2017 World Elite Championships, Hamburg.

Joe_ Public

Gets underway tomorrow with both Sean McComb and Kurt Walker in action on the opening day. Both with winnable looking fights. Joe Ward - bronze 2013, silver 2015 and hoping to upgrade to gold this time - is seeded 3 at 81 so won't have to face his nemesis La Cruz until the final. Goes without saying, of course, that there's plenty of ringtime to face between now and then!

Irish Squad

52kg Brendan Irvine (St Paul's)
56kg Kurt Walker (Canal)64kg Sean McComb (Holy Trinity)81kg Joe Ward (Moate) cpt
91+kg Dean Gardiner (Clonmel)

Schedule

Aug 25th
(Last 32)
56kg Kurt Walker (Ireland) v Leonel De Los Santos (Dominican Rep)
64kg Sean McComb (Ireland) v Joedison De Jesus (Brazil)

Aug 26th
(Last 32)
91+kg Dean Gardiner (Ireland) v Hyeon Do Kim (Korea)

Aug 28th
(Last 16)
52kg Brendan Irvine (Ireland) v Azamat Issakulov (Kazakhstan) or Inkyu Kim (Korea)
81kg Joe Ward (Ireland) v Iago Kizira (Georgia) or Sean Lazzerini (Scotland)

Joe_ Public

pac_man wrote: »

I've been looking forward to this with the lack of boxing on the last few weeks.

Walker has a ridiculously tough draw.
McComb faces an awkward Cuban that's leaped up in weight. Why is the world champion that he beat in this tournament?

91+ could be a breakout tournament for a couple of guys. Like the above, I'm not sure why Gardiner is in this as he was stopped in the qualifiers. Unless someone was injured and pulled out?

Irvine and Ward probably have the least daunting tasks. Ward should get to the Semis and will then face a very handy Uzbek fighter that is a new comer to the division. Although they were the host country, Uzbek cleaned up in their regional qualifiers.

I don't know why Dunaytsev is in the tournament. It talks about a wildcard on the official site, but as to who decides that or how many they issue, I have no idea. I think Gardiner is in because a withdrawal and as he was beaten by the champion in the Europeans, he was first alternate. I think that's the case anyway.

Disappointing for Walker. Not the start we were looking for.

Morrison J

McComb on now.

Morrison J

Close first round, definitely won the second.

Joe_ Public

Cagey enough this, but he's doing enough

Morrison J

Good win for McComb. Hopefully that cut isn't too bad.

Joe_ Public

Morrison J wrote: »

Good win for McComb. Hopefully that cut isn't too bad.

Yeah, very comfortable. Did look to come out the worst of that clash of heads so a bit of a concern, tough fight coming up next.

Joe_ Public

McComb in the ring. Not looking promising agaisnt this Cuban, picked off at will in that first round. Needs to step it up and find his range.

Joe_ Public

pac_man wrote: »

Just caught the result. If I remember correctly that Cuban was very unlucky in the worlds 2 years ago in Conlans division.

I dont remember him from 2015, looks more a 60 than a 56 though, so is probably fighting a division above his natural weight. Totally outclassed McComb who, for all his superior reach, could hardly land a blow. McComb seems a bit tactically rigid to me, but wouldn't have made a difference anyway, had no chance with that lad. Be interesting to see how good he really is.

Joe_ Public

pac_man wrote: »

Yeah I thought it was strange that he was selected ahead of Robeisy Ramz, he was huge at the time(Cruz) and would have been Conlans biggest test in my eyes. I'd imagine the current jump is down to Lazaro Alverez acting as the number 1 @ 60kg.

Anyone catch your eye in the tournament so far or have you been watching much of it?

Only been able to dip in and out of it so far so not seen that much. One who definitely caught my eye was the Uzbeki, Madrimov, right after the McComb fight. Very tidy and packs a serious bit of power, can see him being right in the mix in the middleweight.

Also liked the look of Freddy Rojas against Dunaytsev earlier, looks like Billy Walsh has a decent kid on his hands there, but the 64 is fairly stacked. Sotomayer and Luke McCormack both beaten today, though I think the German who beat McCormack will make the final, probably against Andy Cruz.

