Zappavigna v St Clair in feb

[Anenigma]

firstly i'll start with duran and lenny .lenny at this point is obviously not as good as duran yet .but the aggressive come in and land good power shots are there and with that pacman sparring he will have a lot of motivation .he's on his way up .gairy st clair is on his way out.
now as far as olympic silver medalists boxing rings around people what about my friend alex tui a good kickboxer but a journeyman boxer not even aust champ knocking out spike cheney in all fairness cheney won a rematch due to cut eye stoppage but was never the same again
now nathan briggs and michael kirby i'll let the people decide who won that eight round contest i'ts on you tube michael was never hurt and never held on .but briggsy was hurt on several occasions and held on through out the fight michael was sick and did tier a bit in the last round but he at least won five rounds or a draw would have been fair.

Lenny sparred Pacman about a year ago Mong, and although a great Aussie prospects he still needs some questions answered which will happen next year.
Nathan Briggs won the last fight with Kirby in the last round I think they call that the championship round where champions prevail.
There was a lot of drama around that fight for Briggs his brother took over 1 week out and I know he has a burning desire to smash Kirby which will come within 5 rds of there next fight.

[davidk59]

that's why we are here in the forum to ask and debate but you will have your for answer when lenny and gary meet just how good lenny has become.
now michael had problems too as i stated he was sick with the flu thats why he tied in the last round but winning 1 2 or even 3 rounds doesn't win an eight round fight.
as far as championship rounds leapai looked more tied at the end of twelve rounds than what michael did but i still believe he deserved the nod.

[toppity]

many good fighters have prevailed via power alone. But some have been found out due to their inability to adapt. I've said it several times.....I thing Lenny has many of the attributes to be an axcellent fighter, but if he continues to keep his left too low he will eventually be found out. I also hope he finds/has trainers and managers that have the ability to launch him onto the world stage. It takes many more things than power alone to make it in the big time.

[Sweet P]

firstly i'll start with duran and lenny .lenny at this point is obviously not as good as duran yet .but the aggressive come in and land good power shots are there and with that pacman sparring he will have a lot of motivation .he's on his way up .gairy st clair is on his way out.
now as far as olympic silver medalists boxing rings around people what about my friend alex tui a good kickboxer but a journeyman boxer not even aust champ knocking out spike cheney in all fairness cheney won a rematch due to cut eye stoppage but was never the same again
now nathan briggs and michael kirby i'll let the people decide who won that eight round contest i'ts on you tube michael was never hurt and never held on .but briggsy was hurt on several occasions and held on through out the fight michael was sick and did tier a bit in the last round but he at least won five rounds or a draw would have been fair.

I agree with you on a few points David.

I cant see the comparison between Roberto and Duran though. Khan is a good boxer and although he has been KOd he would be a hard task for Lenny. The reach and height advantage would be hard to nulify and although Browne was also tall he didnt have the pop to keep Lenny off him.

I agree with you about StClair, Ive never been impressed by him as he seems lazy in a lot of fights. His chin and defence is good, Skills decent but far from World class. The first time i seen him live he was fighting in Perth against James Swan, It was a draw althouygh i thought Gairy took the fight he looked far from impressive.

Micheal is a good honest fighter and it will be good to see him in again with Briggs. Good luck to him if the fight goes ahead.

[Hounddawg]

firstly i'll start with duran and lenny .lenny at this point is obviously not as good as duran yet .but the aggressive come in and land good power shots are there and with that pacman sparring he will have a lot of motivation .he's on his way up .gairy st clair is on his way out.
now as far as olympic silver medalists boxing rings around people what about my friend alex tui a good kickboxer but a journeyman boxer not even aust champ knocking out spike cheney in all fairness cheney won a rematch due to cut eye stoppage but was never the same again
now nathan briggs and michael kirby i'll let the people decide who won that eight round contest i'ts on you tube michael was never hurt and never held on .but briggsy was hurt on several occasions and held on through out the fight michael was sick and did tier a bit in the last round but he at least won five rounds or a draw would have been fair.

I agree with you on a few pionts David.

I cant see the comparison between Lenny and Zappa though. Khan is a good boxer and although he has been KOd he would be a hard task for Lenny. The reach and height advantage would be hard to nulify and although Browne was also tall he didnt have the pop to keep Lenny off him.

I agree with you about StClair, Ive never been impressed by him as he seems lazy in a lot of fights. His chin and defence is good, Skills decent but far from World class. The first time i seen him live he was fighting in Perth against James Swan, It was a draw althouygh i thought Gairy took the fight he looked far from impressive.

Micheal is a good honest fighter and it will be good to see him in again with Briggs. Good luck to him if the fight goes ahead.

Yeah two totally different people and fighters. LOL

[davidk59]

the good thing is ben k is starting to see the light even if he got confused about the names

[Sweet P]

I fixed it

[Brute]

St Clair is 33 and has lost 5 of his last 8 fights.

To me, that suggests a boxer in decline. Zappavigna is on the way up.

