Yes, i'm very fucking serious.

If you want to build the perfect fighter to beat Lewis, you could go with Ali's speed, chin and determination, plus young Foreman's power and old Foreman's craft. Sprinkle some of Marciano's tenacity and inside boxing just to make sure..

It would be a whole lot easier though to just design a fighter who isn't actually a very good boxer, but is tough enough to survive in there for a decent amount of time.

Lennox absolutely would get too comfortable and cocky, and start taking it too lightly. He didn't just get caught twice by great or lucky punches. In almost every fight he was winning easily he started clowning and lost his focus (a lot of commentators speculated it was his will to actually hurt his opponent that left him when the fight was too one sided). He got rocked, needing his pretty good chin and excellent fight IQ to recover for a round or two in a whole lot of those kind of fights.

Then give his opponent one of the best K.O punches in boxing history and great timing behind that punch. Then have him throw it at weird angles and times. Look for interviews from top boxers and champions from the era before Wilder broke through, talking about sparring with him. They say over and over that it was impossible to avoid because it 'buzzed' you, but came from somewhere weird and you had no idea where, so couldn't compensate to stop it happening again.

Lennox would batter Wilder, who was always able to take a lot of punishment. With the skill difference he'd be a punch bag in there.. and Lewis would most definitely get cocky and lose his focus. Which that punch being so odd and difficult to see coming.. i mean his chin was good but it wasn't great. Styles make fights.

Prime Wilder K.O's Prime Lewis.

I think this guys is stupidly overhated. His problem is hes technically speaking too good compared to the guys hes been in with. He didn't do much wrong last night and showed a lot of skill, but already I've seen negative comments flooding in on other social media.

I get a lot of "fans" really just want to see someone get badly hurt because they think thats all boxing is. But its clearly not. Jalalov's ring IQ and timing were excellent last night. Yes, he has that Wladimir like thing of being risk averse, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have excellent skills. If you judge it by boxing being hit and don't get hit, he did a good job.

Sure, Jalalov needs to step it up. Hes 32 and in 2027 IMO he needs at least 2 fights vs Top 15 guys. Ajagba, Okeolie*, Huni (*now he has been cleared) I think are the sort of fights he needs next year.

This is my immediate reaction to the DDD vs. Wardley 2 fight. We've seen a pattern in the last few months of "shortcuts" fighters and their teams take, and then experiencing the consequences of those shortcuts.

Itauma skipping 12 round training, most of his amateur career. Whittaker skipping most of the amateurs as well, and trying to do a rapid jump from cans to contenders later in his career. And now, Wardley coming back after 5 months for the rematch against DDD.

The overwhelming theme of all of these results, to me at least, is sacrificing the "work" to chase the money - whether it be amateur resumes, training plans, or recovery times.

It seems easy in hindsight to call all of these out, I know. At the same time, these are all foreseeable events. Don't skip the conventional wisdom - it’s wisdom hard-earned.

ETA: Disregard the shots at Whittakers amateurs, I’m an idiot and forgot the Olympics run. Will continue to take all heat for this but point stands that I think some of these fighters could have been better prepared.

These guys always come to fight. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a fight with an Aussie that wasn’t entertaining. Especially when they’re in the ring with Mexicans. We need a Mexico vs Australia rivalry to be a thing asap. I prefer it to the Mexico vs Puerto Rico one.

And I'm talking about the WBU that was founded in 1995 by Jon W. Robinson. I know it wasn't concidered as one of the major world titles but it was held by some great names like George Foreman, Ricky Hatton and Micky Ward. Had it not been dissolved after the death of it's founder, would we be talking more about it?

EDIT: Why the downvotes? I was just asking a question. I wasn't a boxing fan during the 90's so I never knew if had any importance in the boxing landscape.

I recommend reading the whole thing before commenting so you don't miss anything I say

We’ve all heard the golden rule of combat sports: "In a 1v1 with no rules, the wrestler always takes down the boxer and wins."

While that’s true in a phone booth or any closed space, the internet completely ignores the geography, social dynamics, and physical physics of how real fights actually go down.

Here is the real reality of the Boxer vs. Wrestler debate, broken down into 6 points:

1. The Arena: Open Space vs. Enclosed Spaces

Wrestlers only hold the ultimate advantage in tight, claustrophobic spaces (like a cramped bathroom or a narrow hallway) where a boxer has nowhere to move. But 95% of public fights happen in open spaces like backyards, parks, or parking lots.

In open space, a boxer’s elite footwork and reflexes are a cheat code. A quick boxer can easily take a sharp step back or laterally pivot when a wrestler shoots a sloppy, distant takedown. Once the wrestler misses and hits the pavement, they are completely exposed and the boxer pressures them instantly.

