Essential The Official Boxing Random Thoughts Thread...All boxing heads ENTER.
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Dallas' 4 Eva
Superstar
Name me these elite skills he has
... And don't tell me if I can't see them that's my problem either like all of his stans like to do. 
Dallas' 4 Eva
Superstar
Big Charlo vs Benavidez being talked about, who you got?
malbaker86
Gators
Benavidez will struggle with Charlo athleticism but sheer fight night size would wear on Charlo.
Fight ain't gonna happen tho, watch
*waits for @ChocolateGiddyUp *
BEST I FACED: MARCO ANTONIO BARRERA
PHOTO FROM THE RING ARCHIVE
27
APR
BY ANSON WAINWRIGHT
Editor’s Note: This feature originally appeared in the April 2014 issue of The Ring Magazine.
Whether you’re talking about a single era in boxing or Mexico’s entire history of fighters, Marco Antonio Barrera was one of the best. Just as important, he was a fan favorite because of his string of entertaining brawls.
The “Baby Faced Assassin” took on a who’s who of the best fighters from 112 to 140 pounds in a career that spanned more than 20 years, winning four world titles and going 21-4 in championship fights along the way to establish hall of fame credentials.
Barrera, who turned pro at 15, won the first 43 fights of his career. That includes a victory over Daniel Jimenez to win the WBO junior featherweight title in 1995 and eight successful defenses.
Then he ran into trouble, losing his title and consecutive fights to the slick Junior Jones in 1996 and 1997. Many believed at that time that the Mexican warrior, who had been in a number of taxing battles, was finished as an elite fighter.
They were wrong. Barrera reinvented himself as more of a boxer than a slugger and went on to record some of his most important victories. Of course, that includes two victories in his classic trilogy with countryman Erik Morales between 2000 and 2004.
Barrera also beat the likes of Naseem Hamed, Johnny Tapia, Kevin Kelley and Paulie Ayala but lost twice to Manny Pacquiao and once to Juan Manuel Marquez. He dominated the popular Hamed, who was unbeaten and favored going into their 2001 fight.
“Definitely the best fight I had and my best victory was against Naseem Hamed,” Barrera told The Ring while speaking of the 2001 performance that ruined the Prince’s perfect record.
Barrera, now 40, retired in 2011 with a record of 67-7 (44 knockouts) but is still very much involved in boxing. He works as an analyst for TV Azteca, owns a gym in Mexico City and manages several fighters.
The Ring recently caught up with Barrera, who gave us the best he faced in 10 key categories.
BEST OVERALL
Erik Morales: Morales is definitely the toughest opponent I have faced, because it almost seemed whenever I hit him it wouldn’t hurt him. And he’s a guy who would constantly give me pressure, and he hit really, really hard.
BEST BOXER
Naseem Hamed: It would definitely be Naseem Hamed, because he made it extremely difficult to hit [him]. He would come around from different angles, his boxing approach would be different from the rest, and he stood out from the rest. His punching ability from different positions and an overall tough guy to get a good, solid hit on.
BEST JAB
Morales: Morales had the best jab. When it would connect, it would be really painful. With the jab, you’re not used to feeling the power, but his I would feel.
BEST DEFENSE
Juan Manuel Marquez: Definitely. He’s a guy that just waits for a counterpunch. He provokes you to think you can hit him, and when you get close to hitting him, he moves so he can position himself to counterpunch you. It was extremely difficult to get hold of the guy.
BEST CHIN
Morales: I would hit him constantly with solid punches, and it just didn’t seem like it would affect him at all.
BEST PUNCHER
Manny Pacquiao: Because of the speed of the punch, he’d surprise you with power.
FASTEST HANDS
Pacquiao: The speed and angles he would hit you from. And it comes with a combination of speed, power and angles.
FASTEST FEET
Pacquiao: Definitely his movement, the way he moves around, he uses every corner of the ring. He knows where to take steps to confuse you. He never comes straight forward, he comes from different angles. He stands out from the rest, definitely.
SMARTEST
Hamed: He stands out because he would bring a different approach from the rest. He would play mind games with me, he would tease me, and when I thought I had him, he would back up and move in different ways. It was more him getting in my head than anything. He would play with me.
STRONGEST
Pacquiao: It’s not just the strength but the strength combined with the speed, that’s what makes him different from the rest. If you add speed to anything – his movement, his punches – that’s what stands out.
Bigblackted4
Superstar
Really don’t want Charlo to take this, got Benevidez. He will be just too big for Charlo. See it going like Benevidez vs Dirrell but better and longer.
2 Up 2 Down
Superstar
Fighters from the 90s were the last batch to be trained by trainers that knew the little tricks and techniques.
Little at the defense from guys in the 70s compared to guys now. Dudes now either have their guard up or try to be quick like that they are floyd. Compare that with older fighters that used head, shoulder, and feet faints and used little subtle movements to dodge a punch. Having to fight more frequently and 15 rounds max lead for fighters to learn the actual sweet science of the sport
yeah its either the defense is shaky/leaky or they are too defensive and they cant move seamlessly from defense to offense like they should
FreedMind
DOPAMINE FOR MY BABY!!
