Essential The Official Boxing Random Thoughts Thread...All boxing heads ENTER.
- Thread starter Jesus Is Lord
- Start date
reservoirdogs
Superstar
Sad to see these paid losers in the fights featuring the Mexican politician or whatever with fuking shoulder implants and that cricket player. Those guys are so bad that most of the posters on here would beat them no problem. How are you gonna try yourself at a combat sport as some test of toughness but come out looking like a bytch from it? That's basically what they achieve with taking a fight and not bothering with learning any technique just pay off some poor b*stard to lay down. Wish these people would get knocked out cold by someone.
reservoirdogs
Superstar
List was lacking Klitschko vs Povetkin though, that was a shyt standard for bad fights for at least a couple of years after
The axe murderer
For I am death and I ride on a pale horse
Good lord that was a chore to watchSolid list. Forgot about the Ortiz Scott fight.
PortCityProphet
Follow me to the truth
That angle and shot at 2:00 mark on was beautiful. I thought Hagler was gon sneak me Felt like i was in the ring
The axe murderer
For I am death and I ride on a pale horse
That angle and shot at 2:00 mark on was beautiful. I thought Hagler was gon sneak me Felt like i was in the ring
A Closing Stretch for the Hardcore Four
By Cliff Rold
Published On Thu Apr 16, 2020, 01:55 AM EDT
Perfect round robins don’t come along every day in boxing. Be they formal or informal, timing, injury, business, friendships, sheer ego, or the scale can make it difficult for a single cluster of fighters to exhaust all their possible matches.
The foursome of Manny Pacquiao, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, and Juan Manuel Marquez gave fans thirteen often incredible bouts, but never gave them Morales-Marquez. Heavyweights Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, and Ken Norton stopped the world on nine different occasions but none of those were occasion for a Frazier-Norton bout.
Even with their missing bouts, those rivalries were so vibrant and significant on the world stage the men involved remained linked for all time. Also linked are those battlers who on rare occasions complete the cycle.
The gold standard of modern boxing multi-man rivalries remains the 1980s Fab Four: Sugar Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, and Marvelous Marvin Hagler. They faced off nine times, across four weight classes, from 1980-89 in some of the greatest, and richest, fights of all time.
In the last decade, boxing fans have quietly been treated to another perfect foursome. Unlike those mentioned above, these fights didn’t always occur to maximum fanfare. Their rise and entanglement developed organically as they moved from small, independent pay-per-view undercards and post-fight YouTube searches to main events on major networks. From 2012-2019, they have squared off eight times already with several classics already under their belts.
If the Fab Four will forever belong to the 80s, perhaps the right tag for this bunch is the Hardcore Four. After all, it was hardcore fans who knew first of current WBC and 115 lb. lineal world champion Juan Francisco Estrada (40-3, 27 KO), WBA titlist Roman Gonzalez (49-2, 41 KO), Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (47-5-1, 41 KO), and Carlos Cuadras (39-3-1, 27 KO). When Gonzalez was set for his mandatory against Sor Rungvisai, it was hardcore fans who tried to warn the world that it would be a serious fight. They were the same fans who had gone out of their way to find Cuadras-Sor Rungvisai and woke up early for bouts like Gonzalez-Akira Yaegashi.
Despite already having all faced each other at least once apiece, recent events and headlines give cause to celebrate...and anticipate. The hardcore fans there all along, and the additional multiplied to their ranks, should be excited by recent events and headlines.
This rivalry isn’t done yet.
With Roman Gonzalez, their biggest star, resurrecting his career with a stoppage of Khalid Yafai earlier this year, options for continuance only expanded. Since that victory on the last day of February, here is just a selection of the possibilities bandied about for the Jr. bantamweight division:
Team Estrada: Chocolatito Rematch Deal Can Be Made in 5 Minutes
Srisaket Sor Rungvisai: I'm Happy for Chocolatito, I Want Estrada
Carlos Cuadras Eager For Revenge Against Juan Francisco Estrada
We may not see every permutation of this foursome again and it would be no surprise if eventually we see a bout or two at bantamweight. Cuadras has already tested the waters there. Other excellent battlers linger ready to make their way into the conversation, like WBO titlist Kazuto Ioka and WBA sub-titlist Andrew Moloney. IBF titlist Jerwin Ancajas is also out there, surely ready at some point to quit watching the train go by.
Regardless of what supporting cast is added, we’re certainly going to get more though from these familiar faces.
As we wait for boxing to resume, here is a personal ranking of which rematches would be most desirable before their chapter in boxing lore is truly completed.
