Predictably unpredictable....
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| Can Rees provide the next big upset in the world of boxing? |
I’m not
going to sit here spouting stats and predictions; I’m just going to get
something off my chest... I love boxing..!!
My no.1
sport from childhood is Football (Soccer for my US friends), it won’t change.
But one thing I’ve never been able to hide is an undying love and appreciation
for the noble art of Boxing.
My
memory stretches back to the Naz, Tyson, Benn / Eubank era and the rise and
domination of Lennox Lewis... (There are hundreds of other fighters / fights
not mentioned I know – in addition to some UK bias).
Being 12
years of age and staying up until 5am to watch Tyson demolish someone, or
indeed an ear simply has to be experienced.
The one
thing that has always been my downfall in the frustrating, but enjoyable world
of boxing predictions has been my penchant for the underdog.
I can
see the qualities in any fighter; far beyond the simple admiration of someone
who puts their life on the line for their family and sporting achievement. I
can “up-sell” the qualities in many an average fighter, and leave (some)
friends starting to believe...
I have
always been a huge admirer of Floyd Mayweather and known of his incomparable ability,
but I continually talked myself into believing the likes of Oscar, Ricky and
Sugar Shane had a shot.
Realistically
it was unlikely, but imagine if one of them had actually knocked Floyd out, or
stopped him in the second round... I would have passed out there and then and
not hesitated to shout I told you so. *Yes
I know Oscar pushed him close!
The
beauty of this sport is that it is all about levels, and if you’re a level
above you’ll always win... Well no, actually you won’t because styles make
fights and sometimes, someone somewhere, slips up.
Manny
Pacquaio v Juan Manuel Marquez 4 was always going to be a great fight, but I
was in two minds whether I could handle the 4am alarm call... Well the bug
kicked in about 3 weeks before the fight, I counted down the days and boy was I
glad I stayed up and witnessed history. I love Manny (in a pure sporting sense
of course), but it was amazing sport and amazing viewing!!
This
weekend sees Gavin Rees fly the Welsh flag and we all know the likely outcome
is a valiant effort by him and a sparkly Broner display ending with a stoppage
win for Adrian.
But am I
really the only one who would absolutely love it if Gavin upset the bookmakers
and won the title? Surely not!! The look on the face of ‘Team Broner’ would be
magic and the site of Gary Lockett brushing Rees’s hair as a retort would be TV
gold!
In
summary, I just love that two guys train excruciatingly hard for 6-12 weeks and
go into war with it all on the line, and no matter how obvious the outcome; you
cannot 110% tell what the result will be.
Prediction: Rees
to stop Broner in Round 4 ;-)
Until
next time...
I must say that i really love these articles from Dave Johnstone. His passion and knowledge (despite his prediction being wrong :P) of the sport really leap of the screen.
ReplyDeleteI for one would like to see more from him. Maybe Dave could interview a past or present boxer as I feel a man who has never stepped inside a ring, could really pit some refreshing and unusual questions to the boxers as he will see things from a totally different angle.
Hopefully we will see more from Dave in the future as I think he talks a lot of sense, and obviously has a lot to say in regards to the sport.
Dave do you have a football blog anywhere??? it would be good to read your opinions on another sport to.
Thanks. Bye.