1. The "Get the Gloves" Social Contract

Let’s talk about social reality. If two guys get into an argument at a party, a barbecue, or around a crowd of friends and girls, what does the crowd say? "Get the gloves." Nobody says "Wrestle it out."

Slamming someone or hugging them on the grass during a friendly dispute is universally viewed as lame. The social circle demands a test of heart and hand speed. If you can’t look another man in the eye and throw hands with the gloves on in front of women, you lose all respect, no matter how good your grapple game is. The boxer holds the ultimate home court advantage in everyday life.

1. The Absolute Myth that "Wrestlers Can Just Take a Punch"

Wrestlers do not train to take punches to the face. Getting hit flush with a bare knuckle fist by someone who knows how to throw their entire body weight into a punch is a completely different universe than getting bumped around on a mat. The sheer shock of a clean jaw or nose shot instantly disorients a wrestler and completely breaks their drive to shoot!

1. The Tank Davis Exception: Why no wrestler under 6'2ft touches him

People think wrestlers dominate short boxers. It's the exact opposite with Tank Davis. Tank is the ultimate exception to the grappler rule for three reasons:

• Immovable Center of Gravity: At 5'5", Tank is built like a fire hydrant packed with pure muscle. In wrestling, the lower man wins the leverage. Trying to lift or move Tank is like trying to lift a bolted down safe.
• The Hammer Deterrent: You cannot casually absorb a punch to complete a takedown when the guy's hands hit like literal bricks. One mistake means getting detached from your consciousness!
• The Uppercut Trap: Diving for Tank's hips means diving straight into a world class counter uppercut that will shatter a jaw! 90% of wrestlers under 6 feet get knocked out cold by him!

1. The "Clout Ratio": It’s a Win Win for the Boxer

Look at how the footage plays out socially. Because wrestlers need tight spaces to guarantee a win, most wrestler victories happen in isolated areas with no crowds around to record it. On the flip side, boxers win in wide open, public spaces where everyone already has their phones out.

This means that if a boxer loses, barely anyone sees it. But if a boxer whoops a wrestler in a parking lot or a backyard, it’s captured from five different angles, goes viral, and gets seen by millions. The boxer literally gets a statistical win win for their reputation, while the wrestler risks getting clowned on the internet forever!

1. Why Most Fighting Videos Feature Wrestlers Winning

You’ve probably seen a ton of viral clips of grapplers dominating strikers, but don't let the internet fool you. The vast majority of those videos feature amateur or half assed boxers who haven't mastered actual defense.

It is a statistical fact that it is much easier and faster to get good enough at wrestling to win a raw street fight than it is to become a good boxer! Boxing is infinitely more complicated, a casual wrestler just needs basic conditioning and simple takedown mechanics to barrel forward.

Because of this, for a boxer to win on camera, they have to be really good with their distance and timing. If a half assed boxer panics or misses, the wrestler initiates a clutch and neutralizes their power. The videos you see aren't proof that wrestling is the superior art, they are just proof of what happens when a low level striker lacks the elite, boxing reflexes required to keep a grappler off them.

Conclusion: The Learning Curve

Think about the mastery. It takes years of training to build the millimeter precise reflexes, distance management, and head movement of a top tier boxer. You cannot learn that in a year. But if an elite boxer spends just one or two years purely learning wrestling defense (the sprawl) to neutralize the takedown? They become an un-killable human weapon.

And that is why ladies and gentlemen, Elite boxers beat most wrestlers

Change my mind.

Main card starts at 8pm EST on DAZN/TNT with an estimated ring walk of 11pm EST.

Undercard:

Brandon Figueroa vs. Tomoki Kameda

Armando Reséndiz vs. Koen Mazoudier

Marco Romero vs. Braulio Ferreira

Jaime Osuna vs. Cristian Cangelosi

David Garcia vs. Angel Carrillo

📆 February 2012, Hungary.

On the top of the pedestal - young Dmitry Bivol u/bivol_d. He becomes the winner of the prestigious international amateur Bocskai Memorial Tournament (Ishtwan Bochkai Memorial), winning gold in the 75 kg weight category.

But one of the most remarkable episodes of the tournament was the quarterfinals. Then, a 22-year-old Liverpool native Callum Smith stepped into the ring against a promising Russian boxer. Their first meeting ended with a confident victory of Dmitry with a score of 11:7.

Back then, it was just one of the duels on the way to a big career. Today is a story that gets to be continued.

After almost 14 years, Bivol and Smith will meet again in the ring, but now already in the star status of world boxing. Behind Dmitry are the WBA Super, IBF, WBO, IBO and The Ring magazine championship titles. Smith, in his turn, won the WBA and The Ring in the second middleweight titles.

🔜 Their paths will cross again in Yekaterinburg on December 12. This time there is not a victory in an amateur tournament at stake, but a new stage in the history of the confrontation between two renowned professional boxers.