The Review and Preview
The AJ Fall Out | Ramirez the new featherweight player & UFC 287 is here!
Evening!
Only one place to start this week and to be honest, I have spent all day thinking about what to say about Anthony Joshua.
What I watched on Saturday was confusing.
Whatever peoples opinion of AJ, he is an Olympic gold medalist, a former unified heavyweight champion and one of the most exciting heavyweights this country has ever produced.
For 36 minutes on Saturday, he looked like an average sparring partner.
He was tentative, nervous and sloppy.
I don’t know about you but it was uncomfortable for me to watch.
As you will know if you are reading this, I predicted a knockout for Joshua inside six rounds.
I didn’t see anything from Franklin that suggested he could live with AJ.
I still don’t think he does live with a prime version but quite clearly, the man who we were watching sell out Wembley 5/6 years ago, no longer exists.
Mentally, he has things to overcome.
That is the reality of the situation now.
This is a different version of Anthony Joshua.
The ruthless finisher that we all loved is gone.
I don’t want to join in the ruthless bashing of Joshua but at the same time, as fans or analysts of the sport, we have to say it how it is.
I have seen people I respect make comments like;
“AJ can’t win, he boxed a good fight behind his jab and got 12 rounds under his belt with a new trainer”
I just simply don’t believe there is any positive to come out of this.
Even Eddie Hearn struggled to come up with one.
A man who has sold us some of the worst PPV cards in history and managed to make them sound like unmissable moments in sports history, struggled to find a positive after watching his star pupil labour to a decision victory.
Where Do We Go From Here?
The biggest disappointment from me was the lack of impact from Derrick James.
He is a trainer I rate really highly.
But I don’t think he changed or improved AJ in any way.
In fact, he looked even more vulnerable and it’s that vulnerability that dictates the next move.
There is no way you can put this version in with any live heavyweight.
Joyce, Wilder & Fury all knock this version of AJ out.
Ruiz probably, too.
The likes of Hrgovic, Miller, Dubois, Bakole, Parker, Sanchez & Wallin will all fancy the job, too.
The only logical opponent for me is Dillian Whyte.
I have said previously that I think Whyte is on a downward spiral.
I still think AJ wins that fight & if that could somehow help rebuild his confidence, it would make future fights slightly more intriguing.
But whoever he faces, he has to be prepared to throw to win.
He deserves time, he has earned that with his achievements and despite me being quite harsh, nobody would enjoy AJ returning to the top more than me.
But the evidence in front of us suggest those days are gone.
That is the harsh reality.
More Credit For Franklin?
Firstly, I don’t believe Jermaine Franklin is a world class heavyweight.
But he deserves some credit.
He has travelled to the UK twice now, arguably beating Dillian Whyte and then exposing, to some degree, Anthony Joshua.
At no point has he ever looked like a future world champion but doing what he has done isn’t easy.
He has always carried himself really well, too.
We are all quick to shine the light on how much AJ has regressed but maybe there was an element of Jermaine Franklin not allowing him to have the dream homecoming.
He has lost his last two fights but there are big assignments in the future for Franklin.
Good luck to him!
Undercard…or lack of.
I mentioned on the Final Word that the undercard was awful and that was probably being nice.
From a premature stoppage in the Wardley fight to a glorified spar of Galal Yafai, it was a long 4/5 hours to get through.
The one standout was perhaps Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams who proved to us he still has a few levels of progression in the tank.
River Wilson-Bent gave it his all but was ultimately outgunned.
I am a fan of Williams.
I think he punches hard and has underrated boxing ability.
I don’t think the Cash fight will ever happen now but I look forward to watching the next chapter of the Williams story to unfold.
A good win for Galal Yafai but the opponent was so disappointing.
This is an Olympic gold medalist we are talking about and despite the lack of professional experience, he is so much better than this.
It’s almost a lack of respect to his talent.
Eddie signed IBF flyweight champion Sunny Edwards last week and I think that is the fight to make.
Two Brits, contrasting personalities and both got bags of ability.
It makes sense.
Ramirez Arrives In Style!
Despite letting our bet down, Robeisy Ramirez arrived this weekend by claiming a version of the featherweight world title.
He was perfect against Dogboe and beat the former world champion in every department.
The boxing skills of Ramirez are legit and he has underrated power.
I think he could have stopped Dogboe this weekend and if I had one criticism, it would be that he didn’t put his foot down and get the stoppage.
But, that might be my wallet talking!
Either way, Ramirez is a problem for EVERYBODY at featherweight.
With Lara vs Wood 2 coming up and also Lopez vs Conlan. The future of this division is in good hands and Ramirez will be chomping at the bit for a fight with the winner of those fights.
Looking Forward
A quieter weekend in Boxing, but we do have a decent card from San Antonio and the return of Shakur Stevenson.
The card in San Antonio is headlined by Bam Rodriguez and I am always interested when he fights.
He is a fighter on the up and although his opponent this weekend, Cristian Gonzalez, is decent. That isn’t enough to trouble Rodriguez.
