Spike the new Irish champ has arrived

[fatty79]

Fair dues to ya Spike for an excellent win & performance against Ciaran Healy Friday night.
Maybe you might finally start getting recognition now.
Keep up the hard work!
Anybody else see it?
What did ya think if so?

[slapbangwhallop]

Fair dues to ya Spike for an excellent win & performance against Ciaran Healy Friday night.
Maybe you might finally start getting recognition now.
Keep up the hard work!
Anybody else see it?
What did ya think if so?

not what I hear. If ya cant put Ciaran away then it suggests there maybe be a ceiling for Gary

[steve689]

I heard his performance was poor. I was expecting him to impress and get a big title shot but not off the back of this. Fair play to Paschal Collins for keeping the show going after flooding and sponsorship problems though.

Maybe Spike needs to fly the nest and base himself in Belfast and Dublin if he is to improve. Big fish in a small pond at the moment.

[fatty79]

no he fought well, it was his first title fight so give him some credit.
healy can be a very tough opponent when he wants & he was hungry the other night,
some of spike's body shots would have stopped many an opponent,
this experience will stand to him after all it was a huge step up in class,
but all in all spike won well...so what if he didn't finish him off..a win is a win!

[BigEars]

so what if he didn't finish him off..a win is a win!

I think the theory is that because he didn't finish him off, when Spike steps up in class it won't result in a win.
The first time I saw O'Sullivan I was impressed but as he's gone on he's looked very limited to me.
Very short of ideas on how to break a man down, very predictable(using that obvious body attack), and at times completely negates the jab.

I haven't seen this fight yet, but some are questioning Spike's power after this. I actually wouldn't question his power so much, I think he can punch. It's just a case that when your opponent knows every shot you're going to throw it's a hell of a lot easier to take those punches.
Serious work is needed if he is to progress, the fact he's not stopped Healy is a bad indication of future chances.

So in this case a win is certainly not a win.

[steve689]

The first time I saw O'Sullivan I was impressed but as he's gone on he's looked very limited to me.
Very short of ideas on how to break a man down, very predictable(using that obvious body attack), and at times completely negates the jab.

This is exactly what I think.

The first time I saw him (versus Tye Williams) he blasted his man away and looked like a destroyer. However, the next two times he came in with cagey, negative guys and he struggled badly for ideas. In Tallaght, against Denis Sirjatovs, it was crying out for him to step back and use the jab to prise his man's guard open, yet he allowed himself to get dragged into a maul and was smothered constantly.

[fatty79]

Nah fellas, i was there & thought he did well! Since when is a win not a win?
Spike's power is excellent but Healy fought above himself on the night.
If that was a non title fight Healy would have been outta there in the mid rounds no probs.
Did ye ever think maybe Spike didn't want to risk getting tagged himself so out boxed the guy.
I'm sure he'd have gone for the knock out if there wasn't so much at stake as he said before the fight in the local rag.
He is now 10 & 0 so give the man some credit.
The reporter in The Examiner also said he answered many & all questions.
Healy was a big step up in class also.
Give Spike some credit!
Who is the champ after all?
A win most certainly IS a win!

[slapbangwhallop]

Nah fellas, i was there & thought he did well! Since when is a win not a win?
Spike's power is excellent but Healy fought above himself on the night.
If that was a non title fight Healy would have been outta there in the mid rounds no probs.
Did ye ever think maybe Spike didn't want to risk getting tagged himself so out boxed the guy.
I'm sure he'd have gone for the knock out if there wasn't so much at stake as he said before the fight in the local rag.
He is now 10 & 0 so give the man some credit.
The reporter in The Examiner also said he answered many & all questions.
Healy was a big step up in class also.
Give Spike some credit!
Who is the champ after all?
A win most certainly IS a win!

Maybe Healy fought above himself, he is a very proud Irishman and I am sure winning that title would have meant a lot to him. Maybe Spike fought within himself to ensure he didn't expose himself to being taken out be a "Hail Mary" from Ciaran.

However, looking at Healys recent record, pretty much anyone that is going places has stopped him. So you can understand the questions being raised as to why Spike didn't/couldn't.

