BoxRec

Will the Year Of The Upset continue?

Backing Johnson doesn't give me the greatest confidence, as he's obviously an erratic performer, but I've got a feeling he might be about to surprise Dr Ironfist this weekend.
He can punch when he's in the mood and the Lewis fight might have flattered Vitali.
Also that terrible cut might open up again too....

BTW - It's live on free German satellite ZDF

MightyWarrior wrote:It's live on free German satellite ZDF

Which I take it is still only available on analogue?

Johnson showed what a great heavyweight he was, when he struggled, and got himself DQ'ed against one of the poorest champions ever.

If Klitchko loses, then it would be a diaster for the divsion, therefore i am compelled to go for Vitali as i could not comprehend the state of the division if he loses.

Vitali TKO 6

come on guys, if lennox lewis couldnt whack klitschko out with his heaviest blows then this terrorfied blob of not great power is hardly going to get the job done.

forget other fights this is kirk and vitali, and kirk is doomed.

Klitschko was expected to get blown out by Lennox Lewis, but made a fight out of it instead and people were so pleasantly surprised they were hailing him as the greatest thing since a young Mike Tyson afterwards.
But he still lost! Still looked incredibly robotic. Still looked sloppy.
I'm not sold on his ability yet.

Kilburn wrote:

MightyWarrior wrote:It's live on free German satellite ZDF

Which I take it is still only available on analogue?

It's on both analogue and digital ( Hotbird ) they're showing Wlad's fight next week too.

I know Kirk is written off for his crap showing v Ruiz, but remember they were saying exactly the same think about Vitali one fight ago, for "quiting" against Byrd.
Opinions change very quickly is this game.

Who knows - if Kirk really goes for it I think he can win, but it all depends on his frame of mind once the fight starts.

MightyWarrior wrote:It's on both analogue and digital ( Hotbird ) they're showing Wlad's fight next week too.

Hotbird? What channel number is that?

Kilburn wrote:

MightyWarrior wrote:It's on both analogue and digital ( Hotbird ) they're showing Wlad's fight next week too.

Hotbird? What channel number is that?

Channel 0.985766435216679032-43.

It's got plenty of boxing from Germany, but annoyingly also shows porn movies

Channel what?

How do you pick that up using Sky digital?

I've never seen a number like that before.

MightyWarrior wrote:
It's got plenty of boxing from Germany, but annoyingly also shows porn movies

that must be really annoying..... i can imagine how frustrating it must be half way through a Sven Ottke fight to be interuppted by Euro Girls Vol 6 :)

knockout wrote:

MightyWarrior wrote:
It's got plenty of boxing from Germany, but annoyingly also shows porn movies

that must be really annoying..... i can imagine how frustrating it must be half way through a Sven Ottke fight to be interuppted by Euro Girls Vol 6 :)

Exactly, you can see my point. When scoring fights I end up having rounds marked as 69/69 which can be very confusing

I made that number up TT - no idea what channel number it is.
You need a slightly bigger dish pointed just right of Astra, at Hotbird satellite, and then you can pick up loads of free digital channels on a normal SKY receiver. No need for a Smart card either.
Channels like ARD and ZDF show the big German shows.
No sign of the King show yet...

No, Klitchko will win this one without to much of a problem. John Ruiz could hurt Roy Jones, but nearly stopped Johnson legitimately.

Apparently, the official score cards would have had Johnson ahead of Ruiz if it had not been for the point deduction but I did not see it like this. I think he's just a fat, average heavyweight who's ranking is flattered due to the lack of quality in the devision.

He's fragile (both mentally and physically) and I expect Vitali to dispatch him within 5 rounds.

However, despite my criticisms of Johnson he's a name fighter and considered solid by most critics. So I applaud him, shame his brother doesn't fight a similar quality of fighter.

The one reason I give Kirk a chance is that he is a mover. Vitali did well against Lewis, because Lewis had no defence, no movement and little accuracy or handspeed in that fight, he was basically just a big lump standing right in front of Vitali, which suited Vitali down to the ground.

Kirk is a mover, and has good handspeed, and decent if not devastating pop. We saw how a far smaller and less heavy handed Byrd came into the fight in the second half :o , so would it be much of a surprise if the same thing happened here? I could see Kirk stopping a tiring Vitali if he presents problems and forces Vitali to chase and move.

