BoxRec

Just saw a thread on another forum. Said that Steve Bunce's Boxing Hour mentioned a POTENTIAL vacant WBO cruiserweight title fight between Alexander Alexeev & Jonathan Banks. With Enzo Mac to challenge the winner.

Not sure if Haye has vacated the WBO title yet. Banks is #1 contender, Alexeev is #2 contender & Intercontinental champ, Macca is #3.

These look like hard fights for all involved. Alexeev has the look of being the class of the divison post-Haye. Southpaw with handspeed, accuracy, power and nice movement. Banks looks like a vulnerable, heavy hitting Kronk fighter.

Anyone out there who can substantiate this?

Haven't heard anything. If this happens i think whoever comes through is second best behind Cunningham at Cruiserweight.

Maccarinelli needs a comeback win or two then maybe a European title shot before Christmas. Then get back to world title fights.

Autobarn wrote:Just saw a thread on another forum. Said that Steve Bunce's Boxing Hour mentioned a POTENTIAL vacant WBO cruiserweight title fight between Alexander Alexeev & Jonathan Banks. With Enzo Mac to challenge the winner.

Not sure if Haye has vacated the WBO title yet. Banks is #1 contender, Alexeev is #2 contender & Intercontinental champ, Macca is #3.

These look like hard fights for all involved. Alexeev has the look of being the class of the divison post-Haye. Southpaw with handspeed, accuracy, power and nice movement. Banks looks like a vulnerable, heavy hitting Kronk fighter.

Anyone out there who can substantiate this?

Did you read that on Boxing Banter ?

It seems to be the case unless one of, Alexeev or Banks pulls out. I don't think Haye has formally move weights yet and therefore not given up the belt yet. Once his next fight is confirmed he will surrender the belt and then its open for a battle.

I dont think Enzo is up for a WT fight yet, as said above I think he should have an easier fight then a euro lvl fight then back into the world class bouts.

JOHNNY NELSON BEATS EM ALL

Alexander Alexeev is a puncher and a damn good prospect/contender. i woudnt fancy Enzo's chances against him tbh

Problem is, Johnny didn't exactly take on all-comers did he?

Very good defensive fighter, though.

Nelson never really beat anyone, but lost to many decent fighters.

DIDNT TAKE ON ALL COMERS...
NEVER BEAT ANYONE...

CRAWFORD ASHLEY.... BRIT/EBU CHAMP
MARKUS BOTT .....WBO CHAMP
CORRIE SANDERS.... WBO HEAVYWIEGHT CHAMP
JIMMY THUNDER ...WHEN ON TO BAET TIM WITHERSPOON
HENRY AKINWANDE.....WBO HEAVY
DENNIS ANDRIES.....FORMER 3-TIME LIGHTHEAVY CHAMP
PETER OBOH.....BRIT LIGHTHEAVY CHAMP
CARL THOMPSON....WBO CHAMP
BRUCE SCOTT....BRIT/COMM CHAMP
MARCELO DOMINGUEZ...FORMER WBC CHAMP
EZRA SELLERS..JUST BEAT THOMPSON BIG BIG PUNCHER
GUILLERMO JONES....WHEN ON TO BEAT TOP CRUISERS
AND MANY MANY MORE
HAYE AND ENZO NEVER HAD OR WILL HAVE A C.V LIKE THIS

True, to suggest Nelson never really beat anyone is highly disrespectful to the man, he has enough names on his resume to command the appropriate respect from real boxing followers.

SOUTHPAW wrote:DIDNT TAKE ON ALL COMERS...
NEVER BEAT ANYONE...

CRAWFORD ASHLEY.... BRIT/EBU CHAMP
MARKUS BOTT .....WBO CHAMP
CORRIE SANDERS.... WBO HEAVYWIEGHT CHAMP
JIMMY THUNDER ...WHEN ON TO BAET TIM WITHERSPOON
HENRY AKINWANDE.....WBO HEAVY
DENNIS ANDRIES.....FORMER 3-TIME LIGHTHEAVY CHAMP
PETER OBOH.....BRIT LIGHTHEAVY CHAMP
CARL THOMPSON....WBO CHAMP
BRUCE SCOTT....BRIT/COMM CHAMP
MARCELO DOMINGUEZ...FORMER WBC CHAMP
EZRA SELLERS..JUST BEAT THOMPSON BIG BIG PUNCHER
GUILLERMO JONES....WHEN ON TO BEAT TOP CRUISERS
AND MANY MANY MORE
HAYE AND ENZO NEVER HAD OR WILL HAVE A C.V LIKE THIS

Crickey, give Haye a chance..

He didn't win all of these though.

Haye has a better CV. He beat the main champ Mormeck, knocked out Gurov before that, and then destryed the WBO paper champ for good measure.

