Boxing 20/4 (Crawford v Khan, Allen v Browne, Garcia v Granados)

Morrison J

Always had a soft spot for Khan. Always game and always very entertaining, but just can't see him getting the job done tonight. Crawford often a slow starter so could see Khan starting well but just think Crawford is too sharp and accurate of a counter puncher. Eventually he'll catch Khan and he's an elite finisher so that'll be all she wrote.

Undercard at MSG is very good too. Shakur Stevenson in a big step up. Lopez, the best prospect in boxing imo also in a big step up. Verdejo in a tough fight too.

Think Browne might upset Allen. Could be a fun action fight or could turn into an ugly hugging match. More than likely the latter after both gas out by midway. Terrible headliner for a Sky show really.

Garcia to outpoint Granados in a 116-112 type of fight.

Running orders tonight

Sky Sports from 7pm
Benn-Zahradnik
Cordina-Townend
Kelly-Runowski
Chisora-Gashi
Allen-Browne

BT Sport Box Office from 2am (coverage starts 11.30pm)
Verdejo-Vasquez
Stevenson-Diaz
Lopez-Tatli
Crawford-Khan

ITV4 from 3.30am (coverage starts at 1am)
Ruiz-Dimitrenko
Figueroa-Parejo
Garcia-Granados

jeremyj1968

First shock of the night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoDxT_lCMz4

megadodge

Cordina looked quite impressive there.

With his amateur pedigree he could go a long way.

jeremyj1968

Does anybody know what time the Dave Allen fight is on at?

Morrison J

Kelly is all style over substance. Nowhere near as slick as he thinks. Can't wait till he fights someone who fights back.

normanoffside

Kelly's opponent only has 3 KOs in 17 wins

normanoffside

Morrison J wrote: »

Kelly is all style over substance. Nowhere near as slick as he thinks. Can't wait till he fights someone who fights back.

He's gonna get sparked by a puncher.

megadodge

Kelly's offense is fine, when he decides to use it, but his defense is careless.
I know he's showboating against a non-puncher, but the leaning back from the waist is just asking for trouble.

Morrison J

normanoffside wrote: »

He's gonna get sparked by a puncher.

Yep. Someone like Danny Garcia would ruin him.

megadodge

I suspect, like Hamed, he actually has a good chin, as he is very physically strong looking, but he'll end up being floored by his carelessness.

megadodge

Morrison J wrote: »

Yep. Someone like Danny Garcia would ruin him.

That's actually a good call.

Angliru

Kelly's lucky he dodged the Avanesyan fight, he'd have got clung

brendanwalsh

When is chisora ring walk

Morrison J

brendanwalsh wrote: »

When is chisora ring walk

On next.

Morrison J

Shades of Luis Ortiz v Malik Scott here.

Angliru

Chisora is dog ****. If Gashi wasn't so negative he could have won this fight.

normanoffside

https://twitter.com/RealCFrampton/status/1119716055524552706

SHOVELLER

Weigh in yesterday was a good insight into the background of these events. Teofimo Lopez first with his opponent then Shakur Stevenson and Diaz. This had to be done twice for some reason with Stevenson acting the maggot dancing in front of the Puerto Rican. In front of me were dozens of Diaz fans and beside our section were the Shakur camp. Lady in front shouted out "He beat up a woman". So I sincerely hope Diaz damages him later.

Andre Ward, Tim Bradley and Max Kellerman were in right in front of our section with Mark Kriegel waiting in the wings to interview after each weigh in. It all stretched out for over an hour with Bob Arum spending most of that standing on stage! Crawford's camp were right across from our section with Zab Judah. Saw Bunce there and it looks like he hasnt missed a meal since they were invented.

When Ward and Bradley were done they put on their backpacks and were replaced by the two protagonists. The Champion looked incredibly disinterested and has not got the memo that this is part of the game. A game Khan played well shaking Arum's hand twice on stage and waving to his fans. Will upload photos soon.

Hope its a good fight later and Khan gives a good account of himself as he really is up against it. But you have to respect him coming here again. He certainly doesnt avoid these challenges.

Morrison J

Shakur Stevenson starting to look a bit special. Made that step up look awful easy.

simongurnick

Lopez looked good too. Main event up next. Respect to khan for taking this but i fear for him that bud is elite.

ebbsy

That fight was going in only one direction anyway. Huge gulf in class.

simongurnick

I had a bet on khans corner throwing in the towel....hope i get paid

Morrison J

Honestly surprised that Khan just quit like that. Usually so game. Time to retire.

titan18

Was at Madison square garden tonight for this. Crowd booed he hell of of Shakur (was a poor fight) and Verdejo, but Khan and the ending really pissed them off.

