McCloskey v Bazan+undercard tonight

Big Ears

As most of us know Paul McCloskey is taking on his biggest test to date against former World Champion Cesar Bazan in McCloskey's first headlining role .

McCloskey has recently gained impressive wins over Tonto Tonchev and Manuel Garnica and looks to press forward towards a European title shot by besting the tough Mexican who carries decent power and a world of experience .

I fancy McCloskey to win this clearly enough , however despite Bazan being well past his best he is still very dangerous .

Unfortunately Mike Perez had to withdraw from the undercard due to injury and so did Gilbert Eastman(from his fight with Ciarán Healy) .

Neil Sinclair headlines the undercard against an apparently overmatched Spaniard . Sinclair's best days are behind him and one has to wonder why he is still continuing with the sport . He still has the power from before and the class but the reflexes and speed he used to rely on are gone and considering his chin is quite iffy it's only a matter of time before he is stopped again when he steps up in level .

Andrew Murray gets a run out again after last week and will be looking to probably stop his Latvian opponent in a fight you really can't see him being tested in .


Ciaran Healy rematches Pavel Lotah , possibly an example that these mismatches aren't always the mismatches they seem as the 1-3-0 Lotah(0-3-0 at the time) got the better of Healy on points last time and will be looking for a repeat performance .
Healy should get the better of Lotah this time if he has prepared right and is focused , if he hasn't we will probably see the same happen as last time .

20 year old Super-Bantamweight Luke Wilton makes his debut tonight and Damian Taggert is in his second pro bout with a 3rd slated for 2 weeks time in Mayo .


Not the strongest of cards we've seen on RTÉ but it's good that we are seeing cards spread throughout the country with Letterkenny's RTE debut tonight . It still should be quite enjoyable , McCloskey is good to watch and Sinclair is normally in good fights too .

Hopefully one of the two young prospects on the undercard can offer us something decent too .

Coverage starts at 21:00 on RTE 2 and as always will be streamed on RTE.ie

ODD-JOB

Brilliant , thanks.
I didnt realise it was been aired on the rte !

You're a big fan of Mc Closkey big ears !! would I be right ?

Big Ears

ODD-JOB wrote: »

Brilliant , thanks.
I didnt realise it was been aired on the rte !

You're a big fan of Mc Closkey big ears !! would I be right ?

I'm a fan but I wouldn't say big fan . In truth his flaws are just too glaring for me to ignore them .

He doesn't hit that hard , his chin is slightly questionable(okay he hasn't been reeling around the ring after being hit against anyone but trust me on this) and against quicker fighters his hands down reflex style that makes him avoid punch after punch will cause him to take punch after punch .

With that said he is very classy and definitely good enough to pick up a European title and possibly a World title .

I can't see him ever being ready for a Witter or a Hatton and I'd have to give Malignaggi and Torres a big edge over him(whenever he is ready for that level that is) but he could possibly beat Kotelnik and mix it around that level .

Lynes is a very good fighter though and with that jab McCloskey isn't guarenteed to beat him either .

Basically McCloskey's a very good fighter who could achieve quite big things(but never go to the very top) or he could achieve nothing .
It's hard to tell but it'll be interesting to find out along the way .

The Artist

Paul McCloskey (141.5 lbs) V Cesar Bazan (141.25 lbs)

Neil Sinclair (150.5 lbs) V Juan Martinez Bas (151.25 lbs)

Andrew Murray (139.25 lbs) V Juris Ivanovs (140.25 lbs)

Ciaran Healy (158.25 lbs) V Pavel Lotah (158.25 lbs)

Damian Taggart (149 lbs) V Janis Chernouskis (149 lbs)

Luke Wilton (120 lbs) V István Ajtai (120.25 lbs)

Live coverage of the Hunky Dorys Fight Night begins on RTÉ TWO at 9pm on Saturday.

My prediction is to win as follows
1.Cesar Bazan
2.Neil Sinclair
3.Andrew Murray
4.Pavel Lotah
5.Damian Taggart
6.István Ajtai

ODD-JOB

ODD-JOB wrote: »

You're a big fan of Mc Closkey big ears !! would I be right ?

