BoxRec

Johnson was making all the "I dont want a 3rd clinton fight" noises after he'd beat him and was in the middle of a decent paying triangle of fights involving Jones jr and tarver.
The good money for him is fighting woods for the IBF, johnsons hardly a seller in the US (although his popularity has increased since the fights with Tarver and Jones Jr) and I suppose in his eyes a win against woods would lead to unification bouts.

Podmore_Birmingham wrote:I cant see Clinton being KO'd by Briggs to be perfectly honest. Briggs is an overated fighter, ok he can punch a bit , but lets put it into perspecvtive Roy Jones Jr at his peak couldnt put Woods down , neither could Johnson or Gonzalez.

Briggs doesnt have proven world class power - a world class puncher and finisher would have put Drews away when he had the oppurtuinity to do so. I'd say Gonzalez is a harder and more acurate puncher than Briggs.

In my eyes, it would be a Woods win on points (vs Briggs)

Tom Podmore.

Gonzalez is nothing compared to briggs.

briggs throws his shots correctly when on balance and they thud home. he also has excellent stamina. gonzalez, who cuffs, has got to be the most overrated guy in the division. gifted vs an old michalczewski (gonzales was outjabbed despite having massive reach adv), lucky decision over Glen Johnson, shut out by Erdei & worn down / outboxed by Woods.

JG has proven he's not a top drawer fighter. and i hope to heck he isn't made Woods' next mandatory. which he might be. Briggs, whose skills & power are really coming together, looks like he can really be something

sure, Briggs lost vs Adamek, who's looking excellent. but i don't think Jack Mosley's Power Boxing did him any favors. spent too much time loading hard shots up, & not busy enough. he did whack Adamek with some huge shots that had him delirious in hospital.

Briggs has it all to prove, but he has it all ahead of him.

Woods is a big guy and it'd be hard for him to stay away from Briggs. now that Briggs seems to be throwing more punches, with Johnny Lewis, i don't know if Clinton could match him. Clinton's very solid all round now, but he could be a little outgunned.

if woods is fighting an ibf top ten sort, pre Johnson, let's hope it's Eric Harding. Harding looked fantastic against David Telesco, and let's remember this is the first man to beat tarver. a fine boxer, Harding's defensive skills and southpaw awkwardnes would make an intriguing foil to Clinton's grasp of classical boxing.

imo he beats both Harding & Johnson right now, but Briggs & Adamek are all wrong for him

i figured Johnson would see sense, that Woods is the best, most immediate chance to get back in the swing of things

Poor Woods, I'd heavily favor Adamek in this one.

If he Woods takes this, boy have I respect for this guy. Seems he doesn't shy away from any challenge. He's the inverse Calzaghe: probably less talented, but a real deal.

P

Podmore_Birmingham wrote:I cant see Clinton being KO'd by Briggs to be perfectly honest. Briggs is an overated fighter, ok he can punch a bit , but lets put it into perspecvtive Roy Jones Jr at his peak couldnt put Woods down , neither could Johnson or Gonzalez.

Briggs doesnt have proven world class power - a world class puncher and finisher would have put Drews away when he had the oppurtuinity to do so. I'd say Gonzalez is a harder and more acurate puncher than Briggs.

In my eyes, it would be a Woods win on points (vs Briggs)

Tom Podmore.

I have to disagree with you on several fronts mate...dont know if you saw the Briggs-Drews fight, but to put it into perspective for you, Briggs IS that "world class puncher and finisher" at 175...theres simply nobody better at it than Paul at lightheavyweight.

And Drews, in case youve never seen him, is a 6'5" southpaw with a huge reach advantage. He's awkward as hell, and was a legit top ten, unbeaten guy at the time when he fought Paul. Drews was tough as nails and thats the reason why he survived the fight (that and the fact that he headbutted Paul repeatedly and kneed him in the nuts).

Gonzalez, on the other hand, is not a puncher at all. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Hes a pressure fighter without a punch. Adamek, Briggs, and even Woods all have more pop in their shots than Julio does.

says on boxrec schedule that Paul Briggs is fighting David Telesco on March 5. should be a warmup for Adamek, who is supposed to be defending vs Lou del Valle. someone on the current scene forum said that an Adamek-Briggs rematch has been "signed, sealed & delivered for September"

don't think too much ofm their opponents - although telesco gave eric harding some tough moments late in their fight - but i can't wait to see Adamek & Briggs go at it again.

so it seems Woods wants Roy Jones for March, but Glen Johnson is the mandatory, whom Woods must face by June or else get stripped. Woods also said he wants Tarver, but Tarver won't make 175 again unless against a Lacy who's beaten Calzaghe. which isn't guaranteed.

Johnson's got to get by Richard Hall, in Florida, seems like there's a good Jamaican population around there.

