Fighters you have confidence in.

There are many fighters out there that keep me on the edge of my seat whenever I watch them fight. Fighters who make you wonder if they will get clipped, run out of gas, or simply quit. This is the type of fighter that you tell your friends to watch and end up looking like a fool when they get embarrassed.

On the other hand, there are a handful
Of fighters that you have compete confidence in. They may or may not be the best in the division and may even have recent losses. However, you do not have that lingering feeling that they will get stopped easily or embarrassed.

There are a few fighters that I never am concerned about getting flash ko'd, quitting, or embarrassed. The first that comes to mind is Hopkins. He may not always look good doing it,
but hes not going to make you look like a fool in the friendly wager. Mosley, Pac, Vitali, and Bradley are some others that I have had great confidence in.

 

Floyd Mayweather, he's been getting hit less and less lately.

 

Vitali is a good one, Calzaghe when he was about is another

 

Floyd of course yep

 

Yep, at this point i don't think it can even be disputed that's he's the greatest defensive fighter of all time.

 

he has not been hit now for almost one year. I have almost as much faith in him as I do the Angels and Apostles.

 

For me I have most 'confidence' in guys who might lose fights by being outhustled or speeded but never by being beaten up. These are my FAVOURITE fighters.

Joan Guzman is the guy today like that who comes to mind. Hopkins is another perfect example. I expect DeGale to become another of these. As relatively limited as he is offensively, Kevin Johnson looks like a fighter of that ilk.

James Toney in recent years.

Roberto Duran, historically, Hearns aberration aside. Sweet Pea & Locche two more obvious ones.

These guys are natural born fighters, IMO. Could watch any of the above all day and night.

 

Vitali isn't a good example in my book. If and when he loses, there's a fair chance he'll look AWFUL in the process. If a guy can get inside on him consistently he's gonna look like a baby fawn jazz dancing on a frozen lake.

And Im a BIG Vitali admirer.

 

Calzaghe was also made to look pretty stupid early by Jones & Hops. It's pretty easy to envision him being embarrassed and beat up.

Obviously we all have different ideas in our heads to exactly what this thread means which is fair enough....

 

Was going to say, Vitali has been running through his comp but age will eventually catch up. It's not out of the realm of possibility that Solis scores an upset this weekend (though he'd be a fighter that would top the list of those in which you have NO betting confidence)

My pick, based on any given realistic scenario, would be Nonito Donaire. I'd pick him right now in any fight below featherweight.

 

By my understanding the question isn't who you have most confidence in to win, just who you have most confidence in to never look stupid or get beaten up badly or ever look unskilled.

Vitali is def one of the guys you can have most confidence in to win, but given his style it's very easy to imagine him being made to look awful, if and when he meets his match.

IMO, Donaire might be the best fighter in the sport but he's a risk taker - I can well envision him being KO'd. Look at the move he KOd Montiel with - that was deliberate and that was a tightrope walk of a move. So yeah, I'd pick him to win any prospective fight with total confidence.....but Im not sure thats the thread Q.

Maybe B N W can clarify if I've got the wrong end of the stick.

 

I honestly have no clue, then. But then, I saw Mosley listed in the initial post and can't quite figure out how he fits any criteria.

Oh well. I tried. I failed.

 

Yeah, Bob's examples don't fit my understanding of the thread. Maybe Im off on a tangent here.

Anyhow...I like my idea of what the thread better ::

 

Most guys look awful when they eventually lose.

Oscar running like hell vs Tito, Vargas all bashed and unconscious when he lost to Tito, Hamed confused and sodomized against a ringpost, Wladimir reeling away from Purritty, Ali with his big swollen jaw, leaning against the ring for support vs Frazier, Frazier being swatted like a fly versus Foreman, Joe Louis doing the pea-soup waltz vs Schmeling, etc.

Vitali has been slowing down for some time now, which is to be expected. He rarely wins graceful, so we shouldn't expect him to lose graceful.

 

I can't imagine Vitali or Calzaghe being beaten up, too much pride to let that happen

 

Everybody takes a beating if they stick around too long. Ali had pride and he got badly beaten by Holmes. Its a question of degree, naturally. Just how long is "too long", will differe for every fighter. If Joe Calzaghe had stayed on, it only would have been a matter of time before what he did to Roy happened to him. Calzaghe was probably 2 years and a few rocks of coke away from a beating.

