Boxing – Page 13 – Fight Matrix

What’s More and Less Likely to Happen Than McGregor Beating Mayweather?

Posted on August 14, 2017 by A. J. Riot

For many a boxing expert the upcoming fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr and Conor McGregor is a joke. McGregor has never had a professional boxing fight in his life and yet he is challenging arguably the greatest of all time in the sport. As of today the Notorious Irishman is 4/1 to win the bout for anyone interested in placing a bet on the Mayweather v McGregor fight. This article looks at events that bookmakers believe are more and less likely to happen than a big upset in Las Vegas this month.

Alien existence to be proven in 2017 is 3/1

The bookmakers believe there is more chance we’ll see alien existence proven before the end of 2017 than Conor McGregor winning the fight of the year! This just shows the mammoth task that stands in front of the UFC Lightweight champion, and whether it is possible remains to be seen. McGregor has some guts going into the ring with arguably the greatest pound-for-pound boxer of all time with no professional boxing experience under his own belt. It will take an out of this world performance from McGregor to walk out victorious.

Source: http://nypost.com/2017/04/25/aliens-may-have-existed-in-our-solar-system-long-before-us/

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Can Conor McGregor Really Knock Out Floyd Mayweather?

Posted on August 8, 2017 by A. J. Riot

On August 26, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, retired undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather will be opening the lion’s den to simultaneous two-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor for a licensed boxing match. It comes as no surprise that Mayweather is heavily favored to win, and yet McGregor has made some rather lavish promises. During the international promotional tour for the fight, Conor McGregor claimed that he will knock out Floyd Mayweather in the fourth round, as reported by the Evening Standard. So, let’s examine the actual likelihood of the Irish mixed martial arts star living up to this claim.

Knockout very unlikely, let alone in the fourth

Image Source: Twitter

When it comes to the pure discipline of boxing, there is very little that the fighters can do to vary their game, thus what can be expected from the opposition can only stretch so far. Conor McGregor is coming from mixed martial arts, where almost anything goes, so fighters need to both utilize the available disciplines as well as be aware of those that could be used to defeat them. Floyd Mayweather has forged his 49-0 record on avoiding all that can be thrown at him in the boxing ring, so it seems unlikely that McGregor, who has never engaged in a professional boxing match, would be able to produce anything that could catch out the American.

The odds are most certainly stacked against McGregor for him just to get a knockout, regardless of what round. A lot of it is founded on Mayweather deemed to have been knocked down once in his 49-fight career, which was in 2001 against Carlos Hernandez, per Metro. In fact, with McGregor to knock out Mayweather at 8/1 as of August 2, things deemed more likely to happen by a Betway Insider study include: another planet like Earth being in existence; your job being replaced by a robot; or that we actually live in a simulation. So, as you can see, the odds are most certainly stacked against the Irishman to achieve a knockout. But should they be?
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A Boxing Legend Retires…

Posted on August 3, 2017 by Jason

Say Goodbye to Wladimir Klitschko.

The best boxing Heavyweight in an era where people loved to hate Heavyweights, has retired from the game. Gone are the days where there were numerous all-time greats competing simultaneously in the Heavyweight division and as a result, Klitschko’s impressive career has been overlooked.

The first half of his career was filled with achievements, but segmented by disappointments. A confidence building win over Sam Peter in 2005 changed all that. Even though he hit the canvas three times, he was able to decision Peter and go undefeated until 2017, where he lost against Anthony Joshua, a man who may lead Heavyweights for the next several years.

Fights to Watch:

2002-12-07 | W-TKO 10 – Jameel McCline
- Standing at 39-1 and still somewhat raw, Klitschko pounds out McCline and has been undefeated for 4 years.
2003-03-08 | L-TKO 2 – Corrie Sanders
- Sanders shocks Wladimir and the rest of the world, as he bursts onto the scene as a 40-1 underdog and scores the stunner inside of 2 rounds.
2005-09-24 | W-UD 12 – Sam Peter
- This is the fight where Wladimir turned the corner on his entire career. Edgy fight.
2006-04-22 | W-TKO 7 – Chris Byrd
- A rematch against Byrd, where Wladimir absolutely tattoos a very talented but outsized fighter.
2011-07-02 | W-UD 12 – David Haye
- A showcase fight on the largest stage.
2017-04-29 | L-TKO 11 – Anthony Joshua
- A passing of the torch, but Joshua has to forcefully take it.

