We’re back with another BLH Mailbag! I hate doing intros to things like this, so let’s just jump in!
From soulrise:
I’m curious how often do you rewatch fights and what’s the main reason when you do? Research to review tape of a fighter’s past fights before their upcoming bout? Nostalgia and entertainment to relive favorite moments of the past? Or do you not rewatch fights much at all?
Usually for that research/review aspect, often when looking ahead to an upcoming fight. A second pass often allows me to notice something that I missed when watching live, because if I’m watching a fight live, it’s to cover it for the site, and that has me doing multiple things at once. My attention is always a little bit split because of how that works. So review is very useful.
I do occasionally rewatch a fight just for the sake of it, just to remember a bit of the feeling they gave me at the time. I’ll rewatch the Vazquez-Marquez trilogy, or the Barrera-Morales trilogy, or Gatti-Ward, Corrales-Castillo — those type of great fights from my lifetime as a boxing fan — every now and again. The first Vernon Forrest vs Ricardo Mayorga fight is a particular favorite of mine to watch because Mayorga really “shouldn’t have” ever beaten Vernon Forrest, but he did. “Styles make fights” can be something that makes perfect sense or remain something of a mystery forever. Like, it makes sense to me that Vernon was a hideous matchup for Shane Mosley, there were obvious stylistic advantages that he made work for him. But it’s never totally computed for me how Mayorga get the best of Forrest like that. Never will. You’re trying to figure out something more mental than physical in those cases, and upsets like that never cease to be interesting to me.
From HolmesAlone:
Rolly vs Teo was a tentative, low output affair. Can sparring partners ever make for good fights?
Probably, but today’s version of Rolly seems unlikely to have good fights with just about anyone. He doesn’t really want to engage. The Ryan Garcia fight was even worse, because Garcia was worse that night than Teofimo was last Saturday. Teo also isn’t out there trying to put on action classics. In a sense, they both fought smart. Rolly opening up more would have just got him hit more. Teofimo being any more aggressive gave Romero his only chance at the win, which was Teo walking onto something with thunder behind it.
Sparring partners/friends will always run the risk of a dull fight, though. I’m not a fighter, and I don’t mean this to sound cold or harsh, but I always get the sense that to put on a great fight, you really can’t have too much concern over what happens to your opponent. You can’t like them too much.
From DaveGG:
Did Yoenli Hernandez’s slightly underwhelming performance surprise you? Would you now put Amari Jones clearly above him on the 160lb potential star meter?
Second, Teo and Rolly were not great, do you think either could have beaten Jose Luis Lopez, James Page or Oba Carr?
- Yeah, Amari Jones is now clearly above Yoenli in my mind. Amari always had the likely higher ceiling, but now I think he’s just plain better right now, probably. I thought Yoenli was OK, but there were a lot of yellow if not red flags. I dread seeing guys start fighting that arrogantly before they’ve really fought or beaten anyone of consequence, and especially if they’re fighting that way without utterly dominating or knocking opponents flat. At least then you kinda understand where their mind is at. Yoenli is probably roughly as good as he’s going to get and he’s not going to make radical changes to his style, he’s almost 30. What I saw was a guy who’s going to lose to someone he wasn’t supposed to lose to. That’s my new feeling, though I still like him and also think he could have some good fights.
- I think in particular that a peak Oba Carr — say the version that did get stopped by Tito Trinidad — would have probably drilled either one of them. I don’t think Teofimo is going to be a great welterweight, and the idea of him being a good middleweight someday is pure fantasy. But I also don’t think that there is a great welterweight in the sport right now. Who’s the best “natural” 147 in the sport right now? Brian Norman Jr?
From PaulMFightFan:
Who do you think Romero and Teo fight next? Not who they should fight next, but your predictions.
I think Teofimo will try to make a bigger fight, perhaps with Haney, but he really might wind up doing the Catterall fight. I don’t mind that; it won’t be a barnburner, but as for how boxing actually works, Jack Catterall has earned that fight. If both guys were at their best I could actually see it being a cagey but not dull sort of fight. I’d favor Teofimo by a little, but could be interesting if not thrilling.
No real idea what Rolly will do, he’s kind of a wild card, so I’m going to throw a wild one out, too: He goes up to 154 to fight Sebastian Fundora.
From Phil76:
Why does boxing attract so many people claiming, with ZERO evidence, that every major fight, is rigged? If they really believe that, why do they watch the fights?
Lotta stupid people in the world. Just truly dim. And I also would make the guess that this has gotten even worse in recent years in large part due to the astronomical rise in legalized gambling addiction that makes a lot of people not want to accept the outcome of various sports events.
