Magomed Abdusalamov is in Self-Induced Coma

[Kirkland Laing]

Top quality discussion in this thread. Nothing to add apart from thoughts and prayers with Abdusalamov.

[#1FightFan]

this man is a warrior born, and a credit to heavyweight boxing today!!!! such fire and determination. He is ten times the warrior a lame MF'ing heavyweight like Wlad Klit is~!!!! I pray that he will be ok. this truly sucks!!!

[ykdadamaja]

I don't ever remember Perez having that kind of power!?!? When injuries like that happen against guys you know have the capacity to take it, my mind always runs on Panama Lewis and the whole Resto/Collins incident.

[Beanz]

World Boxing News - Mike Perez: My main concern is with Mago Abdusalamov's health

[El Kabong]

He is ten times the warrior a lame MF'ing heavyweight like Wlad Klit is~!!!!

Yeah and what did being a warrior get him? The admiration of a few fans and a serious head injury which will more than likely end his career.

[#1FightFan]

He is ten times the warrior a lame MF'ing heavyweight like Wlad Klit is~!!!!

Yeah and what did being a warrior get him? The admiration of a few fans and a serious head injury which will more than likely end his career.

yeah and what did being a warrior get Hagler, chavez, ward, marciano, gatti, frazier, robinson, ali, etc, etc....lol.
shit happens in this sport! while unskilled in the defensive scared running style of boxing, Mago's efforts were more exciting than wlads last 8 fights put together

are u actually saying its better to have a big ole scared vagina running around hugging and clinching and fouling, than a true warrior spirit in the hallowed boxing ring I'm pretty sure 95% of the people on here, would want to see the exciting brawl between two warriors instead of Wlad Klit/David Haye performances of safety first.

[El Kabong]

yeah and what did being a warrior get Hagler, chavez, ward, marciano, gatti, frazier, robinson, ali, etc, etc....lol.
shit happens in this sport! while unskilled in the defensive scared running style of boxing, Mago's efforts were more exciting than wlads last 8 fights put together

are u actually saying its better to have a big ole scared vagina running around hugging and clinching and fouling, than a true warrior spirit in the hallowed boxing ring I'm pretty sure 95% of the people on here, would want to see the exciting brawl between two warriors instead of Wlad Klit/David Haye performances of safety first.

OK first off Robinson and Ali weren't the kind of guys to take excess punishment WHEN THEY COULD AVOID IT. Later in Ali's career when he slowed down, yeah he took beating after beating after beating....that hasn't really helped him in his life after boxing.

Secondly Wladimir fights in a style that makes him successful, why would you change if all you're doing is winning? Why would you change that? The POINT of boxing or of any sport is to WIN being "entertaining" doesn't rank close to "WIN THE FIGHT" it's an afterthought. Wladimir could more than likely revert to his old face first style and still whip 90% of the heavyweights out there, but why bother when he is winning anyway? He's winning, he rarely if ever has a clean punch landed on him....it's almost unfair how easy he has made it for himself but we get these idiots wanting him to fight like Tyson ...he's not Tyson, he's not going to fight the way pissed off fans who don't understand that winning is not the most important thing it's the ONLY thing. Case in point, if Arturo Gatti BOXED more he would have won more fights, sure he was an exciting fighter but his career suffered because of his style and that is typically the case for such warriors. Hagler and Marciano are the exception to the rule....also what did being a warrior do for Frazier against Foreman? It damn near ruined him, and hell Michael Moorer fell for that "be a warrior" bullshit and Foreman got him too!

The point is WIN being a warrior is a choice and the people who usually choose to be "warriors" don't win, don't stick around, and don't enjoy a nice life after boxing is done. The admiration fades, the fans stop caring, the fans don't help struggling ex-fighters in their day to day lives. So in the end a fan's appreciation and respect only mean so much....winning is forever.

[El Kabong]

Another point which supports my position

Tommy Morrison

Warrior - TKO'd horribly by Ray Mercer

BOXER - out points George Foreman

Coincidence I think not

[Beanz]

There is no line in the sand with boxing on one side and brawling on the other. People will never forget Joe Frazier and that is not just because he was a boxer. It is too simplistic to boil the argument down in such terms. Even Perez proves the point by employing head and waist movement in his relentless march forward. Winning is everything is a peculiar ideal in which apparently fouls do not exist unless awarded and anything goes except brawling? I think not. Winning may be the primary goal but it is not everything unless you reduce life down to a single espresso.

[Fenster]

Not sure what the criticism of the HBO comms is about? They expressed exactly what I was thinking - It is an exciting fight. When they commentated on Wlad-Povetkin they again expressed exactly what I was thinking - it is a shit fight.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Without the poor big man suffering an injury the comparison between certain styles, being the cause of injuries, wouldn't even be considered a factor.