Final Record: 64-5-0
BoxRec All-Time Ranking: #6 HW | #16 P4P

Video: Floyd Mayweather’s Upbringing

Posted on August 2, 2017 by Heather

Most fans know Floyd Mayweather Jr as ‘Money’ Mayweather: a brash and arrogant superstar athlete who likes to flaunt his undefeated record and his immense earnings. Here’s a short video showing Floyd’s humble roots, a side that many MMA fans may not be familiar with. Keep Reading

Heather

MMA & Boxing Author | Business Development Consultant
I have been a fan and avid viewer of all combat sports for decades. As a teenager I practiced Judo, this is what eventually piqued my interest in Mixed Martial Arts. I have been a spectator of the UFC since 2001. For 25 years I’ve worked in healthcare, and now am trying to make something that was a hobby, into a full-time endeavor.

www.fightmatrix.com

Mayweather or McGregor – can McGregor defy the odds?

Posted on July 27, 2017 by A. J. Riot

The worlds of MMA and boxing have both been lit up at the prospect of the upcoming fight between Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, as it features two fighters of genuine distinction in their respective sports. There has been an awful lot of talk about the fight, with much of it coming from the two fighters themselves, who have indulged in some seriously entertaining trash talking on social media sites over the past few months, but it will soon be time for the talking to end and the fighting to get underway. With just a month left until the fight takes place, can Conor McGregor spring one of the biggest upsets in boxing history?

Given the degree of excitement that there is about this fight it can be easy to forget how much of an underdog McGregor is going into it. Very few boxing fans or pundits give him any chance of winning, given that he is coming up against a vastly experienced boxer who has a professional record of 49 wins from 49 matches. Of course, McGregor’s record in the MMA is pretty good too as he has claimed 21 wins – 18 of them knockouts. Thus he clearly has talent, with his style based on hard counterpunches, and he also has a definite age advantage over Mayweather. Irishman McGregor is 28, making him more than a decade younger than 40-year-old Mayweather – who has emerged from a two-year retirement for this fight. McGregor’s approach is likely to be relying on taking his fancied opponent by surprise with this tactic and exploiting any early rustiness that Mayweather displays, but it is hard to see this being quite enough for him to emerge as the winner.

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Video: Mayweather’s top 15 greatest knockouts

Posted on July 22, 2017 by Heather

https://youtu.be/QGcwFgvGBrU

Heather

www.fightmatrix.com

Highlights: Floyd Mayweather’s boxing clinic vs. Andre Berto

Posted on November 30, 2015 by EXjeonjiYubin

Even though it’s a couple months old… better late than never. Here’s some of the best moments from Mayweather vs. Berto:

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Mayweather / Pacquiao: The Big Fight

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Jason

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again — UFC puts on better cards overall, but nothing beats a big boxing match and that’s what we’ve got this weekend.

Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is being universally lauded as one of the top 10 most anticipated fights ever in a sport whose history dates back to the 1800’s. That’s pretty impressive. Even if you’re not a big boxing fan and even if you don’t want to spend $100, you should find a way to watch this fight. Hell, Dana White weaseled his way in for free, working as an analyst for Yahoo Sports… surely you can find a way to watch it for free, or on the cheap!

Now, onto the fight itself…

In my honest opinion, Mayweather is farther removed from his prime than Pacquiao. Let us not forget, Mayweather is 38 years old. Five years ago, a time in which everyone is saying this fight should’ve been made, I would’ve had no qualms predicting a Mayweather beatdown of Pacquiao. Now, I’m not so sure. I don’t think Mayweather can outclass Pacquiao badly enough to win dominantly. I don’t think he’s got the legs to win enough rounds to make the judges inconsequential and I don’t think he’s going to commit to enough of an offensive attack to have a shot at putting Pacquiao out, who interestingly enough, has one of the better defenses in the sport — so says, CompuBox. Pacquiao will likely have a superior gameplan and we know he’s a dynamo on offense.

So, what you’ve probably got is a Mayweather who sits back and gets outworked in too many rounds, certainly enough to make it close enough for a judge or two to side for the other guy. I think that’s what happens here. I think boxing is one of the most corrupt sports on Earth and if Mayweather wins, we probably get no rematch. That doesn’t mean a draw is out of the question, but draws tend to piss people off — so here it is, I pick Pacquiao by split decision in a fight where I’ll see Mayweather winning 7 rounds to 5.

What say you?

An Organized Scheme to Beat a Rating System?

Posted on November 7, 2013 by Jason

Let’s face it, no rating system or ranking list is perfect, not even the one used here at Fight Matrix. There are varying perspectives, varying protocols and complex calculations (well, at least here) at play.

