BuriedinGold

Boxing commentary, breakdowns and predictions. All that is the sweet science.

[BuriedinGold @BuryEmBoxing]

Bradley Rea vs Ezra Taylor 🥊

Bradley Rea was practically raised between the ropes. His parents ran an amateur boxing gym (St Johns Amateur Boxing Club) and while other children were spending their afternoons playing video games, football or riding bikes, the ginger kid was watching men exchange blows, listening to trainers correct mistakes and absorbing the sport 5 or 6 days a week.

For him, boxing wasn't an extracurricular activity, it was the family business.

Ezra Taylor took a different road. A naturally gifted athlete with quick hands, good reflexes and the physical tools to succeed, but without the same amateur seasoning.

And that creates a fascinating contrast.

Taylor has the athleticism to perform the movements, Rea has spent most of his life learning what those movements mean. One man has the faster physical equipment, the other may have the faster boxing mind.

And in a fight where both men can punch, that distinction could be the difference between recognizing an opening and recognizing it a fraction of a second too late.

Bradley Rea: Fighting through childhood

There's something special about a fighter who grows up in a boxing gym.

Not because that automatically makes him better. Plenty of children grow up around music without becoming Mozart. But there's a kind of knowledge that can't be acquired simply by memorizing instructions. It comes from years of watching, listening and eventually, recognizing patterns without consciously searching for them.

Bradley Rea has that background.

He began boxing around 8 years old, spending practically every afternoon in the gym his parents operated. By the time he finished his amateur career, he was a 5x national champion with a 74-24 amateur record.

Boxing wasn't something Rea learned to do, it was something he learned to think in.

And I see evidence of that education in the way he puts his punches together.

At 6'4", Rea possesses good hand speed, solid power and a surprisingly varied offensive arsenal. He can throw straight punches down the middle, loop shots around a tight guard and occasionally, switch stances to change the picture.

But his greatest offensive quality isn't any single punch.

It’s what happens after the first one.

Rea is most dangerous when he's punching in combinations. His left hook to the body produces explosions louder than ones you hear in Ukraine and that overhand right has a way of finding opponents who thought the coast was clear.

He also understands how to follow a retreating opponent.

If you back straight up, Rea doesn't consider that the end of the exchange. He'll follow you with another 2 or 3 punches and force you into an uncomfortable position.

And that's where I believe Taylor could encounter serious problems.

Rea's recent performances tell me he's getting this fight at the perfect stage of his professional development.

He dropped and nearly stopped Lyndon Arthur before losing a close points decision. He followed that up by effectively stopping Liam Cameron with one punch. Liam got up, sure, he was out on his feet.

I think his trajectory is clearly trending upward.

#BuatsiHutchinson2 #ReaTaylor #RaffertyMartiroyan #MillerPowar #Boxing #Boxeo #BettingPicks

[DAZN Boxing @DAZNBoxing]

Erik Bazinyan STOPS Steven Butler in the final round! 👏

#OrobioCedeno | Live NOW on DAZN ▪️

[BuriedinGold @BuryEmBoxing]

@EverythingBoxi2 @DAZNBoxing Eddie DESTROYED Cop. WOW! Yellow tape the studio. That was embarrassing

[BuriedinGold @BuryEmBoxing]

@ChillTownBoxing @BoxingShrew 😁

[BuriedinGold @BuryEmBoxing]

@EverythingBoxi2 I would love to see the fight vs Whittaker. That’s precisely the fight I hoped to see Willy take next. However, my suspicion is that the WBC will enforce these mandatories IF, and ONLY IF, he turns Canelo down. Ideally, that’s the fight Mauricio wants.

[BuriedinGold @BuryEmBoxing]

And in that tiny ring, Butler won’t need to search very far to find him.

Having said that, while still physically fresh, I wouldn’t be shocked if Butler spends the first few rounds getting outboxed. But what happens when Erik finally eats that first clean right hand? What happens when those body shots start taking the spring out of his legs and he realizes just how small that ring really is?

That’s when the smoke starts creeping under the door. Butler keeps coming, the ropes are at Bazinyan’s back and suddenly, the room is filling faster than he can find an exit. His lungs are burning, his legs are heavy and the only way out is straight through the man who’s been hurting him.