Nobody can seriously say they prefer to watch Wlad over what Perez-Mago served up.

[El Kabong]

apparently fouls do no exist unless awarded

I know you're being sarcastic but YES EXACTLY THAT!!! How many times have you watched your Plymouth Argyle and seen an offsides not called, a penalty not given, a foul not given, a card not shown....it happens and if a team gets caught up in the "B-b-but that was a foul" victim mentality then they are beaten already.

You can foul in boxing and get away with it, you can foul in basketball, football, soccer, and get away with it, it's all about knowing when and how to foul and knowing that makes you cagey, it makes you professional, and it makes you extremely difficult to beat.

If the ref doesn't call it.....then it's not a foul and it's like it never even happened. So it's no use to complain after the fact, a ref won't go back and award a foul because he feels he missed a call or messed up.

[IamInuit]

Yeah had the injury not have occurred it was probably going to be the first hev foty candidate since Ike/Tua.

Having said that El is spot on. Why should Wlad fight like that and put his earnings at risk? With his dodgy chin he would have been working some 8 to 5 job. And he's not a swarmer or brawler so its kind of employment suicide for him to fight that way.

[El Kabong]

Yeah had the injury not have occurred it was probably going to be the first hev foty candidate since Ike/Tua.

I take NOTHING away from guys who brawl like that. And yeah I can certainly enjoy fighters mixing it up like that but it's not something that's going to give a fighter longevity, it won't work vs everyone, and when that style doesn't work it's bad news for the guy that uses it. You can look very foolish trying to brawl with a boxer.

You look at the wars fighters have had recently or excess damage fighters have taken and look at how their careers went AFTER those fights and it's not good. Look at Riddick Bowe, if he had not brawled so much I guarantee you #1 You wouldn't need subtitles to understand him today and #2 His prime would have lasted a lot longer. Look at Meldrick Taylor a very skilled boxer, quickest hands you could imagine, and very slick on defense....he CHOSE to brawl with JCC and it worked against him and he never recovered after losing that very close fight...but even if he had won what good would he have been?

Your career doesn't get extended by taking excess punishment but it could be prolonged by avoiding that punishment.


I'm a huge Miguel Cotto fan and yeah he can brawl but he also knows when to box. There are guys who have boxing skills, like Meldrick Taylor had and they choose not to use them and to me that's idiotic. It's like if Kareem Abdul Jabaar had his sky hook which nobody could stop and just said "Eh, I don't need to use that"......it's moronic. You're not awarded a victory by being exciting, you win by BOXING. That's the name of the game not EXCITING, if that was the game then fine brawlers would be everywhere and they'd be undefeated, but again it's not the main focus of the sport.

[p4pking]

Good discussion here, but it's not as if Mago chose to fight that way, he did what he could to try and win. He doesn't have the tools to avoid punishment from a schooled boxer, it's not a matter of how he decided to approach that fight. That's where the Wlad comparison becomes a bit silly, people fault Klitschko for not doing what he is capable of to win within his craft, nobody is asking him to brawl in doing so.

[Spicoli]

I think the train has run off the tracks with all of this talk about who "chooses" to do what in the ring as the opponent has and will always have a direct impact on your route. Sure guys approach some opponents differently, brawl a boxer, box a brawler etc but at the end of the day a guy works with what he brings to the ring and its not all who are master craftsmen or with top skill to make adjustment. Even the master craftsmen became such...learned and honed alternate avenues by realizing what they had was not enough. Just as you adjust over rounds you adjust and learn over career. Morrison brawling Mercer was mentioned...Morrison didn't go in free swinging and brawling Mercer and get caught, he was combination punching the hell outta Mercer and then his green, his chin, and his stamina came up short with a guy with an iron chin and was better. Damiani didn't turn brawler after outclassing Mercer and making him look an amatuer for 8 rounds...he got caught. Even guys who "choose" to box get caught, just as fine boxers turn brawler out of desperation and at the dictate...need...as a fight unfolds. Mago was never ever going to come in and "box" his way to victory..anyone who had seen him 3,4 times prior and get rocked and badly outboxed early with Vic Bisbal knew why he was being featured. Mostly everyone in the ring is a somewhat skilled fighter, boxer until you find the guy coming out of the other corner is better and has more options. Fights evolve, plans change and plan a turns to plan b, and then c if your lucky. If not, you use whats worked and got you to the dance and God willing when you learn it was not enough early in a career you learn and improve next time around. Ffs right now you just want and hope this guy, this fighter, improves for more reasons than the ring.