The RedCafe Boxing Thread
- Thread starter CLK_FPC
- Start date
Hurrah huzzah! I know Phil is a BIG boxing enthusiast, so this was always going to be a highlight of my calendar.
Wait no longer; your prayers have been answered. Behold!
Anyone know where online I can find this new Fury docu-series they have on ITV? I tried youtube and couldn't find it.
https://www.itv.com/hub/tyson-fury-the-gypsy-king/2a7050 Maybe need a vpn with you being in the States.
Cheers I’ll have a play around when I get home. Appreciate it!
I think AJ has a much better chance of beating Fury than Wilder ever did and ever will. I say Fury would be the favourite but I wouldn't be entirely surprised if AJ won by stoppage.
Rumours are gathering pace about the proposed Canelo BJS fight. It goes without saying Billy would need to be punch perfect and probably needs to score a knockdown to convince the judges. I'd love for Bill to do the business but I just think Canelo is another level and too much of an ask. I'd fancy his chances against GGG more as he might catch him at the right time/age to get the win.
Holly. By a long way. But then again, I've had eyes on Holly since Ministry of Mayhem!
But that's for another thread!
Anyone know of any rivers for the quigg jono fight
Carroll looking like Pacquiao here...
Looks very good doesn't he? Nowhere near as fast as Pacman or the extended combinations (who does though!) but I do see the validity in the comparison, especially with early Manny. What weight class is this?
Lightweight I think....
Carroll is feather fisted, but he does have a great variation of punches and footwork
Yeah Quigg's corner should have thrown in the towel by now to be honest. Very impressed with Carroll, a seriously talented boxer.
This is negligence by Quigg's corner now. I hate seeing a corner afraid to protect their fighter. On that note Wilder's cornerman was incredible and correct.
Edit: they finally done it but 4 rounds too late.
Edit: they finally done it but 4 rounds too late.
Quigg done now?
ex Barry McGuigan manager Barney Eastwood passed away yesterday. You tend to forgot how many world champs he churned out of his wee gym above the bookies in Belfast, Barry McGuigan, Dave ‘Boy' McAuley, Cristanto Espana, Victor Cordoba and Paul Hodkinson. Went to watch all those fighters when I was growing up.
I saw that. For some reason I had thought he'd passed a while ago. It's a shame he and Barry never patched up their differences.
On a side note, I have been in communication with John Caldwell's son, Paul. John's brother is still alive so I managed to get quite a lot of information and they sent me a lot of old clippings from back in Caldwell's fighting days. Good people. I was able to relay messages to and from the Caldwell family and the Jofre family as my contacting Caldwell's son was for my Jofre book.
brilliant. I knew of one of his sons, a lad a bit older than me, that might be Paul. I never knew him personally though, just met the dad on occasion. My dad was a boxer, around same age as Caldwell and he used to talk regularly about him when we were growing up. Good luck with your book, sounds like a very interesting read. Great to see literature re-educating the masses about legends such as Jofre. I'll be honest, if it wasn't for my dad talking about Caldwell to me as a kid, I probably wouldn't have known too much about Jofre. Even today in belfast, a lot of the modern day boxing fans don't know our great history, guys like Rinty Monaghan, Caldwell, Gilroy, which is a bit sad as legends like this should be remembered forever
Yeah, that is sad that those names aren't household. Did you ever read that book by Barry Flynn, "Best of enemies"? It was about Caldwell and Gilroy. A really, really good read. Here's an e-mail he (Paul) sent me:
Hi Chris
I managed to meet with my uncle Paul last weekend and put a few of your questions to him, and just generally what his recollections were.
I'll break it down as best as possible under a title for each:
BRAZILIAN PRESS/PUBLIC
He stayed for approximately 2 days, travelling along with my grandfather 1 week after my father left for Brazil. He indicated that there wasn't much contact with the public but remembers what he called proper boxing fans waiting around the hotel to get my father's autograph. He stated that this was always a very civil encounter, and even in dealings with the Press always seemed pleasant and civil. He did however indicate that there was some catcalling and booing when they went for a stroll prefight by the general public - something he still laughs about.
AT RINGSIDE
Paul vividly remembers the approach to the corner, quite intimidating with popcorn, rolled up paper, and sweets raining down on the Caldwell camp. Again he finds this amusing and states "only to be expected". He was actually in the corner throughout the fight (my grandfather in the general crowd) and for a very short time in the ring for announcements. He doesn't recall much more of being in the corner other than watching the contest and the disappointment.