And that’s where I believe this fight will be decided. Not in the hands or the feet, but somewhere deep inside Bazinyan’s mind. When the smoke gets so thick he can barely see and the only way to survive is to walk straight through the flames, will he find the courage to do it?

I watched Munguia ask him a similar question and I didn’t like the answer. Now, after 26 months away, I expect Butler to ask him again.

My prediction - Bazinyan looks for an exit that isn’t there. And when he realizes the only way out is through Butler, I believe he’ll choose the canvas over the fire. Butler by stoppage.

However, since the book I’m using isn’t offering a worthwhile number for the KO, I’ll take “Bang Bang” Butler on the ML (-133)

⚠️ Don’t get carried away. This is a calculated gamble on a flawed fighter, not some gift from the bookmakers. I’ve got Butler on one ticket and one ticket only. There’s a bunch of boxing this weekend. Don’t let one fight burn all your tickets.

#OrobioCedeno #BazinyanButler #DuvalWrzesinksi #SanfordJimenez #BeausejourCox #DenisQuartey #BelfonMancilla #Boxing #Boxeo #BettingPicks

[BuriedinGold @BuryEmBoxing]

Steven Butler vs Erik Bazinyan 🥊

The Fire Escape Is Out of Order

Imagine being trapped inside a burning building. The doors are jammed shut, smoke is filling a windowless room and the temperature keeps climbing. You can feel the walls closing in, but there’s nowhere to go.

That’s the kind of fight Steven Butler intends to drag Erik Bazinyan into. And what concerns me isn’t whether Bazinyan has the boxing skills to escape, it’s whether, when the smoke gets thick enough, he still has the will to fight his way out.

Erik Bazinyan is the more technically gifted boxer. Over 100 amateur victories, a solid jab, a sharp one-two, a sneaky hook downstairs and the ability to catch and counter. When the fight is conducted at his preferred temperature, he’s a pretty good operator.

But I keep coming back to that Jaime Munguia fight.

I thought Bazinyan was outboxing Munguia. Early on, he even invited the Mexican to turn up the heat after getting buzzed. He wanted the smoke. And for a while, he looked perfectly comfortable standing in the kitchen.

As the rounds wore on, though, Munguia’s physicality began taking its toll. When Erik started to fatigue his resistance diminished. And when he finally hit the canvas, I thought his facial expression revealed everything we needed to know. The camera was right there. He was capable of getting up, he elected not to.

Now he’s returning after 26 months of inactivity, with questions surrounding his desire to continue boxing, against a heavy handed pressure fighter in a ring the size of a shoebox.

Yes, Butler is coming off a knockout loss to Edgar Berlanga just 3.5 months ago. Normally, that would set off a row of alarm bells. But when I revisited the film, I came away impressed by two things.

First, the power is legit. He dropped Berlanga with a punch that hardly looked devastating on delivery. Edgar has since gone on record to say he was the heaviest puncher he’s ever faced.

Second, and more importantly, Butler demonstrated the kind of grit you can’t teach.

He was hurt repeatedly. At one point, his legs were gone. He could barely keep his balance and there were still nearly two minutes left in the round. Watching it back, I remember thinking, how the fxck is dude going to survive? Yet, there he was, still sticking his tongue out and encouraging “The Chosen One” to bring it.

His body was waving the white flag, but his brain wouldn’t accept it. He was still trying to hurt Berlanga. Say whatever you want about Steven Butler, but as long as there’s breath in his lungs, he will fight for your money.

Conversely, I have serious questions about whether Bazinyan possesses that same appetite.

Look, If E was active and fully committed to the sport, I’d favor him. His jab, straight right and ability to catch and counter would cause Butler problems.

But 26 months away is an eternity for a fighter whose success depends on timing and rhythm. Add the questions surrounding his motivation and that’s an awful lot of uncertainty to overlook.
Therefore, I can’t confidently assume he’s returning as the same fighter

#OrobioCedeno #BazinyanButler #DuvalWrzesinksi #SanfordJimenez #BeausejourCox #DenisQuartey #BelfonMancilla #Boxing #Boxeo #BettingPicks

[BuriedinGold @BuryEmBoxing]

Jhon Orobio vs Hendri Cedeno 🥊

There’s a reason you don’t put a short fuse inside a room full of explosives. And that’s essentially what I see happening here.

