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Messages - Atticus_Finch

#1
General discussion / Re: Boxing Thread
December 01, 2018, 12:13:02 AM
Watched it. Fairly dodgy alright. 

From the get go, McKenna seemed confident that he would get the knockout and was without doubt the aggressor for the majority of the fight.  Benson had the superior movement and landed by far the greater volume of punches.   

McKenna tired significantly in the second half of the fight and his face started to really reflect the damage that Benson's high percentage of punches landing was doing.

It was clear who won come the final bell but the ref awarded the fight in favour of McKenna.

Steve Lillis conducted an interview within a minute of the ref calling the decision with both fighters.  McKenna was the first to speak with Benson visibly distraught, sitting beside him.  McKenna unsurprisingly agreed with the verdict.  Going by Benson's facial expression I wasn't sure if it was going to be a good idea to let him speak as was expecting him to go off on a complete rant.  He didn't say anything too outrageous.  He announced his retirement there and then, citing a robbery of a decision and the fact he had feared a robbery and had requested decision to come via judges rather than a referee prior to the fight.

He perhaps said that in the heat of the moment.  At the very least Benson deserves a rematch.  The fight itself made for a great watch.  McKenna would need to go back to the drawing board for his tactics if a rematch materialises - while he troubled him on a couple of occasions - nothing to suggest that he would stop Benson.

Fury vs Wilder  - while I don't think it will make for a good fight at all (as in not being easy in the eye) I'm intrigued by it.  I can't see anything but a Wilder victory.  Fury going from fighting the likes of his two previous opponents (the fighting in the crowd troubled Fury more than the fighting in the ring for the first one of those fights from what I can recall) to fighting Wilder is just a step too far, too soon.

Lot of admiration for the comeback journey that Fury has made from the shape he was in a year ago to the condition he is now must have taken a lot of hard graft.  Even stepping in the ring against Wilder represents a victory for him.  Would be the stuff of fairytales (and fantastic to see) if he managed to beat Wilder and setup a fight with Joshua at some stage next year.  While Fury will no doubt make things awkward and it will be a cagey fightfor the first number of rounds.  It's very hard to see anything other than a Wilder victory.
#2
GAA Discussion / Re: Ulster Club SFC 2018
November 06, 2018, 02:47:43 PM
Is anyone aware of venues, times for the semi finals ?  Cheers
#3
General discussion / Re: Boxing Thread
August 17, 2018, 11:25:19 AM
Didn't realise that about Doheny at all, first i heard of it was when Frampton gave him a shout out on his great achievement at the press conference.

Fair play to him,  he was at one stage being talked about as a possible opponent for Frampton (would need to step up in weight to do so) but then the world title shot must have materialised.

I see BoxRec has him listed as Australian and not Irish !

Anyone making the trip to Windsor this weekend ?

I know board member Don Johnson was until he had the permission slip revoked after a spot of misbehavior !

Apparently it is going to be a sell out.

Paddy Barnes won't have many better opportunities to win a world title, hopefully he can edge a decision.  Frampton's victory should be pretty routine.

Wilder and Fury will most likely steal the show and get up to some WWF style antics in the ring after Fury's fight.
#4
General discussion / Re: Boxing Thread
June 18, 2018, 02:08:50 PM
In terms of a headline fight it is a letdown, no two ways about it.

In fairness you could say Warren was a bit unlucky to be in this opponent quagmire. Plan A was Selby coasted a relatively easy decision against Warrington, Warrington threw a spanner in the works there (fair play to him).  Plan B was also scuppered when Valdez sustained a broken jaw against Quigg.  From what I understand Warrington has been confirmed as Frampton's next opponent.  A lot of effort went into securing Windsor Park for August 18th so it was a case of the show must go on. 

Paddy Barnes getting a genuine world title shot (as opposed to an alphabet soup belt) on the same bill wasn't something i saw coming.  Warren deserves credit for that.

As for Fury's involvement, assuming he will not be fighting a big name, then I'm not sure it overly adds to the bill or attracts fans. I will probably get grief for what I am about to say on the basis of stereotyping ... Tyson Fury's involvement in a fight on occasions sees fights in the crowd, perhaps you could say that is a coincidence and nothing to do with his average fan ....  anyone that i'm talking to about the bill casts their minds back to Fury vs Rogan when there was quite a bit of trouble in the crowd and his involvement in the Windsor bill (once again assuming he is fighting not a big name) doesn't attract them to going.  Those boxing crowd fights are entertaining to watch on twitter etc but would you really want one kicking off right beside you ?