The lightfly looks the best division, some quality there with Argilagos, Martinez and Dusmatov. Martinez absolutely dismantled Yafai earlier and Yafai is not a bad fighter. Whoever wins the bottom half there will win gold I think, not even convinced the Cuban makes the final.

Joe_ Public

pac_man wrote: »

Yeah that Uzbek lad at 75kg looks very heavy handed. You don't normally see amateurs getting a hiding but he really went to town and his opponent was lucky it was stopped. I don't know what they are feeding their lads over there but they're all physically strong, most of them are punchers. All have very good footwork and a aggressive in a clever way.Stylistically, they are a pro promoters dream.

Will keep an eye on that 49kg. I watched Dusmatov beat the Cuban only a few months ago in the WSB and I'd imagine he's still the man to beat.

Was just looking through that Uzbek boxer's record and odd thing is he did very little as a junior or in his first couple of years at senior, all of which was at 69. Then he makes the switch to 75 and almost instantly becomes near unbeatable. Even beat the Cuban olympic gold medallist in the WSB this year. Right now i'd have them favourites to top the medals table over the Cubans, they have very solid contenders in practically every division. Ward will have his hands full with the Uzbek guy in his half of the draw.

Morrison J

Irvine fought really well there. Just didn't have enough. Dropped heavy in the third when he seemed to be getting it going a bit. Really good fight.

Joe_ Public

I think the fight had already slipped him away from him, thought he was getting tired myself in the third even before he went down, but maybe I'm being harsh on him. I'm a bit disappointed but at the same time no easy fights here.

Joe_ Public

Ward up next.

(That last fight - one judge did not score it for the German, what fight are some of these judges watching? That was just bonkers).

Morrison J

Ward making his opponent look like a punchbag. Pure class.

Joe_ Public

Very straightforward, a good work out that for Joe. Looks in very good shape.

Subcomandante Marcos

Anywhere to watch the Ward fight lads?

Joe_ Public

You can watch the Ward fight on the live link: http://boxing2017.com/live/

At the bottom there is all the previous action, you just have to scroll across to the 81kg for Ward, its the one 30:23 in length. Typically, it's a pretty dreadful official website.

Morrison J

Tishchenko just got schooled like he did in Rio and got yet another gift via SD. The robberies never get any easier to watch do they? So frustrating.

Joe_ Public

Morrison J wrote: »

Tishchenko just got schooled like he did in Rio and got yet another gift via SD. The robberies never get any easier to watch do they? So frustrating.

Didn't see it, was watching the other ring. They seemed to be booing Levit after his victory, have no idea why if that was the case.

Isley beating Madrimov earlier was another surprise decision, I thought the Uzbek fighter clearly won it. By and large, though, I think the judging has been better than usual throughout the tournament, just the very odd discrepancy apart.

Edit: on second thoughts maybe the booing I heard was for Tishchenko from the other ring, that would seem more plausible anyway.

snowflaker

Ward will be on BBC Red button shortly.

McCormack (GB) on now

Joe_ Public

Nice fight this by McCormack. Think he's got the first 2 here.

Subcomandante Marcos

Joe_ Public wrote: »

You can watch the Ward fight on the live link: http://boxing2017.com/live/

At the bottom there is all the previous action, you just have to scroll across to the 81kg for Ward, its the one 30:23 in length. Typically, it's a pretty dreadful official website.

Direct link to Ward's fight if anyone wants it.

Joe Ward vs Iago Kizira

Joe_ Public

Farce.

snowflaker

The Belarussian looks about 50!

snowflaker

Looking good so far

Joe_ Public

Very comfortable, almost too easy.

snowflaker

Excellent movement

snowflaker

30-27 for me

Joe_ Public

Another medal in the collection and hardly broken sweat yet. Joe's looking in great shape this week.

snowflaker

That was comprehensive

Joe_ Public

Have a sneaky feeling the German could give La Cruz a fright here, maybe even beat him. La Cruz did the business against a Mexican yesterday but got caught on quite a few occasions. The German didn't look too bad in his fight.