Big-Ears: He doesn't hit that hard , his chin is slightly questionable(okay he hasn't been reeling around the ring after being hit against anyone but trust me on this) and against quicker fighters his hands down reflex style that makes him avoid punch after punch will cause him to take punch after punch .

hmmm !!!

Big Ears

ODD-JOB wrote: »

hmmm !!!

Don't get me wrong I do like the guy , and the way he goes about things in the ring . I'll be a very happy man if Paul can either stop Bazan tonight or win a shutout and look good doing so .

Oh course due to the way Irish refs score even if McCloskey does win every round he won't get it 100-90 but rather something like 98-94 .

akindoc

no sound on rte.ie

ODD-JOB

Cezar Bazan - he's not great is he ?



Mc Closkey tends to close his eyes when he launches in !

dlofnep

mcauley, mccullough... LOL

get his name right already man!

dlofnep

the commentating is embarassingly biased. they need to sort it out.

ODD-JOB

Cezar Bazan - has something wrong with his shorts.

he keeps on adjusting them every 5 seconds.

He's also "World-class" according to RTE !??!

Mc Closkey has no gaurd , at all !
Although he does move his head fast .

dlofnep

Everyone is world class to RTE, but at one point he was. He went 11 rounds with Cotto and is a former WBC champ, which doesn't come easy.

ODD-JOB

lol ! dlonep!

Cezar Bazan- was super-sluggish.


I'd like to see an opponent with speed fight Mc Closkey to get a proper idea of his grade.
Id like to see Paul fight with his hands high.

jayroyal

ODD-JOB wrote: »

lol ! dlonep!

Cezar Bazan- was super-sluggish.


I'd like to see an opponent with speed fight Mc Closkey to get a proper idea of his grade.
Id like to see Paul fight with his hands high.

I don't know if ya boxed or not but if he boxed with his hands up, his reflexes would not be half as good. Boxing with your hands down makes it so much easier to move your upper body so i guess thats why he ain't changing his reflexes are incredible.

Running Bing

akindoc wrote: »

no sound on rte.ie

Consider that a blessing in disguise. All you missed was ten rounds of Jimmy McGee talking bull**** about "McCullough" and Davey boy popping in every three minutes telling us Bazan, Mcloskey, his gran is "world class". Not a word of a lie I actually muted the telly tonight but unfortunately you lose a lot of the atmosphere....we need a special jimmy mcgee/davey boy mute.



McCloskey was good but he hits like my sister. We have a current crop of pretty talented fighters at the moment but the common denominator is they all seem to be happy to slap away for ten rounds rather than kill a fight.

McCloskey hurt Bazan on a number of occasions but he just backed off, felt he could have been more ruthless.

Once again though a pro box event that is horribly one sided in everything from the commentary to the boxing. You can understand the match ups but at the same time the prices are a piss take. I know I wouldnt pay it and am I alone in noticing a few empty seats of late?

ODD-JOB

jayroyal wrote: »

I don't know if ya boxed or not but if he boxed with his hands up, his reflexes would not be half as good. Boxing with your hands down makes it so much easier to move your upper body so i guess thats why he ain't changing his reflexes are incredible.

No i didnt ever ,
yeah he's quick alright, but when he does get hit , it will be flush.
he'll fight some guy thats equally fast and end up getting hit cleanly.

That was like watching Baldomir.

nacho libre

He is good enough to win a european title. I can't see him going much further than that. Every opponent of an Irish fighter faces seems to be world class according to Jimmy Magee and Dave Boy. I was surprised there was no comparison between McCloskey and Ali this time:pac:

sligobhoy67

davey180 wrote: »

Paul McCloskey (141.5 lbs) V Cesar Bazan (141.25 lbs)

Neil Sinclair (150.5 lbs) V Juan Martinez Bas (151.25 lbs)

Andrew Murray (139.25 lbs) V Juris Ivanovs (140.25 lbs)

Ciaran Healy (158.25 lbs) V Pavel Lotah (158.25 lbs)

Damian Taggart (149 lbs) V Janis Chernouskis (149 lbs)

Luke Wilton (120 lbs) V István Ajtai (120.25 lbs)

Live coverage of the Hunky Dorys Fight Night begins on RTÉ TWO at 9pm on Saturday.

