The Review & Preview - #6
Benavidez is legit, Benn vs Eubank back on & Cain vs Baluta reaction.
Evening all!
What a weekend!
I think the first place to start is the absolute war between David Benavidez and Caleb Plant.
This fight is everything that is RIGHT with boxing and unfortunately, we are going to have to talk about everything that is WRONG with the game during this newsletter.
As a fight, this was the perfect blend of styles & personalities.
The genuine rivalry and hatred between these two pre fight, I actually enjoyed.
We all enjoy a genuine rivalry, don’t we?
In a game that produces so much fake hype, it is interesting to watch two athletes who don’t like each other, especially when it’s settled like this.
The fight was fascinating.
I have had to rewatch it six times which probably points to my unhealthy obsession with the game.
I thought it would go long as I just don’t think either of these men were going to wilt with so much on the line.
For the first six rounds, I thought Caleb Plant was foot perfect.
He dictated every exchange, the distance and had that little bit of swagger and I thought he was going to pull away with the fight.
At the half way stage, I was SO impressed with Plant but what happened next impressed me even more.
The way David Benavidez took the fight by the scruff of the neck was amazing to watch.
With typical Mexican grit, he dragged Caleb Plant into a dog fight and beat him in every single department from round 6-12.
I said in the preview newsletter, I wasn’t sure Benavidez could do that. We had never seen it before.
He put all them doubts to bed.
In six amazing rounds, he proved that he is a threat to every single super middleweight on the planet.
Naturally, the fight to make is Canelo in September.
Two Mexicans throwing down. It’s boxing paradise.
I also wouldn’t bet against David Benavidez ever again.
As for Plant, he loses nothing this weekend.
He is one of the most polarising personalities in the sport, he is incredibly skillful and he’s got a chin that any fighter in history would be proud of.
There are big fights left in Caleb Plant and I can’t wait to watch the rest of his career play out.
From The Brilliant To The Boring.
Be honest, did anyone reading this make it to the end of the Lawrence Okolie fight this weekend?
I didn’t.
At the beginning of round seven, I turned off.
I had too. I couldn’t endure another minute of that.
It’s very easy to point the finger at Okolie. As champion, he probably has to own this and take full responsiblity.
But Light blew his chance also.
He was tenative, hesitant and passive.
Everything you DON’T need in a world title fight.
I said last week, I don’t think the partnership with Sugar Hill makes any sense for Okolie.
Stylistically, it just doesn’t work.
I think he is at a career crossroads now and the next fight is so important.
He has to start looking like a dominant cruiserweight champion otherwise he will be quickly forgotten about and probably fed to a heavyweight by his new promoters.
Worrying times for everybody in the Lawrence Okolie business.
Have We Just Seen The Fight Of The Year?
This years early entry for Fight of the Year came from a sports centre in Telford.
What year is it?
But anyway, weird locations aside, what a fight we witnessed between Andrew Cain and Ionut Baluta.
Being from Liverpool, I have heard about Andrew Cain for a while and watched him live many times.
He is a ferocious puncher and a man who just genuinely loves fighting but unluckily for him, he met another guy this weekend who is just born to scrap on television.
Ionut Baluta doesn’t do anything spectacular but he is tough and relentless and possesses a natural ability to consume damage and dish it out at a ridicilous pace.
For what it’s worth, I thought Cain done enough to win the fight but Baluta has been on the end of some dodgy decisions in the past and probably deserved his moment in the sun.
I actually believe this will be the making of Andrew Cain, though.
Up to this point, he has had things his own way. Stopped anyone who has felt his power.
This weekend he met resistance.
But as a fan of him, I was so happy with what I saw.
He didn’t shy away. Didn’t back down. Didn’t wilt.
He threw everything at Baluta and was on the end of, what some would call, a dodgy decision.
A loss means nothing.
Andrew Cain is a world class talent. He will still have a huge nights.
I can’t wait to see the rematch.
Queensbury to Liverpool?
Frank Warren and Queensbury Promotions have got a fantastic batch of scouse talent in their ranks and I hope they put on a big show in Liverpool this summer.
I am slightly biased but Liverpool is a fighting city that support their own and with fighters like Nick Ball, Andrew Cain & Brad Strand ready to fight in front of their home crowd, why are we watching them on shows in Telford?
The M&S Bank Arena is a brilliant venue to watch boxing so let’s fill it.
It makes sense.
Enter The Sandman
At the top of this weekend’s UFC card, the fight between Cory Sandhagen and Marlon Vera wasn’t the technical battle I was expecting but it did give us a clear view of where these two men stand in the bantamweight rankings.
