The Official Boxing Thread

D. Morgan wrote: »

Mrslim1 wrote: »

D. Morgan wrote: »

Mrslim1 wrote: »

Mastery wrote: »

OmegaConflict wrote: »

All the elites agree with me. GGG takes this one.
Charlo, Spence, Paulie, Crawford

Mrslim1 wrote: »

Rigo vs Loma is official

I got $$$ on GGG and Rigo.

Chea!!!!

I lean Saul. Not confident enough to bet. But Loma is easy work for Rigo . Rigo is gonna beat this overhyped dude up.

2 week avi bet? I like GGG in this one

Ok we can do that.

Cool

Canelo, Golovkin still fighting to reach casual fans

LAS VEGAS -- The barista at the Starbucks on the casino floor of the MGM Grand was just trying to make conversation as she likely does with most customers taking a coffee break from losing their savings on the craps tables lining the floor in front of her.

"What brings you to Vegas?" she asked me.

"Canelo-GGG," I said.

"Oh, what's that?" she inquired.

"You know, the fight," I explained.

"Oh, right, the fight," she said. "That should be fun."

"You don't know Canelo Alvarez or Gennady Golovkin?" I asked her.

"No," she said. "But I'm not a boxing fan."

This isn't the first time I've covered a fight involving Alvarez or Golovkin where I've had a similar conversation with a friend or stranger who isn't a boxing fan.

The fact is that the two most popular active boxers and two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world today aren't yet transcendent stars. In other words, if you're a boxing fan, their fight on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena is a dream match you've been waiting years to see. If you're not a boxing fan, there's a good chance you don't know who these guys are or why it's a big deal.

The chasm that exists between boxing fans and casual fans with these fighters and this fight is one of the biggest reasons the best boxing matchup in years likely will draw a third of the pay-per-view audience that Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor's fight did last month.

If Mayweather-McGregor pulled in a record 4.7 million pay-per-view buys, as some have projected, Canelo-Golovkin pulling a third of that number would be about 1.4 million. It would still represent the largest pay-per-view number either fighter has drawn, outside of the 2.2 million that Mayweather and Alvarez drew four years ago, and would be justifiably viewed as a success by all parties involved.

It will also drive home the fact that both fighters need to do a better job of marketing themselves outside of the ring in order to become the stars their promoters want them to be.

There's no doubt Alvarez, who recently turned 27, is a rising star. His fight against Mayweather in 2013 was the second-biggest pay-per-view fight at the time, falling just short of Mayweather's fight against Oscar De La Hoya in 2007, which did 2.4 million. His last fight against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. drew 1.2 million and showed he could attract a big number when facing a big name, albeit not a great boxer.

The problem is most of his fights in between failed to move the needle. His fight last year with Liam Smith drew 300,000 and his fight before that against Amir Khan did 600,000. Then again, those are pay-per-view numbers Golovkin would love to have. His last fight against Daniel Jacobs in March did 170,000 and his fight against David Lemieux did just 150,000.

Those aren't numbers that a superstar draws, but then again, that's a reality for boxers right now when you look at the rest of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. The much-anticipated match between Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev, two of the top five pound-for-pound fighters, last year did 165,000. Their rematch in June drew just 125,000.

So what do Alvarez and Golovkin have to do to break through to casual fans and seep into the consciousness of the barista at Starbucks working across the street from where the fight is taking place?

"I don't know, I don't have the answer," Alvarez told me through a translator. "What I do is I concentrate on doing my thing and working hard. I'm giving the fight fans the fights they want to see. Fights like this, to attract the boxing fans, to attract Canelo fans and to attract people that love boxing. But outside of that, to attract the casual fans, I don't know what we have to do."

That's an understandable answer to have 72 hours before a fight, but it doesn't address Alvarez's ceiling as a star domestically. While he understands English and can speak a few phrases, such as telling Sylvester Stallone to "Be bolder!" in a Tecate beer commercial, he still conducts his English interviews through a translator.

When I talked to De La Hoya, who signed Alvarez to a contract with Golden Boy Promotions in 2010, about Alvarez six years ago, which was three years after his first fight in the United States, he told me, "He can speak English but he's just shy. Remember [Julio Cesar] Chavez when they would ask him something in English? He could speak it but wouldn't. [Alvarez] can speak it but he's just shy. He just has to get more confidence. Hopefully he'll master it soon enough."

