BoxRec

Whats with the big fuss over Alexander Alexeev?
He hasn't beaten anyone better than Macca has, he has potential but lets see him beat a world rated cruiser first.

Alexeev's a massive prospect, he could chew up Banks and spit him out early doors. He's the WBO #2. Yet the WBO have green lit Banks (WBO#1) v Mac (WBO#3). WTF is happening?

Really glad about this fight and very confident Enzo will win it. If he wins,and like I say I believe he will, he is back near the top again. Should he lose he would be in a real mess and probably wouldnt make the big time ever again. For Enzo this is a big chance and a vital fight that he has to win. He could get away with a points win, a win is a win, but a KO would be excellent as a confidence builder and would show the others in the division he has the potential to unify. Looking ahead if he did unify and Haye was to win a world HW title, Enzo would I think regain his reputation and respect which at the moment is a little tarnished after Haye did a job on him. Am I confident he can unify? not really, but I hope he can. First of all he has to focus on Jon Banks and win that one, which may not be that easy. Banks is better than his last performance showed.

Enzo will get credit for knocking a Yank out.

jomothepure wrote:Expect the Norton/Steeds winner to emerge in the rankings at some point. And some Argentinians. Positive hotbed of cruiserweight talent in Argentina. Can never go wrong with 3 or 4 from there. And a couple of Brazilians. And Ottke. That should see Enzo out.

steeds

Another craftily arranged & convenient vacant WBO title fight by Frank? I've never seen Banks, so not sure if he's the real deal...or maybe it's just his manager who's the real deal.

Thought Enzo actually showed a better chin that expected, in the Haye fight, as he took what looked to be two big punches without going over, before Haye landed the 3 or 4 bombs that finished him.

Frank needs this one, he's running out of big name fighters. No doubt he'll be heading over to Beijing next week with his wallet, for a Chinese takeaway or two.

Autobarn wrote:Alexeev's a massive prospect, he could chew up Banks and spit him out early doors. He's the WBO #2. Yet the WBO have green lit Banks (WBO#1) v Mac (WBO#3). WTF is happening?

To be blunt, both Banks and Macca have FAR better resume's than Alexeev does. That is how you earn your ratings in boxing (obvious promoter shenanigans aside).

I agree with the gist of what you're saying though: out of the three, Alexeev is the most talented.

I also see Old Bones Ian's point of view: though talented, he has beaten absolutely nobody, not even one top 30 fighter. On the other hand, Enzo has Braithwaite (top 10) and Hobson (top 20) on his ledger, whereas Banks has Castillo (top 15) and Rossitto (top 20), not to mention former champ Mayfield.

Well, he would have had a win over Jonathan Banks, but it looks like he - or his promoter - gave the title shot to Enzo. I'd like to see the up and comer get his chance, rather than Enzo getting an immediate title shot after being knocked out.

Yes i wasn't doubting Alexeev's talent, but it does seem to be a funny thing in the cruisers that the prospects lose a fight on the way up. So i'll reserve my judgement on Alexeev until he gets a ranked opponent.

Talking of cruisers, how about Ola Afolabi to be given a chance, he's beaten Norris and Fields in his last 2 fights, but needs to build on that. at 28 he has time still to get a title fight.

Autobarn--fair enough mate, I was a little surprised Enzo didn't even have to take a tune-up.

Ian--Afolabi has been mentioned as part of the next Contender series (Contender IV: the Cruiserweights). Others that have been mentioned are Godfrey, Banks himself, Tokarev, Hawk, Wilson, Nwodo, Alexander, Bell, and best of all, BJ Flores.

Nobody is signed yet, as far as I know.

Banks was crap the only time I saw him.

I hope he wins by ko.

Banks is a much better all-around fighter then he showed in his last fight. He doesn't do anything spectacularly well, he's just a solid, competent cruiserweight. He can box a bit, punch a bit, and his speed is decent. In today's boxing landscape that can be enough to be a "titleholder". I don't think the Haye knockout will have too much effect on Enzo; he too is a solid, capable all-around fighter. I think he has a slight edge in power over Banks, but Banks probably has a bit more handspeed. In a neutral site, I might give the slight edge to Banks, but in Manchester for the WBO title, Banks will have to knock out Enzo to take the belt.

Maybe they're both better than they look. I'm glad haye demolished Mac. But Mac is a capable operator and he'll beat Banks, of that I am certain.

i'm still suprised enzo isn't getting in a 10 rounder first.

he's going straight into a world title fight against an active top ten cruiserweight which is something he didn't even do when he was wbo champion (before haye).