Cruiserweight/SM Tournament - World Boxing Super Series

[GAME]

Early predictions…… but given my inability to call a fight expect the opposite

Super middleweights

Groves vs Cox. George picked Cox because he thinks it will be easy. Id have to agree. Cox I don’t think hits hard enough and whilst I’m all for young guys getting an opportunity Im not sure how he got included in this tournament. In the last super 6 we had big names like Kessler in his prime, Taylor and an unbeaten Abraham. The inclusion of Cox suggests this is a level down from the last one but I hope Cox proves me wrong and does well. Groves could finally put those Froch losses behind him if he wins this tourney whilst Carl took two losses in his

Smith vs Skoglund I detailed my concerns on Smith in an earlier post. I don’t believe Joe Gallagher is the trainer to guide him through this tournament but he has a relatively straight forward first fight. Skoglund is unbeaten but doesn’t carry much power. The only names on his record are ancient warhorses like Glenn Johnson and Lolenga Mock, neither of which he could put away. Im going with Callum in this one.

Eubank Abraham winner vs Yildrim I expect Eubank to come out a wide winner over Abraham and that will be good experience to go in with Yildrim who is similarly a come forward strong European style brawler. Eubank has quick enough hands to win pretty much every round vs Yildrim without ever looking like getting a stoppage

Braehmer vs Brant I wouldn’t like to write off a guy like Braehmer who carries power in both hands and always had good skills however what goes against him here is age and weight. He is coming off a loss and then aged 38 he wants to boil down 7lbs to face a young dangerous fighter and Americas only entry in this tournament. I don’t see it ending well for Braehmer. I see Brant outboxing him and maybe stopping him late


Cruiserweights

Usyk vs Huck I’ve a lot of respect for Huck and his career but in this one I favour Usyk strongly. I think he dominates a 1 sided fight on points showcasing his great skills and making it look easy.

Gassiev vs Wlodarczyk Good fight!. Wloarczyk needs to use his vast experience to fiddle his way through the rounds and avoid trading with the younger man. Gassiev is the dark horse of the tournament and I pick him in this fight. Wlodarczyk has never been stopped so it will be a statement if Gassiev gets him out of there but Gassiev was so physically powerful and heavy handed vs Lebedev that he has to start favourite in this fight.
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Breidis vs Perez Im a bit disappointed for Perez because I was really looking forward to seeing him and rated his chances but unfortunately hes got matched off against Maris Breidis whos arguably the best boxer in the tournament and second favourite to Usyk. Perez has fought at heavyweight with losses to Bryant Jennings and Povetkin so should be use to physically bigger men. However Breidis has a dramatic KO over heavyweight Manuel Charr and made easy work of long time champ Marco Hiuck so this is a really a big ask for Mike Perez. Breidis wins.

Dorticos vs Kudryashov What a great fight this one is. Both guys could KO the other but Id say Kudyrahov is the bigger puncher with the genuine KO power. The Cuban has the skills and will be favoured the longer it goes but his high KO record is abit misleading because there arent many names on it and in his sole points win he failed to stop Edison Miranda who was KOd by Abraham down at middleweight years ago. If it’s a shootout early I go with the Russian but I see Dorticos being elusive and using his boxing skills to get through the storm and take it late