From Boxingjim:
Does Dmitry Bivol have a punch card at his local hospital, and, if so, did this latest surgery (presumably FREE!) open any door for Callum Smith to beat him in December? The Buatsi win was probably the best of Smith’s career (at least since George Groves ages ago), and Bivol doesn’t have the power Beef had to neutralize Smith, but it’ll be almost two years between fights, and Smith’s no spring chicken, either. How do you see this going?
Anyone at Bivol’s age with the injury history Bivol has recently racked up might lose to someone as good as Callum Smith. I think Callum got a little overrated by some after that tournament win where the best W was over an injured George Groves, but he is a good fighter, very good at his best. I think Bivol would have to come up injured in the fight, most likely, but the risk of that has increased significantly.
All things even, I think Bivol outpoints Smith without a whole lot of trouble. But Smith’s chances have gone up some, yeah.
From contrariancuban:
Favourite trainer of any era? Who do you think is the best current trainer?
Don’t really have a favorite because trainers have always been an odd subject to me as an outsider or observer or however you want to put it. I am not in boxing and I don’t have the delusion to think that I am. But I’ve long believed that the truly good trainers probably get too much credit and too much blame for the outcomes of a lot of fights.
In that outsider/observer/fan/critic/whatever role, we also really just see corner work, you know? We don’t get much of a glimpse at the gym work. There have to be some trainers out there who are really good at corner work, in the moment advice, tactics, getting fighters to listen, all that, and maybe aren’t so great in the gym in preparation, and vice versa, those who are really good in the gym but just do not add a lot on fight night.
But the thing that makes it hardest for me is it really does come down to the fighters, and not even just how good they are or aren’t, or if a particular fight was ever really winnable for them in the first place. I mean, by all accounts, Ismael Salas is a good boxing trainer — knowledgeable, smart, experienced. Rolly didn’t listen to him at all last Saturday. What could Salas have done about that? Be more inspiring? If someone doesn’t want to be inspired, you’re just not going to yell at them enough or in some other fashion and get them to suddenly perk up.
From Victhegoat2022:
One fighter who I’ve never seen on any P4P list is Emmanuel Navarrete despite being very active throughout the years and multi divisional champ which, yes I do know has lost some “STEAM” considering who he fights for the title, but multiple division champ nonetheless!!! with his win over sugar, Nunez earlier this year, in a unification fight, and with him fighting foster in another unification fight, if he were to beat Foster and become a three belt unified world champ would that be enough to have Navarrete enter the P4P list, at least bad left hooks P4P list ???
He’s on my P4P list. He’s been there most of the last few years. And I agree he doesn’t get enough credit. Navarrete is flawed, he’s had his ups and downs, but a lot of fighters do. The man has proven his quality, he’s come back from losses and from iffy performances, he’s been able to make actual, effective changes — I think he’s a terrific fighter. If he beats Foster, I think it’s really hard to name 10 guys out there who are better than him in that P4P sense.
From HiImChris:
Given the size and reach advantage, could Jake Paul beat prime Román González in a 12 round fight. (I asked Breadman multiple times and he won’t answer me.)
Well, Breadman probably has a sense of professionalism that I lack, so I’ll answer for you.
…
I tell you what, I thought I was going to have a quick answer here, and then I actually thought about it. I mean, yeah, he could, the size difference is insane. But a PRIME Chocolatito? PRIME? God, he really might be able to stick and move on that dude for 12 rounds. I kind of have the thought that he’d be so much smaller and so unusual for someone Paul’s size to fight that Jake might have a hard time hitting him at all. 12 rounds is a LONG time, so that makes it seem likely that eventually, look, Jake’s gonna hit him, and while Jake isn’t exactly Mike Tyson or Anthony Joshua as a puncher, he’s a strong dude, and so much bigger.
I hate this question! Thank you for asking it. I’m going with Chocolatito.
From Sunzshock:
Both Dougie Fischer’s and Breadman’s mailbags were chock full of mythical matchups. Is there a mythical matchup you would love to see? If so, who would win and why?
Two fights I’ve always thought about, just because we’re talking about some of my personal favorite fighters here, and obviously we’re talking prime vs prime at the weights:
- Erik Morales vs Israel Vazquez at 122. “El Terrible” would win, but man would it be fun.
- Floyd Mayweather vs Shane Mosley at 135. I am not a Mayweather “fan” but I am also not a hater who believes he was overrated or anything, he was a phenomenal technician and boxer. Mosley at 135 was such a beast, though. When we finally got Floyd vs Shane, Mosley was way past his best days, and even still you had that one glimpse of what I always thought might have been. Shane was fast, strong, hit hard — Floyd would have been the better boxer, always, and he had the sort of style that could have neutralized anyone on the right night. But that one, for me, has always been one I think about. The chance for it to happen in real life was just a little bit off, Shane was done at 135 in ‘99 and Floyd didn’t move to the weight until 2002.