My prediction is to win as follows
1.Cesar Bazan
2.Neil Sinclair
3.Andrew Murray
4.Pavel Lotah
5.Damian Taggart
6.István Ajtai

suppose 2 out of 6 aint bad! :eek:

Taggart KO'ed in round 1 by (1-4) Chernouskis

cowzerp

The hype is all part of making it interesting, the problem is not the hype its the who its coming from, magee does not know what he's on about, he's a fan o'k but just says the 1st thing to come to his head, not a good idea if your jimmy magee!!!

In fairness i'd like to congratulate RTE for generating an interest in irish boxing again, its always better when you know the boxers that your watching, jim rock talks a lot of sense and i'd rather listen to him during the rounds to be honest.

raven136

At least Mick Dowling to honesty to at least start to say that Bazan was awful,the commentary is terrible.It was mentioned on off the ball last week after lots of people complained about it seemingly.
Would it be better now if all these fights were a bit better matched,will the ordinary punter not get sick of seeing these type of matches and then reading in the papers abour our"great"fighters struggling in america against other nobodies?

Mcloskey looks like a poor mans Mayweather,with the hands doen and super quick reflexes.How would he rank against the best 5 or 6 in his weight.

I believe Maggee compared him to Willip Pep last night:mad:,the guy is losing it big time

walshb

McCloskey has a very odd style. Does he ever throw a text book straight punch??

He's odd. Maybe it's just me who is seeing this???

He's a nice mover, but doesn't really pack enough POP....

Sorry, I'm just not impressed with him....
Look at Murray, he is a classy fighter with
every shot in the book. Murray's opponent
was very poor. McCloskey's wasn't much better...

The Artist

sligobhoy67 wrote: »

suppose 2 out of 6 aint bad! :eek:

Taggart KO'ed in round 1 by (1-4) Chernouskis

oh dear better than none lol:o:o

menoscemo

Is it just me or is McCloskey a little flabby?
I know he is fit and genetically some guys aren't built to be 'ripped' but it seems to me that Mccloskey might have more success at a lower weight???

Big Ears

walshb wrote: »

McCloskey has a very odd style. Does he ever throw a text book straight punch??

He's odd. Maybe it's just me who is seeing this???

He's a nice mover, but doesn't really pack enough POP....

Sorry, I'm just not impressed with him....
Look at Murray, he is a classy fighter with
every shot in the book. Murray's opponent
was very poor. McCloskey's wasn't much better...

I didn't see Murray's fight but I don't think he's anywhere near the talent of McCloskey .

Murray although technically a lovely boxer seems physically weak and doesn't cope that well when backed up .

McCloskey is unothodox , that's his style . Southpaws normally are a little funny , but ones like McCloskey can be even stranger in their style .

Murray hasn't fought anywhere near the same level either so we don't really know what level he'll get to . A fight between Murray and Oisin Fagan would be interesting .

Menoscemo McCloskey is indeed quite flabby(too much for genetics , look at Juan Diaz for an in shape fighter who's genetics make his physique look unimpressive for a top pro )

I suspect Paul could make Lightweight , and would like to see him give a go at that weight . At the very least I'd like to see Peters have McCloskey fighting for some of those meaningless intercontinental/international titles because that would make sure he has to come in at 140 or under and also have him in 12 round fights(which he needs some experience in) .

walshb

I was a southpaw. It's more than just that. He's just very awkward, and I think he struggles to throw fluid natural punches. It's quite evident from what I have seen.

Naz had that style too, he threw wild swinging single shots, but rarely could he throw natural
flowing punches...

I was also going to comment on his lack of definition. If ever a guy looked
like he could shed a few KG's, it's Paul....He might have severe difficulty, but
60kg surely is an option......

jayroyal

raven136 wrote: »

At least Mick Dowling to honesty to at least start to say that Bazan was awful,the commentary is terrible.It was mentioned on off the ball last week after lots of people complained about it seemingly.
Would it be better now if all these fights were a bit better matched,will the ordinary punter not get sick of seeing these type of matches and then reading in the papers abour our"great"fighters struggling in america against other nobodies?