[Hounddawg]

I think Lenny will win this comfortably. Too strong, not enough power from St clair to keep Lenny off or to trouble him.

[davidk59]

agreed i also would like lenny to spar a few rounds with kostya to also bring his skills up.to prepare him for future fights as kostya is around the same height he can teach him to get in and out against taller opposition and stay balanced.

[coneye]

Duran one off the biggest names in boxing in the last 50 years a true legend----Lenny Zappavigna at the moment not even sure if he's the best in Australia , get off the weed makes you sound stupid

[davidk59]

i know it's a big call but i had to throw a name out there so he can look at a very successful aggressive lightweight that doesn't care if your an olympic gold medalist in the welterweight division he can still find a way to keep the pressure on you and i seen something in lenny that maybe no one else might see .
ps duran is the best lightweight in the history of the division not 50 years.

[davidk59]

what other world champ did you want me to say maybe gairy st clair

[davidk59]

besides anenigma stated that i have no idea i know nothing because charging forward ,even if it shuts your opponent down that the opponent thinks that your going to zig when you zag is not skillful and has no place in the sweet science .

[AntonS]

heres some news from sportsnut

Former Manny Pacquiao sparring partner turned raging hot Aussie prospect Lenny Zappavigna is set for the biggest challenge of his career – a fight with former IBF super featherweight world champion Gairy St Clair in February.
The 21-year-old slugger is unbeaten in 17 fights with 13 KOs and coming off a sixth-round stoppage of two-time world title challenger Tommy Browne who had fought In Jin Chi and Chris John in featherweight title fights.
Zappavigna who has made a habit of stopping Filipinos, perfected his skills with six weeks sparring against the world’s top fighter Manny Pacquiao as The Pac Man prepared to face Jorge Solis in San Antonio, Texas last year.

He is a 2006 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist.
The 33-year-old St Clair beat Cassius Baloyi for the IBF junior-lightweight title in 2006.
Losses to Baloyi in a rematch and to Amir Khan, William Kickett and Mlungisi Dlamini have been interspersed with wins against Filipinos Robert Oyan, Jun Paderna and Junmar Dulog.
St Clair was chasing a fight with Pacquiao until the loss to Khan in London.

Sportsnut is known to come up with wild ones.
"NUT" is appropriate :P

[Anenigma]

besides anenigma stated that i have no idea i know nothing because charging forward ,even if it shuts your opponent down that the opponent thinks that your going to zig when you zag is not skillful and has no place in the sweet science .

I am sorry I have been so abrasive, you have done a good job with Michael it's a shame he won't get the chance to even the ledger with Briggs.

[davidk59]

ha ha ha ha ha the only way he won't beat briggs if briggs doesn't fight him again.

[Anenigma]

ha ha ha ha ha the only way he won't beat briggs if briggs doesn't fight him again.

Ha ha ha ha read my post again.

[davidk59]

i don't want to debate about michael kirby and nathan briggs on the zappa and st clair topic because we could go all day on it and just wait and they will have their own soon then you can call me all the names under the sun.

[Hounddawg]

I watched Briggs vs Kirby on you tube last night, it was a close fight but i do think Briggs edged Kirby, very good fight, i think Kirby ran out of steam around the middle of the fifth. I think the way Kirby comes forward is effective, it worked against Mason. I think Kirby still needs a solid jab to set up his left and right hooks.

[Marlin]

many good fighters have prevailed via power alone. But some have been found out due to their inability to adapt. I've said it several times.....I thing Lenny has many of the attributes to be an axcellent fighter, but if he continues to keep his left too low he will eventually be found out. I also hope he finds/has trainers and managers that have the ability to launch him onto the world stage. It takes many more things than power alone to make it in the big time.

We are certainly on the same page when it comes to this one. At this stage it would be hard to suggest Katsidis couldn't find a home for his power shots against Zappa and that would no doubt lead to an early night... Zappa still has a way to go to be the best in Aus let alone the world.

[this bloke]

i think this could be a good clash of styles and make a really entertaining fight
and a really good guide as to where zappa is at

zappa should definitely start a short favorite, but i dont think u can completely count st clair out

[davidk59]

i don't want to sound like a st clair hater but what gets me is gairy has had good sparring with kostya as stated in kostyas book when he was training to fight shamba mitchell but it seems to me he didn't learn much
about being effective while being defensive .
eg. you can throw ten punches at gairy and you'll miss all of them but he doesn't make you pay for it.
now with kostya this is how his defence works if you throw one or two punches make sure there are good ones because if they miss you'll pay dearly because of the counters . i don't see much of this in gairys arsenal
thats why i find him to be a bit boring ..sorry maybe it's just what i see.

[toppity]

i think this could be a good clash of styles and make a really entertaining fight
and a really good guide as to where zappa is at

zappa should definitely start a short favorite, but i dont think u can completely count st clair out

I think Zappa may be Fav' but not a short Fav'. StClair is a not too distant ex-World Champ. As you say, he should not be dismissed.