How Marcos Maidana Toppled the King in Waiting

12/15/2013 by James Connell21

maidana88 By James Connell: The sound and fury that has been built by Golden Boy, Al Haymon’s team, HBO, Showtime and everyone else who has had a stake on Adrien Broner’s success, will now hopefully be quiet for a short while after Broner lost a deserved unanimous decision to Marcos Maidana.

The boxing press – including several prominent contributors to this site – didn’t give Maidana a cat’s chance in hell against boxing’s, supposed, next pay-per-view star, and the self-acclaimed heir to Floyd Mayweather’s pound-for-pound title. One can only wonder at why the odds on Maidana were so long: his style, punching-power and weight were all wrong for Broner; it’s fine to have expected Broner to win, but this fight, at its widest, was only ever a 60-40 one in favour of Broner.

There’s a lot to Like About Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.

09/23/2013 by James Connell21

By James Connell: This Saturday, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is set to return to the ring – and our television sets – for the first time since his defeat to the unified middleweight champion, Sergio Martinez. The ‘24/7’ documentary series that HBO ran in the run up to that fight displayed a lot of the negative facets of Chavez Jr’s game: his seeming lack of discipline being one aspect of his personality that didn’t endear him to many fans when, especially so when one compares this with Martinez’s supreme dedication and determination to be the best.

The Blueprint: How to destroy Adrien Broner

09/08/2013 by James Connell21

By James Connell: Oscar De La Hoya has borne a lot of flak recently due to his controversial statement, in which he claimed that he had ‘laid the blueprint’ in regards to defeating Floyd Mayweather Jr. This declaration does seem odd, considering he lost the fight. If I’m honest, on first viewing I had De La Hoya scraping a victory, but in reflection, with several years passed and emotions run dry, I can handle the Mayweather split decision: it’s probably fair.

I’m not sure personally that there is a specific blueprint that could unlock Mayweather’s current game; he is simply too technically gifted, physically fit and intelligent to fall down to a simple 2 + 2 = 4 type plan. De La Hoya’s plan clearly was to brawl with Mayweather; to be the busier fighter and throw a lot of punches, thus dictating the pace of the fight. De La Hoya failed in this, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto also. Mayweather’s defensive skill and counter punching ability was simply too much for these men. His hand speed and footwork allowed him to get his punches away and sap the energy of the opposing fighter.

The talk is all on Broner, but what’s next for Paulie Malignaggi?

08/10/2013 by James Connell21

malig56 By James Connell: Amid all of the bluster, discussion and hype that has been floating around the boxing world after Adrien Broner’s appearance on Showtime last night during the Deontay Wilder undercard, I can’t help but be drawn back into thinking about his previous fight in New York against the then WBA Welterweight champion: Paulie Malignaggi.

Before I go on to talk about Malignaggi, let’s cast our minds back to that fight. I’ve seen a lot on twitter, and the web in general, claiming that fight as an unimpressive, but undoubted victory for Broner. I’m risking the chance of re-opening that wound here, but I personally scored it 115-113 in favour of Malignaggi.