Joe_ Public

La Cruz way too good, standing count for the German in 2nd round was a bit ridiculous, though.

Morrison J

All those Irish sports journalists who became boxing experts the past week give a grand total of zero airtime to Joe Ward I bet.

Joe_ Public

pac_man wrote: »

I'd be interested to see what you's think of this fight. It wasn't like the Rio final in which Tishchenko clearly lost but I felt like he shouldn't have got the verdict today. He keeps getting the nod in suspect decisions.

http://sportdeutschland.tv/s/b3a2f030663e01356e8c7054d2ab776f/aiba-box-wm-2017/re-live-aiba-box-wm-viertelfinale-schwergewicht-ring-block-1

Just watched it. No, not like Rio, but still questionable enough. Simply did not land nowhere near enough punches to win the fight. Thought 1st was tight enough but NZ clearly ahead the other 2. The Irish judge gave all 3 rounds to Tishchenko, utter bonkers. Two very bad judging displays tonight - that one and the McCormack decision which was even worse in my opinion.

Joe_ Public

pac_man wrote: »

I agree with your take on the fight, first could have gone either way but thought NZ won the next two. I'm nearly sure I watched a similar fight in the Europeans not so long ago and it was the same story. I must watch that McCormack one.

Said earlier I thought the judging had been pretty decent from what i'd seen, and then today I see 3 decisions that either looked dogdy or just plain wrong. The American getting the nod over Madrimov earlier was questionable too I thought. McCormack is a lovely fighter, fought the perfect tactical fight and I was sure he'd won it well.

Joe_ Public

Yeah it was a great fight, the only shame about it was that it wasn't the final. From what i'd seen of him during the week, i thought Martinez had a real chance to swing it but, as well as he performed, Dusmatov was just too strong and classy for him. Having had such a tough fight wont help him going into the final, but i'd be amazed if the Cuban was good enough to beat him.

Wasn't really a vintage evenings boxing apart from that. Disappointed by Levit as was hoping for an Olympic rematch with the Russian. Duke Ragan and Andy Cruz both looked really good in their respective bouts.

Pighead

Joe Ward's semi-final has just started.
Stream here for anybody not near a telly.
http://www.aiba.org/live-hamburg2017wch/

snowflaker

Come on Joe

snowflaker

Very tight - can't call it

snowflaker

Only Rus went against him 30-27 unfair to the Uzbek boxers

Blanco100

We will see more of that lad. Great win for Joe, 2nd world final in a row and now he meets his old mate La Cruz again

boxer.fan

Hard earned win for Joe there. The Russian & Indian judges went against him.

I fear that La Cruz has his number. Hope I'm wrong but the Cuban has always been too slick for Joe. Good luck to him nonetheless.

Joe_ Public

It was a tight affair but I was fairly certain Joe had nicked it. Another world final to cap a really terrific amateur career.

Can he beat La Cruz? You have to be positive and say yes he can, but going to be extremely difficult to find a way. I think he somehow has to find a way of forcing it from the start without spending too much energy. Sitting back like Mina did earlier just isn't going to work and Joe's tried that before abyway. Win the first round and you force the Cuban to come forward and also allow yourself to have a little breather in the second. That's the theory anyway but, needless to say, an awful lot easier said than done!

walshb

Finals kick off at 1700 Irish time. I am sure the link has been posted here?

Joe_ Public

http://boxing2017.com/live/

I did try rte.ie in a very modest hope they might have made plans in the event of an irish boxer making a final, but you have to even scroll a fair bit down the website to even find the first mention of Joe Ward. Probably trying to pretend it's not even on.

Up For The Final should be a belter tonight, though :rolleyes:

Hastentoadd

Does anyone know if this is televised and if so on what channel?

Joe_ Public

Around 25 minutes to Joe.

Hastentoadd

I cannot find a TV channel or stream that works. Really want to watch this. Can anyone provide a suggestion

Joe_ Public

There's a clue around 3 posts up. Will post it again anyway.

http://boxing2017.com/live/

Hastentoadd

Joe_ Public wrote: »

There's a clue around 3 posts up. Will post it again anyway.

http://boxing2017.com/live/

All I get is adverts?