Boxing thread

[thierry henry]

I struggle to see a path to victory for Joe. I'm years past the point of expecting him to drop or stop a top fighter, and he no longer has (or has the reputation of having) an iron chin, so he'll need to fight cautiously. Dubois isn't going to have the pathetic work rate of Zhang or Wilder though, so he can't expect to win by just playing defence with an occasional flurry.

He's going to have to let his hands go a bit without getting caught, and while Dubois is not a master boxer, I struggle to see Joe staying out of harm's way.

 

[thierry henry]

Also I really hope Joe was bluffing when he talked about coming in at 260lbs+. Even 250 is too much, I don't really know why he was ever allowed to get above 240.

 

[Bahnz]

Yeah, Parker was on the heavy side for the Zhang fight. Dubois tends to weight in the high 240's - no reason Joe needs to be any heavier than that and should really be 10lbs lighter.

 

[thierry henry]

Yeah, Parker was on the heavy side for the Zhang fight. Dubois tends to weight in the high 240's - no reason Joe needs to be any heavier than that and should really be 10lbs lighter.

It's funny cos I feel like pundits often refer to Parker as a "small heavyweight" (not just short or short-ish, but small) which is demonstrably untrue given his actual fight weights are in the same ballpark as the massive "super heavyweights".

I don't really think he's naturally any smaller than Dubois, but you can see why that misconception would arise - Dubois is I would say at least an inch taller, has a more muscular upper body, but most importantly he HITS HARDER.

Nevertheless, you'd think Parker would get the hint from being called "small" that his ideal fighting weight is less than the big boys. Him/his team have always seemed to go the other way, and acted like the correct response to being "small" is to just add weight until you're not small anymore. Doesn't work like that.

 

[hendrix]

Dubois's reach advantage over Parker is fairly modest, and Parker won't be waltzing around with his hands at his waist and his chin in the air like Joshua did, so I think Dubois will have to work a lot harder for the W. Having said that, I tend to think Dubois knocks him out in 8 or 9 rounds. Dubois is a strong, active, heavy hitting fighter, suspect he'll try to follow the Joyce blueprint and look to outwork Parker and grind him down for a late round KO. Excellent fight though and thrilled that it's happened for Joe.

Zhang v Kabayel should be an interesting one as well. Well, the first 4 rounds will be anyway.

The work rate is the problem. Zhang and Wilder were perfect for Parker in some respects in that he could be cute and not have to work too hard.
Dubois has showed a (I suspect chemically enhanced) high work rate ever since his loss to Usyk.

The route to victory for Parker is to fight how he did in the first couple of rounds of the Whyte fight - basically outbox Dubois but from within the pocket. He will, of course, need to hurt Dubois which I think he is capable of doing.

 

[hendrix]

He's going to have to let his hands go a bit without getting caught, and while Dubois is not a master boxer, I struggle to see Joe staying out of harm's way.

He needs to fight with confidence in the way he was fighting against Whyte until the headbutt. He can do that, but I don't know for how many rounds. Particularly if he's planning to come in heavy.

 

[Niall]

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Sportwashing is evil, but sorry that's a proper card.

 

[hendrix]

Yeah if all those fights happen I don't think I've ever seen a better card than that.

 

[social]

Dubois has become massively overrated

His only wins of any substance are Joshua (who fought like a rank novice) and Hrgovic (who was woefully underprepared)

 

[hendrix]

So Parker currently weighs 125 kg = 275 lbs.

Sorry, but being the same dimensions as Tyrel Lomax isn't going to win you a heavyweight boxing match.

When Parker challenges Dubois it will be almost a year since he last fought, sparking fears of rust. He is, however, confident that won’t be a factor after consistently training under Lockhart’s guidance to increase his weight from 112kg to 125kg since defeating Zhang in March.

Parker expects to weigh between 115-120kg for Dubois.

“We’ve gone about it the right way but there’s only one way to find out and that’s when you jump in the ring. I should have more power. My endurance is going to be the same, if not better, and I don’t think it will affect my speed.”

 

[thierry henry]

So Parker currently weighs 125 kg = 275 lbs.

Sorry, but being the same dimensions as Tyrel Lomax isn't going to win you a heavyweight boxing match.

That's ludicrous.

Even "big" guys like Dubois and Joshua have fought around 106-112kg a lot themselves. Where on Earth does Joe get the idea that 120kg is a good weight for him? He isn't Zhang or Joyce. Hell, Tyson Fury in decent shape weighed less than that, how does Joe train and hang out with a guy who totally dwarfs him like that all the time and think "yeah my fighting weight should be about the same as this guy".

 

[social]

Munguia ko’d by an unknown

 

[hendrix]

Munguia ko’d by an unknown

Love it.

So great for a solid unsung pro to have a moment like that.

One of the best things that can happen in the sport.

Not even known as a puncher. But looks sound enough in his fundamentals and Munguia frankly has never been defensively blessed.

 

[Bahnz]

The work rate is the problem. Zhang and Wilder were perfect for Parker in some respects in that he could be cute and not have to work too hard.

Speaking of slow, old heavyweights who Parker can look good against, I watched the highlights of Dillian Whyte's latest fight and...yeeesh. Time to hang them up Dillian.

 

[hendrix]

Watched the highlights of Whyte's latest fight. Yeesh. Shame Parker never lined him up for a stay busy fight.


Speaking of slow, old heavyweights who Parker can look good against, I watched the highlights of Dillian Whyte's latest fight and...yeeesh. Time to hang them up Dillian.

Yeah I was calling for Parker to get some revenge against Whyte. Would be a nice name and probably also a highlight real KO given Whyte's chin of late.

To be fair to Whyte he's never really been fleet of foot.

I actually think Tetteh was better than advertised as well - although he is definitely old and washed.

I watched the fight Tetteh had with Dubois. The reality is Dubois is the type of fighter who will get a lot of first round KOs against even quite decent opponents. So it makes Tetteh look bad. But I think if he'd got through that first round or two he could have had a competitive fight.