Timur Ibragimov ~vs~ Oliver McCall

[Rumsfeld]

:smoke

[Boxing Girl]

Good call :D

[IntentionalButt]

Olly Olly oxen free!

[Rumsfeld]

Olly Olly oxen free!

Can McCall actually win this?

I think he's coming out of jail recently after more drug issues.

:think

[IntentionalButt]

Can McCall actually win this?

I think he's coming out of jail recently after more drug issues.

:think

Time-honored truth: "power's the last thing to go..."

Timur seems to have a decent chin (runs in the family), but he is 35 himself and has never faced a big puncher...and in the later rounds was fighting scared of Calvin Brock who has only middling power.

[Boxing Girl]

Oliver could not KO Goofy Whitaker....I think the last thing to go.....left :sad2

[Boxing Girl]

You know what...the C's won me a little extra green.....time to spend it on a risky fight....I believe Oliver has one more great fight in him.

2,500 v-cash On McCall!!!!!!!

[Rumsfeld]

You know what...the C's won me a little extra green.....till to spend it on a risky fight....I believe Oliver has one more great fight in him.

2,500 v-cash On McCall!!!!!!!

That's the spirit.

:yep

[Boxing Girl]

That's the spirit.

:yep

Well I won 10k on the Celtics last week....so I can afford it if his once granite chin is no more.

[Rumsfeld]

Well I won 10k on the Celtics last week....so I can afford it if his once granite chin is no more.

Are the Celtics gonna win tomorrow?

:think

Have you bet on them in every game? What's your track record on Boston this series?

[Boxing Girl]

Are the Celtics gonna win tomorrow?

:think

Have you bet on them in every game? What's your track record on Boston this series?

I lost 2 k on game 1

bet 5 k on game 2 and won 10,300

did not place money on games 3, 4

I have 5 K riding tonight on Boston -2.5

and of course 2,500 here on the Atomic Bull :yep

[Rumsfeld]

I lost 2 k on game 1

bet 5 k on game 2 and won 10,300

did not place money on games 3, 4

I have 5 K riding tonight on Boston -2.5

and of course 2,500 here on the Atomic Bull :yep

Alright. I'm gonna trust your judgment here and put the rest of my v-cash on Boston.

:smoke

[Rumsfeld]

Actually, I'm not!
:lol:

I had assumed the Celtics were underdogs.

:smoke

[kenmore]

Oliver could not KO Goofy Whitaker....I think the last thing to go.....left :sad2

Whitaker may still be a tough fighter; thus, Oliver's failure to score the kayo may not be remarkable. Last night Whittaker scored a moderate upset against Fedosov in California.

Did you know that insiders regard Whittaker as one of the physically strongest -- not hardest hitting, but physically strongest -- heavyweights around? Thus, McCall's slugfest with Whitaker tells us something about his capacity to fight a rough, inside, physical fight.

All in all, we can trust that McCall is still a devastating puncher. They say the punching power remains until the end.

[kenmore]

Time-honored truth: "power's the last thing to go..."

Timur seems to have a decent chin (runs in the family), but he is 35 himself and has never faced a big puncher...and in the later rounds was fighting scared of Calvin Brock who has only middling power.

It wasn't Brock's power that troubled Ibragimov; the Uzbek was more troubled by Brock's unusual attacking angles. Ibragimov, fighting his first major fight that night, was confused by Brock's capacity to shuffle forward and constantly sneak in the left hook. Thus, as Ibragimov saw the hook coming, he reacted by backing away in order to stay safe and find punching room. That's how Ibragimov fell way behind on the cards. Note also that Ibragimov actually came on strong in the 10th and 11th rounds of the fight.

Incidentally, I was in attendance for Brock's next fight -- against Klitschko -- and even Klitschko seemed confused and bewildered by Brock's awkward attacking angles for awhile (until Vlad finally found an opening for his H-bombs). Rumsfeld: you were at ringside that...you must have noted Brock's awkwardness. Vlad had to keep backing away to find punching room because Brock, whose left was cocked and ready to go, had an uncanny way of moving into firing range.