Mcloskey looks like a poor mans Mayweather,with the hands doen and super quick reflexes.How would he rank against the best 5 or 6 in his weight.

I believe Maggee compared him to Willip Pep last night:mad:,the guy is losing it big time

what nobodys are you talking about.

jayroyal

walshb wrote: »

McCloskey has a very odd style. Does he ever throw a text book straight punch??

He's odd. Maybe it's just me who is seeing this???

He's a nice mover, but doesn't really pack enough POP....

Sorry, I'm just not impressed with him....
Look at Murray, he is a classy fighter with
every shot in the book. Murray's opponent
was very poor. McCloskey's wasn't much better...

surprise surprise

raven136

jayroyal wrote: »

what nobodys are you talking about.

Brian Vera(record-16-1,contestant on reality tv boxing show),not highly rated and expected to pose no trouble to Lee.
Walid Smichet(17wins-4losses-3 draws),duddy struggled to beat him and in some eyes he lost the fight and he wrecked a world title chance.


Tese two were our big hopes we were lead to believe and neither lived up to the billing.Im glad that boxing is back on tv here and seems to be doing well but should the fights be as easy as saturdays before they try to make a step up a level?

walshb

jayroyal wrote: »

surprise surprise

Mate, you just are easily easily impressed. I bet if two grannies got in there and MaGee and McCauley start wailing and hyping them, you would think it was TOP notch boxing....

jayroyal

raven136 wrote: »

Brian Vera(record-16-1,contestant on reality tv boxing show),not highly rated and expected to pose no trouble to Lee.
Walid Smichet(17wins-4losses-3 draws),duddy struggled to beat him and in some eyes he lost the fight and he wrecked a world title chance.


Tese two were our big hopes we were lead to believe and neither lived up to the billing.Im glad that boxing is back on tv here and seems to be doing well but should the fights be as easy as saturdays before they try to make a step up a level?

The two lads you quoted both wanted to win the fights and are very good fights that ain't easy to win cause of that, not like mccloskey's and macklin's guys who are old washed up world champs just wanted the money. I can't see how anyone thought duddy lost anyway.

jayroyal

walshb wrote: »

Mate, you just are easily easily impressed. I bet if two grannies got in there and MaGee and McCauley start wailing and hyping them, you would think it was TOP notch boxing....

Na i wouldn't actually, i know a good fighter when i see one and McCloskey ain't too bad ok he can't punch but an defo win the european title off lynes. Pauls reflexes are simply unreal best i'v ever seen from an irish boxer, i'v never see any boxer in he stadium so hard to hit (jjnevin is closest) and i tiped him to have a great chance of qualifying for the games and he did. So i think i can judge a good fighter for myself i don't need those too plonks to hype anyone up for me.
The only thing Paul can be faulted for last night was he has no killer intence but we knew that before the fight cause he ain't got the power. I also think peters should get him to drop a weight he looks like carrying a bit .

walshb

jayroyal wrote: »

Na i wouldn't actually, i know a good fighter when i see one and McCloskey ain't too bad ok he can't punch but an defo win the european title off lynes. Pauls reflexes are simply unreal best i'v ever seen from an irish boxer, i'v never see any boxer in he stadium so hard to hit (jjnevin is closest) and i tiped him to have a great chance of qualifying for the games and he did. So i think i can judge a good fighter for myself i don't need those too plonks to hype anyone up for me.
The only thing Paul can be faulted for last night was he has no killer intence but we knew that before the fight cause he ain't got the power. I also think peters should get him to drop a weight he looks like carrying a bit .

