Mikey Tapology Boxing Corner!

Alright folks, 

As you might know I'm Tapology Boxing editor. I know the majority of you guys are here for MMA, so was I originally. But for the last year or 2 there is a little more interest in Boxing on the site. 

So here's a place to talk boxing. 

Yeah man my dad introduced me to Duran, Hagler, Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard he hated the latter :>.
A guy that ******* smooth and hard to hit should be a rule against it lol.
Before that I usually just focused on Heavies and Cruisers more my size guys.
I can't pick a best ever sadly all these men have losses and most fought past their prime.
And there are tons of greats throwing down today!
  

No surprise your dad hated Leonard. Lot of people, me, felt he had a gifted legacy. The Hearn draw could've the other way, the Hagler win should've gone the other way, he won a vacant Super-Middleweight belt with a Light Heavyweight belt also on the line. That last one shouldn't have even been a thing. 

https://twitter.com/ManoukAkopyan/status/1483258807346089985


Inoue vs Donaire 2 is in the works. 

Hope that fight comes together. The 1st fight was my fight of the Year 2019. Donaire resurgence has been great to see and you could say it began here even though he lost, one of those rare cases where a fighter gains massively from a loss. Actually I'd also say Inoue has stalled since this fight, his signing with Top Rank has been a bit disappointing. His level of opposition has decreased each fight from Moloney (fringe top 10/15) Dasmarinas (top 50) Dipaen (who????!!!!). Such a waste for a genuine P4P talent with some of the most potent offence in all of boxing! Even more infuriating is that there is a tonne of talent in and around 118lbs!
Anyway instead of complaining I'm going to focus on the positive and hope that this high level fight happens in April as planned, can't wait! 

Well that's all largely due to COVID and Japan's tight restrictions on travel. 

* Edited at 01.19.2022, 10:29 PM ET *

Mikey, I would love a weekend Boxing synopsis if you have the time… not sure what’s going on this week in the boxing world

Not a lot bud! January is Boxings holiday season.  February things get back into full gear. March, April are starting to get filled with a lot of great match ups too!

There's only 1 decent show this weekend with World level boxers. There's a small show in Germany that features some decent Ukrainian prospects(Germany is a popular base for Ukrainian boxers trying to make a name for themselves, most famous being the Klitschko bros).

The World Title fight is on Showtime. Gary Russell Jr defends his WBC Featherweight Title vs undefeated Filipino and big puncher Mark Magsayo.
Russell Jr. is maybe the most frustrating boxer of this decade! Seriously! He is a supreme talent, possibly the fastest hands in all boxing, probably the no Featherweight in the world. I say probably because he fights once every 18 to 24 months!!!  He has defended his WBC belt since 2015 6x and not once has he had a fight against a top 5 opponent. He just waits for his mandatory challenge to be mandated every 18 months or more, wins by shut out then disappears again!!
Magsayo is maybe capable of causing some issues. He is very aggressive, very hard hitting. Unfortunately his defence is bad. But at least he will bring a fight to Russell.
Another factor I'm considering. Russell has suffered some personal tragedy this past year or so, 2 of his brothers have died and his father (his coach and mentor) just had his foot amputated.
Also maybe this is the time that the inactivity affects him. He has also stated this week in interviews that he's carrying a slight hand injury!
That's a lotta red flags!!!!  So much so that the Bookies are closing the price on him, he's fell from around +600 to +400 so far.

The 1 guy who you have to watch is in the Co Main event. Puerto Rican destroyer Subriel Matias rematches the only man to beat him Petros Ananyan. 
Matias is no slick boxer, he just gets in your face and throws and throws and throws!!! He beats up your head, arms, body, sides, anything and everything he can hit.
He breaks people! The biggest evidence of his brutal style is also very tragic, he beat Maxim Dadashev in a brutal fight in 2018, Dadashev collapsed after the fight was stopped, fell into a coma and unfortunately never woke up.
That's an illustration of the brutal style of Matias and a sobering reminder of just what's at stake in combat sports and why we as fans should give these fighters respect. 
Anyway, Matias, IMO is heading towards a World Title as long as he continues. I also think he'll suffer a brutal beating in the end because that's what tends to happen to fighters with violent styles!

