The WBA hwt tournament is not that bad!

Discussion in 'World Boxing Forum' started by Feiti, Aug 7, 2007.


  1. Feiti

    Feiti Active Member Full Member

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    Jul 31, 2004
    In response to the article on the front page, I´ll have to say the WBA tournament is not at all bad, except for the inclusion of Taras Bidenko and, to a much lesser extent, the reserve of Davarryl Williamson

    Valuev, Ruiz and Liakhovich are all former heavyweight champions. Yes they all lost their last fight, but should a boxer be judged such that he is only as good as his last fight? Remember also that both Valuev and Ruiz had pretty even fights with Chagaev and Liakhovich was winning his fight against Briggs before getting KOed.

    If you look at who is available, these three are actually a good pick. After all, Samuel Peter, Calvin Brock, Chris Byrd, Alexander Povetkin, Eddie Chambers, Oliver McCall, Evander Holyfield, Vitali Klitschko and Tony Thompson are already booked for other eliminators or title shots.

    This leaves Hashim Rahman (shouldn´t he get in shape?), Vladimir Virchis, Alexander Dimitrenko, Juan Carlos Gomez (good but hasn´t done anything lately), Matt Skelton, Lamon Brewster (is he healthy?), Chris Arreola (green), Shannon Briggs (also wonder if he´s healthy), Ray Austin (really now), Tye Fields (or not), Brian Minto (longshot), Kali Meehan (don´t worry I´m just joking), Donell Holmes (still joking), Mike Mollo (got to stop here or this will become a comedy thread)

    Having listed who is left, it isn´t hard to see they should have replaced Bidenko with Virchis or maybe even Dimitrenko. Rahman of course has the name and resume, but he´s been out of shape and not doing anything lately. Same with Gomez. Skelton would have been passable, but he´s not ranked by the WBA.

    However, I can´t see why fighter in this list would necessarily be any better for the tournament than Valuev, Ruiz or Liakhovich.

    So there you go. I think I´ve taken it apart pretty much to the point and shown that this is actually a pretty damn good tournament. You can cry about Bidenko, but what it all boils down to, is that in the corrupt world of boxing, 3 out of 4 ain´t bad!

    :hi:
     
  2. Richel Hersisia

    Richel Hersisia Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Jan 31, 2005

    you are totally right. But in boxing the media rather see everything from the negative side.

    This is one of the best years ever for boxing, if you look at all the big fights that are being made:

    Floyd Oscar
    Floyd Hatton
    Calzaghe Kessler
    Taylor pavlik
    Barrera Marquez
    Pacquiao Barrera
    Vazquez Marquez two times
    Mormeck Bell
    almost a heavyweight unification
    and hopefully cotto mosley and soto guzman

    we also had some very good brawls out there.

    But fans and media rather complain.

    It's good to be a boxing fan at this moment.
     
  3. Feiti

    Feiti Active Member Full Member

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    Jul 31, 2004
    You´re right. And not to mention Cotto-Judah and at least in terms of top fighters facing off (if not excitement) Wright-Hopkins.
     
  4. JustinD

    JustinD Member Full Member

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    Mar 21, 2007
    Please tell me you're joking, the last thing boxing needs is John Ruiz to be a heavyweight titleholder again.
     
  5. Feiti

    Feiti Active Member Full Member

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    Jul 31, 2004
    I´d like to see Ruiz KOed brutally again, in all other scenarios he is worthless to watch.
     
  6. JustinD

    JustinD Member Full Member

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    Mar 21, 2007
    Agreed *goes to watch Tua vs Ruiz again*
     
  7. Feiti

    Feiti Active Member Full Member

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    Jul 31, 2004
    Wonder who lobbied Bidenko up to the #4 position
     
  8. K0NPHL1C7

    K0NPHL1C7 Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Jun 15, 2006
    Well unfortunately for you, the Tua KO was more of a "Fluke shot" that has yet to be duplicated, and likely never to happen again. The guy has one of the best chins in the Heavyweight division, as proven by the years of being hit by guys like Thunder, Golota, Valuev, and Holyfield.

    I know it’s a tough pill for most of you to swallow, because you all like to jump on the “hate Ruiz” train, but he is a legitimate contender and as worthy a participant in this tourney as anyone else, and in fact stands a fairly good chance of winning. If you watched his last 3 fights he has fought better than most other heavies lately.
     
  9. Feiti

    Feiti Active Member Full Member

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    Jul 31, 2004
    The problem with Ruiz is his constant grabbing. Wlad holds a lot but it´s different, because he ties up opponent when they get close. Ruiz on the other hand, launches himself in and grabs. Yes he usually throws one punch in the process of launching himself in, but it´s still totally stupid he should get away with it so much.
     
  10. K0NPHL1C7

    K0NPHL1C7 Well-Known Member Full Member

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    He hasn't used that tactic in his last 3 fights. in fact his last 2 were pretty good, Valuev initiated more clinching than Ruiz did.
     
  11. Lampley

    Lampley Boxing Junkie banned

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    I think Ruiz decided to change his style a bit just before the Toney fight, because he had been confused why the public disliked him so much.

    He's far from my favorite -- mostly, because I'd like to get rid of all these recycled guys -- but at least with Ruiz you know he'll show up in shape and give you a professional performance.

    Still, the younger Russian fighters would excite me much more.
     
  12. Feiti

    Feiti Active Member Full Member

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    Jul 31, 2004
    Yeah, I didn´t see his fights vs Valuev and Chagaev, but I did notice he wasn´t clinching much vs Toney, allowing Toney to freely whip his ass and show how inferior a boxer Ruiz really is to him.

    Ruiz´s record is pretty good though. Close fights vs Valuev and Chagaev, one solid win over Holyfield, KO over Oquendo as well as the phoney DQ over Johnson and the gift decision over Golota.
     
  13. Lampley

    Lampley Boxing Junkie banned

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    Yeah, that's what was so amusing about Ruiz/Toney. At the point Ruiz becomes entertaining, he gets his ass kicked. You could practically feel the smirking from boxing fans across the world.
     
  14. Armo_Ruski

    Armo_Ruski best of da best Full Member

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    i think the wba tournament should be valuev, virchis, liahovich, bidenko or dimitrenko.. that'd be a great tournament :happy :happy
     
  15. Feiti

    Feiti Active Member Full Member

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    Jul 31, 2004
    The IBF definitely went more along the lines of picking new blood and rising stars for their tournament, the WBA went more with the old warhorses.

    Dimitrenko and Virchis should be getting into some kind of eliminators or title opportunities soon though, since they´ve built up pretty good records.