Where the media lists and personal lists suffer, which is in the realm of lacking knowledge and bias — we excel. Where they excel, which is in the realm of “common sense”, we are subject to suffer. I say “subject to”, because a good software-based rating system depends on norms and works to eliminate outliers through scenario-based handling. Though, sometimes even this ounce of prevention fails.

Today, we veer off from MMA, into the world of boxing. Folks, I introduce you to Ali Raymi.

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Total Pro Bouts: Boxing vs. MMA — Has MMA Peaked Globally?

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Jason

Boxing totals from BoxRec.

The totals are likely a little light due to missing bouts, but the trend is what is of importance. Has MMA peaked? Is boxing REALLY dying?

Quantity only means so much, but it is extremely important in the development of new talent.

Pacquiao/DLH not meant to be. 30% not enough for Manny.

Posted on August 13, 2008 by Jason

They agreed on weight (147) and the glove size (8 oz), but could not come together on the money. Oscar offered a 70-30 split, while Pacquiao wouldn’t take less than 40%.

The fact of the matter is, people pay to see De La Hoya. In his match-up with Mayweather, the combined purse was just over $75 million, with Mayweather receiving approximately 1/3rd of the total amount.

De La Hoya’s draw is in my opinion, finally beginning to wain, but this will likely be his final bout. And although Pacquiao’s popularity is apparent in the western and southwestern areas of the United States, the pay-per-view amount would likely not reach the 2.4 million buys that De La Hoya and Mayweather did. Still, it was probably a safe bet that it would challenge 1.5 million buys, which would still net Pacquiao well over $15 million at 30% of the share.

At that kind of money, what’s 10%? Realistically, Pacquiao could not earn anywhere close to that fighting someone else (excluding Hatton in England). My bet, is that Pacquiao and his team were overly concerned with the height and reach advantages held by De La Hoya.

De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao – Not as ridiculous as it seems.

Posted on August 7, 2008 by Jason

De La Hoya plans to call it a career after a December bout, one where an opponent has not yet been finalized. However, as it stands now, all signs point to a Welterweight showdown with boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighter, Manny Pacquiao. At first glance, you’d think that the boxing world would take kindly to one of the generation’s best still near his prime facing the top fighter in the sport. After all, it did when De La Hoya fought Mayweather just over a year ago.

However, a tremendous amount of boxing fans are taking offense to this potential match-up, one that has an outside shot to break all boxing pay-per-view records.

Why? Most fans argue that Pacquiao is too small for the “Golden Boy”, but I beg to differ. Yes, De La Hoya will have a distinct size advantage, but its nothing that we haven’t seen before.

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Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Calzaghe

Posted on April 21, 2008 by Jason

Back Story

Those of you who watched this bout may not have been thrilled by it, unless you understood and appreciated the historical significance. The bout featured two future hall-of-famers who are universally recognized champions, squaring off in a bout for all of the marbles at light heavyweight.

Bernard Hopkins, 43, the former universally recognized middleweight (160) champion, enters the bout as the universally recognized light heavyweight (175) champion and as one of the top 5 boxers in the world. After holding world titles in the Middleweight division for more then a decade, dispatching of all comers, including fellow hall-of-famers Oscar De La Hoya, and Felix Trinidad, he was written off after losing two questionable decisions against Jermain Taylor in 2005.
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Talk about never say die….

Posted on February 20, 2008 by Jason

A recent question from a BoxRec forum poster put me on the hunt to find out which boxer had the largest amount of consecutive losses before winning a bout.

Believe it or not, a boxer named Frankie Hines lost 51 consecutive bouts before winning again. The streak spanned over 7 years (Dec 1993 – Mar 2001). He won twice more after this, and retired with a record of 17-120-5. Boxers, Frank Wuestenberghs, and Arv Mittoo, receive the silver and bronze, with streaks of 49, and 46, respectively.

Boxing Stats – Reach Matters

Posted on January 18, 2008 by Jason

Its been a while since I’ve posted about boxing, but just recently, I did an analysis based on reach measurements. I researched all the way back to the beginnings of boxing, to determine whether or not the boxer with the longer reach won much more often.

I discovered that a boxer with any reach advantage at all won 57.1% of the time (excluding draws). At two inches or more, this went up to 58.4%. It progressively increased all the way up to 64.6% at 8 inches or more. At 10 inches or more, the number actually dropped, but I attribute this to the small subset, and because some “freak” match-ups may contaminate the results.

Some say its not the size that matters, but these results suggest more than a negligible difference. They suggest size DOES matter. You might’ve suspected such results with regards to height, but did you expect it with regards to reach alone?