Evander Holyfield son is on the undercard, Evan. He is just off a highlight reel KO on the Crawford Porter undercard. Expect another highlight reel KO!
An interesting clash of unbeaten youngsters also on the undercard. 11-0 Philadelphia youngster Rasheen Brown who has been whooping guys in Mexico and California based Japan born 7-0 Katsuma Akitsugi who's been boxing on the Thompson promotion shows (a great California promotion) and has already defeated 2 undefeated boxers. Always interested when 2 young undefeated prospect go head to head.

Oh also Mongolian Olympic Silver Medalist (and recent Gary Russell challenger) Tugstgost Nyambayar King Tug is back!! He's another action fighter who's in regular entertaining fights

To answer Casual about my disappointment in Naoya Inoue Top Rank schedule.
Has COVID really been the reason? His 1st 2 fights where in Las Vegas. Also there were more than enough big fights in boxing last year to think that Inoue could have had better opponents. Andrew Moloney, OK not too bad, he was rated on the fringes of the top 10 in the Ring and TBRB. But Michael Dasmarinas and especially Aren Dipaen were woeful opponents!
1 potentially great fight COVID did ruin for Inoue was a unification vs Jon Reil Casimero, that was actually booked and scheduled for April 2020. Once it was cancelled it was kind of forgotten about. Well, actually, Naoya has mentioned Casimero a few times.

I am not dismissing the pandemic as a factor I guess I'm just disappointed that 1 of the best boxers of this century is taking steps backwards rather than forwards.  Again, hopeful that this Donaire fight comes together and the Casimero fight is rescheduled. Inoue would really cement himself as an all time great(he's pretty much there already) if he followed the new trend of unifying divisions 

Mikey you answered yourself when you said the Casimero fight was cancelled due to COVID. Dasmarinas was a mandatory, it couldn't be avoided unless you want Inoue to be stripped, and the Dipaen fight happened when travel was once again restricted. This was right around Ioka's unification fight with Ancajas fell through as well. 

Still doesn't mean that his opposition level could have been higher, it definitely could have. Surely you agree with me there? 
I can name 20 better Japanese boxers at and around 118lbs better than Dipaen!
What did Dasmarinas do to grant being a mandatory? In what world does he become IBF no. 1 ranked contender when he is barely a top 50 Bantamweight in the World!!!  Honestly these sanctioning bodies are a ****** joke!!! 

* Edited at 01.20.2022, 10:41 PM ET *

Wasn't he already booked to fight Dipaen before everthing got cancelled? Pretty sure that was always the plan.

Cheese, I can't remember now?  The 2 big Japanese events I remember being affected were, as Casual said, the New Year's Eve Ioka Ancajas unification and also another big show headlined by GGG vs Murata on the 28th.
Can't remember if Inoue opponent was confirmed or not?

Anyway, it's done now! Let's just hope we get great fights this year for Inoue. Like I said I'd love to see him try unifying 118lbs. Then maybe try Super Fights. Say someone out of Estrada, Chocolatito or Ioka unifys at 115lbs and faced Inoue! Or Inoue moves up and faces MJ Akhmadaleiv or Stephen Fulton at 122lbs!  I also would be interested in him vs Guillermo Rigondeaux! 

Inoue wanted Rau'shee Warrens or Gary Antonio Russell(the younger brother of Gary Russel) but looming restrictions essentially killed both fights. Dipaen was brought on as a last case scenario 

Can't we just have Naoya Inoue VS Alessio Lorusso already?

FORZA TATTOO MAN!!!! 

He looks so intimidating, I doubt Inoue would even accept that fight! Plus, he does actually hold a belt of some kind (not sure, some European one I think?) and sanctioning bodies love it when both fighters have belts!

Yes, he won the E.U European Championship last fight. 

Don't confuse the EU European with the EBU European or the IBF European or WBO European!!!!!  ****** hell! Why do I know all this ****????!!!

Anyway, the EBU European is the actual proper European Title. I know that the IBF and WBO European are basically a way for a European boxer to gain a top 15 ranking with either IBF or WBO (definetly not just a way for them to take a percentage from the boxers fight purse!)

The E. U European, I'm not sure? I think its just for European Union countries but I suspect it was created solely for the Tattoo Man!!!