No chance for Maidana/Rios?

Apparently, Maidana will now be trained by Rios' trainer, Garcia.

This sucks. It would seem to suggest we won't be seeing Maidana/Rios any time soon.

Is anyone else sad to hear this?

 

Yeah, this would be a fun fight.

 

I am not sure Rios needs to fight Maidana in any event- at least not to prove or re-establish his "credentials" like Dayvon Alexander. The Gamboa fight would have told us so much more. Pity.

 

Maidana is officially with Rios. It's somehow supposed to make him a better fighter, but I think the industry is beginning to overrate what Garcia brings to the table.

I don't think Rios has progressed as a fighter - he's a brawler who either overwhelms you or catches up to you. Donaire IMO has actually regressed in the past year or so. Margarito's a bit unfair to gauge since he's past prime. We'll see where he goes w/ Pavlik.

 

Word.

 

Rios is more than a brawler Jake, Maidana is a brawler, he is crude and has little offensive skill.

Rios is incredibly 1 dimensional and kind of basic, without much defense, but he has too much offensive skill to be called a brawler. He has crisp, sharp offense and picks his shots well.

Overall I agree with you though, especially about Donaire. He's looked sloppier than ever recently. I swear the Rios of a couple of years ago would have blitzed Vazquez.

Donaire used to be so neat and crisp, now he looks so much sloppier, throwing looping punches and missing a lot, it's weird.

 

Rios would beat the hell outta Maidana at this point.

I'd rather see Rios vs Matthyse.

 

Fair enough on Rios, let's call him a puncher instead of a brawler. I guess my point is that I haven't seen much evolution in his career.

 

Fair enough too, I also think he's always looked the same, but would more call him a pressure fighter ;)

Re: Donaire, how much do you attribute Donaire's apparent regression to Garcia? I wonder if it is a bad/wrong trainer and camp, or if Donaire is possibly just a bit bored or lazy or something, not as focused as he used to be.

 

I don't so much attribute it to Garcia - he comes from a boxing-rich family and I don't at all doubt his/their knowledge of the game. Donaire just strikes me as a guy who is always going to speak his own mind and functionally guide his own career. So, I would say the latter part of your statement is the correct answer.

I'm curious to see where Mikey Garcia goes from here. Interestingly, he's the exact opposite of how Robert fought during his pro run.

Whereas Robert raced out and gassed late, Mikey is deliberate, starting slow and picking up steam as the fight goes along. He appears to be far more disciplined than Robert was as a pro. Curious if it's by design, or just speaks to his initial reluctance to ever become a fighter.

Either way, he looks like the real deal, or at least titlist material. A shame that he and Donaire will never fight (at least not while in the same stable).

 

donaire hasnt regressed he just began facing guys his own size.

 

True, Mikey seems deliberate and disciplined. Not sure how much initial reluctance to become a fighter would play a part at this stage, I would hazard a guess it's more by design. I agree he looks very solid.

And Neil, that's not remotely true. He looked sloppier than ever against the Argentinian midget who looked literally 3 or 4 weight classes smaller. Opponent size has nothing to do with it, he's just been looking downright sloppy recently.

 

Whether Rios is a brawler, a puncher or a pressure fighter, there can be no argument that he's offensive. As such, seeing him face Maidana would've been an amazing war. The problem for Rios would've been his defensive lapses. Madaina would've landed often, whether he wins or not.

 

Rios would handle Maidana's power better than Maidana would handle Rios'.

Also, Rios has by FAR the better technique, and throws his shots a lot shorter, straighter, more compact.

I'm convinced that Rios stops Maidana inside of 6.

Like I said, I'd be more interested in Rios-Matthyse. Lucas is a better fighter than Maidana. And I'm not sure if Rios could beat Matthyse.

I expect Mathyse to batter Soto.

 

Exactly what I was going to say. Donaire settled for the fight that was in front of him, rather than he or Garcia making adjustments mid-fight - like something as basic as cutting off the ring.

Donaire's one of my favorites but he got a free pass that night just because of Narvaez' non-effort. I agree wholeheartedly, he's looked sloppy in his last few fights. Even in the Montiel blowout, his lack of defense was evident, though in a way it actually led to his dominant offensive showing.

Neil, if your point was that he got away with bullying most of his opponents - I can definitely see that. But he just seemed a lot more fluid prior to last year, regardless of opposition.

 

I'd pick Rios over Maidana in a P4P bout. But I'm not yet convinced his style produces the same results as he climbs the scales.

 

Rios definitely enjoys a size advantage at 135.

 

Maidana is awful. He is a clubfighter. Rios is a scrub, a vicious, vicious scrub who is so vicious, he can beat a world class fighter. Maidana beat Ortiz because Ortiz is just not a fighter. Rios would beat the shit out of and stop Madonna.

 

Maidana should be a bit bigger and stronger than the little guys Rios is used to fighting. I wouldn't be surprised if this Abril dude beats Rios. He's really just Margarito lite.

 

Rios would beat the shit out of Maidana, he'd outland him 2 to 1, and even at 140 I would bet money Rios hits harder and has a better chin. He has much better technique, crisper, more accurate shots. In fact he's better in every way than Maidana.

 

Rios never beat anyone as good as Maidana and Maidana isn't even very good.

 

Doesn't really matter. Rios has beaten some decent fighters and passed a gut check in the Acosta fight.

There's always a point in a fighter's career where he hasn't beaten a fighter as good as so and so, it doesn't mean he won't destroy that fighter.

Rios is what he is, a limited but tough and vicious pressure fighter, and he's sufficiently proven in my eyes to be very confident he'd batter a glorified clubfighter like Maidana.

 

I agree but Maidana at this point has a lot of extra mileage than a few years ago. If Rios couldn't put an ass whipping on him that would say more about him than Maidana.

 

We won't know until Rios actually fights someone good. Acosta would get murdered by Maidana.

 

Rios gets underrated big time by some of you. He's a dislikeable little chode, but I have a feeling he's going to be pretty hard to beat. He's several levels above the likes of Maidana.

 

apparently robert garcia is telling ppl he should charge 20 bucks a head to watch these two spar

 

He is a scrub. rios might lose tomorrow. He is fun to watch, but he won't be around very long. The kid is already slurring.

 

He's not a scrub. At the very least, he's a world class, highly vicious scrub ::

I'm not sure he's slurring, I think he's just really stupid.

 

Maidana is better than a lot give him credit for. He's not simply a hard puncher. He has great timing which is why he's able to land often against opponents who are faster and more athletic than him. There should be appreciation for his ability to stalk and always find even opponents determined not to engage. His biggest susceptibility is to holding, which is illegal. I think many view Maidana as crude, but this assessment is due primarily to stereotypes and preconceptions about what constitutes a good fighter.

 

Robert Garcia is very good at conditioning his fighters. He's simply not a good strategist. The upside of training with him might be the good sparring the fighter will have due to Garcia having a deep roster of hard-nosed fighters.