Crawford has consistently hurt his opponents by using his feints, footwork and counters to fukking up their balance and positioning.
In the beginning of his fights, he's constantly circling around his opps, employing a steady jab and using his hooks to counter and circle around his opponents. We constantly see Crawford catch his opponents trying to lunge in, and Crawford will almost always use his hooks to step around his opponent leaving them out of position and vulnerable to counters.
Once the second half of the fight comes around we see him come forward more aggressively, and I can't remember a fight where his opponents have successfully managed to keep Crawford off of them.
You can't seriously be watching Crawford fight and not notice his incredible footwork, punch variety, conditioning, power, and general ring IQ.
This ain't Broner just beating up on smaller fighters. Crawford genuinely gets his opps to open up to some of the cleanest combos, moving forward or backwards, with damn near any punch, and he can do it southpaw or orthodox.
Talking down on Crawford like he wouldn't automatically be Errol's best win.
ChocolateGiddyUp
Superstar
Benavidez will struggle with Charlo athleticism but sheer fight night size would wear on Charlo.
Fight ain't gonna happen tho, watch
*waits for @ChocolateGiddyUp *
I wonder how many tuneups Benavidez needs for Jermall
We know how many he needs For Sweet Hands
reservoirdogs
Superstar
Charlo beats the breaks off of Benavidez, that's a good style matchup for him. Benavidez is a come forward guy with fast hands but slow feet and a mediocre defense. Charlo might not knock him out but I think he beat him.
Then again I'm not high on Benavidez though, he may just eat everything Charlo throws and break him down... but I don't think so.
Another question is why Charlo who hasn't really done anything in 160 yet wants to move up again... Is it because Haymon won't let him fight outside of PBC and the only dudes at 160 he can fight there are Derevyanchenko (classic high risk, low reward) or Eubank (he called him out as well)?
Then again I'm not high on Benavidez though, he may just eat everything Charlo throws and break him down... but I don't think so.
Another question is why Charlo who hasn't really done anything in 160 yet wants to move up again... Is it because Haymon won't let him fight outside of PBC and the only dudes at 160 he can fight there are Derevyanchenko (classic high risk, low reward) or Eubank (he called him out as well)?
ChocolateGiddyUp
Superstar
If true I don’t like Charlo moving up without ever fighting a legit threat at 160 first
I’d assume they’d can N would make the Eubank jr fight at 168...
that clogs up 168 tho...even more especially if Benavidez takes them 2 tuneups... If Plant can’t get them DAZN nikkas to fight 168 goin be the new 147
Long shot but It could work out if Charlo fights Eubank jr at 168 N Jacobs fights Rosado
Then we get Charlo vs Jacobs
Benavidez gets his 2 tune ups
Plant gets a unification with Smith N a stay busy
Plant vs Benavidez gets Winner of Charlo vs Jacobs
reservoirdogs
Superstar
Eubank moved down to 160 so they might just do that fight there.If true I don’t like Charlo moving up without ever fighting a legit threat at 160 first
I’d assume they’d can N would make the Eubank jr fight at 168...
that clogs up 168 tho...even more especially if Benavidez takes them 2 tuneups... If Plant can’t get them DAZN nikkas to fight 168 goin be the new 147
Long shot but It could work out if Charlo fights Eubank jr at 168 N Jacobs fights Rosado
Then we get Charlo vs Jacobs
Benavidez gets his 2 tune ups
Plant gets a unification with Smith N a stay busy
Plant vs Benavidez gets Winner of Charlo vs Jacobs
Idk if Jacobs enters the mix here, I got the vibe that ESPN - DAZN and ESPN - PBC co-promotions are possible but DAZN - PBC ones are not really. They have no common avenue to work on because one is exclusively onlie, the other one exclusively TV, maybe with some exchange deal but that's about it.
Did Benavidez mention the 2 tuneups before the pandemic? Cause if he did, then it might be 3 by now
Dallas' 4 Eva
Superstar
Crawford has consistently hurt his opponents by using his feints, footwork and counters to fukking up their balance and positioning.
In the beginning of his fights, he's constantly circling around his opps, employing a steady jab and using his hooks to counter and circle around his opponents. We constantly see Crawford catch his opponents trying to lunge in, and Crawford will almost always use his hooks to step around his opponent leaving them out of position and vulnerable to counters.
Once the second half of the fight comes around we see him come forward more aggressively, and I can't remember a fight where his opponents have successfully managed to keep Crawford off of them.
You can't seriously be watching Crawford fight and not notice his incredible footwork, punch variety, conditioning, power, and general ring IQ.
This ain't Broner just beating up on smaller fighters. Crawford genuinely gets his opps to open up to some of the cleanest combos, moving forward or backwards, with damn near any punch, and he can do it southpaw or orthodox.
Talking down on Crawford like he wouldn't automatically be Errol's best win.
So you post a bunch of gifs of him throwing hooks not throwing jabs, and no gifs of him infighting? So my point still stands? Correct he aint infought NOBODY. And man I watched that Horn fight he wasn't throwing jabs like that, and Benavidez took took that mans jab away, he was out countering that man bro.