Jordan Shimmell vs Isiah Thomas Co-Main on PBC on NBCSN

[Dennis]

Jordan Shimmell vs Isiah Thomas is the co-main event on the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) show on NBC Sports Network on Saturday, July 25, 2015 in Las Vegas.

[diddy]

Isn't Isiah a little old to be transitioning from basketball to boxing?

[Dennis]

If it was the former Piston's basketball star, yes he would be. Jordan and Isiah are both 26 years old, both grew up in Michigan and both are undefeated as pros.

[tiny_acres]

If it was the former Piston's basketball star, yes he would be. Jordan and Isiah are both 26 years old, both grew up in Michigan and both are undefeated as pros.

Isaih Thomas is a very awkward tall southpaw.No one looks good fighting him.
But he is no where near as good as Shimmell.
I predict a late ko win for Jordan.

Man I am so happy for Jordan.It looks like his career is kicking into another gear.
Can't wait for him to get a title shot.

[hurricanemitch14]

Great step up....Thomas was a very good amateur. Tall and awkward. Should be good, Jordan is gonna have to grind him down and stay out of clinches. Thomas likes to hold

[GalenBadBoyBrown]

Good match up look forward to seeing it

[Kronkpride]

This is a good match up here. Jordan may have the edge as he's been more active and his people likely put this match up together because they think they can win. But Isiah has the tools and skills to upset the applecart. And since it will be on TV for all to see, there should not be any obvious bias going on in terms of scoring rounds. If people don't get it right the public will call all involved on it. May the best man win. Jordan 55% Isiah 45%. It will be close. Good luck to both.

[Dennis]

Jordan Shimmell vs Isiah Thomas is the co-main event on the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) show on NBC Sports Network on Saturday, July 25, 2015 in Las Vegas.

I love these unbeaten prospects fighting each other...somebody's O has got to go!!

The winner moves on to bigger & better things & I give your GR homie Shimmell a slight edge since Thomas hasnt been as active as he should be as a pro. Only 14 bouts in 7 years...thats very inactive for a young prospect.

Since you are from Michigan, do you have any idea why Isiah has been so inactive as a pro? I touted him for big things as a pro & have been disappointed he hasnt stayed busier. :(

Isiah has been living and training in Florida for a number of years. I don't know why he hasn't been more active.

[Dennis]

Cross state rivals will make this a great fight for the fans.

[walter5]

I think Shimmell is a huge favorite in this fight and is going to score a late stoppage. Really good first TV fight for him. I really wish the PBC would recognize that there is in fact a value in growing a fighter's base at home and put this fight in Michigan.

[rzagza]

shimmell has decent talent but I question how high his ceiling is

[Yes We Can]

shimmell has decent talent but I question how high his ceiling is

It is a very tough and talented division, I'd hope Jordan is moving onto fights with the likes of Afolabi by early next year and really get himself in the mix.

Maybe Al can work a deal with Eddie Hearn so he can fight Bellew have a usa vs uk pbc card with brook, mitchell or burns fighting another american in a co-main.

[Dennis]

shimmell has decent talent but I question how high his ceiling is

It is a very tough and talented division, I'd hope Jordan is moving onto fights with the likes of Afolabi by early next year and really get himself in the mix.

Maybe Al can work a deal with Eddie Hearn so he can fight Bellew have a usa vs uk pbc card with brook, mitchell or burns fighting another american in a co-main.

Interesting idea.

[Dennis]

Jordan has already sparred over 190 rounds for this fight with two more sparring sessions left which will make him go well over 200 rounds.

[Dennis]

Here is a link to a TV interview of Jordan Shimmell:
http://woodtv.com/2015/07/17/hudsonvill ... -on-nbcsn/

[mpurintun]

Odds makers have Shimmell as the underdog. Not what I would have thought after reading this thread. Interesting.

[Kronkpride]

The fight was a good watch. A nice contrast in styles. The more aggressive Schimmel and the slicker and faster handed Thomas. I personally saw it 7-3 for Thomas. His defense was superb and he made Schimmel miss so many times and when Jordan did connect they were rarely flush shots. Thomas landed flush and crisp shots like crazy all fight. He had the timing down when they clashed and he owned that aspect of the fight. The rounds were fairly close though and now that the judges read their cards they had it as wide or wider than I did. But it could have been shrunk a bit...6-4 was the best I could see Schimmel getting here. In no way could I have saw a draw or a Thomas loss. The judges got it right and both guys showed well for themselves. A loss here for Schimmel against another top undefeated prospect is not the end of the world. These kind of fights are great for boxing. And I'm sure both guys learned a lot from this fight.

As for Thomas ....heck of a job considering how inactive he has been. His stamina was there the same at the end as the beginning but you can see he can get into better shape than he is and that he needs to turn up his volume a little bit going forward. His ceiling is higher than he showed tonight and he fought at a pretty high level tonight. The precision on his offense and defense was just phenomenal. If he can package his tools with a higher workrate he can most certainly become a world champion.

