Robbery! (Sultan vrs. Austin on Friday)

[White_Savage]

That's right, I said it. They both had one knockdown apiece, but Ibragimov hurt Austin in nearly every round. Even Teddy Atlas had Ibragimov edging Austin at the end, and you know how he feels about White fighters.

But the real robbery was that the judges perpetuated against the fans. Pick SOMEBODY morons, and let us progress to the title shot in an orderly manner, instead of being left hanging. If they had handed Austin a gift, at least we'd get to see him being KTFO by Wlad.

This "draw" was by a bunch of American judges who didn't have the balls to outright ROB the Russian. Why pussyfoot about? Speaking of draws, if a fight that night deserved to be called a draw, how about Naugler vrs. Miller? I guess the judges hand out points to black fighters for punching a guy's gloves and the airspace his head formerly occupied these days.

 

[Triad]

I can understand the draw but I thought Ibragimov did enough to win. I actually thought he was more impressive Hatton was in his last fight.

The only reason I could possibly want Austin to win is because I would rather see him fight Klitshko. He has a much higher KTFO value.

 

[Gary]

I agree that Sultan won the fight,he was about 10 pounds overwieght.He was trimmer and fitter looking against Whittiker.He looks like 225 would be a good weight for him.Dimitrenko won on Saturday so did Dieter Roth.Tommy Morrison wants to comeback, says he don't have AIDS and is calling out Mike Tyson.

 

[JD074]

"It is very disappointing and very difficult situation with Don King," said Grinberg, of Plantation. "They robbed this fighter. They figure there is a lot of money to be made, so let's have a rematch. Sultan said he is ready to fight next month, he understands what happened. It is another step for us to understand this business of professional boxing and why there are not so many great champions in this country.

"They made a decision looking at something else," Grinberg said.

"Everyone who was here understands what happened. Sultan won nine, 10 rounds and lost maybe two. ... Sultan is disappointed because he is an honest guy and he does not like to be robbed."

"Why there are not so many great champions in this country," that was a great line!

[url]http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/columnists/sfl-robboxingf ollo30jul30,0,315490.column[/url]

 

[Hockaday]

How was this a title eliminator? Ibragimov needs a lot of work. If he was ready for a title shot, he should have left no doubt against a guy like Austin. Don't get me wrong, Ibragimov has ability, and he's fun to watch, but he's not ready for prime time.

 

[White_Savage]

Hockaday: Supposedly SOMEONE was going to get a shot at Wlad out of this. Believe me, I'm much more upset by the draw than I would have been by them handing Austin a gift.

BTW, during that fight, they showed the RINGS magazine ratings. Wlad was on top, as should be, but...Liakovich was behind Lamon Brewster, in fact at fourth I think. EXCUSE me, isn't Liakovich ACTUALLY HOLDING A BELT HE TOOK FROM BREWSTER at this point. WTF? And Valuev was at 10, behind a bunch of people with no title. The man he TOOK the title from, John Ruiz, was at 6! I reiterate, WTF?!?!?!?

 

[Hockaday]

W.S., I'm just saying nineteen fights against okay competition is a thin resume for a title eliminator. Had Ibragimov followed through and knocked out Austin in the first, he would have gone into the title fight as the big destroyer, when he's really not ready.

Those Ring ratings. WTF is right! I thought the whole idea of fighting and beating a guy was to move ahead of him. Or at least have him fall below you. Maybe the ratings people at Ring are just out of school, fresh from some New Logic courses or something. Maybe they throw out objective criteria and rate by what their inner voice tells them. Or it could have just been a typo.

 

[JD074]

Yeah, they probably have some fancy statistics, based on a fighter's entire career, rather than their last defeat, the level of competition they've faced, etc. On the other hand, Valuev beat Ruiz, he's a belt holder, and he's undefeated in over 40 professional fights. Plus, nobody wants to see a Ruiz fight.

Edited by: JD074