OPINION OF JOFRE
He met Jofre briefly and considered him "a very nice person". As a fighter he refers to him as the greatest bantamweight ever and a marvellous fighter. He talked about even now how well Jofre is respected and talked about. He stated that he has to be considered also as undoubtedly one of the best pound for pound fighters ever.
MEMORIES OF TRIP
Paul does not fondly remember either getting there or getting back! He said the journey was terrible: Belfast-London-Paris-Dakar-Recife-Rio De Janeiro-Sao Paulo. Extremely long journey. He remembers being mistaken for my father on the flight out of Paris by a crew member, the person informing that he was at 1st Halimi fight in London. On the journey some other Irish were with them the whole way, apparently a wellknown bookmaker (surname: Graham) - a Sean Graham bookies still exists in and around Belfast today. Whilst in Brazil, he states the heat was almost unbearable. He ventured out on his own on the odd occasion but as an almost 18 year old at the time, and with security advice, was permitted only limited free time.
MINDSET OF MY FATHER
My uncle states that my father was not a very talkative person and was quite deep - he would have kept things to himself (this by the way is the father I remember) and pre fight you would never have been able to read what he was thinking. He does remember speaking with my father prior to him departing for Brazil, and all indications were positive, i.e. loved travelling and seeing new countries, new training camp, and getting focused on contest (probably with no distractions). Overall, the opponent and the environment didn't seem to faze or distract him.
GILROY V JOFRE REMATCH
Although my uncle can't recall ever having this discussion with my father, he is adamant that there would be no contest (and I agree based on my own memories/chats with my father) - a Jofre rematch would have been by far the greater of the two!
IRISH PRESS
Paul remembers the Irish Press as very positive before the fight. Lots of interviews and generally plenty of encouragement. Again, my father preferred a lower profile. He doesn't recollect much post fight - he feels by the time he got home most had already been said/written.
That Chris, is the best I can do regarding my uncles recollections - I hope it helps!
I myself remember my father talking very fondly of Jofre, and I admit, you did have to chip away at him to get him to talk, he was quite a quiet man.
He had such respect for Jofre, definitely considered him the greatest bantamweight ever. I recall vividly when chatting with him once about Jofre fight, he said "I'd never been hit so hard and he was the only man to hurt me" - not something you want to hear your father say, that's why it sticks with me.
The hotel scales was something that he mentioned - I don't think he appreciated having to skip and run off 1lb at official weigh-in. He felt the hotel scales were "off" and did tell me that on return to hotel the scales had mysteriously disappeared. These he told me were official scales which were used daily to check his weight.
Obviously some fight decisions would have rankled with my father, but not this one, he knew he was in with the greatest. He would smirk at times when I was annoying him for information but I never heard him say a bad word about Eder Jofre.
I think that's the best I can do Chris.
Good luck with your book - I wish you well.
Best regards
Paul
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Brilliant Chris, you learn something new everyday! There’s been a few famous people who’ve commented and expressed their appreciation of my father as a boxer, but Ryan O’Neill is definitely a new one. No doubt my brothers and sisters will enjoy hearing that...especially my sisters!
Please send on our best wishes to the Jofre family and let them know their big hug is warmly received, and reciprocated. It must be fantastic for Eder’s children to see how their father is so well thought of and respected globally to this day.
And Chris, if there’s anything which crops up or maybe needs clarified and you think I can help regarding my father, you know where to find me.
Good luck!
Paul
That's fantastic @Inter Yer Nan - looking forward to reading the book when it's completed.
@Inter Yer Nan, quality stuff there mate.
I know you like your boxing history, just harking back to the recent death of Barney Eastwood, as you know he also managed at one point Herol Graham, a boxer of course who didn't land a world title although many thought he would. I watched him fight once in Belfast, a very awkward elusive fighter, very Brendan Ingle like in his style. I didn't mention him in my previous post as he was battling for many yrs mental health issues. This article below is more recent and looks a lot more positive and upbeat for him, plus some good insight into some of the top fighters he battled in the ring
https://www.ringtv.com/353645-best-ive-faced-herol-graham/
I know you like your boxing history, just harking back to the recent death of Barney Eastwood, as you know he also managed at one point Herol Graham, a boxer of course who didn't land a world title although many thought he would. I watched him fight once in Belfast, a very awkward elusive fighter, very Brendan Ingle like in his style. I didn't mention him in my previous post as he was battling for many yrs mental health issues. This article below is more recent and looks a lot more positive and upbeat for him, plus some good insight into some of the top fighters he battled in the ring
https://www.ringtv.com/353645-best-ive-faced-herol-graham/
Yeah, Graham was one of the better boxers (especially British) of modern times to not win a world title. He fought a lot of difficult opponents and stylists like McCallum who was probably in his peak then. He gave McCallum a good fight. Kalambay was such a skillful, difficult fighter too. Perhaps one of the most underrated of the last 30 years. Kayule was awkward as hell too. Seeing him talking about Jackson's power reminds me of McLellan-Jackson. Sure, McClellan knocked him out (he was too big for him) but that was the fight IMO which started to give McLellan brain damage. He starts to blink funny in the first fight. McCallum, also known for an iron chin was rocked badly by Jackson too. He may be the hardest pure puncher in history, pound for pound. Graham seemed to finally have the title within grasp when he fought Charles Brewer but ran out of steam. I think he was pushing 40 then. A shame as it would have given him the title his career had deserved. His style was awkward, not always pretty, but often very effective. For Ingle to consistently churn out a high number of top boxers from a relatively small region without ever becoming a hired gun (much like trainers these days like Freddie Roach), instead training them from youth speaks volumes. He was a teacher.