Nrico - A tad harsh on Hyland there, agree there was one judgement on that Hyland vs Ormond fight was CJ Ross material but Hyland wasn't on the judging panel for his own fight in fairness so don't know why you would hold that against him.  No doubt he was dying to see the final bell but had done well earlier on.  As far as I know the only reason Ormond didn't get a rematch at the time was because Hearn had promised Hyland a shot at Ritson if he won the fight.  Understand Ormond won at the weekend so hopefully they both can go at it again, maybe even on the undercard of Frampton vs Jackson.
#5
General discussion / Re: Boxing Thread
June 16, 2018, 09:50:20 PM
Hyland gets stopped in the first round !  Feel like deleting that earlier post lol.  As soon as Ritson landed the first jab, Hyland was rocked.  Ritson's power just looked level above. He might be something special.
#6
General discussion / Re: Boxing Thread
June 16, 2018, 08:04:50 PM
Quote from: Jim Bob on June 13, 2018, 11:19:17 PM
When would tickets go on sale for Windsor on 18th August ?

This Friday.
#7
General discussion / Re: Boxing Thread
June 16, 2018, 07:51:18 PM
Frampton's opponent for the Windsor Park fight is due to be unveiled on Monday. 

The press conference was due to be last Wednesday, Warren didn't give a reason why that didn't take place but it seems that there was a good chance it was caused after the social media backlash suggested unveiling Luke Jackson as Frampton's Windsor opponent wasn't going to go down well.  Not sure if the extra few days will make any difference to getting a better opponent but in an ideal world Warren has gone back to Warrington and chucked some more money at him as well as a guaranteed rematch at Elland road if he agrees to the Windsor fight. Not looking likely though.

Some boxing on sky sports tonight which could prove to be interesting.

Belfast's Paul Hyland jr fights Lewis Ritson in the chief support fight to Josh Kelly vs Kris George.   Ritson has earned a bit of a reputation as a KO machine after his last number of fights in impressive fashion by early KO.  As a result he's been installed as the big favourite.   The bookies have Hyland jr at odds of 7 and 8/1 in places.  I think that's value, I've watched Hyland jr a number of times in Belfast and have always been impressed by his movement.  There's no doubt he would have to be at the top of his game to beat Ritson but I don't see this as the easy KO for Ritson as many envisage.  Hyland can take a punch, he sustained a broken jaw in the 8th round against Stephen Ormond and and saw out the fight to the final bell to claim a disputed decision.  I like the look of the fight to go the distance (priced at 3/1 generally) expecting Hyland to box and move and be wary of Ritson's power.   Ritson only made weight at the second time of asking. I could be wrong , wouldn't be the first or last time ;-) but I just get the sense that Ritson is coming into this fight very complacent and is not giving Hyland the respect he deserves.  Another example of this is he is already talking about having his next fight at St James Park (he's a Geordie) and selling it out.   Ring walk is expectedly to be on roughly about 9pm on Sky Sports Action.
#8
General discussion / Re: Boxing Thread
June 11, 2018, 04:51:57 PM
Quote from: Syferus on June 11, 2018, 02:23:16 PM
Trying to explain away Fury beating Klitch so cleanly as the Ukrainian being injured is a serious attempt to diminish what Fury did. It's like creating alternative facts just because you don't like the story that the actual events tell.

It was the size of Fury and his ability to use that size that completely destroyed Klitchko's one dimensional, defensively paranoid slap-fighting style that was entirely predicated on him being the bigger man with the reach advantage. I'm still amazed he got away with pawing smaller fighters for so long. Very poor refereeing on that point. Once he lost those advantages and someone could pick him off from range his wobbly defense was highlighted as it was many times earlier in his career.

People tend to gloss over the inescapable fact that most of the fighters he beat on his run were junk by the standards of any other era of heavyweight boxing. He was built up as a great champion when in reality he was just someone who came along at a great time for his set of talents to be utilised.

Chief, do me a favour and don't talk about alternative facts and inventing stories.  I've read some of your contributions on the Paddy Jackson thread.

Wilder is barely a boxer ?  Very good !