He hasn't, which hasn't hurt his stock with his strong Latino fan base, but it's hard to grow that fan base and become a megastar when De La Hoya is still making the rounds on television and radio shows promoting Alvarez and his fights instead of Alvarez doing it himself. Golovkin, who is from Kazakhstan, has been working on his English since moving to the United States five years ago. It's still a work in progress and he still has a translator by his side in case he needs a question repeated in Russian, but for the most part he powers through interviews as best as he can in English.

"I know I need to learn English," Golovkin told me on Wednesday. "I feel comfortable. Of course not 100 percent but you understand my emotion. If you want more, just bring a translator, but I can give you 10 percent, like my emotion. I feel perfect, my body is perfect, everything is good, I'm very excited. I think you understand." Golovkin's trainer, Abel Sanchez, has made it an unwritten rule that Golovkin and his other fighters can speak English only when they're in his gym. Not only because he wants them to communicate with him and understand what he's saying, but he believes it's important for them to be doing television and radio interviews instead of their trainer or promoter.

"I try every day to make sure I don't hear Russian in my gym," Sanchez said. "I try to make sure that they speak the language. I ask them questions about cars or their families just so they can talk to me because I think it's important for them [to do the interviews], not me. It's unfortunate Canelo's not learning; he should be learning more. It's unfortunate Golovkin's not learning; he should be learning more, but it's their choice. That's the way they are. They're quiet."

Being "quiet" doesn't normally sell fighters or fights, but if Alvarez and Golovkin are able to put on a fight that lives up to the hype on Saturday and leads toward an even more hyped rematch next year, perhaps that will help them become the transcendent stars they have the potential to become outside of the ring. Until then they will continue to captivate fight fans while leaving casual fans wondering who they are.

Floyd Mayweather
Prediction: Canelo
'Do I think Triple G can beat Canelo? Absolutely not. I think there’s a few guys that can beat Triple G, and Canelo is on the top of the list.
'I believe that he’ll beat him. I really believe Triple G has good punching power as a fighter. He’s got good punching power, but he’s flat-footed. He makes a lot of mistakes, but boxing is different now.
'I don’t think it’ll go the distance. Canelo Alvarez is one of the best fighters in boxing.'


Billy Joe Saunders
Winner: Golovkin
'I fancied Golovkin at first then I switched to Canelo. But when I started watching (Canelo) closely lately... he looks a little bit fatigued.
'Any fighter will tell you when you go over the top, it's hard to come back and in this calibre of fight and against this (calibre of) opponent, I just fancy Golovkin this little bit.'

Anthony Joshua
Winner: Canelo
'I hope Canelo wins, not that I don't like Triple G, I have just been riding with Canelo for a long time. He's 27 and the man has achieved so much and he'll be one of the fathers.
'He's still a baby but he'll be one of the fathers in the sport, give him another 10 years. He'll be around for a long time and I think he'll do great things for the sport.
'It's going to be a tough fight because Triple G is from Kazakhstan, he has the good foundations of a boxer. But so has Canelo, so I'll put my money on him.'

Kell Brook
Prediction: Canelo
'We will see how much Golovkin has got left and how Canelo gets on when he's in with a big puncher. I think it will be very interesting early on but I can see Canelo pulling away and beating him on points.'

Sugar Ray Leonard
Prediction: Golovkin
'I give the edge to GGG because of who he is and what he has. But I love Canelo, too.
'That's going to be a great fight. It's one of those where you just got to flip a coin.'

Carl Froch
Winner: Canelo
'Canelo Alvarez (wins) for me in a close one. I think Golovkin is just past his best.
'He's getting old. But Golovkin might just win, smash him and knock him out. It's boxing isn't it? But if I had to pick a winner, I'm picking Canelo.'

Martin Murray
Winner: Golovkin
'I fought George Groves, Arthur Abraham, Sergio Martinez and Felix Sturm, and Golovkin was by far the best.
'Every single shot is solid and stiff. As the fight goes on they take their toll. I prepared for a lot but what surprised me about him the most was his variety of shots and the way he was able to open me up.
'There might be stages where Canelo outboxes him, but I think the Kazakh is too big and too strong.'

Tommy Hearns
Prediction: Canelo
'(Canelo-Golovkin) is a fight that people will talk about for a long time, people have been waiting a long time for something and I too cannot wait any longer.
'GGG is a strong fighter, can fight with anyone, but does not get away from blows and if Canelo does what he has to do - boxing, staying out of danger - and if he does that when he let’s go of his punches, he has a good chance of winning.'

R.D. wrote: »

Jay>>>Nas

? like that the reason Nas lost is a thing

its....JOHN B wrote: »

R.D. wrote: »

Jay>>>Nas

? like that the reason Nas lost is a thing

Stick to talking boxing