Nelson beat some good fighters. He got lucky vs G Jones, many of his fights were horribly tentative, some were defensive masterclasses. Have to give him credit for beating Thompson, Sellers (another weird one where he couldn't get going for ages as he was unwilling to commit his attack), Rudiger May (some brilliant boxing by Nelson away from home) but many of his challengers were average, if that. Mentally caved in, giivng some of the worst ever performances by Brits in world title fights. Then showed toughness, making his last few defenses away from home (because no one wanted to promote him in the UK) late in his career. Went on to have a solid career as a pundit/TV presenter, successful life after boxing - the bloke's done well for himself.

But:

He didn't unify. He was never classed as the best of the 4 champs. Dominguez was a good defence but Dominguez had already lost to Juan Carlos Gomez twice.

Enzo macca would've been a good defence. But Macca/Warren seemed to leave it until Johnny was falling apart. Johnny seemed to skirt around the subject of fighting Mac - I never believed he wanted it - and said he preferred to lure Dariusz Michalczewski out of retirement, while Haye bashed up Mac on a hostile promotion live on premium US cable.

No comparison really. Even though you make a good case for Nelson being underappreciated.

I would agree with that - 1 win over a prime Ali = better than 4 or 5 wins over the likes of Cooper / Foley / Bugner etc.

Especially in a period were there was no undisputed #1 - Nelson I think could have beaten Gurov and maybe Gomez.... shame he never fought them.

Yeah, as I see it, 3 world titles are better than defending one 12 or 13 times. Just gunning for the meaningful fights is better for fighting (respectable enough) British, German, ex world title holders, and so on.

Johnny was good, very tricky, but in many fights there was something missing and did he really have any intention of unifying?

TRUE JOHNNY DIDNT BEAT ALL OF THEM BUT THE BOXERS ARE ALL A BETTER CLASS TO WHAT HAYE HAS BEEN BOXING.MORMECK WAS ALRIGHT BUT NOTHING SPECIAL JOHNNY IN HIS PRIME WOULD HAVE PLAYED WITH HIM,GUROV HAD BEEN KNOCKED EARLY BY TERRY DUNSTON AND A FEW OTHERS AND LETS NOT FORGET THE THOMPSON FIGHT.....I REST MY CASE

Ultimately, Nelson will always be remembered as a WBO champion. He was never willing to go further than that - to truly test himself against the best. That's where he and Haye differ and that's why Haye will be remembered as the greater fighter of the two when all is said and done. Nelson was just a decent, cagey titeholder who claimed to be the best but never actively went out to prove it. Though he wasn't quite as boring, I've always felt Nelson was our Sven Ottke. Good champion, beat some solid world-class names, but never had a defining fight and won fights he shouldn't have won (on the cards). I'll never know how he retained his title against Guillermo Jones. Jones won at least 10 of the 12 rounds clearly! Crazeeee.

Eraserhead wrote:Ultimately, Nelson will always be remembered as a WBO champion. He was never willing to go further than that - to truly test himself against the best. That's where he and Haye differ and that's why Haye will be remembered as the greater fighter of the two when all is said and done. Nelson was just a decent, cagey titeholder who claimed to be the best but never actively went out to prove it. Though he wasn't quite as boring, I've always felt Nelson was our Sven Ottke. Good champion, beat some solid world-class names, but never had a defining fight and won fights he shouldn't have won (on the cards). I'll never know how he retained his title against Guillermo Jones. Jones won at least 10 of the 12 rounds clearly! Crazeeee.

exactly, and I agree with that in the nicest possible way as Johnny could really box when he got on with it.

Honestly, we don't know if he'd have schooled, say, Fabrice Tiozzo or O'Neil Bell, or simply gone into "I'm not going to fight mode", again. Or some cagey zone somewhere in-between.

Haye was the main champion and Nelson was 1/4 champion, though I respect his longevity and technical skills.

Nelson vs De Leon and Warring are much worse than Haye v Thompson, which SOUTHPAW brings up. It took Johnny a lot of time to get over fights like these - he was on exile - whereas Haye regrouped quickly, beat some god European level guys and won the main belts.

Haye would always take risks, while Johnny would never lead in a fight. He would only ever counter during his WBO reign and this really limited the quality of his fights and performances.

I'll keep on saying, there's no comparison between the two.

SOUTHPAW wrote:TRUE JOHNNY DIDNT BEAT ALL OF THEM BUT THE BOXERS ARE ALL A BETTER CLASS TO WHAT HAYE HAS BEEN BOXING.MORMECK WAS ALRIGHT BUT NOTHING SPECIAL JOHNNY IN HIS PRIME WOULD HAVE PLAYED WITH HIM,GUROV HAD BEEN KNOCKED EARLY BY TERRY DUNSTON AND A FEW OTHERS AND LETS NOT FORGET THE THOMPSON FIGHT.....I REST MY CASE

Oh come on now - Bruce Scott, Jimmy Thunder, Markus Bott, - infact ALL that you mention.... They are what I would call alright but nothing special.

