BoxRec

Cracking double bill this weekend, really looking forward to it.

Does anybody give the South African a chance here? It's easy to think he'll just get out-speeded and out-boxed all night but he's clearly very strong and must have some kind of game plan. And considering Mayweather has struggled with the extra strength of the 135 lb fighters this is hardly mission impossible for the super-feather N'Dou.

One thing I am pleased about - N'Dou proved his stamina in his fight with Cassius Baloyi which by all accounts was a modern classic. But does this also mean that N'Dou found his level that night? Baloyi is a very good fighter but not really in Mayweathers' league one suspects. We'll get plenty of answers on saturday night I'm sure.


With regards to the featherweight showdown, I've found it impossible not to root for Derrick Gainer ever since I saw his first fight with Kevin Kelley. What a battle that was! I get tired of hearing how he's got "no chin" and how he's "Roys' little faggot". Bottom line is he can really fight and against the right opponent he can provide more than his fair share of fireworks. I believe the 3rd round defeat to Diego Corrales hurt Gainers reputation more than any other loss. But you won't find many featherweights out there who could've (or would've) stepped up to face Corrales, who was in frightening form, and faired much better.

What do we make of Marquez? Personally I think he's solid but definitely beatable. I'd rate him only slightly higher than Jesus Chavez, who is very fortunate to find himself in possession of a WBC title belt (though not for too much longer). I think perhaps he could be a bit too fresh for Gainer at this stage though, Derrick is knocking on a bit for a little guy (32 or 33) and didn't look so great in his last fight.


Whatever happens these are 2 quality match-ups with plenty of intrigue. What a great time it is for fights right now.

Yeah me to, I think I'm gonna stay up to watch both these on sat night.

N'Dou is a dangerman for sure, I've watched him a couple of times and he looks like he throws every punch in the book - and hard.

Against almost anyone else I'd give him a great chance - but not against Floyd I think. I really don't think his chin is going to hold out, even against the relatively light hitting Mayweather.

I'm sure he was rocked in the last fight I saw, though he recovered fast. I think Floyd catches him and finishes him off around mid-way.

Gainer/Marquez is quality too - I'm picking the Mexican to win, but it could go either way..

Looking forward to Barrera v Manny Pac too - that could be fight of the year.

Really looking forward to Marquez-Gainer. I fancy Marquez to beat the dangerous Gainer, but not enough to put any money on him. The odds aren't worth it anyway. The Greek.com makes Marquez a clearcut favourite. You can get odds of +250 on Gainer to win (i.e., £100 to win £250).
And they are offering +335 on N'Dou, which could be worth a few quid.

Good call Kilburn, i predict Mayweather to outbox N'dou to a controversial UD although there is talk that a few people are picking N'dou. I pick Marquez to beat Gainer as well, probably on a UD or late stoppage, i am a fan of Gainer despite the fact he gets some stick and seems to be some sort of long standing joke on the current scene forum. He impressed me against Javier Lucas and Sergio Reyes and although these are the only two fights i have seen he displayed good handspeed, skills and power, i like him. However Marquez dismissed Medina with relative ease and looked mightily impressive doing so, i think he may have too much for Gainer in this instance.

I predict wins for the two black slicksters. Hopefully I'm right too.

I can't see an overly cautious Mayweather wanting to mix it with a known banger. I think he'll outbox Ndou for a UD, which might be close if the South African can handle himself in top class. I'm not prepared to accept that Ndoh is "chinny" either. Ok, getting sparked by Anthony Campbell isn't good (but Campbell was significantly heavier), but if Ndoh's chin was that bad I would have expected it to have been found wanting since then.

The fact is he emerged unscathed in a battle with Baloyi. Also, I still fail to see how Ndoh was rocked against Vargas. If he was, his recovery powers are amazing then. To me, that was typical overly dramatic commentary by Ian Darke. He was determined to prove his point that Ndoh was vulnerable, it reminded me of Adam Smith the other week when he kept banging on about Matt Skelton's stamina issues in his fight with Mike Holden. I thought Skelton was fine, yes his workrate dropped but I thought that was because he was running short on ideas.

Anyway, I think Ndoh might suprise many and last the distance. I'll be interested to see if he can nail Mayweather clean and what happens if he does!

Gainer-Marquez is a real tough fight to call. I actually think Gainer can outbox Marquez for long periods, he's a very underrated fighter with excellent skills. However, I do worry about Gainer's punch resistance. I can see Marquez being a mile behind on the scorecards but detonating a fight changing left hook on Gainer somewhere around the 9th or 10th round to force the stoppage.

Two fantastically poised fights though.

Ha, well based on my last fight predictions perhaps i should quit..

Anyhow, i can see n'dou pushing floyd and perhaps causing him a lot fo trouble, however it is hard to see the defensive master losing, espically in his home town.

Quality match ups, looking forward to it.

N'dou looks to have the power and speed to cause the upset. His chin is certainly a question mark - but Mayweather's power hasn't been up to much recently.

Still got to go for Mayweather.

I am a Jaun Manuel Marquez convert and I believe he has the good to give Barrera and Morales (should he ever move back down) a stern test. Nobody has despatched Medina as ruthelessly and as easily as Marquez, Medina maybe on the slide - but scored a great win over Harrison and, in my opinion, edged the fight with Tapia.

I know he's been beaten (by the underated Norwood - where is he by the way) but having seen his last few fights, I just can't see a weakness in him.

