One for the Boxing fans!

[Otta]

Chisora to fight Vitali in Feb. What a waste of time that will be!

Missed Khan at the weekend, but I do think the deducted points were a nonsense. That said, I also agree with those who say he should never have allowed himself to be in the position to lose in the first place. Talks of a Mayweather fight now seem a lot further away!

[Jeremy]

Chisora vs Vitali does sound like another mismatch, but in all honesty, a Klitschko vs anyone would seem to be a mismatch these days. There are just no credible challengers out there at the moment.

Khan... sounds like it was a very close fight, so his claims of a robbery seem unfounded and a bit childish. Sounds like a rematch is a possibility, but I'm sure Peterson will want to maximise his earnings while he's a champ. And an immediate rematch with Khan would be high-risk.

[KidKruger]

I think Chisora deserves a title fight more than Helenius based on performances from their contest, however at 15 fights versus 60 fights it seems a huge mismatch as Jeremy states. Kudos to Vitali for publicly stating it's clear that Chisora won the fight (unless he's picking Chisora because he's avoiding Helenius !).

Khan - I will reserve judgement until I see the fight but if Khan pushed as I've read then penalise him. It's banned in the rules so he needs alignment. He's too cocky these days but an undoubted talent, he overlooked Peterson though.

[Otta]

I'm not sure he overlooked him, but he was definitely foolish to start talking about his future plans for after he had won.

[KidKruger]

Peterson is a mug if he gives Khan the rematch (as alleged), he should defend his title against other contenders a while and make some cash, he's earned it.

Khan slagged-off Washington DC after the contest saying what else could he expect from a City like that, bad form IMO, he needs to swallow his pride and give at least a tiny bit of credit to Peterson for his efforts !

[KidKruger]

Carl Froch is up this weekend against Andre Ward shame it'll be on at stupid O'Clock.

Culmination of a proper tournament with meaningful final. If you've followed it from the beginning you've seen some good boxing.

What's your predictions ?

In fact who do you WANT to win and who do you BELIEVE will win and when / how ?

I want Froch but believe Ward on points as he's a mover, dirty inside and it's in USA.

[KidKruger]

I watched the Khan fight last night on YouTube, Khan may well have been avoiding the head of Peterson but that doesn't prove Peterson was trying to but him. Peterson obviously realised that if he continued to box at range he would keep on getting hit because Khan is too fast, he kept his head low on the way in to avoid being caught. Once inside, Khan's only answer was elbows, pushes, forcing Peterson's head down and head locks.

Khan got a knockdown point in R1 which he didn't earn yet argues he was unfairly treated for his fouls.

Khan has applied to the relevant boxing conmission to have the win reversed to his favour, he's overtly saying ref was bent. Not a word of praise for Peterson yet, as if Peterson had nowt to do with the win !! Maybe Khan has to ignore Peterson to strengthen his 'case' with the public and the commission.

[Jeremy]

Boxers do have a habit of moaning after a loss. Hopkins is terrible when he loses. Margarito was demolished by Cotto in their second fight, but moaned afterwards saying that Cotto "hits like a girl"! Froch was ungracious after he was well beaten by Kessler, claiming a home-town decision.

You'd have to put Ward as a favourite over Froch given their respective performances against Kessler, but as they say... styles make fights. Hopefully Froch will put in a decent performance.

[Otta]

While Froch has often complained about a lack of media and public interest in his fights, Benn insisted modern fighters were partly to blame for their lack of exposure.

"I wish I saw more of them, they box once every six or seven months," said Benn, who was a central figure in British boxing's last great boom in the early 1990s, when his fights with Chris Eubank were watched by millions on terrestrial television.

"How are you going to get a name? Carl Froch is a great fighter but we see him once in a blue moon. You've got to keep busy and then 'bang, bang, bang', prepare for another one.

"I was fighting every month - one year I had 13 fights - 'bang, knock him out, bring on somebody else, bang, knock him out, bring on somebody else'.