Crawford Khan was a good fight til the end too. Crawford was winning well but Khan kept on throwing tbf to him.

Morrison J

I honestly think Teofimo will give Lomachenko a very good fight. He's a special fighter.

dougm1970

i dont like, as much as i do like khan, seeing the videos of interviews last night where he seems to be changing his narrative a bit, saying how he was in pain, he looked at virgil and virgil stopped it....as opposed to immediately after the fight stating clearly that he told virgil he couldnt go on, leaving virgil with no choice.

SHOVELLER

Prior to the weigh in while wandering downtown came across the Trinity Boxing Club and went in to be regaled with stories from the owner Martin Snow and his friend. Very pleasant time listening to stories about the filming of Ray Donovan there and Snow's great grandfather came from Ireland and the big poster out front explains the family history. Well worth a visit:




Later at the weigh in:

simongurnick

SHOVELLER wrote: »

Prior to the weigh in while wandering downtown came across the Trinity Boxing Club and went in to be regaled with stories from the owner Martin Snow and his friend. Very pleasant time listening to stories about the filming of Ray Donovan there and Snow's great grandfather came from Ireland and the big poster out front explains the family history. Well worth a visit:




Later at the weigh in:

Thanks for sharing man. Looks cool. Did Crawford have much support there? TV coverage mentioned thousands came over from Omaha. I used to work for a company whose HQ was from there so have been following crawford's career from pretty early on.

ebbsy

simongurnick wrote: »

I had a bet on khans corner throwing in the towel....hope i get paid

Did you ?

SHOVELLER

simongurnick wrote: »

Thanks for sharing man. Looks cool. Did Crawford have much support there? TV coverage mentioned thousands came over from Omaha. I used to work for a company whose HQ was from there so have been following crawford's career from pretty early on.

You're welcome. Yeah Crawford had a fair amount of support there as he really has put Nebraska on the map. Great to see all races supporting him too.

SHOVELLER

Had thought about going in early saturday to see Larry Fryers but that would be a very long night! Instead got there for the second round of Stevenson v Diaz. The Puerto Rican was deemed to be the biggest test of the woman beater's career so far but his one dimensional style was perfect for Stevenson as he repeatedly picked him off. His hand speed, accuracy and ability to slip punches ensured a relatively easy night.

Freddie Roach had predicted his man would easily win which speaks volumes really. UD for Stevenson but Diaz was determined, durable and never seemed hurt. So much so he dropped his hands at one point and egged on Stevenson. I had it 9-1 and the crowd was not amused either with lengthy booing during his interview. Don't care how well he does in the game as Stevenson is a piece of ****.

Next up Teofimo Lopez against Tatli from Finland. Despite the latter being a former European Champion here he felt the power of "The Takeover" early and did well to last until the fifth when a brutal right to the body signaled the end. Despite Lopez being Contender of the Year too early for the Loma talk. Anyway the ko was perfect timing too as now it was approaching midnight!

So to the main event and an english couple had arrived next to me and she is incredibly drunk! Along with others no way was I standing for Khan's anthem:





Had thought Crawford would ease into this but in the last minute of the first that right hand staggered Khan and the follow up left dropped him. Did not think Khan would survive but he got to the bell and Tyson's old adage came to mind.





Khan did well in the second and Crawford then switched stance in the third because he can! By this stage he had figured out Khan and he started with devastating shots to the body and sticking his tongue out for everyone to know that this was over. No definitive answer to what ended the fight but my initial reaction was that the doctor had asked him could he continue and he declined. Confusion reigned with the booing getting louder. Khan had 5 minutes to recover but it is evident he didn't want to know and this was the easy way out rather than get humiliated.









Overall there is a level of respect for Khan for taking this fight and the Canelo challenge but he's finished and hard to see where he goes from here. Despite his wealth he won't want to go out like this but doubt he'll be back fighting here.

First time seeing Crawford live and what is striking is how the top elite boxers like him and Loma simply make better decisions. Crawford is mean and was definitely humiliating Khan. He is so loose with those long arms and his jab is the best I have seen. His comments after show exactly what he thought of Khan.

Bob Arum made a big play after blaming Al Haymon for not trying to make the Spence fight happen. Oh Bob you master if it was only this easy! You put your marquee star on PPV when it wasn't worth it. Anyway the Spence fight has to happen as Crawford needs this on his resume which has been pretty limited so far.

All in all an anti climactic night and the result determined the humour of the crowd as the english girl started getting mouthy in her defense of Khan and I had thought she would be out before him! On the way out down the stationary escalators I looked out onto 35th street to see two big guys going at it with a crowd watching and no cops around. So the atmosphere was on a knife edge after and it was one of those nights were you felt anything could happen.

When I got to Jimmys I learned I had just missed Michael Bentt!