Hendri Cedeno hasn’t fought in 17 months and even when he was active, his biggest problem wasn’t necessarily his physical ability, it was his temperament. The moment an opponent begins imposing himself, physically, Cedeno has a tendency to abandon whatever tactical discipline he brought into the ring. His emotions take the wheel, his defense becomes an afterthought and suddenly, he’s fighting the man instead of fighting the fight.

Now, imagine returning from a 17-month absence against a vicious puncher like Jhon Orobio, inside a ring barely bigger than a shoebox.

That’s not exactly the ideal environment for a man with a short fuse and nowhere to run.

Orobio won’t have to spend much time hunting him down. Cedeno’s limited head movement and tendency to exchange should give the Colombian plenty of opportunities to land something devastating.

And once Cedeno gets tagged clean, I suspect he’ll do what he often does: try to fight fire with fire.

Except Orobio isn’t bringing a match to Montreal, he’s bringing the entire ammunition depot. He’s about to light that boi up like the 4th of July.

I’m expecting Orobio to detonate that short fuse and finish Cedeno violently. Orobio by knockout 💥🥊

#OrobioCedeno #BazinyanButler #DuvalWrzesinksi #SanfordJimenez #BeausejourCox #DenisQuartey #BelfonMancilla #Boxing #Boxeo #BettingPicks

[BuriedinGold @BuryEmBoxing]

Running order for tonight’s card. The fireworks start at 6:30 pm EST. You don’t want to miss this

📺 - DAZN

#OrobioCedeno #BazinyanButler #DuvalWrzesinksi #SanfordJimenez #BeausejourCox #DenisQuartey #BelfonMancilla #Boxing #Boxeo #BettingPicks

[Eye of the Tiger @eottm_boxing]

‼️DEMAIN SOIR‼️

#OrobioCedeno X #BazinyanButler

📍@CasinoMontreal

📺🌎 @DAZNBoxing / @DAZNCombat
⚜️📺 @punching_grace / @TVASports

#EottmArmy

[BuriedinGold @BuryEmBoxing]

@EverythingBoxi2 What a stupid, stupid decision 🤦🏻‍♂️

[BuriedinGold @BuryEmBoxing]

@DanCanobbio More than weak, it’s anemic. Steve Furness should be suspended for this horrific matchmaking.

[World Boxing Council @WBCBoxing]

The WBC mandatory matchups are in!

Here’s the lineup of mandatory fights announced today at the 64th Annual WBC Convention in Acapulco.

Which matchup are you most excited to see?

#WBCMEXICO26

[Gilberto J Mendoza @GilberticoWBA]

Sims vs. Patricio: the WBA reviewed the scorecards.

The draw stands, but the scoring gaps were too wide. The Committee orders an immediate rematch for the vacant WBA Female Bantamweight title.

30 days to negotiate. Purse bid 50/50. #WBA @WBABoxing

[Tokkerū @ATokkers5]

🚨Alberto Puello is set to face Souleymane Cissokho for the vacant interim WBC Welterweight Title

[BuriedinGold @BuryEmBoxing]

@WorldBoxingNews 99.9% of us were shocked by the scores. Dove was robbed.

[BuriedinGold @BuryEmBoxing]

@KinginBets Orobio opened at -600 and Azim opened at -550. But yeah, I wish the odds weren’t that wide.

[BuriedinGold @BuryEmBoxing]

@GilberticoWBA @WBABoxing We need that Sims/Patricio rematch ordered immediately!!

[BuriedinGold @BuryEmBoxing]

@RickRamosBoxing Texas has a notorious reputation for bogus scoring. Dove and Kreps were both robbed. I hate when fights are staged in Texas.

[BuriedinGold @BuryEmBoxing]

Do you really? Because what we witnessed in Arlington was one of the most disgraceful displays of judging and officiating I’ve seen in a while. Texas has developed an alarming reputation for bogus scorecards and Saturday only reinforced it. Natalie Dove and Mikiah Kreps were both robbed. At some point, reviewing these decisions has to mean more than issuing statements about accountability.

[BuriedinGold @BuryEmBoxing]

I think Kreps was sacrificed tonight because they want to make Ali vs Skye. Krep’s aggression and punch volume present a more difficult style for Skye. She has a much better chance vs Ali, as they both prefer to fight from the outside. Also, that unification fight would be much bigger in the UK or Australia. Kreps doesn’t have a comparable profile.

I completely overlooked this political angle beforehand.