so thoughts on riyadh season in america
prelims
1. the saudi cat his excellency brought over for a showcase in america needs to stay in SA
..bruh lost to that 6-7 2 ko's jobber cat they brought in but the draw was a reason to save face...i almost put this in my parlays but something told me not to
2. steven nelson needs a step up..its time and hes not getting any younger - hes the only favorite on this whole damn card that didnt struggle or go life and death
main
1. andy cruz - talented but again this fight with moran reinforced to me that he is a cat with only 4 pro fights so he is far from being complete.....moran gave the expected test he honestly needed especially with how fast eddie wants to push him...still didnt think he was receiving really good corner advice from bozy but i liked how cruz composed himself, sat down on his punches more, and eventually got moran up outta there after some shaky moments
2.morrell and hot rod - new division for morrell i know....truthfully more impressed with hot rod...hot rod being the vet he was weathered the early storm and pretty much much boxed up morrell in the second half of the fight...made morrell look one dimensional as hell and was able to frustrate him..the scores should have been a lot closer...morrell got himself a second gamestop belt but needs to work on his developing a plan b more rather than just being offense first.pump the brakes on a benavidez fight or esp bivol fight
3. big baby and bakole - the HW division courtesy of his excellency has been moving...wheels in motion...there is no question about that shyt in the last 12 months or so...this was supposed to be wilder vs anderson but wilder got flattened by zhang a couple months ago...so anderson, a basket case but physically gifted, was thrown in with an older, bigger, fatter martin bakole...the shakiness anderson has been displaying on top of his clown behavior came back to bite him in the ass...mean slugfest with bakole dropping him 3 times and landing damn near any punch he threw flush...truthfully the L was coming for anderson as there were always questions about his commitment to the game...bob was like sink or swim time and here we are...now we are going to see if anderson rebounds from this L in any positive fashion with the mindstate he has..bakole most likely earned a shot on another riyadh season card against a name opponent..maybe anderson vs wilder makes sense now lol...mannix reaction to anderson saying nikka was hilarious too
4. big baby and ruiz - honestly without his excellency miller would prolly be in jail or still working as a bodyguard for floyd...man got chances he didnt deserve at all after poppin dirty TWICE for super soldier formula...speaking of that i was lowkey annoyed at the announcers talking about the workrate miller used to have like they didnt know why miller was like top 5 in all divisions in that while being over 300 lbs
..however he won this fight with ruiz..he outworked him, had him on his backfoot, laced him to the body, closed the rounds with shoeshines that clearly affected ruiz...his flaw was smothering his work and not giving himself room to throw accurate punches...too many missed punches on a man who gassed by like round 4..ruiz kills me..has all the gotdamn talent in the world but continues to eat himself into mediocrity...since he was an early benefactor of saudi money he has looked lackadaisical in every aspect since..arreola, ortiz, and now big baby..youre out since 2022 and you come in at one of your highest weights ever...only one card had it right for miller the 116-112...all i can say is i hope miller clears his drug test and ruiz hand injury, which was nasty, wont keep him out long
5. cruz and rayo - ive said it since he fought tank which is his career best performance....cruz had a chance to really solidify himself a top 5 fighter..instead he goes on a frauding tour..fighting fighters he shouldnt be fighting (gamboa, ramirez, rolly)..the one fighter he faced with notoriety and motion, cabrera, arguably beat him and its looked as a gift..all while saying he wanted no smoke with devin or shakur who he was number 1 contenders for because it wouldnt be an exciting fight...well you always gotta read between the lines...its because they would have boxed his little one dimensional ass up
..3 one and done WBA 140 champions in a row from fighters who should have never had them in the first placce...props to rayo via boxing gods for fighting a disciplined fight and exposing clearly how one dimensional cruz was..it was a beautiful fight...props to rayo...i hope rayo avoids this bullshyt and fights actual 140 talent or barroso should he retain his game stop belt in japan next month....fukk this rematch clause...cruz needs to run it back with cabrera instead
6. crawford and madrimov - this fight again clearly exposed who knew what they were talking about and who didnt...10 fights, who did he beat, eastern euro....if you knew, crawford and madrimov would clearly be more compeitive than what you think...and surprise thats what it was...madrimov gavre crawford fits...crawford usually makes adjustments in the first half of the fight if having difficuly..it took him in the last 2 rounds, which were the rounds that gave him the fight on 2 of the score cards..madrimov footwork, movement, and feints gave crawford fits...madrimov also landed a lot of unorthodox shots on crawford that typically do not land on him...crawford's body work on madrimov kept him in the fight and the reason madrimov, as usual, lost steam in the later rounds..both guys got trademarked...it was a hard technical fight and crawford knew it by how subdued he was in the interviews after..madrimov fought out of his mind and prolly deserved a draw...115-113 is cool but i didnt see crawford winning 116-112 like that...it wasnt a robbery..madrimov is a dangerous 154 lber much more dangerous than the other champs outside of crawford...madrimov can make a top p4p fighter look howhe did, promoters will hesitate putting in their contenders and champs with him...salute to crawford..not many lightweight champs become 154 champs..theres only like 6 in history i think...he might need to dial back on canelo fight..i know they want it...but fukk that fight for now...i like his excellency mentioned vergil ortiz next...make that fight if you can
overall..it was a long ass card...his excellency needs not to be on the mic unless hes announcing a fight...if youre giving away prizes..do it before the main event....i dont want to see an eminem concert before the main event unless hes rappin while walking with a fighter to the ring or crawford is out there vibing on some prince naseeem/cory spinks shyt..mad celebs were there supporting..mannix remains an idiot...the spanish and translation was driving my dominican chick crazy but it is the card of the summer no question....on to the riyadh season in the UK next month lol
) shouldn't be his final form.
. He can be cool with you, you can be a brand ambassador, he can take photos with you holding your hand, but when he matches you up for a fight—it won’t be a soft touch. Hell, he was about to put Ortiz in with Tyszu
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