"The British public watched us grow up because they didn't have to pay for it. Now boxing is scattered all over the place, on Sky Sports or pay-per-view, and people can't afford it."

Well said!

[Otta]

Regarding Khan, I knew they were questioning the ref, but I've only just seen that they are asking for the actual result to be overturned. I agreed that B-Hop's decision should have been altered, but perhaps it has now set a president, where every boxer who loses a title on points, will be asking for a result to be changed.

[KidKruger]

"You'd have to put Ward as a favourite over Froch given their respective performances against Kessler, but as they say... styles make fights. Hopefully Froch will put in a decent performance."

I'd agree with that which is why I am surprised that Kessler says Froch wins this.

[Jeremy]

I think Kessler just has a grudge against Ward - he feels Ward beat him through dirty tactics.

[taper]

I have a feeling Froch will win this one, against the odds. Pretty sure he'll take it the distance at least. Nottingham's best since Bendigo.

[KidKruger]

I read somewhere that Ward hasn't lost a fight since he was 13 yrs old.

That's a formidable resume !!

I think I'm gonna watch this tonight. It's one of the most worthy contests for ages, the whittling-down through the ranks to derive the 2x best Super Middleweights, the lack of doubt that the best are fighting the best, the removal of the perpetual bugbear of multi-belts fuzzying who's top dog. This is as good as it gets I reckon so I'll be looking on Virgin later to check the timing and cost.

[Jeremy]

The tournament as a whole, I would count only as a partial success - Dirrel and Kessler dropped out through injury. Taylor pulled out because he was fed up of getting beaten up. We didn't get to see some of the fights we should have seen. It was a great idea, but I'm not sure if we'll ever see anything similar again.

[KidKruger]

The injuries and fighters dropping out I see as just part of boxing, that's a regular occurrence isn't it ?

The best remained to fight in the final, no protecting or clever matching to ensure an outcome.

That alone merits the existence of the tournament, it's what sports should ultimately be - best v best.

I think there may be another tourney, Light-Heavy or Welterweight.

Only thing I'd have changed about this tournament is to have it 3-4 years earlier so Calzaghe could be rated once and for all.

[KidKruger]

Froch totally outclassed tonight.

How two judges gave Froch 5 rounds is beyond me, probably a response to Khan's accusations last week, Carl at a stretch took 2 rounds.

Gutsy Froch took a lot of hurt but couldn't do much about it, Ward extremely fast and extremely evasive - almost a perfect boxer.

[Otta]

Froch's defeat means British boxers have

now lost 10 world title fights out of 12 in

2011, leaving Cleverly as the country's sole

world champion.

Not the best year for the Brits.

Carl Froch actually very gracious in defeat, although he still reckons he could beat Ward in a rematch!

[Jah Lush]

Happy Birthday The Greatest

[Alan Medic]

[KidKruger]

British boxers...

Ricky Burns still had his world title last time I checked, so that's at least 2x British boxing word titles we hold.

[KidKruger]

I hope they're showing Chisora / Klitschko contest at CPT (or whatever it's called then).

KO for the Ukranian I reckon, but a game Chisora up to that point.

Enouragingly Derek has faced a 6'7" fighter in Fury and similar in Helenius so the heigt at least shouldnt be a problem. That just leaves the power, technique, footwork and durability/stamina of Vitali to contend with !!!

[KidKruger]

I guess they're not showing Chisora / Klitschko at CPT then, it's shut.

Anywhere else around SE22 that'll be showing the contest, or might if asked ?

I know it's on BoxNation for a ?10er per month, but prefer a bar.

[taper]

British heavyweights looking good at the moment (price, the mighty Fury, Joshua after the olympics). But I fear Delboy will get mullered.

[KidKruger]

Interesting how Fury who'll "fight anyone, me" has given up his British/Commonwealth titles since David Price KO'd McDermott.

He realises that if he loses to Price he'll be out of the rankings and lose a couple of years getting back to that level of opponent. So he's gonna vacate his domestic titles and perhaps face Price later in his career. Price v Chisora could be on the card before the year's out if Chisora loses to Klitschko.