No one would dispute that Klitschko's reign came at a time when the heavyweight division was barren, at the end of the day he can only beat what's put in front of him, his performance against Joshua (when he was well past his prime) is more reflective of his ability than when i felt he was (rightly or wrongly) injured against Fury. I noticed you neglected to mention that.
#9
General discussion / Re: Boxing Thread
June 11, 2018, 02:02:45 PM
Quote from: Milltown Row2 on June 11, 2018, 09:26:40 AM
Yeah the Frampton Windsor experience will fall pretty flat if he doesnt get the right opponent, regardless of Fury as an undercard, he should have saved Wwindsor for a title fight.. there is no one out there ready for a decent punch up

Press conference on Wednesday to confirm but many in boxing media circles are saying the deal is done & dusted.

Conscious it's a difficult one.  You've a limited time window to lock down dates for any stadium fight, generally during football off-season and at a time  when it will not be "completely baltic" as one from Belfast would describe it. Once you've looked down the date, then try ensure that you've got a good opponent lined up.  The anticipated plan was that Selby would coast his recent fight and was willing to travel to Windsor for the title fight.  Warrington came along and threw a spanner in the works.  Then you have the next big name, Oscar Valdez, that supposedly would have been willing to travel (according to Michael Conlan) breaking his jaw in a fight against Scott Quigg.  From that point of view, Frampton, or maybe more Frank Warren has been unlucky.  At Frampton's stage of his career he can't really afford to wait until a decent opponent comes available to have his next stadium fight.

Gallsman - I know you will disagree with me on this and there are many out there that already have ... I'm convinced that the Klitschko that Fury beat was injured, there was most likely that element of complacency going into the fight as well.  I've watched the fight back and there are so many occasions when Klitschko is motioning to throw a meaningful punch, only to retreat at the last second.  The only sense that I can make of it was that he was injured.  Why would he not claim injury in the aftermath of the fight ?  My only thinking on it is that Klitschko gave David Haye a bit of abuse (and rightly so) in relation to big-toe gate effectively saying that he shouldn't have tried to blame injury for his defeat and that made his defeat the more embarrassing, that if Klitschko was injured against Fury, he'd sooner suck it up and say nothing than come out with the injury excuse.  Only my opinion but the Klitschko that fought Joshua, would have beat Fury on that night in Dusseldorf.

Screenexile - Agree completely it was like Seferi was guaranteed a purse for fighting with a bonus to last four rounds.  His next bonus was probably to last the distance and he probably thought to himself "i've no chance of seeing the final bell, might as well go now".

Seferi is a million miles away from the level of Dillian Whyte, Joe Parker never mind the likes of Wilder and Joshua.  Fury (don't get me wrong, delighted to see him back, he's a colourful character) has a long way to go before he can share the ring with any of the aforementioned names.  Huge respect for the journey Fury's undergone to date to be able to step back in the ring. Not only physically with all the weight loss but clearly mentally he wasn't in a good place and I have to admit that I thought he would never fight again especially with the UKAD disciplinary proceedings seeming to be a big obstacle preventing his return to the ring.  Whoever negotiated with UKAD for his ban to be backdated which made his return to the ring possible played a blinder.  Like ncrico says David Price wouldn't be a bad option at all for a next stepping stone fight. 



#10
General discussion / Re: Boxing Thread
June 10, 2018, 11:27:14 PM
When I heard Fury's next fight was going to be on the undercard of the Frampton fight last night I thought that didn't bode well for the quality of opponent they were going to get for Frampton.  Rightly or wrongly, I felt with Fury being an undercard fighter that suggested Warren was trying to go with a big undercard to deflect away from the headline fight being a bit of a let down.

I'm hearing speculation that Carl's opponent will be Luke Jackson. I had to google him to be honest.  What I imagine Warren will tell you is that he is an unbeaten fighter, former Olympian and rated 5 by the WBO.   What I will tell you is that he is 33 and ranked 44 in the division by Boxrec.  To put that in context Kiko Martinez is ranked 19 in the division.

Hopefully, it is nothing but speculation because if that is the fight that materialises it will surely be a big let down for Frampton and his fans who had been looking forward to this Windsor Park fight for a long time.
#11
General discussion / Re: Colereaine
May 10, 2018, 11:35:55 AM
Quote from: Keyser soze on May 10, 2018, 11:11:03 AM
I am an aficionado of the Harbour Bar myself. [Apart from that complete tool that does the bar] 

But it is not the most suitable venue for a group of 20 year olds for a Saturday night out, sure they would have every woman in the place chatted up in 10 minutes!  Kellys is the man for the job by a country mile .     

