I was thinking about this today with all the threads about AJ and Fury etc. AJ fought Ruiz after PBC didn’t want to let him near Ortiz. They saw AJ as this killer who would have smashed him to pieces which would have massively impacted Wilders resume. Now I’m not saying he wouldn’t have, but given what has happened since AJ definitely wasn’t the killer many thought. For me, it was definitely Groves coming in to Froch 2. The way he couldn’t miss with the right hand in the first fight, how quick and powerful it was and the looseness inwhich he threw it. I didn’t really see a scenario in which Froch won the second. Even the pre fight talk I saw Froch as someone who had come to terms with the fact he could lose, where as for Groves it was completely unthinkable. Whacked a few quid on it too! But obviously Froch proved me completely wrong and I think looking back with the benefit of hindsight Groves was never the same after the first fight. He lost that explosiveness that made me think his ceiling was far higher than it was. Now it’s quite subjective and that’s just my opinion, are there any other fighters that maybe didn’t turn out the way you thought they would, for better or worse?
Off the top of my head. Kevin Mitchell would beat Ricky Burns. Callum Smith would not beat Canelo, but get some rounds in the bag and be awkward in the first half of the fight. Haye to beat Bellew in the fist fight.
He was a good technical boxer who had lot's of potential, I don't think he lived a clean lifestyle out of the gym though
Joshua vs Gary Cornish - thought Cornish would expose Joshua with his boxing skills and highlander spirit. Not to be. Joshua vs Rice Pudding Jr - how could this apparent boxing great lose to a fat 182cm man who was on short notice? He managed to lose and the Joshua balloon burst. Fury on the comeback - surely he can't compete with Wilder after having lost all that weight, drugs, suicide attempts and what not. He put on a trilogy for the ages and cemented his legacy as a legend of sport. Phenomenal. Still undefeated to this day as the Lineal, Ring and WBC Heavyweight Champion .... o' the wooooooooooooooorld!
Big Joan Fury v Micky Theo - not the outcome I expected from a fighting man. Rice Pudding Ruiz bashing Joshua is the funniest sight seen in a boxing ring. The big one last year when Shanny was absolutely robbed by the Matchroom judges again - incredible scenes.
Thought Algieri would box rings around Connor Benn. Not necessarily that he would win, but that he'd show him up and then get shafted or suffer a British stoppage when CB connected with a couple of clean ones.
Fury v Klitschko. Thought Tyson was gonna get levelled by a straight right. Was in Düsseldorf and although we all wanted him to do it almost every Brit I spoke to seemed to think the same
Ricky Hatton vs Kostyra Tszyu. I wanted Ricky to win but just couldn’t see it happening. Kostya was a serious operator and dangerous puncher. Ricky pulled off one of the best wins on British soil that night, imo.
As mentioned by many on here, a lot of Kevin Mitchell fights, I never learned my lesson! Lee Selby v Josh Warrington. A year earlier and Selby would have beaten him but the weight was becoming crippling for him, he was cut above both eyes, both from classic Warrington butts if I remember rightly, on top of having to go to a packed Elland Road to defend his title. To be honest the whole Selby v Warrington thing leaves a sour taste, they dragged it on for way, way too long, they waited until Selby was, to quote Warrington "looking like an Ethiopian", the press conferences were of bad taste and the stuff with his mates going after Selby when he was trying to get in the taxi, ridiculous. I suppose it made the Lara KO and the ducking and everything else that has been going on since all the more enjoyable. For a brief period I did think Warrington was decent but it's over now, as is his career as a top boxer.
That is a good pick. I honestly thought Wilder was going to spark him brutally. Fury never had the best chin and with the weight loss and time off I thought it was a recipe for disaster. How wrong was I. Although you can see in the second fight how much better Fury was given the activity and fitness levels he probably wasn’t ready. He was just that much better