I expect him to KO a good champion in Gainer around the 9th round.

The other fight (Barrera vs Pacquio) could be a fight of the year contendor. Their styles (especially if its macho Barrera) blend very well. I do expect Barrera's strength and experience to come through and win a brutal 10th round KO.

Despite, what I predict will happen (and I seem to be getting them wrong), the fight I would like to see in terms of styles, would be Gainer vs Barrera. I think if Barrera could overcome the sheer size of Gainer then it will be yet another signal of how great this man is.

Barrera would have to work through the jab and fight aggresively to win (IMO). Something that since 2000 he hasn't done. I just don't think the 'new styled' Barrera because its very hard to outbox someone with those advantages (ask Sugar Ray Leonard). Can he still fight like he did in the 1st meeting with Morales?? Does he want to?? That would be a great match up.

stujones wrote:Nobody has despatched Medina as ruthelessly and as easily as Marquez

To be fair mate Gainer did a pretty nice job on Medina himself - and Medina was younger and fresher at the time. Although the same could be said for Gainer too.

2 days to go.

Hmmm. Just watched a bit of Ringside this morning and I wasn't all that impressed looking at the clips of N'Dou's showing last time out. Hands were a bit low and his punches not greatly accurate.

Not sure if Floyd is going to be troubled too much by this style now. Although he is promising a tear-up for the fans so he could leave himself open uncharacteristically.

Oh my god Derrick Gainer. That was one of the worst performances I've seen from any fighter anywhere. The guy needs to retire NOW. There was not an ounce of fire in him last night. A few years ago those left leads would've been flying in all night. He just did not want to know for this one. 1 Jab landed out of 104 thrown - what an awful statistic.

Mayweather looked good but I'm not buying all this about him suddenly deciding to put on KO performance. IMO he stopped N'Dou because the South African was not as tough as Castillo or Sosa, not because he showed greater power punching ability than before. I wouldn't expect too many inside schedule wins from Pretty Boy at 140.

Didn't see the fights, but in terms of the results, no real surprises. Ndou was a puncher, but he wasn't a Julian Jackson type puncher, so unless he got real lucky it always looked like Mayweather would have too much for him. And that's how it turned out.
Gainer sounds like he stunk the joint out. But Marquez is one of the most underrated fighters in the world today.

Barrera-Marquez at 126 would be a great fight.

Although i picked Mayweather to win i did not expect him to stop N'dou, i felt however beforehand that some people were overplaying N'dou's chances based on the fact he had dimissed mostly second rate opposition. He showed tons of heart and determination but ultimately lacked defence and top level experience, i thought he needed to be more ruthless in the clinches. As soon as they tied up and both worked there way out N'dou stayed in far too long with hands down and chin out and that was when Mayweather effectively countered. He looked better N'dou when controlling the centre of the ring with hands up and jab pumping freely but his warrior mentality allowed him to trade more thus getting picked off more frequently. He also looked a little bit overrawed by the whole occasion at times but he met a Mayweather who took us back to the days when he was blowing away world class operators like Manfredy, Corrales and Genaro Hernendez.

On the undercard Derrick Gainer failed to impress me, his tactics were suspect to say the least, he ran like Witter did against Judah and won no fans for it. Marquez just had to keep stalking and firing off occasional combinations to take the points as Gainer lost the rounds more than Marquez won them. I would not like to see a rematch at all, Marquez can head for Barrera while Gainer i feel should look for maybe Medina or even Harrison as his manager said before this fight. As soon as he instigated the headbutt it was clear he was looking for a way out, he froze on the big stage and i think his time at top level is as as good as over.

And finally a word for Sky TV, i missed the actual live broadcast as i was on the nightshift but i had the displeasure of watching the sunday morning repeat, i was again not impressed. Sky strive to bring us the best action for free and i commend them but when Dempsey, McGuigan and Watt are not available standards slip. Nicky Piper may have been a decent Boxer but he certainly aint no presenter! Stumbling through his words and forgetting his questions it reminded me of footballer Mark Bright's ill fated stint of Boxing presenting on the 2001 amateur games in Belfast on BBC, Piper i'm afraid is pretty inept in that role too. Poor old Ken Buchanan kept forgetting the names of the Boxers involved although i feel he is a refreshing addition in general but i must say i dislike the other guy Kevin Garside from the Daily Mirror newspaper. A typical smug journalist he seemed intent on reeling off his unimpressive collection of pre written christmas cracker jokes he has so clearly busied himself in writing before the show. His nauseating side of the mouth grin everytime he let fly with a dire quip had me searching for the off button and off to bed.....let's not see him again thanks

A lot of talk about Mayweather moving up to 140 or 147.
Someone in the studio had the audacity to suggest Hatton would be "licking his lips" at the thought of PBF moving up to LW.

I agree something wet would indeed be coming out of one of Hatton's orifices, but I submit to you, that the orifice in question would in fact be his arse.

Great performance by PBF.

Can't understand what Ian Darke was on about with regards to the 5th round. He seemed to thing NDou was all over PBF. But to me, it looked like PBF's trademark defensive work. All elbows, shoulder and turning his head away from the danger. Really good stuff.

With regards to Piper...all ex-sportsman are wooden when the first start presenting. Gary Liniker was like the Cuprinol man, and John Barnes made Pinnochio laugh. I say give Piper a chance!