Cheers. I am planning on releasing it next March 26th for his 85th birthday. A part of the plan is to donate the first x amount of sales to a fund which I intend to help bring the family over as a gift to have him inducted at next years West Coast Boxing Hall of Fame induction. I have spoken with the president, Rick Farris about this and he is absolutely wanting to induct him for his contributions to California Boxing (three fights here) and Rick is also a massive admirer of Eder. God willing, if his health is ok I've already got word that 100% he will be inducted. We've just got to work on funding. The WCBHOF is a smaller one than the IBHOF in Canastota and doesn't have the same funding.
Lots of allegations coming out about Fury's win over Wilder with the whole Gloves debacle and now a farmer claiming he was supposed to be paid off to falsify the legitimacy of a consumption mistake providing dodgy meat.
The farmer story is blatantly cos there's nothing to talk about in sports at moment. It's obvious there was no wild boar or whatever fury clearly room steroids don't need a farmer to tell us that!
Based on? People are way too quick nowadays to accuse everybody of taking steroids without much to back it up. If you're going to say somebody is clearly on steroids it's always best to have plenty to back it up.
I'd struggle to sit and say there's no way that Fury has ever done PEDs because you never know in sports, but equally have no real stuff to even point towards him doing it outside of the stuff five years back? They're bringing up a fecking story from five years ago, making it into headlines like it's a recent thing which it isn't.
Based on failing a drugs test and it's my opinion he took steroids. The tainted meat excuse is a load of bollocks similar to Canelo using it. People turn a blind eye when it's a fighter or athlete they like in cases like this in my opinion
That's your opinion though. And that's not the case at all for me. I'm a huge Fury fan but I don't let it blinker me. Like I said, maybe the excuse was bullshit but to be perfectly honest if you read into it there's a legit claim in there when it comes to the meat (which in fairness to your argument is why some fighters could have used the excuse while lying, though it's well known Fury eats plenty of boar etc). And the thing with Fury is that after everything he's been through the last few years, I don't really think he would give a shit about opening up and admitting to cheating if he had. He's opened up about drug use, wanting to end his life, going off of the rails etc. It's not as simple as going "oh well he failed the test and I don't like the reason that he's using for failing it so I'll just say it's fact", it's not always as black and white as that neither is the excuse that people are arguing against your opinion to protect their favourites.
Each to their own. To me it doesn't seem that out of order to assume someone who failed a drugs test took said drugs and didn't eat some dodgy meat. Equally seems odd in the boxing community that people can openly accuse Joshua of taking steroids (and Fury does it constantly) yet the man who actually failed a drugs test people will assume it's a dodgy test!
I think there's a difference between admitting to doing coke, booze, contemplating suicide and taking steroids. He seemingly takes great pride in his career and it's questioning him on a professional level and Essentially questioning his achivements rather than personal which in fairness he is very open about
This story is nuts...
They're all on PEDs.
If doping was endemic in a sport as inconsequential as bicycling, you can be sure that in a sport as lucrative and dangerous as boxing then it certainly will be.
If doping was endemic in a sport as inconsequential as bicycling, you can be sure that in a sport as lucrative and dangerous as boxing then it certainly will be.
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Sounds like it could be pugilistic dementia?
Very sad to hear, I've been a Floyd fan all my life and watched him ever since he took over Sr. He made him more aggressive and he was just as exciting as pac when he went looking for finishes, until his hands broke and he became more defensive and techincal as he got older.
He sounded punchdrunk for a while. I heard he had some other issues related to breathing or a shortage of breath something like that. I forget. There were a few health issues he had.