Bermane “B.
WARE” Stiverne24-1 (21 KO)
2014 was
arguably the worst year of boxing in recorded history and something nobody
expected after what was a very exciting boxing scene in the previous year. This
year all we saw were tune-up after tune ups and mismatches left and right, not
only from the man who everyone loves to hate, Al Haymon, but also from the man
a lot of people love to hate, Bob Arum. Already though, it looks as if we will
have a much more competitive year of boxing in 2015. With the news of boxing
back on NBC and NBC Sports in prime time, as well as a bunch of big name
fighters already scheduled to clash early in 2015 and one of the most important
fights in the Heavyweight division occurring in January. For years all we’ve
heard about how talent deficient the division is but it seems there is new life
being infused into it with some young fighters such as Deontay Wilder, Tyson
Fury, Anthony Joshua, etc. Will Wilder become the first American Heavyweight
champion in a while? Will Don King’s fighter help bring him back to relevance?
We shall see.
Wilder is a huge guy. Shooting guard/Small
forward sized if you want to cross sports. 6’7” and a listed 215 lbs(looks
bigger) of chiseled muscle. His physical advantages aren’t just limited to his
height; he has elite hand speed for a heavyweight and enormous power in his
right hand, knocking out all 32 of his opponents. Beyond his power, he uses his
83 inch reach to fire off a very effective left jab. Listing all of these
things obviously can’t tell the whole story. Even with these advantages, Wilder
still somehow has a tendency to be really off balance and lunges a lot in an
effort to explode his right hand on his opponent’s cranium. Deontay’s opposition has been maligned and a
lot of critics feel he has progressed very slowly since turning pro and that is
a fair criticism. Stiverne will be his toughest fight and he does have a lot to
prove.
Stiverne is
somewhat of a typical heavyweight of this era: about 6’2” tall and generally
unknown to the public. In this contest with Wilder, he’s outmatched in pretty
much every regard in the physical department. What Stiverne does have is plenty
of craftiness and a good amount of power for the division(See the knockout of
Chris Arreola), as well as a cast iron chin. Stiverne also has a pretty decent
jab and good countering skills that should really aid him against Wilder. What
I dislike about Stiverne sometimes is that he tends to rest way too much on the
ropes and not mount any offense. He lost his only fight by stoppage(a questionable
one) by staying on the ropes and not answering back. And though people love
discussing Wilder’s weakness of opposition, Bermane’s doesn’t look too much
better either.
For Stiverne
to win this fight he needs to avoid his typical lulls from the ropes, because
Wilder has severe power and any fighter, no matter the caliber, can attest to
that. I actually believe he can slip the jab and counter Wilder quite a bit
from the outside but I don’t think he’s gonna win the fight that way. Though
Wilder is better fighting backwards than most might give him credit for, coming
forward and getting inside on him might be the ideal way to possibly beat him.
If he does that, he should smother Deontay’s great jab and long right hand and
then we shall see how good Wilder is fighting on the inside.
For Wilder,
everything comes from his great size and power. He just needs to keep Stiverne
at the end of his jab and fight like he always does, MINUS the lunges. I could
definitely see him getting countered trying to throw one of those lunging
rights. If anyone could do it, it would be the best opponent he has faced to
date. I think most the boxing world sees
him as a one trick pony but watching a few more of his fights I noticed good
boxing skill and nuance from him. Then again, Wilder could knock him out early
and render everything moot. When Stiverne goes to the ropes which he inevitably
will, he needs to just throw that jab and be methodical with his attack (kinda
like Kovalev did against Hopkins).
I’m going
with Wilder here. I think the physical advantages he has aren’t going to go to
waste and frankly, I just don’t believe Stiverne is as good as those who hate
Wilder want us to believe.
Wilder by
KO. BOMBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBSQUAAAAAD
Amir “The
Young Master” Imam 15-0(13 KO)
Firstly, this
is gonna be a good ass fight. Amir Imam is one of those prospects coming up in
the game right now in the caliber of Julian Williams, Errol Spence, Keith
Thurman: good speedy punchers who also possess a well-rounded skillset as
boxers. He has shown a lot of dimensions in a couple fights recently. His fight
against the Cuban Yordenis Ugas(15-3), it was basically a boxing lesson the
whole time, whereas the previous fight against Jared Robinson he had his nose
bloodied early but was on the back foot against an aggressive fighter, countering
and fighting on the inside. In the Robinson fight he eventually turned the tables
and was the one who came forward and put the pressure on until he knocked him
out.
Maldonado Jr himself isn’t exactly just a step
up fight, he’s also a young and skilled puncher who has had a few up and downs
in his young career. Maldonado dazzled in his recent fights against Nelson Lara
and Luis Ramos Jr, showing his entire arsenal of punches to the body, head
while boxing and moving. He does have 2
losses and in one of those against Fernando Carcamo(17-6), he got caught by a
punch he didn’t see at the end of round 1 and never recovered. The other fight
against Michael Perez(21-1) was a split decision loss which could’ve gone
either way.
Standing at
5’11”, huge for Junior Welterweight(even going up a couple divisions past
that), Imam has the advantage over the 5’8” Maldonado Jr. I believe they’re
evenly matched in speed and power.
I think Imam’s
jab is crisper than and has the overall more textbook technique than Maldonado
does. If he can snap the jab and counter Maldonado when he tries to get in
range he should win this fight. He also possesses good head movement and
overall defense. Watching Maldonado I’ve seen him get pretty wild at times so
that bodes well for a focused and precise Amir who can practically do
everything in the ring.
Maldonado Jr
needs to avoid trading with Imam because this is a prospect who is sharper and better
than anyone he’s faced. I think Maldonado should avoid head hunting and focus
on the body here and get in and out with his attack. Imam is a pretty good
inside fighter so I don’t think that approach would be particularly suited for
this fight.
Should be a
good action packed fight that I see going a couple rounds. Going with Imam by KO in the later rounds.
Leo Santa
Cru.. FOH with these C fighters. FIGHT RIGO.