From Breadking54:
Was Roy Jones fall from grace starting in the Tarver 2/Glen Johnson KO losses, and subsequent rest of his career where he never came anywhere near to what he was, not only the most abrupt performance level cliff fall of a long term P4P top boxer, but the biggest cliff fall of any top athlete ever in any sport? We’re talking performance wise from an athlete at the peak of their sport. It’s a question I’ve thought about many times over the years and flip flop on. But I struggle to think of other examples as notable.
Yeah, it was a remarkable fall-off. I think a lot went into that, and I think Roy was always destined to have that happen to him. Roy’s greatness relied so much on his absurd athleticism; that’s not to say he wasn’t a skilled boxer, he was, but he also did a lot of things “wrong” that he got away with because there was just nobody like him. Remarkable athlete. When you see those crazy super athletes decline, a lot of times it really is just that they lost a step or even a half-step in the thing that had given them such separation from the pack in the first place. It’s a very fine line to walk.
I think it really might be the most notable thing of its kind. There aren’t that many guys who dominated a sport in the fashion that Roy did, not in terms of the greatness but in the reasons they were dominant. I have great love for Roy, but it’s the suddenness of the fall that was so different from top athletes who just got older and declined over time, and we’re talking about true greatness here, not someone who had a couple top years and then fell off. Roy was an era-defining, true elite guy for many years. And when it ended, it came hard and fast.
From majordanby:
Fury was supposed to fight David Haye in 2013 – how do you think that fight would have gone?
Fury would have won clearly. I actually like David Haye, thought he was a hell of a cruiserweight and a pretty good heavyweight considering the era, but we’re not talking about an Usyk or anything here. What was Haye’s best win as a heavyweight? Chisora? Novelty fighter Valuev? Old John Ruiz? I mean, you know. 2013 was two years before Fury beat Klitschko, so the question at the time would have been bigger, but with the benefit of hindsight I don’t see Haye beating Fury in 2013.
I think you get a 118-110 type of fight. I don’t think Haye could have beaten him on points and I don’t think Haye could knock him out. I also have the benefit of hindsight now to know that. Again, I saw Deontay Wilder knock Tyson Fury out, and yet he also didn’t knock Tyson Fury out. So Haye might have dropped him, as Steve Cunningham did that year, but nah, I just don’t see Haye beating Fury. Tyson was good enough by then, he’d have gotten it done.
From Degys:
What if Dmitry Pirog never had that career ending injury. How do you reckon his career panning out?
So I’m in my mid-40s now. I think those of us boxing fans at or around that age have probably asked ourselves this countless times as a group in the last 14 years.
I don’t think he would have beaten GGG; in fact, I think Golovkin would have stopped him. Gennadiy was a different level of beast. And I’m just not sure what would have happened. He had the one really good win over Daniel Jacobs in 2010, but how good was Pirog, really? He was skilled, sound, could punch — we’ve seen a lot of guys come out of the Russian amateur system like that and fall short at higher pro levels. His win over Javier Maciel wasn’t the greatest performance in the world, and he had home field for that one.
I don’t know. He was a good fighter, but there’s so much we can’t know because we just didn’t get the chance to see him continue on. But if I were taking my best guess, he would have lost to Golovkin, stayed a contender type at 160 and/or 168 for a while, but he wasn’t going to the Hall of Fame or anything like that.
And now for our off-topic question of the week!
From SetonSeton:
Favorite foreign (outside U.S.) film director?
All-time, it might be the Archers, the duo of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Other strong contenders would be more hugely acclaimed directors like Akira Kurosawa, Sergio Leone, Wim Wenders, and Yasujiro Ozu, with an extra shout to Jacques Tourneur, who was a wonderful director of horror, film noir, and Westerns, three of my favorite genres and in my opinion, he’s one of the most well-rounded directors ever. He made very audience-friendly type movies in popular styles, but with real depth and artistry. Alfred Hitchock is so universal that I forgot to think of him until now, but Hitchcock, too. David Cronenberg! Alex Cox! I could go on a while.
For those who are currently active, I’m a big fan of Bong Hoon Jo, Pedro Almodovar, Martin McDonagh, and Alfonso Cuaron. Wenders is still working, and I thought Perfect Days (2023) was right there with the best films of his career. Ridley Scott’s still around, and while he’s always been sort of up-and-down and remains so, even the movies of his I don’t like that much I appreciate what big swings he’s willing to take. I’ve grown more and more fond of Yorgos Lanthimos’ work, too. I always like Lynne Ramsay’s movies, and Aki Kaurismäki’s. George Miller’s still going and it’s remarkable how good those Mad Max movies have remained, in some ways better than ever.