Not saying Mormeck is an all time great, but aside from the Heavyweights (due to the weight) he would have been a clear favourite over all of those fighters mentioned. Plus whatever you think of Mormeck that fact was he was the #1 in the devision, Carl Thompson never was.

Appologies I meant Vassily Jirov not Alexander Gurov as an decent opponent that I would have loved to have seen Nelson fight.

Enzo Mac has his criticisms, but the fact is if Nelson had beaten Wayne Braithewaite - he would have made that list you have put and not looked bad on it.

Markus Bott

WAYNE BRAITHEWAITE.......HE GOT KNOCKOUT BUY JONES TWO FIGHTS BEFORE
MARKUS BOTT WAS UNBEATEN AND UNTESTED BUT BIG THINGS WERE EXPECTED JOHNNY WHEN OVER TO GERMANY AND KNOCKED HIM OUT IN A VERY GOOD FIGHT.IM NOT SAYING NELSON IS A ALL TIME GREAT BUT WHEN PEOPLE ARE KNOCKING HIM SAYING DIDNT TAKE ON ALL COMERS,NEVER BEAT ANYONE AND TO SAY HE NEVER UNIFY ITS NOT A TRUE ACCOUT OF THINGS IS IT,WHO WOULD WANT TO FIGHT HIM HE COULD MAKE YOU LOOK BAD AND COULD BEAT ANYONE ON HIS TOP FORM,HAYE YOU WOULD FIGHT HE IS GOOD BUT HIT HIM ON THE CHIN AND HE WILL GO OVER.HOW CAN ANYONE SAY THAT DRAWING AND LOSING IN BORING TITLE FIGHTS IS WORSE THAN RUNNING OUT OF STEAM AND GETTING STOPPED BY AN OLD MAN...COME ON

Most of us ARE acknowledging that Johnny was good. Just not as good as Haye.

IN MY VIEW JOHNNY BEATS HIM A PEAK NELSON THAT IS

Back to Alexeev, Banks and Maccarinelli!

Who gives a shit about Nelson, such a boring fighter. All that time and what did he accomplish? A fraction of what Haye accomplished in a fraction of the time.

Definitely - fraction is the right word. And Johnny Nelson has nothing to do with the upcoming bouts to settle the WBO cruiserweight title.

SOUTHPAW wrote:WAYNE BRAITHEWAITE.......HE GOT KNOCKOUT BUY JONES TWO FIGHTS BEFORE
MARKUS BOTT WAS UNBEATEN AND UNTESTED BUT BIG THINGS WERE EXPECTED JOHNNY WHEN OVER TO GERMANY AND KNOCKED HIM OUT IN A VERY GOOD FIGHT.IM NOT SAYING NELSON IS A ALL TIME GREAT BUT WHEN PEOPLE ARE KNOCKING HIM SAYING DIDNT TAKE ON ALL COMERS,NEVER BEAT ANYONE AND TO SAY HE NEVER UNIFY ITS NOT A TRUE ACCOUT OF THINGS IS IT,WHO WOULD WANT TO FIGHT HIM HE COULD MAKE YOU LOOK BAD AND COULD BEAT ANYONE ON HIS TOP FORM,HAYE YOU WOULD FIGHT HE IS GOOD BUT HIT HIM ON THE CHIN AND HE WILL GO OVER.HOW CAN ANYONE SAY THAT DRAWING AND LOSING IN BORING TITLE FIGHTS IS WORSE THAN RUNNING OUT OF STEAM AND GETTING STOPPED BY AN OLD MAN...COME ON

But you mentioned Bruce Scott! Trying to say that Braithwaite isn't as good as Bruce Scott... oh yeah Macca beat him also!

All I am pointing out is that list consists of average fighters and had Nelson fought Braithwaite you would have said.

WAYNE BRAITHEWAITE - EX WORLD CHAMPION. Just like you've encorporated Dominguez and Bott.

DID I SAY BRUCE SCOTT WAS BETTER....NOPE
BANKS.....UNTESTED
ALEXEEV.....NEVER SEEN
ENZO MAC.....HOPEFULLY CAN REBOUND
I REMEMBER YEARS AGO A KID FROM THE KRONK COMEING OVER AND STOPPING TOM COLLINS AND THEN NICKY PIPER I THINK IS NAME WAS LORENZO BARBER I HOPE BANKS ISNT LIKE THAT......