As for Ibragimov never facing a big puncher, keep in mind that he has sparred very, very often with McCall since the mid '00s.

The big question in this bout is whether Ibragimov succeeds in keeping on the outside all night. Is Ibragimov's footwork going to be fast and effective, will his jab be accurate and forceful, will he avoid getting suckered into exchanges with McCall? If the answer is yes, then we can expect a wide UD win for the Uzbek.

On the other hand, if McCall can successfully cut the ring off and force Ibragimov to fight, or if McCall can use his experience to somehow sneak a single massive bomb though Ibragimov's guard, then McCall wins.

Right now, the oddsmakers are favoring Ibragimov because McCall's mobility has slowed down drastically in recently years. McCall's footwork seems gone, he seems to be forcing his punches -- sometimes swingingy wildly and inaccurately -- and his overall activity rate is reduced. But he's still as strong as hell, so let's see what happens.

Overall, this is a fascinating match-up. It's too bad they couldn't get this on ESPN. I guess the bout was arranged too soon to secure a TV slot.

[IntentionalButt]

Not to mention if being on a Tuesday...

Oh, BTW, speaking of that, the event needs to be edited. Right now it says "This event will accept bets until 06-16-2010 at 10:00 AM". This gives people several hours to come in after the fight is over and place sneaky bets.

Rummy: you can edit the event with a tool up at the top of the thread, in the vbookie event area on the top right.

When you scroll down to the "accept bets until time", the first thing you want to do is uncheck the box that says "payout time same as accept until time". Then set the accept bets time for right before the fight, and keep in mind that VBookie runs on British GMT time. So for a North American fight (McCall-Ibragimov is in Florida), you can set it for 2am on 6/16/2010 and make sure the drop-down menu is on "Western Europe time (GMT)" which will allow for a typical 9pm start time EST on 6/15/10. Then as long as you have the aforementioned box unchecked the payout time can be whenever you feel like it being.

[SteveO]

Mind says Timur, heart says McCall.

Fuck it. 430 on the Atomic Bull.

[doubleplaidinum]

i don't think mccall's gonna win this just like i don't think bostons gonna close out the series tomorrow night. but, in any case, 200 on both.

[MrFoFody]

Go McCall!:bbb

[kenmore]

Ibragimov whipped McCall. I saw it person. Impressive performance, too.

[Rumsfeld]

Ibragimov whipped McCall. I saw it person. Impressive performance, too.

What were your impressions?

[kenmore]

As long as Ibragimov kept moving on his feet -- and he has very slick legs -- he had the fight in the bag. McCall was just too slow on his feet and with his hands to catch Ibragimov. Ibragimov basically slashed McCall with jabs and straight rights from long range. But for some strange reason, in the middle rounds Ibragimov came off of his feet, and engaged McCall on the inside. During these rounds, Ibragimov landed more punches at short range, but McCall won the rounds by dint of landing the heavier, more effective blows. Basically, on the inside McCall bulled Ibragimov around and appared to be taking over. It was hard to tell if McCall was forcing Ibragimov to slow down, or if Ibragimov was getting cocky and trading. Later, though, Ibragimov got back on his toes and regained control with long range boxing. In the tenth and eleventh, especially, McCall got battered by lots of right hands. In the final round, both guys slowed down and seemed to coast until the bell.

It was surprising to see that the smaller Ibragimov was effective at clinching McCall. McCall shook, pushed, and wrestled like an angry bull could couldn't break the clinches.

As for Ibragimov, he has a chance against those contenders who are wide-swinging, flat-footed sluggers, known to have trouble with mobile, tricky opponents. Ibragimov's people should match him selectively against those specific kinds of opponents.

Either way, against a truly top-notch powerhitter, Ibragimov can't get punch-happy and trade on the inside like he did for a while with McCall. Ibragimov can take a whack, but he should rely exclusive on his defense. If they put him in with Arreola, Peter, or Austin, Ibragimov could not afford to play "Arturi Gatti"...he would have to rely on his outside boxing skills and slippery defense.