For clarity, I scored this as a shut out for Sandhagen. Despite some weird scorecards (more on that on Wednesday), I thought this was a bit of a clinic from Sandhagen.
He shut Vera down completely and although Vera has put the blame on himself, I am not sure he was ever allowed to be in the fight.
At the end of the fight, Sandhagen is the one who emerges as a genuine world title contender.
For Vera, it’s back to the drawing board.
Back to chasing the pack.
The prelims were fairly quiet this weekend.
Although we had a nice little win on underdog Albert Duraev. Well done to anyone who followed that!
But the one fight that stands out is CJ Vergara vs Daniel Da Silva at flyweight.
If you haven’t seen this fight, sorry for the spoilers, but please go and watch it.
For the first time since I started watching MMA, I witnessed a fighter running away from his opponent.
Literally, running around the cage to avoid being hit.
Madness.
You know what’s crazier!?
HE WON!
The turnaround from CJ Vergara to go from running away in round one to securing position and stopping Da Silva in round two was remarkable.
One of the weirdest but most beautiful fights I have ever watched.
Get these two on every card, if possible!
Unfortunately, we don’t have a UFC card to look forward to this weekend but we are back with a monster card on April 9th!
Let’s look forward to that and get some winners while we are at it!!
Looking Forward
The focus this weekend is on Boxing again and the return of the former unified heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua.
For what it’s worth, I am a Joshua fan.
I have been disappointed by his recent performances, albeit against the best fighter in the world in Oleksandr Usyk but I think he has lost his way. Lost the attributes that made him one of the best heavyweights in the world.
Coming through, Joshua was unmissable television.
But like so many boxers before him, he suffered an identity crisis when he reached the top of the mountain and I would love to see him return to the fighter we all enjoyed watching over the years.
He has made mistakes with his training teams over the years, that’s clear.
We all know that. He must know it, too.
The Garcia/Fernandez hybrid coach system was a disaster.
But, I think his most recent link up with Derrick James is a good move.
I don’t think James will take any bullshit.
I don’t think he will allow Joshua’s entourage to film Instagram content during training.
For me, this looks like a step back towards being destructive.
And, he will need to be.
I believe Joshua should knock Jermaine Franklin out.
But if he is passive, hesitant and gun shy like he was against Usyk this could get ugly.
Franklin is a clever fighter.
A fighter that can nullify his opponent and quite frankly, make a fight boring.
If Joshua allows that, he could look terrible on Saturday night.
Alternatively, he could knock Franklin out and make a statement that he is ready to charge towards another world title.
Let’s hope its the latter.
Onto The Negatives..
Earlier today, we learned that a fight with Conor Benn and Chris Eubank Jr is set to go ahead in June in Abu Dhabi.
Despite Benn having an ongoing drug case against him.
Boxing strikes again.
I honestly don’t know where to start with this fight.
It’s a kick in the face to every fan & fighter who love the sport.
What Benn, and his entire team, are doing is basically saying it doesn’t matter what the drug testing agencies have found. I have enough money to make that go away.
We have to remember this is a fighter who, as things stand, ISN’T ALLOWED to fight in the UK.
So instead of solving that issue, of proving the British Boxing Board of Control wrong (he has a 270 page dossier, remember?), he has simply upped sticks and decided to put the fight on in the middle east.
“Team Benn” - I include every promoter, trainer, coach who associate with him have absolutely zero respect for Boxing.
I am tired of going over there details of his ongoing case but I guess it doesn’t even matter.
What is the point in rules if you can get around them by having a few strategic partners in the Middle East?
An absolute joke of a fight.
As for Eubank Jr, I wish he had more about him.
After being knocked out by Liam Smith, I guess he is looking for the quickest money he can make.
Do I partly blame him for this mess going ahead?
Of course.
Do I expect anything less from him?
No.
Whatever happens, when they build up this fight, do not believe the dross they feed you.
This isn’t about legacy.
This isn’t the revival of a family feud.
This is a shameless cash grab.
I hope they sell it for what is is.
SMALL NOTE ON THIS SECTION, I CAN’T LINK ANY VIDEOS OR TWEETS BECAUSE IT HAS THE S*N NEWSPAPER ALL OVER IT.
Once again guys, thanks very much for the patience in the last few weeks, it doesn’t go unnoticed.
For those asking, I will be recording a podcast with Jamie Bourne at Punch Perfect Boxing this week and I will link all of our episodes in here.
Catch you all on Wednesday!
Love the writing Jord, keep it going 👍🏽👍🏽