You are talking to supporters of Irish boxing and Irish boxers here - we want Spike to be a world champion if he can - but we also are realistic. One the plus side he was active this year and won all his fights - but the negative to that is that all his opponents had negative records.

A win is a win but boxing isn't a football league where you pick up three points and march on. Its much more nebulous than that and fights show signs of what a fighter is capable of for future fights. The reporter in the Examiner may have some local bias, I don't know who the reporter was but unless is was Padraig De Hora then I doubt he knows as much about boxing as most of the poster here. And if it was Podge then you have to factor into the equation that he is a big Spike fan.

Hopefully 2010 will be a big year for Spike but as outlined below if he is really serious about the business he needs to move to Belfast, Manchester, London or the US.

[ApolloCreed]

Since when is a win not a win?

Duddy v Smichet anyone?

[Podge]

Yep, I am a big Spike fan - guilty as charged.

But I sure didn't sugarcoat anyything in my report for Irish-boxing.com - I thought he laboured to a win, was way too static at times, and the fight was way too close for comfort. And I totally agree with Slapbangwhallop, people need to be at least looking to get Healy out of there if they have serious ambition. I think Spike has that ambition, but has got too comfortable at home in Cork where his supporters adore him. He looked bereft of ideas when it wasn't going his way the other night.

He needs to move away to realise any ambition to go far in the game. He is a natural athlete, superbly conditioned, but needs sparring from quality guys who will make him engage his brain and work to break them down. He gets dribs and drabs of good sparring where he is. Pity for me if he does move - he makes great copy and is very accessible to the "local rag" I write for at any time - but I'm prepared to lose good interviews on tap if it means he fulfils his enormous potential.

To be fair, manager Paschal Collins acknowledged this in the post-fight interview, saying how hard it was to get good sparring. He'll be looking to get Spike to the States in the New Year.

[slapbangwhallop]

Since when is a win not a win?

Duddy v Smichet anyone?

precisely!

[slapbangwhallop]

Yep, I am a big Spike fan - guilty as charged.

But I sure didn't sugarcoat anyything in my report for Irish-boxing.com - I thought he laboured to a win, was way too static at times, and the fight was way too close for comfort. And I totally agree with Slapbangwhallop, people need to be at least looking to get Healy out of there if they have serious ambition. I think Spike has that ambition, but has got too comfortable at home in Cork where his supporters adore him. He looked bereft of ideas when it wasn't going his way the other night.

He needs to move away to realise any ambition to go far in the game. He is a natural athlete, superbly conditioned, but needs sparring from quality guys who will make him engage his brain and work to break them down. He gets dribs and drabs of good sparring where he is. Pity for me if he does move - he makes great copy and is very accessible to the "local rag" I write for at any time - but I'm prepared to lose good interviews on tap if it means he fulfils his enormous potential.

To be fair, manager Paschal Collins acknowledged this in the post-fight interview, saying how hard it was to get good sparring. He'll be looking to get Spike to the States in the New Year.

send him over to Gallagher's gym in Manchester and I will take good care of him a chara!

[fatty79]

Slapbangwallop you made some very valid points there to be fair to ya,
I ufortunately agree that he (Spike) needs to move for better sparring,
The potential is most certainly there...just hope he gets good advice on what to do next,
So lets just all get behind him and give him whatever support he needs to help push himself further,
I myself have a theory as to what i think he needs but dont feel it right to say i here,
Its a combo of 3 or 4 things, then i think we could see his full potential.
Best of luck Spike whatever happens anyway...you're a gent.

[BigEars]

Slapbangwallop you made some very valid points there to be fair to ya,
I ufortunately agree that he (Spike) needs to move for better sparring,
The potential is most certainly there...just hope he gets good advice on what to do next,
So lets just all get behind him and give him whatever support he needs to help push himself further,
I myself have a theory as to what i think he needs but dont feel it right to say i here,
Its a combo of 3 or 4 things, then i think we could see his full potential.
Best of luck Spike whatever happens anyway...you're a gent.

I agree with that, we all want the best for Spike and although some of us may seem negative it's out of concern not hate.
Hopefully he can go to the States for a while and get himself some good sparring.