The Johnson fight looks most realistic, imo. anyhow, Woods has to legitimise his claim to the IBF belt, as it's the one GJ gave up to fight Tarver...wonder where they'll fight this time,as Woods wants to broaden his appeal stateside

Why won't Tarver fight Johnson again... Does he really want to fight at Heavyweight - or is it just Tyson. Tyson is a mixed up individual, if you thought Michael Moorer last comeback retirment was quick (the length of a Friday night fight episode) then you should have seen Tyson on the Peter vs Hawkins PPV in the states... retired/announced a return/retired and then said the door was open in the space of a 3 minute interview.

stujones wrote:Why won't Tarver fight Johnson again... Does he really want to fight at Heavyweight - or is it just Tyson. Tyson is a mixed up individual, if you thought Michael Moorer last comeback retirment was quick (the length of a Friday night fight episode) then you should have seen Tyson on the Peter vs Hawkins PPV in the states... retired/announced a return/retired and then said the door was open in the space of a 3 minute interview.

i'd rather see Tarver get it on with the younger guns, Adamek, Briggs. But it'd be great to see Tarver finish off trilogies with Johnson and Eric Harding. seems Tarver has packed on a lot of muscle for ROCKY 7 & won't want to come down unless for big bucks -i.e. if Lacy beats Calzaghe & moves up. If Toney beats Rahman, it's expected that Tarver challenges Toney. Intriguing fight as they're from the same age group.

I remember Toney saying "If Eric Harding broke Tarver's jaw what would i do?"

Rocky 6, I hope you mean.

From what I have seen he doesn't look much more than a Light Heavyweight. He doesn't need to be any bigger than what he was - Stallone is tiny.

stujones wrote:Rocky 6, I hope you mean.

From what I have seen he doesn't look much more than a Light Heavyweight. He doesn't need to be any bigger than what he was - Stallone is tiny.

I know he struggles with 175 anyway, i don't see him making 175 again unless it's Lacy. and i don't see that happening unless Lacy beats Calzaghe, impressively. imo he'll identify with that movie heavyweight title and then challenge Toney, providing Toney wins the WBC belt

viciousmaussa wrote:

stujones wrote:Rocky 6, I hope you mean.

From what I have seen he doesn't look much more than a Light Heavyweight. He doesn't need to be any bigger than what he was - Stallone is tiny.

I know he struggles with 175 anyway, i don't see him making 175 again unless it's Lacy. and i don't see that happening unless Lacy beats Calzaghe, impressively. imo he'll identify with that movie heavyweight title and then challenge Toney, providing Toney wins the WBC belt

Honestly, the division is better off without Tarver. He was never the linear champ anyway, and he's boring, one viscious KO over Jones aside. Johnson is a far mroe excitgiong fighter, and is 1-1 against the milk dud.

Axe wrote:

viciousmaussa wrote:

stujones wrote:Rocky 6, I hope you mean.

From what I have seen he doesn't look much more than a Light Heavyweight. He doesn't need to be any bigger than what he was - Stallone is tiny.

I know he struggles with 175 anyway, i don't see him making 175 again unless it's Lacy. and i don't see that happening unless Lacy beats Calzaghe, impressively. imo he'll identify with that movie heavyweight title and then challenge Toney, providing Toney wins the WBC belt

Honestly, the division is better off without Tarver. He was never the linear champ anyway, and he's boring, one viscious KO over Jones aside. Johnson is a far mroe excitgiong fighter, and is 1-1 against the milk dud.

I give Tarver credit for bouncing back from losses to beat Harding, Jones & Johnson - as well as facing a lot of consecutive well rated fighters C Johnson, R Johnson, M Griffin. he's had half of a great reign as champ. When he fought Jones, Jones was the #1. & when he fought Johnson it was to determine #1 so I acknowledge AT as world champion

Erdei's lineal claim doesn't mean anything until the skilled Hungarian steps it up, imo.

but Tarver has no intention of fighting Briggs & Adamek, twhich is a damn shame as they're ready for him now. Let's see Adamek-Briggs II, to see who'll be the new boss of the division

Jones was no number 1 when Tarver fought him.

He only just came back down and had to prove himself at that weight again.

Max Molyneux wrote:Jones was no number 1 when Tarver fought him.

He only just came back down and had to prove himself at that weight again.

jones was well favored & it was presumed that Tarver was merely holding on to the belts for him

Still didn't make him the champ.

He vacated when he fought Ruiz.

DM was the true linear as well not Jones.

Jones was still considered no.1 at light heavy though and don't think you'd find anyone saying differently before their first fight.

At the time of the fight he was still reckoned to be unbeatable esp after steping up to beat Ruiz

Lenny Albert wrote:Jones was still considered no.1 at light heavy though and don't think you'd find anyone saying differently before their first fight.

At the time of the fight he was still reckoned to be unbeatable esp after steping up to beat Ruiz

He vacated and put nearly 20 pounds on.

When you come down you still should show you still got it at that weight.