Mezaache knocked out in 8

[Autobarn]

you'll all remember anthony mezaache. almost stopped by thaxton, but spat out the mouthpiece, robbing thaxton of 1st round KO and then beating thaxton in an exciting 12 rounder.

he made something of his career, winning a revenge match with andrei kudriavtsev in another gruelling EBU title fight, but it seemed as though he was on borrowed time.

he avoided a john murray fight which would have been a) a solid european title fight and b) a showtime date on american soil.

can't say i'm sorry that the frenchman got stopped by a journeyman from equador, carlos vinon, last night.

[Dioufy]

I don't know why anyone would be surprised with this. Thaxton made him look brilliant, when in truth, all Mezaache was was a semi-decent brawler. He didn't have much power, much speed and looked a little chinny when he got him. Thaxton's half-cuffing shot had him in dreamland, if I remember correctly. And if Mezaache hadn't 'cheated' then I'm certain that it would've been a KO1 victory in favour of Johnno.

It's just a damn shame Murray never got to fight him.

[Adamj1987]

oh well

[Autobarn]

I don't know why anyone would be surprised with this. Thaxton made him look brilliant, when in truth, all Mezaache was was a semi-decent brawler. He didn't have much power, much speed and looked a little chinny when he got him. Thaxton's half-cuffing shot had him in dreamland, if I remember correctly. And if Mezaache hadn't 'cheated' then I'm certain that it would've been a KO1 victory in favour of Johnno.

It's just a damn shame Murray never got to fight him.

mezaache is quite fast and slick and awkward. those are the qualities i've seen in him. maybe he was ruined by those 2 hard european title fights, vs thaxton and kudriavtsev.

[Dioufy]

I don't know why anyone would be surprised with this. Thaxton made him look brilliant, when in truth, all Mezaache was was a semi-decent brawler. He didn't have much power, much speed and looked a little chinny when he got him. Thaxton's half-cuffing shot had him in dreamland, if I remember correctly. And if Mezaache hadn't 'cheated' then I'm certain that it would've been a KO1 victory in favour of Johnno.

It's just a damn shame Murray never got to fight him.

mezaache is quite fast and slick and awkward. those are the qualities i've seen in him. maybe he was ruined by those 2 hard european title fights, vs thaxton and kudriavtsev.

I feel you're looking on Mezaache quite favourably. I only saw the Thaxton fight, so perhaps I haven't seen what you've seen in him, but what I have seen, I wasn't overly impressed with. He beat Thaxton to the punch - that's literally all, and we all know Johnno was shot to pieces.

A poor man's Paulie Malignaggi, IMO.

[Autobarn]

thaxton was slowing down, but was not shot to pieces.

mezaache boxed and fought quite well vs kudriavtsev.

i wonder if this guy who stopped mezaache would be worth fighting, for someone like murray. then again i'd rather see murray vs john molina or jason litzau.

[Adamj1987]

thaxton was slowing down, but was not shot to pieces.

mezaache boxed and fought quite well vs kudriavtsev.

i wonder if this guy who stopped mezaache would be worth fighting, for someone like murray. then again i'd rather see murray vs john molina or jason litzau.

i want litzau to retire he sounds like hes sluring when he talks

[Dioufy]

Thaxton made Romanov look amazing. And Melero, for everything that was said about him before the Thaxton fight, simply didn't do anything apart from hit the canvas. To me, Johnno was gone. I saw signs in the Romanov fight, and the Mezaache proved it to me.

[Autobarn]

well he'd won the european title, a big achievement for him, and nearly defended it with a 1st round KO. so he can't have been that shot, despite wear and tear, and despite his flaws.

[doctor]

too many ppl make excuses for thaxton this french guy was a former kickboxer who was not a real boxer a journeyman of thaxtons experience should have had a easy time with him but he was shown up for his worth

[Dioufy]

well he'd won the european title, a big achievement for him, and nearly defended it with a 1st round KO. so he can't have been that shot, despite wear and tear, and despite his flaws.

On paper, that win was awesome, but deep deep deep down, we all know Melero just turned up looking half-injured and only half-bothered. And Thaxton nearly getting a KO1 over Mezaache with a cuffing shot shows how limited and how vunerable Mezaache was, IMO. He showed immense heart and decent enough skills, but sadly that isn't enough to cut it at the really top level. Murray, I think, woud've knocked Mezaache out very early.

Like I say, a poor man's Paulie M without the chops.

[Autobarn]

or maybe showed thaxton's power on the european lightweight scene.

i don't like this, trying to knock down thaxton's achievements.

ppl say about thaxton making romanov look great, but melero - whom thaxton walked through - made romanov look terrible.

[Dioufy]

or maybe showed thaxton's power on the european lightweight scene.

Or, of course, you can have this view instead of mine. I actually find it saddening that you think I would irrationally knock Johnno's achievement of winning that belt. All I'm saying, and IMO fairly so, is that Melero wasn't the same fighter the night he got sparked against Thaxton as the one who put Romanov over. Firstly, it seemed to me that he couldn't put weight on his knee, and secondly, I can't remember him throwing a right-hook with anything behind it. He was tentative, and you could see that when the big gimp from ITV tried to interview him when he was getting his hands wrapped. I put money of Melero at 5/6 and I remember, as a lot of folk, that I was immensely disappointed with Melero, and there's probably a major reason why he hasn't fought again since. He got Melero at the perfect time, and beat a half-hearted fighter for a brilliant belt.

[Dioufy]

Also, Thaxton always looked good for the first two rounds, like against Glover and even Murray. It's when it went past three or four rounds, he was a marked man. His legs were gone and he was blowing out of his arse after not much work. So, if he didn't get you early, he didn't get you at all.

And he happened to get Melero early.