However, the reason I don't give him much chance, is that he's a choker, he choked badly against Ruiz, and Vitali is a hell of a lot more intimidating that Ruiz. Unless Kirk has the fight of his life, and comes out of his shell I see Kirk starting well, but wilting once he starts getting outjabbed and hurt, gradually throwing less and less punches, and getting potshotted and stopped around the mid-late section of the fight.

Kirk has the tools to beat VK, but not the mindset, even in his pre-fight interviews, his attitude is lamentable, saying that it is 'just another fight' when in fact it's the biggest fight of his life. Kirk is too laid back to be a world champion.

larry donalds movement didnt save him v vitali. and donald has a way more rock solid jaw thank kirky boy.

also vaughn bean was similarly dealt with easily, who's close but not as good as johnson and seems to have a better chin too.

chris byrds bobbing and running still had him trailing on the cards.

just some things to bear in mind.

The Lewis fight really seems to have boosted VK's stock.

Am I the only one who though VK was stopped by the ref about 1-2 rounds before Lennox really battered him? I felt he was going to hit the deck hard and finally very shortly.

I think all those people rating him for STAYING WITH - not beating Lewis, or even looking like it are missing the fact that he DIDN'T BEAT Lennox - or lose contraversially - He got busted up, cut, hit repeatedly (fair do's on the chin - Johnson won't stop him) and then stopped by a WAY BELOW PAR Lennox.

OK so he caught Lewis with a few - but IMO lesser fighters (McCall & Rachman) did better with their "chance" - VK just lost!

Kirk weighed in at 2601bs?!! Not banking on a long night is he?

I still think he knocks out Vitali with a left hook to the temple

Or that terrible cut opens up again for a TKO

The only thing that concerns me apart from Johnson career high weight is the fact that Vitali maybe looking beyond Kirk at a possible match with Lewis.

Is he concentrating so much on Lewis that he has shirked on preparation for Johnson?

Has he made the mistake of under-estimating Johnson thinking he will win regardless...

HH

So Johnson is 18st 8lbs. What on earth has he been doing? I'm not surprised he kept his clothes on for the weigh in.

This doesn't look good at all.

Kilburn wrote:So Johnson is 18st 8lbs. What on earth has he been doing?

Kilburn, thats an easy on to answer..... Eating, Eating and mo Eating.

Johnsons purse should be withheld.

He is a disgrace to Boxing.

He is a bum. A BUM

The only thing Johnson has going for him is decently fast hands for a heavyweight. Given his current weight, the only chance he has is if Vitali pulls a "I'll just leave my guard down and pull straight back from this succession of left hooks here" move like his brother Vlad did vs. Sanders - but even that would need KJ to be able to get inside and effectively pressure him, which seems doubtful.

Kirk said in an interview a month or so ago that he "overtrained" for Ruiz and didn't want to make the same mistake again.

Eric the Viking wrote:
Kirk said in an interview a month or so ago that he "overtrained" for Ruiz and didn't want to make the same mistake again.

Jesus christ. Only in boxing.

God, looking at his weight for the Ruiz fight he must have overtrained like a muthafu@!!a
Surely Vitali's gonna steamroller him, just like Ruiz was more or less doing.

Kilburn wrote:

Eric the Viking wrote:
Kirk said in an interview a month or so ago that he "overtrained" for Ruiz and didn't want to make the same mistake again.

Jesus christ. Only in boxing.

Indeed, 'tis true - here's a thread about this on the Current Scene forum, including a copy of the article I mentioned:

http://www.boxrec.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=12646

One things for sure ole Kirk hasn't overtrained this time!!!..... I mean 260 is a damn disgrace... in essence Kirk has already choked before he's even got in the ring!. Seriously, Vitali should get this over with in about 2 or 3 rounds... the only thing that worries me about him is the eye.... it was a terrible cut. Vitali is good and has great power but I was dissapointed with his showing against Lewis.... he was far too robotic still and should have stopped Lewis.... I think Vitali and his brother made a big mistake by not basing themselves in America, where they would have been able to shake off there europeon style and would have become much more well-rounded fighters.