Irish Boxing

I don't think anyone is sniping at Andy to be honest. I think there is a level of frustration with him that is understandable. No one doubts his skills and talent its the fact he is still making basic errors against average opponents that frustrates the **** out of people

 

lads sbw will have hasegawa by then who i beleive is moving up and also rigondeaus who will defo be there in 18 months and if hes as good as hes made out to be it doesnt look to good at sbw either

 

Hasegawa has less than 50% KO ratio and Rigondeaux, for all his potential, has had what? 3 or 4 fights.

I'd fany him against either of those two rather than any of the lads I listed above EBU at FW.

 

I never said andys world class, but you cant say bernard dunnes world class just because he picked up one of the many world titles.... at the end of the day bernard would get kod by any of the top 5 sbw right now. bernard dunne is the amir khan of ireland loads of hype around him but stick him in with a decent puncher and hes going down for sure!

 

Saying Dunne is Ireland's Amir Khan is a compliment to Bernard! Khan is a very talented but chinny boxer, there is no shame in that comparison. To say Dunne was simply lucky is wrong, luck doesn't win you the EBU and WBA titles. As for the hype, Lee got his fair share of that too you know.

 

Not from Dublin or even near it!! No one can deny that Dunne has had lucky breaks - particularly the cordoba shot, but that win proved he deserved it. And while I have my doubts that he can be world champion again, there is no question that he has the ability to operate at the highest level.

A lot of agro seemed to be vented about lee after the limerick performance but I would view it more as constructive criticism than anything else. The man has bags of talent and it has been well documented the areas he needs to improve in. If I was to raise a question on Andy it would be about his trainer/training - its very difficult to question emanuel steward on boxing, but why has Andy not improved since his fight with Vera?

 

:deal

*There is a very good boxer trying to get of Andy Lee. I love nothing better than a well schooled technician. I will take that anyday over a KO artist - Lee has some skills I want to see him continue his apprenticeship before he steps up to the next level.

 

Im not trying to **** on bernards parade here, i know exactly what he did for boxing in ireland and i admire what he did too. but bernard is not going past EBU level ever again no matter what weight hes at. pure heart got him through the cordoba fight not world class skill or power... its still to be admired what he did in that ring that night against cordoba but lets not not take the **** here....

 

The sniping he received because of one bad round last time out was uncalled for. Everyone at times makes basic errors but as long as Andy is progressing and he is, then I will not be too critical of one bad round.:deal

 

No you're wrong, heart didn't knock Cordoba down in the 3rd, nor did it allow Dunne to more than hold his own with a world class operator for 11 rounds. He showed amazing grit and heart to get up after those two knockdowns but his skill and power were exactly what won him that fight.

 

Don't knock Hasegawa's power, in his last 4 fights he has not only shown what a classy fighter he is but that he also has the power to knock out World Class fighters. None of his last 4 opponents have made it past round 2 !, so to talk about a lack of power is deceiving.

Hasagawa's main strength however would be the fact he wouldn't struggle to land on Dunne, the Japanese fighter is very accurate and not exactly slow either. IMO he'd take any of the current Super-Bantamweights.

Rigondeaux is an unknown quantity as far as the pro game at the moment, like you say he just hasn't had enough fights to be judged so we can't be getting worried about him just yet.


I suppose I'm one of the people here that others would complain of criticising Andy Lee, and it's true that I'm negative about his prospects quite frequently. I would like to state that this certainly isn't out of an dislike of Andy, to me he's not only an enjoyable fighter to watch but also seems a great man. However I just haven't seen this 'progress' that others have. If anything I'm not sure he hasn't regressed.

He still is too easy to hit when people come forward and pressure him, he still struggles to fight on the inside, and he still can't tie up and clinch very well. On the outside Andy's probably the best there is at Middleweight(bar maybe Pavlik) but no one is going to fight Lee on the outside and let him dictate with the serious weaknesses he possesses on the inside and to a lesser extent at mid distance.

Lee was looking very against Brian vera up until about the 5th round, offensively I'm not sure he's looked as good since and defensively he's looked uncomfortable when put under pressure by Sipos, and again when Belghecham came on at the end of his last fight. Andy's stamina seems a potential problem aswell, as I feel the further fights go the more he seems to be dragged into the other guys fight and not able to continue boxing and moving.

He's only 25, he has loads of time to improve on these things and he has bags of potential aswell. I'm just worried that in the last year and a half there has seemed to be very little improvement imo.

So just to clarify that my criticisms of Andy stem from concern and not any dislike or ill will of the man. I'd love Andy to develop into the fighter he could be, but with the way things are going I'm not convinced he will.

 

I'm not taking his power for granted or anything like that at all. I'm not saying SBW is soft as **** and ripe for the plucking its just the better of the two options IMO.

I'd rather Dunne go in with Hasegawa who has some pop and, as you say is very accurate and certainly a very tough prospect than have him go in with someone like Marquez who is just going to knock a ****ing hole in Dunne inside 3 or 4 rounds.

SBW is still no formality or pushover and he'll still have to prove his skills and heart to succeed but there are a lot more favourable matchups for him at that weight

 

Poonsawat has world class power not bernard dunne do you understand what im saying? the question im asking you guys is what makes a world class boxer, is it skills, power, heart or chin ?? or is all the above? poonsawat has it all thats what makes him world class... and thats the reason poonsawat rightfully has the belt after waiting in the wings for his chance to shine, lets see how long he holds the title for....

 

If Dunne is to stay at SB he has to have a test in his next fight. He got beaten by a fighter who was avoided by a number of fighters maybe 1 of the best in the division at the moment. If Dunne cant get the winner of tonights fight then I would love to see Dunne going in with a top 8 ranked fighter in 1 of the the rankings instead of taking a easy fight to come back in. He is a good fighter to operate at the World level and could be back in World title contention in 3 fights time if he picks the right fight. The WBO seems the easy way Dunne should look at a fight with Zsolt Bedak he is ranked high there with not a big punch and a fight with him if Dunne wins it he is highly ranked in the WBO. The IBF could be a option as well but after tonights fight it will be clearer for Dunne and the next move he makes will be making or breaking of the man.

 

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Hasegawa overrated in my opinion and so is Rigondeaux. Rigondeaux is obviously an amateur star but I have seen nothing since his debut to suggest he is going to rock the professional ranks yet. And he is no spring chicen either to be honest.