Bookies make a fortune relying on sentimentality and subjectivity, such as what happened with Ali, Tyson, Hatton vs Pac was a good example, where people had this notion of "oh, so-and-so will pull it out, he will suck it up, do just enough" etc.

 

What the shit does pride have to do with anything?

 

Alot.

It's an intangible quality that won't let any other fighter "beat them up". They will find a way to win or push the opponent to the brink of defeat every time. They have too much pride to be dominated. For example, with Wlad and Vitali, younger bro has the better skills and superior attributes, yet you get the sense Wlad learnt how to fight, whilst Vitali was born to fight. He has that innate fighting pride which coupled with his attributes make him a far tougher proposition than Wlad in my eyes. This is why I chose Vitali and Calzaghe, they both had it, and it's why I was always confident they would never be humiliated in a boxing match.

 

I don't think prides a relevant variable here, TBH. The difference between Vitali & Wlad is chin, not pride.

 

That's cool, you don't have to see it my way, but the question posed was "fighters you have confidence in", and I had or have total confidence in those two for the reasons given. Great technique isn't the be all and end all for me.

 

I understood it the way that you have a lot of confidence in them getting the job done in the end. It might not be flashy, but you know they´ll bring it every fight and be in great shape.



A fighter, who outside of two unlucky breaks has barely lost any rounds during his pro career would be a good pick at least a few years ago. Now he´s 39 years old and age can catch up with him.

That´s why I wouldn´t completely rule out a Solis victory, BUT even going back to his amateur days Solis has always looked completely lost against really tall fighters. Really awful. He went the distance with Julius Long, that´s something not even Fraudley and Tye Fields managed to do. Add his lackluster performances against Salif, Duiven Jr. and Burnett, and I really don´t see how he would be able to trouble or even beat Vitali.


And Joan Guzman would be the last fighter I would pick to bring it, unless IT is something extra to the weigh in.

 

Agreed. I think pride is among those things that are romanticized much like heart. In truth pride doesn't decide fights IMO

 

There are countless occasions where will has overcome skill, so yes it can

 

True, but there are 10x more examples of when the physically better fighter wins. I am not saying will can not win fights but it is overrated, and 'pride' is too loose a term to analyze properly IMO.

 

But how many involved Vitali or Calzaghe?

I mean, yeah, Calzaghe's shown will in the ring..he got up against Byron Mitchell, overcame that early forearm to the nose against Jones, but really...was he beating guys like Jeff Lacy with will and not skill?

And if you're going to bring up Vitali, then what do you do with the Chris Byrd fight, where his "will" was directly criticized?

 

Was Byrd not on the brink of defeat though?

Good point however, but I mean barring another freak injury, Vitali would be a nightmare to defeat, even against more skilled fighters, and his pride has alot to do with that IMO.

 

Byrd was on the way to losing a decision, and I don't think Vitali was going to get knocked out in the fight if it continued, but he did choose to end the fight and preserve his shoulder.

I do think that competition level comes into play here, though.

I mean, if there was a mid-30's Lennox Lewis in the division, it might change whether you thought there was potential for Vitali to get stopped or look bad.

I mean, in his prime, Erik Morales isn't the kind of fighter you'd think would get knocked out or embarrassed...but then, he wasn't in his prime when he fought Pacquiao, and he was both knocked out and embarrassed.

As it is, there isn't a Lewis in the heavyweight division, and of what there is in the division - Adamek, Haye, two former sub-heavyweight champions, and Solis and Povetkin, two relatively unproven former amateur standouts - is split up among Vitali and his brother.

 

If history has proven anything, it's that Vitali has proven to be a safer bet to win a fight than to actually show up for one.

He's made it abundantly clear that he'll never fight unless he's 100%. I don't blame him for it... but it also calls into question his will to win or willingness to overcome adversity.

 

When's the last time yousaw Mosley unexpectedly KO'd or quit in a fight? Even at this age.

 

Fighters cannot be blamed for not fighting except when 100% fit. Vitali tried it once, carrying an injury, and lost millions of dollars, at least 1 year of his career, and endured years of derision, which, perversely, were only finally put to bed by his taking a fight on short notice.

I cannot blame him for not taking fights unless he is 100%.