It's not necessarily a measuring stick per say.

It's more experience to open up his array of punches & also sharpen his technique. Just stop & sit through all of the fights of Miranda that you can get. Let me say this...I'm often very leary of commenting on a fighter that I don't have the full body of work embedded in my brain...but Miranda's an easy case because he is so incomplete. That sounded much worse than it is...but his problems are few...but they are big issues.
Yes, there are some issues surrounding Miranda's technique. He leaves himself open for counters too often as evidenced in his fight with Abraham. Further, he admits in his own words that he walks into bouts resolved to only use 'plan A', throwing caution to the wind and just pounding his target with bombs. He also stated that he never felt that he needed to use a 'plan B', but I thought that if he had a 'plan B' he should have used it when he fought Abraham. Of course, 'plan B' shouldn't have been head-butts.
It may also be possible that what you see is what you get, and Miranda's learning-curve has plateaued. But I really don't believe that and think a good trainer can affect a lot of positive changes in his style if Miranda is interested in learning how to become a complete package.

Totally disagree...I think that Vargas needed a few more big fights against some accomplished talent & a little bit of tweaking with his attitude & he'd have been the cat's a** so to speak. Yes he was hungry...but Vargas was more than just that...he was special...his amatuer record of 100 wins & 5 defeats slaps a big fat exclamation point on that fact. Then there's his Olympic shot & controversial loss there which comes to mind also.

Vargas held his own against Oscar & Trinidad up until the mid rounds of the fight & he was giving them fits prior to getting dropped.
There have been fighters with impressive amateur pedigrees that never translated into becoming a world champ at the pro level. I think with Vargas' above average skills and tremendous heart that he made a pretty damn good showing for himself. When I look over his record and see the age at which he was fighting top-tier opponents, it makes me a bit
more thoughtful about the big picture, i.e. maybe he was hurried along a bit too quickly.
His win over Winky was a pure bullshit decision, but he was in with a little known gem that didn't have any popular appeal. I think a lot of politics went into that decision.
However, even on anabolics, I had him ahead in DLH fight until he got caught. The doping factor takes all of his credibility away for that fight, though.


Do you see where I am coming from? I'm not saying that Miranda sucks...but he needs some more work...course...I could be wrong...but I just don't think that I am.
Yes, Miranda needs work to perfect a technical defense. Throwing all caution to the wind and using head-butt tactics will eventually get him KO'd. Miranda does seem a bit high on himself, though. Maybe it will take a KO loss for him to sit back and start doing some personal inventory. I should and will watch the entire fight again, as I only watched it once.


He did look capable against Abraham in spots...but he also looked totally vulnerable also. Even though Abraham was hurt...& he was hurting...he never really looked hurt hurt...as in about to be knocked out. He was steady on his feet pretty much the entire fight except for the 4th or 5th when the breakage seemed to happen.

Watch that fight again. I've always liked Abraham...but that fight made me respect him & his power much more than before. I really lost a lot of respect for Miranda during that fight because he was constantly using his head & going low apparently out of frustration. Anytime that Abraham got on him...he'd crack him in the nuts. Anyone that says he wasn't fouling in that fight...well...they'd be wrong.
Agreed. He was fouling. I just thought that the number of point deductions was a bit draconian. I don't think it was as severe as Hatton's tactics against Tszyu, though.

The fight that did it for me on Miranda the most was the Eastman fight.
What about the Eastman fight did it for you? Prior to that bout Eastman was in with the likes of Hopkins and Abraham. I remember seeing the fight, I just don't remember it all that well.


Pavlik would be an interesting fight.

Not 100% sure who I'd pick. I've thought about it...& I just go back & forth on the outcome.

As far as Taylor goes...I still stand by my thoughts on that one...Miranda knocks him out. He just backs up with his hands down to much.
I would have to go with Miranda based on the opposition that he's fought at this point. I've seen Pavlik hit flush by good punchers and he seems to have a good beard. If Miranda gets stupid and throws caution to the wind it could be an early night for him as Pavlik has dynamite in both hands. That being said, I think both camps are going to avoid that fight. I think it's up to the fans to mandate it.


Good discussion...youv'e made some valid points. Thanks babe.
Always a pleasure brother. You got me to re-evaluate a lot of my ideas on some of these points, which is ALWAYS a good thing. CC back at ya later tonight!