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the paradigm shift posted:zhang just started up fast enough to get the stoppage. don't know if joyce was just off or too slow for the bigger man's punches this time. Zhang is now a mandatory for Usyk, but he's third in line behind Dubois and Hrgovic, so between them and the potential fight with Fury, it'll probably be awhile before he gets his shot. Since he holds the interim belt though, he now stands a chance of becoming champion without ever fighting Usyk, should he be stripped or vacate the WBO title for whatever reason. Also Joyce has the option to rematch him due to there being a rematch clause, so that could be a factor as well. Personally I think that would be a bad move for Joyce, because winning does avenge the loss but not much else, whereas losing knocks him even further away from a potential title fight and time isn't exactly on his side in that regard. I've noticed lately that the WBC, IBF and WBO are giving out a lot of interim titles lately, and I'm not 100% certain why. Just to give you an idea of how big of a change this is: coming into 2022 there were only two interim champions, that year crowned seven more, and even though a few of those guys were elevated to full champions there are still currently eleven of them with at least one more interim title fight being worked on for the summer. But in 2021 the WBA got rid of their interim titles, which they passed out like candy, and are now working to get rid of their "Regular" championship status (which is a whole other clusterfuck itself), so I guess the other belt organizations are just picking up the slack there, filling a void that really didn't need filling.
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Apr 17, 2023 21:54
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Cigar Aficionado posted:Sanctioning fees of course. Although I've always found it especially idiotic that the sanctioning bodies hand out "interim" titles for titles that have fully active belt-holders. Literally nonsensical. Oh I figured sanctioning fees played a part, I could have swore I mentioned that in my post but I see I neglected to get around to mentioning it, my mistake. I was just wondering why the sudden uptick, although upon looking further it seems like the WBC and WBO have been giving out interim titles pretty regularly, albeit not at the level the WBA was when they still did that. Seems like the IBF is the only one new to handing them out a lot and the others have been doing it like this for at least the past decade. Strange, I thought for sure that wasn't the cause, but oh well, that's what I get for assuming I reckon. To your point about interims while there are active belt holders, I completely agree, and on top of that I'm glad to see the WBA get rid of their interim status and Regular/Super distinctions, because they were the absolute worst about that. I feel like interim titles have been misused a lot, which is a shame because I think there are ways they can be used well. I wrote up my idea on it but decided to delete it because eh, no one wants to read a pipe fantasy that I'm sure the belt holding orgs would find a way to corrupt anyways. The long and short of it was, interim fights should only happen when someone is supposed to challenge for the title but doesn't get to due to the champ being injured, like what happened with the Shigeoka brothers this past Sunday, or when multiple belts are held by one person for the purpose of guaranteeing a fighter their place in line and making the orgs less likely to strip. Zhang is last in line as far as mandatories go, which hurts his chances at getting a shot already, but with a potential undisputed fight (and likely rematch) on the horizon, even assuming Fury or Usyk fight twice a year and just do their mandatories with no voluntary fights, he would still have to wait out this year AND next before getting his shot. Even then, I give him very little shot at beating either guy, although anything can happen in boxing so you never know, but I just don't see it being too likely. Still, I think Zhang's best bet at becoming a full champion is defending his interim title and then getting elevated once whoever wins undisputed gets stripped or vacates the titles to retire. He'd be called an "E-mail champion" like Devin Haney, but he'd still be the official champion, and I give him a good chance to solidify himself as such in the eyes of any detractors he'd get from being elevated. While I give Zhang little chance against Fury or Usyk, I give him much better chances against the other guys in the top ten and several contenders and a few up and comers. I'm curious to see who Zhang fights next. Joyce has a rematch clause but I really hope he doesn't exercise it. There is a path to victory for him but I think it's best if he just moves on. This has set his ambitions back a bit, but a win does little to advance them and another loss pushes him even further back. Also I've been a fan of Zhang for awhile and I wanna see him in there with more top guys, or at least the contenders. Course like you pointed out, his fight with Joyce may hurt that. It's sort of a double edged sword; this fight has given him more recognition, but it could also have made a lot of the big money fighters afraid to get in the ring with him. JaddaCaddra fucked around with this message at 03:06 on Apr 19, 2023 |
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Apr 19, 2023 03:02
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I gotta say, I've loved watching Big Bang's journey over the last couple of years. I only got into boxing a few years back and for some reason he was one of the first lesser known modern boxers I found out about. At the time I didn't even know if he'd be coming back to the ring since this was just after he had that medical episode against Jerry Forrest. Then he did come back, on the undercard of the Lopez-Kambosos fight, fighting some journeyman. I was happy he could still fight, even though I was certain he'd ride out his career as a guy knocking out cans on undercards. Then a bunch of guys in the IBF rankings couldn't/wouldn't fight Hrgovic, and Zhang got his shot at being a mandatory. Backed him all the way, still thought he should've just edged the decision but can't complain too much given the closeness of the fight. Thought for sure that would be the closest he ever got to a title fight... then just a couple of weeks into 2023, it was announced he'd be fighting Joe Joyce for the WBO interim strap. Lotta folks were doubting him, saying he'd be stopped early and what not, despite his performance against Hrgovic. I never thought he'd be knocked out, and I wanted him to win but I thought Joe's chin would hold up and he'd take over when Zhang gassed in the later rounds. Turns out, that didn't end up being a factor. Can't even describe how excited I was when he rocked Joe in the second round, and I was jumping around my living room when Foster waved it off. For the rematch I backed Zhang to stop Joe in the mid rounds, but Zhang once again exceeded expectations and knocked out this seemingly iron chinned guy in just three. Glad to see he's getting another big fight. There's always the worry of aging overnight with these older fighters, but I'm confident he'll knock Parker out as well. Parker's got better head movement than Joyce so I'll predict somewhere around the sixth or seventh. Unlike Wilder, who always telegraphed his one punch even in his prime years, Zhang has a wider arsenal and his punches can be sneaky. It's not a matter of if his punches land as much as it is when, so Parker winning this fight is gonna be contingent on how well his chin can hold up against big power that will actually land with some frequency. My dream fight for him later in the year is against Usyk or Fury, but I doubt either one of them is still an active boxer by the end of the year. Maybe he can at least get a good unification fight after he gets elevated after the belts are vacated.