I expect him to win and look good doing so.
The undercard has a few interesting fights too, we will get stuck into that on Friday after I do more research, this week.
In Newark, Shakur Stevenson returns and we can expect another perfect performance.
Unbeatable is a very strong statement.
Something that isn’t or shouldn’t be thrown around easy.
But that is exactly what Stevenson looks like.
He is the perfect blend of boxer and fighter and with ultimate confidence in himself, he is a pleasure to watch.
I expect him to come through easily this weekend against Shuchiro Yoshino before turning his attentions to big fights with Haney and/or Loma!
Other News.
Before we move onto the world of MMA, a few things happened in Boxing this week that I need to shine a light on.
Firstly, the build up for Ryan Garcia vs Gervonta Davis ramped up with the release of Showtime’s amazing ‘All Access’ episode.
This is the fight boxing needs.
Two absolute superstars going at it in Las Vegas.
We will break the fight down closer to the time but make no mistake how important this fight is for the sport of Boxing.
In a time when we are struggling to sell tickets, struggling to get the best fights on and struggling to sell out arenas, this will be a moment that everybody sits down and takes notice of the sweet science.
I hope the fight delivers.
In the weirdest twist of the week, it looks like two brothers could be fighting very soon.
Sunny Edwards and Charlie Edwards took to social media to try and build up a fight…against each other.
I still can’t work out if it’s a joke or not…or if I would enjoy it.
I’d love to know your thoughts in the comments?
Is this something you can get on board with or do you feel it’s a shameless money grab?
It’s going to build over the next few weeks and Uncle Eddie is ALL over it!
From the weird to the wonderful.
We got the announcement this week that Devin Haney will take on the great Vasyl Lomachenko for all the marbles at lightweight.
Again, this is a fight Boxing needs.
This is an elite matchup.
I am a huge fan of Devin Haney.
I can never understand people who call him boring. For me, he is one of the best boxers we have seen in recent years.
His jab is incredible.
He is young, ambitious and improving and he is prepared to put that all on the line against perhaps the best boxer we have seen in the last decade?
SIGN. ME. UP.
Loma is a phenomenon.
We all know that.
What he has done both amateur and professional is incredible. It won’t be done again.
Yes, he’s had his losses but who cares?
This is a guy going down in the history books.
Someone people will be talking about decades from now.
And he’s got the chance to go out as the undisputed lightweight champion.
SIGN. ME. UP.
Loughnane Rolls On.
Before we preview UFC 287, a quick mention to Brendan Loughnane who despatched of Marlon Moraes this weekend.
Loughnane has waited a while for respect to be put in his name but victories like that are always going to happen.
Moraes is a shadow of his former self but Loughnane can only beat what it is in front of him and Moraes’ name still carries enough weight.
The one frustrating aspect for me is that we have never had the opportunity to see how far Brendan would go in the UFC but that ship has sailed.
He is dominating the PFL and earning a lot of money.
Not a bad alternative some may say!
UFC 287
Another huge PPV is here and the main event is fascinating.
We all watched in November as Pereira shocked the world to snatch the middleweight title from Adesanya.
That fifth round finish has become one of the most inconic UFC moments and given the fact is was the third time Pereira has beaten Adesanya (twice in KickBoxing), maybe the theory that he just holds the keys to beat Izzy is true?
>I have to be honest, heading into that fight I didn’t give Alex Pereira much of a chance.
Not in MMA.
He has beaten Adesanya in Kickboxing but that is another world.
That is Pereira’s world.
Under the rules of MMA, I just thought Adesanya was too well rounded.
For four rounds, he was.
He almost stopped Pereira twice.
But when that left hook landed, everything changed.
It might be the most dangerous shot in the sport.
As an all round mixed martial artist, Pereira is limited.
But that power in his hands is a tool that throws all known rules out of the window.
Once it hits you, it finishes you.
How do you compete with someone like that?
I mentioned earlier about AJ having to overcome the mental battle.
It’s the exact same for Adesanya.
This weekend he will, once again, come up against a man who has knocked him out multiple times.
That is an incredibly hard thing to deal with.
Let’s be honest, most of us reading this couldn’t do it.
I believe Adesanya can win.
But we won’t know what that last loss has taken out of him until the opening bell goes.
Will he be revitalised or will he be a shadow of his former self?
Let’s find out!
The prelims feature some decent bouts.
Jorge Masvidal vs Gilbert Burns will be fun while it lasts.
Kevin Holland is always fun.
Kelvin Gastelum vs Chris Curtis could catch fire.
Joe Pyfer is a big talent.
More on all those guys on Friday!
Before I go, March has been an incredible month for The Combat Club.
The Newsletter was read over 2100 times during the last month and subscription figures grew by almost 80%.
Incredibly humbling and exciting for me so thank you!
A few people have messaged me regarding developing this into a podcast and this is an option on Substack that I am looking into.
Out of interest, if this did happen but was behind a pay wall to ensure production value was high, would you be interested?
See you Friday!