Did some laughing at that !    "Ooooor Wullie"  ... seems a bit of a marmite character !
#12
General discussion / Re: Boxing Thread
May 10, 2018, 11:04:29 AM
Haye has to to retire, that fight confirmed that his body is completely done. 

Haye's trainer Salas was due to be in Linares corner against Lomachenko this weekend but his commitment to Haye led to Linares getting a new trainer.  Surely Salas is regretting that now.

I see Bellew has called out Andre Ward ..... he's never been short of confidence but surely he is just looking for one last pay day.  Ward (in the same way Mayweather would have been when the McGregor fight was arranged) should be relishing the prospect of coming out of retirement for an easy pay day.

#13
General discussion / Re: Colereaine
May 10, 2018, 10:59:39 AM
Quote from: Don Johnson on May 09, 2018, 09:48:09 PM
Atticus Finch could let you know, he is one of the Coleraine Ultras who travels the length and breadth of the country supporting Oran Kearney's blue and white army.

Behave yourself Don Johnson ya wee skitter !!   Some of the boys took umbrage at your comments in the Barcelona thread. They felt you did not portray them as the culture vultures that they truly are ! The only reason they were in Irish bars two days in a row was because the Friday was Cheltenham Gold cup day and the Saturday was St Patrick's day and they wanted to watch the England vs Ireland Grand Slam rugby game.

My tuppence worth - agree with a lot of comments already posted.   JoG2 is correct when he says do not sup in Coleraine if at all possible. Agree with Keyser that Portstewart Arms is a great wee bar but Anchor probably better to watch rugby.

As for a night out, I'd say Harbour bar Portrush seems to be the most popular for the 20 somethings around the area these days. 

Dinny - Hope you and the lads enjoy your weekend.

While I'm here it would be remiss of me to point out another event that is happening near Coleraine area on Saturday night in Swatragh (aka The Swaaaa) which is about 25 mins away from Coleraine.

There is a GAA panel discussion which is being held in Friel's bar, Swatragh featuring Joe Brolly, Brendan Devenney, Owen Mulligan and others with proceeds going to Opt for Life & Revive ICU.

The event is hosted by the Ballerin GAA club in memory of their player Shaun Mullan who tragically passed away in a cycling accident at the end of last year.

It's a marquee event featuring live music, with some great raffle prizes and some fantastic sports memorabilia which is being auctioned.  A good night's craic should be in store.

Tickets are £10 and I understand that they are selling out quickly, if anyone is interested in tickets they can call the organisers Paul (07761500902) or Brian ( 07761500902).  Cheers


#14
General discussion / Re: Boxing Thread
May 05, 2018, 10:57:47 AM
Haye vs Bellew II takes place tonight.

This shouldn't be a big fight but I found the first fight a compelling watch with Haye trying to fight for on effectively one leg after tearing his Achilles in the 6th round until Shane McGuigan (his then coach) threw in the towel during the 11th round.

Was hard not to admire Haye for not quitting but also I have never heard him blame the defeat on the injury once, even though he would have been completely justified to do so.  I think he learned from the PR disaster that was "Big toe gate" following his loss to Klitschko.

There's been a cancelled bout after Haye got injured again. It remains to be seen what the inactivity will have done to Haye.  Some would say his body is just done and he should have hung up the gloves following the first defeat to bellew.

If he has got himself fit then I think Haye wins this.  Haye has said if he doesn't KO bellew that he will retire I think that is just talk and Haye will be happy with the win.  His choice of new trainer Ismael Salas (was formerly Jorge Linares trainer) suggests that he is focusing more on movement than trying to have KO power. Also he is expected to come in significantly lighter than their first fight which also says to me he isn't really heart set on a KO.  Bearing in mind that Haye was comfortably ahead on the score cards up until the time of injury then I would have to go for a lighter, fitter (presumably, time will tell) Haye winning on points.   


Bennydorano - bought that Eamon Magee book, his life has the makings of a good book.  I'm terrible for starting books and not finishing them but if I get round to finishing it will bore you with a brief review.


#15
Derry / Re: Derry Club Football & Hurling
April 27, 2018, 01:23:45 PM
Cheers gents