Jay, I never said Paul was bad. He's a nice talented balanced fighter. I just can't see him going far. His style, lack of power and as you correctly mentioned, killer instinct, will not allow him go far, IMO of course. I read on the thread that a world title is a possibility. What world title??...If the standard in the world is Paul McCloskey at JW, I think we're really slacking. Put it this way, if Paul stepped in the ring with Khan tomorrow, I don't think he'd make it past RD 1 or 2......I just cannot see him being a threat to any world contender.....

raven136

walshb wrote: »

Jay, I never said Paul was bad. He's a nice talented balanced fighter. I just can't see him going far. His style, lack of power and as you correctly mentioned, killer instinct, will not allow him go far, IMO of course. I read on the thread that a world title is a possibility. What world title??...If the standard in the world is Paul McCloskey at JW, I think we're really slacking. Put it this way, if Paul stepped in the ring with Khan tomorrow, I don't think he'd make it past RD 1 or 2......I just cannot see him being a threat to any world contender.....

dude seriously you need to hook up with khan to sort out this man love thing you have going on:)

HollowMan

Walshb, how far can you see Murray going?

03mcgs0

I can see Murray getting a European title somewhere down the line, he's only 25

walshb

HollowMan wrote: »

Walshb, how far can you see Murray going?

His opponent was so so poor, making it hard to ascertain his
real potential. All I will say is that the chap has sound boxing fundamentals and throws all the shots in the book. He looks great..., but as we all know, looking great doesn't cut it on its own. Can Murray take a whack, does he have real real stamina and heart. If so, he'll do well...He's still relatively young

sligobhoy67

walshb wrote: »

His opponent was so so poor, making it hard to ascertain his
real potential. All I will say is that the chap has sound boxing fundamentals and throws all the shots in the book. He looks great..., but as we all know, looking great doesn't cut it on its own. Can Murray take a whack, does he have real real stamina and heart. If so, he'll do well...He's still relatively young

To me Murray is a classy amateur boxer but doesnt appear to have the power to making to to elite as a pro.

I am not sure what his chin is like but if its as weak as his jab then I see him getting KO'd by Fagan!!

HollowMan

We seem to be producing boxers without a big punch, I blame the High Performance system...

Young fighters are are cloned to the computer friendly style and it dilutes their style to the point that power is not a huge asset - when they hit the pro's, like Murray and Dunne, they lack a killer punch

sligobhoy67

HollowMan wrote: »

We seem to be producing boxers without a big punch, I blame the High Performance system...

Young fighters are are cloned to the computer friendly style and it dilutes their style to the point that power is not a huge asset - when they hit the pro's, like Murray and Dunne, they lack a killer punch

There may be something to that - the amateur system does reward accuracy and not necessarily power. Although it is harsh to blame the HPU.

MBC

Cant blame the High Performance as its only up and running the last 2/3 years........think Murray had even gone pro before it was introduced.

I do believe that a lot of boxers who use the aggressive style inc the killer punch leave boxing as they dont get the wins they deserve from the points system.......and only up until the last few years they wasnt really pro boxing gyms around in ireland bar belfast.........so now there is another option so hopefully the future will be brighter in terms of irish boxers with the "killer dig".

Big Ears

Wait till Sutherland turns pro , then we'll have a real puncher .

Macklin's got a pretty decent dig on him too but it's very hard to budge Campos .

HollowMan

Big Ears, when are you going to put up your updated Irish boxing rankings??

sligobhoy67

HollowMan wrote: »

Big Ears, when are you going to put up your updated Irish boxing rankings??

I'll update my one of wikipedia this weekend.

Big Ears

HollowMan wrote: »

Big Ears, when are you going to put up your updated Irish boxing rankings??

After the leaving cert.........it takes quite some time to compile rankings and that's time I don't have right now .

HollowMan

Hve you got a link to that Sligo?

sligobhoy67

HollowMan wrote: »

Hve you got a link to that Sligo?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Innisfree_Man/Irish_pound_for_pound_rankings

there you go

HollowMan

Good list Sligo

I think I would have Macklin higher...

Does McBride hold any title now?

sligobhoy67

HollowMan wrote: »

Good list Sligo

I think I would have Macklin higher...

Does McBride hold any title now?

where would ya have him and why?

Dont think McBride holds anything

HollowMan

I'd have him above Dunne on the strength of the Campos win...

Any word on who A Murray is fighting this weekend?