cordina, Buatsi, Okolie, Kelly all would have got to 10-0 fighting journeymen, 15-0 fighting for British commonwealth etc and 20-0 for European and fringe worlds level fighters before going for the world title. But the need for star names and the quality of the fighters mean he is throwing them in to sink or swim. From what I have heard Beterbiev May relinquish the IBF as he won’t fight in China. Buatsi is then next in line and oils likely beat Meng. Which is all well and good and he would then get a voluntary but he could then be right in at the deep end with top level fighters with under 15 fights to his name.
If there's good money to be made, Hearn will throw his fighter in with anybody. In fairness, the fighter generally gets paid well and he promotes a comeback well so why not I guess. My issue is he's partial to a dangerous matchup. Allen/Ortiz and Crolla/Lomachenko spring to mind.