Gonzalez-Estrada II
Who knew when these two squared off in one of the best fights of the 2010’s how far each would rise and how long they would go without seeing each other again? When Estrada followed his competitive loss to Gonzalez at Jr. flyweight by winning a pair of belts at flyweight in his next fight, it was easy to assume there was only a matter of time until a sequel. It still hasn’t happened. Different career paths, injuries, and the wait for the best profit window have all played their part. This much is obvious: when boxing returns, there could be no richer fight at 115 lbs. A rematch would be big business, draw eyes to screens, and unify a pair of straps with Estrada’s lineal crown on the line. After Gonzalez-Yafai, it also looks again like the pick ‘em affair a rematch would have been for most of the last eight years. Boxing needs the fights that shine brightest on the marquee when it resumes to kick start its economy. At Jr. bantamweight, none other would fit the bill better.
Estrada-Sor Rungvisai III
They are locked at one apiece and their first two encounters make a third a must. While Sor Rungivisai made his name on the world stage with his wins over Gonzalez, it was his victory over Estrada in their first fight that truly validated he was one of the world’s elite. The rematch remains a head scratcher with Sor Rungvisai opting to fight from an orthodox stance and trailing badly before switching back to southpaw and surging in the second half to close the gap. Having seen the Thai puncher twice, does the more rounded Estrada complete the trilogy with flourish or can a Sor Rungvisai with a better game plan stay the narrow step ahead he was the first time around? There’s only one way to find out and Sor Rungvisai has the mandatory position with the WBC to help it become reality.
Sor Rungvisai-Cuadras II
Of all the eight fights to date, this one is probably the least entertaining and the least seen. Cuadras defeated Sor Rungvisai for the WBC belt in 2014 in a fight that was just getting interesting. Cuadras built an early lead but suffered an accidental cut. Sor Rungvisai hurt Cuadras with a body shot and appeared to be coming on but the fight got to the cards before the rest of the drama played out. Would Cuadras have held his lead or were the heavy hands of Sor Rungvisai enough to seize control back? If nothing else, a rematch would give more of the world a chance to see a pairing they didn’t fully know the value of the first time around.
Estrada-Cuadras II
One point, a knockdown by Estrada, was the difference between an Estrada win and a draw in an excellent showdown on the undercard of Sor Rungvisai-Gonzalez II. Before the shutdown, this fight looked increasingly likely for the summer and may still occur before anything else unfolds. Cuadras was in the middle of a rough stretch that saw losses to Gonzalez, Estrada, and McWilliams Arroyo, along with a shaky win over David Carmona. Cuadras has won three straight against lesser fare since and in Estrada would find a likely last chance at returning to the bigger spotlight.
Gonzalez-Cuadras II
How different would things have been with a swing of a couple points in Gonzalez-Sor Rungvisai I? Many at ringside and viewing around the world felt Gonzalez deserved he decision that night. If the judges had seen it Gonzalez’s way, we’d have likely seen a rematch with Cuadras as the headliner for Superfly II and might never have seen Sor Rungvisai in the US again. There might be no hardcore four. Would Cuadras have reversed the outcome and still gone on to see Estrada later? Would it all have resulted in a trilogy instead? The first Gonzalez-Cuadras fight was a classic and sequels to classics are always welcome.
Sor Rungvisai-Gonzalez III
There is a case to be made this rivalry should be tied but the second bout was emphatic for Sor Rungvisai. Gonzalez, coming off a string of hard fights and the death of his trainer, might have been ripe for the picking. If he is truly refreshed, and Yafai wasn’t just a single night’s mirage, these two may be capable of another festival of brutality akin to their first fight. There are bigger fights to make but if Gonzalez were to defeat Estrada in a rematch, a third showdown with the lone man to beat him would leap to the top of the wish list.
No matter what thrills remain, over the last eight years fans who take the time to invest in the lower weight classes have been well rewarded for their time by these four and many of the men around them who added remarkable depth to their era. Every story gets to its final chapter. Eventually theirs will too.
We won’t be bored watching them write it to its conclusion.
The axe murderer
For I am death and I ride on a pale horse
The 1st gonzalez cuadras match was flames. One thing Roman always guarantees is bringing heat
nikka took Cuadras prime in that fight, then got his taken in the very next bout.
The axe murderer
For I am death and I ride on a pale horse
Yeah ppl forgot cuardras got the W over king sir and tried to warn him bout that storm he brings
The axe murderer
For I am death and I ride on a pale horse
Excellent and a must watch
The axe murderer
For I am death and I ride on a pale horse
Please make the fights there and fight more often
115 is a class division...the fight in that article...could easily generate a new hardcore four for this decade...i have been looking for an opportunity to go to a fight with one of them...
Dallas' 4 Eva
Superstar
That angle and shot at 2:00 mark on was beautiful. I thought Hagler was gon sneak me Felt like i was in the ring
GOAT level shyt.
