It's pretty slim pickings for fighter of the year. I suppose either Cotto or Kovalev? I'd have to think for a bit about best fight.
REED Hasn't Seen just a Ton of Fights This Year, but the Best Bout he's Seen in 2014 was Crawford-Gamboa. REED
Truth is not one fight or fighter really stands out to me this year. Walters and Crawford were both impressive but their signature wins were both over significantly smaller men.
Fight of the year contender - Matthysse vs John Molina Jr Fighter of the year - Andre Ward (:: joking). Terence Crawford for me
I recall watching Curtis Stevens against Tureano Johnson earlier this year. That was a pretty awesome fight.
Crawford-Gamboa gets my vote for Fight of the Year, and Crawford gets my vote for Fighter of the Year. Mattyhsse-Molina was a damn good fight, but let's face it, Matthysse and Molina aren't on the same skill level as Crawford and Gamboa. A great action fight between two brawlers is always fun, but when two highly skilled offensive technicians take part in a great action fight, nothing beats that. Plus, let's face it, the Omaha crowd was one of the most electric crowds we've heard in YEARS. They definitely enhanced the drama of the fight.
How is mathysse not on the same level as Crawford? Wtf? I love Crawford but nothing he does puts him in a different realm than mathysse. In fact, whereas mathysse has a whole bunch of real good wins, Crawford barely has one. Wtf?
Is that a serious question? Matthysse OBVIOUSLY is a bigger puncher than TC. But as far being an overall technician, Crawford has skills and versatility that Matthysse doesnt have.
Crawford is definitely more technically versatile and skilled than Matthyyysssee However, Double L is correct that Matthyyssse has the better wins thus far
Eto Vs Diale, Takayama Vs Rodriguez , Terdsak Vs Salido , Chocolatito Vs Yaegashi , Brizuela Vs Coyle
Let's see TC at 140 first. Matthysse would definitely beat the fuck outta Broner, but Crawford is a tier above Broner.
Certainly possible I like Crawford a lot, I like his skills and his approach... he's pretty old school, but he's not faced a guy that big and powerful
Fighter of the Year: Miguel Cotto, he made history as the first Boricua to win 4 titles in 4 different weight divisions, plus almost no one was giving him a chance to win against Martinez Fight of the Year: I enjoyed the most Floyd vs Maidana 1 just because Floyd had to struggle to get a win and Maidana looked like he could pull an upset.
I don't think that's a foregone conclusion at all. People act like mathysse is just a maniac who goes in there and throws. But you don't land on the guys he's faced, let alone knock them out, without being technically sound. how many fucking times will we have this conversation? They're knockout artists not because they can throw hard punches. It's because they have the timing, accuracy, and yes, technique, to land hard punches.
Matthyyysee is mediocre defensively, must go forward in order to be effective and can be boxed into a position where he fails to make offensive adjustments... This is why he has losses on his record. That doesn't mean he is a caveman (I never so much as hinted at any such thing) but it also means he is less technically skilled/versatile than Crawford who has demonstrated the ability to box off the back foot as well as come forward, the ability to vary his attack and punch selection, switch his stance effectively, etc. ... He is without a doubt more skilled/adaptable than Matthyyysse... It doesn't necessarily mean he is better or will be ranked higher when it is all said and done... Ralph Dupas and Joey Archer were more technically skilled than Carmen Basilio, but Basilio was a better/greater fighter than both of them
Well yeah, I gotta defend Lucas now. He has a LOSS. The Judah decision was highly questionable. And there were NO QUESTIONS about the Alexander fight. It was a BLATANT robbery. Matthysse beat the Hell outta Devon the Fake, and got robbed.
I thought the Judah fight was close... It's not a robbery... Disputed decision, but no robbery The Alexander fight I thought Lucas won What does either of things have to do with what I said about his technical game? All of it is true
It does. Because you held up his losses as evidence of his inability to adjust. And I disagree that mathysse is one dimensional. But that's sort of beside the point because my objection was to the characterization of Crawford as being on a different level technically than mathysse. I wholly disagree with that statement. You've reinterpreted it somewhat to make it more palatable but like you said, such a distinction, as you've described it, does not imply one is better than the other. but that wasn't how X's initial claim came across. if Crawford faced mathysse he would get stomped. He should stay at 135 as long as he can.
