BoxRec

seen lots of ppl who really rate conor benn and his recents fights. speed, power, viciousness, etc. looks like his dad.

but his highest opponent barely in boxrec top 600. then guys 700-900 and even a few outside 1000. how do you balance the eye test with level of opponent to come to judgement about this type of guy, who shows some talent but against opponents chosen to flatter.

reminds me of dubois too. getting rated as a beast, next aj, etc, but hes been matched with midgets and guys so chinny they shouldnt be let in ring. at least dubois had some good amateur results i think.

To answer the question... I go on good old fashioned gut feeling

Spud wrote:To answer the question... I go on good old fashioned gut feeling

i do too, but im not thinking Benn is going all the way. i would not be surprised however if Eubank beat groves.

I can be impressed a half minute into the first round. Resume and talent are two vastly different evaluations.

boxers can obviously be way better than the level theyve fought at. weve seen untested boxers step up big levels and beat guys with stronger records. but also guys who impress at one level than look out of depth at next. but not totally sure how we should be judging them when fighting at such low levels. the whole question is because resume and talent are obviously not the same, but are relevant to each other.

All it takes is one particularly eye catching performance or memorable fight really. I can usually assess whether or not is the goods fairly quickly into a fight.

I'd never previously seen Lewis Ritson prior to yesterday, but the way he kicked the crap out of Robbie Barrett instantly put him on my radar as somebody to keep an eye on.

A boxer to me is kind of liking a movie. I was excited about Conor Benn before he made his debut what turned me off if you like is all the tweeting crap about destiny and how much work he is doing. Its all a bit too much personal publicity for me. I like him in the ring and quite excited about his progress. I sill follow him on Twitter foolishly but scan past his tweets. Im just not taken to guys who brag all the time and are quite self confident but in a egotistic way. Its the same as his brother Harley, he posts stuff on Twitter thats kind of bullshit and for me it ruins the boxer and the person.

Nigel Benn way back in the late 80's was always confident but he was a non bullshitter, he talked a bit hardcore if you like but wasnt full of self importance, the same as Mike Tyson. Now everyone interested in boxing back in the mid 80's when Tyson came on the scene was taken by him but I think that is because he was a wrecking machine and gave the boxing fan what they wanted. The whole fight from ring walk to the ko was so exciting because you knew (and his opponent did too) what the outcome was going to be, whether that was in the first minute or first couple of rounds. Mike Tyson made boxing in the mid to late 80's in my opinion.

Im sure it goes the same as in the late 70's through to late 80's Thomas Hearns, Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran where all from the same fighting mold it wasnt self publicity bullshit that the boxing fan didnt want to hear.

Frank Bruno, Michael Watson, Herol Graham were all worshipped in Britain because they were decent people and gave the boxing fan what they wanted. Bruno was a lovable character who didnt have a bad bone in his body but had a decent pr campaign that made him a lovable person. Graham gave the boxing fan a display of skill and movement and Michael Watson was another decent bloke who didnt hype himself up, he gave a decent showing in the boxing ring, and kept out of the limelight.

As ive said a 'new' boxer for me is someone who can do the job, but is not full of self importance. The reason why most fans wanted to see Eubank sr get beat is because he was full of himself and i guess we dont like that and want to see that kind of person on his arse. I like Anthony Joshua as a boxer he excites me, but ive liked him from day 1. Joe Joyce, i'm excited about his debut but I do not want him to be on Twitter 24/7 shouting cobblers and reciting words of wisdom and telling me how God has made him for 1 purpose and its in the stars that he will dominate boxing until God has chosen another to replace him.

Get in the ring, show me your skill, excite me by knocking guys over or go the distance in decent style.

I've been impressed by boxers fighting for area titles. They don't need to be of any level for you to be impressed by them, it's just a case of not getting carried away and thinking they will/can do a lot more than they've proven.

good responses. thx.

From debut. Guys like Hinata Maruta, Lomachenko, Josh Kelly, all really impressed on debut. For other fighters it's not as easy

I think it’s fair to get excited about guys early into there career, even though prospects are likely to be fighting puddings in the early days. Joshua Buatsi is the one I’m looking out for right now

The acid test however will always be the opponents on your record