As for Schimmel ....tough guy and good effort. But he can improve on his technique and strategy. He came forward too much this fight and he did not adjust from doing it all night. He let himself get tied up so many times because he kept coming in all the way to chest to chest. More patience in those situations and he gets more exchanges or forces Thomas to come in to him. As it was Thomas was able to pot shot him with the crisper and cleaner punches and then quickly tie him up and get the breaks. That was part of the reason why the fight did not also have more action. If Schimmel kept a bit better distance coming in they each wind up throwing a lot more punches...which would have been good for him. But this is one night and there is nothing glaringly wrong that he can not improve on. There is no shame in how this fight went. It was a good honest effort that just came up a bit short.

[diddy]

Neither guy is going far.

[armageto]

I see the chance for upside in Thomas. If he becomes more active and gets a little more aggressive in the amount of punches he throws, he could easily be a top 10 guy in the division. I did expect more from him last night, but career inactivity might have played a role.

I'm only basing it off last night, the only fight I've seen from him, but I don't see the upside in Shimmell. He looked very basic in there. I expected more when you look at his total AM's/pro amount of fights. He looks like he will be a solid mid range guy, giving some upcoming fighters guys, but I don't see him as top 10 material.

[tiny_acres]

I see the chance for upside in Thomas. If he becomes more active and gets a little more aggressive in the amount of punches he throws, he could easily be a top 10 guy in the division. I did expect more from him last night, but career inactivity might have played a role.

I'm only basing it off last night, the only fight I've seen from him, but I don't see the upside in Shimmell. He looked very basic in there. I expected more when you look at his total AM's/pro amount of fights. He looks like he will be a solid mid range guy, giving some upcoming fighters guys, but I don't see him as top 10 material.

I don't know what happened to Jordan last night.He has looked much better in the past.
I do not know if it was just being up against a better opponent or if he had an issue like over training.
But I do know he has never looked worse.
I still have big hopes for the guy.I like him.But it is back to the drawing board for him.

[GalenBadBoyBrown]

Watched the fight and my honest opinion is Jordan didn't look as good as I have seen him look before or even when I fought him he needs to for sure go back to the drawing board and watch the tape over and over he looked like he couldn't find his range so when he through punchs he would be in to close to follow up interesting fight and Isiah looked pretty good all around really had a style that will give lots of fighters problems best luck to both fighters in future

[Blodhemn]

Does this mean BJ is the highest rated American cruiserweight? Damnit, Jordan.

[Kronkpride]

The Shumenov Flores fight was also a real good watch. I have to agree with Sugar Ray on the whole match and disagree with BJ. Shumenov moved but he also fought. When he was both moving and attacking, BJ couldn't do shit but get cracked on and not be able to respond. Shumenov thoroughly schooled him in the second half of the fight and BJ nor David Haye had a clue of what they were talking about.

Shumenov is now going to get a title shot. But after last night the winners and losers would have made an excellent card with the deck shuffled. Shumenov's skill set vs Thomas would be a very good match. Shumenov being able to come forward and move away like he did last night is a huge asset for him. Though I think he'd be spending most of the night as the aggressor against Thomas. If that's not working though he can change gears and directions. From switch hitting to being able to brawl and box, he's got all the skills I would like to see Thomas go against. But that won't happen. At least not anytime soon.

Flores vs Schimmel would be a good fight. As BJ said, he needs a dance partner who will not box his ears off to put on a show. Schimmel is that type of guy. And Flores is also the type of dance partner Schimmel needed. I think it would be a very entertaining slug fest. And since they are both coming off a loss now, this fight should be made. It gives each guy a new opportunity to showcase what they can do against an opponent built for that showcase. It would make a good Co Main. And we know this much for sure about this fight. BJ would not end up looking like a fool when his corner tells him he needs to cut the ring off....HOW? Hahaha. That was the funniest line of the night. He should have stopped chasing rounds earlier than that and goaded Shumenov to come to him. If you can't beat him when he is going away join him and stop chasing. Stay ring center and wave him in. Shumenov is a fighter with heart and balls. BJ could have cut him off by stopping the futile chase. And Shumenov would have come to him. BJ acted like it was Shumenov who made it a fight with him going away almost all night. It was BJ who made that fight go that way. Since neither of the losing guys showed they could adapt last night, and together they would not have to adapt, and would make a very entertaining fight, PBC should sign em up.

[Tanzio]

Congrats to Thomas

[jujigatame]

Does this mean BJ is the highest rated American cruiserweight? Damnit, Jordan.

The BoxRec top 3 US CWs are:

1. BJ Flores
2. Roy Jones
3. Michael Hunter

Is Hunter any good?