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Jan 19, 2024 07:20
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Mr. F! posted:Good post. I also had him beating Hrgovic. He got tired in the later rounds of that fight. He managed to crack Joyce before that was an issue. If I were Parker I’d try to keep it as close as I can while extending the fight to rounds 8, 9, 10. Unfortunately for Parker, I don’t think he’s gonna manage it. I feel like if Zhang hadn't deviated from what won him most of the first half, he would have won on the cards. In my opinion, his downfall came in the round he won most convincingly, round six. He got Hrgovic hurt early in that round and seemed to abandon what had been working up to that point, throwing everything he had at him in an attempt to get him out, and it just didn't happen. That resulted in him being completely empty for the second half of the fight, except for a brief second wind which got him round 9 on my card. If he hadn't abandoned the plan and drained himself in an effort to knockout Hrgovic, I think he probably would have had enough in the tank for about eight or nine rounds altogether. Crazy thing is though, even incredibly gassed he was able to hurt Hrgovic whenever he landed, like that one punch at about the halfway point of round 11, he just didn't have enough to throw that often. Also I agree, Parker's best chance at success is snagging a few rounds in the first chunk of the fight, staying on his feet and taking over when Zhang gasses for the last third or so of it for a 115-113 type decision. I've seen some people picking him to actually stop Zhang late, and anything's possible, but I don't see it personally. I think those predictions are coming as a result of people riding a bit too high on the Wilder win. Not trying to take away anything from Parker here, he executed a perfect plan to counter that style for a full twelve rounds and that deserves credit regardless, but the Wilder he fought seemed lethargic, barely threw anything and when he did it was incredibly telegraphed, even by Wilder's standards. Not to say Parker can't beat Zhang, I just think anyone expecting that same level of dominance will end up disappointed. Then again, you never know with boxing. That's one of the things that keeps us watching. I'm backing Zhang all the way but a Parker win wouldn't be surprising.
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Jan 23, 2024 07:56
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Mr. F! posted:I thought zhang was gonna boom Parker too though Same, think you and me even talked about it. That said, Zhang did manage to put Parker on his rear end twice, and contrary to what some people will try to tell you, they weren't just "flash knockdowns" or because he was "off balance." He was pretty visibly hurt from the knockdowns, but he was able to survive and stop Zhang from having successful followup. Sure, some people might say it's because he came into this fight a bit out of shape, since while he was just four pounds heavier than in September he did seem to be a bit flabbier. But even if that's a factor it isn't the whole reason why he couldn't finish him off the two times he had him in trouble. Parker's movement is what saved him from being another clip in Zhang's highlight reel. Wilder's movement is pretty trash, definitely not on par with Parker, so I feel like Zhang will be able to stop him like he did Joyce. Especially since this is the same Wilder who on two different occasions was knocked down with a single shot from Tyson Fury by the end of the third round. Fury ain't exactly known for his one shot power, with most of his knockouts coming from accumulation more than anything else (unless you're Dillian Whyte and allergic to uppercuts), so if he can knock Wilder down with one shot, Zhang can prolly put him out completely. That's not even taking into account how garbage Wilder was last time out, and the possibility he's just doing this for a Saudi payday. All that being said, if he can somehow weather the storm, I could see him taking out a very tired Zhang in the later rounds, or maybe even winning on points. Or hell, depending on the referee, Wilder could do one of his trademark windmills on Zhang's gloves and the referee still decides to stop it because he's bad at his job. Can't rule that out these days. Either way, I'm picking Zhang for an early stoppage. He put Joyce out in 3, Wilder's been knocked down by Fury in three in two fights, so I'll go with that. Zhang KO 3.
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Apr 16, 2024 15:33
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