I’m not picking Colby to win, BUT he has two things legit, maybe three things going for him in terms of mentality going into this fight:
He had Usman in in serious trouble with a legit liver shot that Usman had to fake a low blow to recover from. That fight was basically over at that point.
I can’t recall if that eye poke was from a finger or a knuckle, but that’s twice in the fight Usman had to call time out to save himself from getting finished.
That was absolutely an early stoppage. I think in a championship fight you let the champion’s heart show its self. I don’t think Colby lasts another 50 seconds but he might have.
There’s no reason for Covington to lack for confidence going into this fight, so the question is are these guys the pair that one wins 6 and the other wins 4 of every fight, or does Usman have Covington’s number? It’s a worthy main event IMO.
I already said it wasn’t an eye gouge, so what’s your point? You seem to be trying to implicitly make the claim that a wayward legal strike can’t inadvertently poke someone’s eye, but you know that’s ridiculous so you won’t come out and say it.
I think that if the unpadded knuckle of the thumb poked Colby’s eye when Usman was making a closed fist and throwing a punch, that would actually be legal. But based on the pic, it looks more like the unpadded knuckles of the fingers poked Colby’s eye. Still legal imo.
Colby just needs to do the same thing he did the first fight, out pace and out work Usman in terms of quantity of stiles landed. But he needs to cover up better and have even just slightly better head movement this time around
The punch that may or may not have broken his jaw he lead in with his face uncovered and his mouth open which obviously leads to a better chance of getting one’s jaw broken
Needs to try to wrestle within the boxing. Unless he throws off Usmans ridding early, Usman’s new found jab and power might be too much. Although Usman’s jab may not be as effective in opposite stances.
If you need clarification my point is the term eye poke is used synonymously by refs, analysts, commentators, fighters, and fans for the term eye gouge. Just as you will hear a referee tell a fighter who was punched in the eye and whom claims it was a poke that it was a punch and not a poke, I’m simply saying the same. I believe you are just arguing with yourself. In that case, feel free to continue.
I found it curious in the press conference Usman acted like he wasn’t bothered by Colby in the slightest and appreciated him, but then felt the need to push him at the face off. Perhaps it was just gamesmanship, but I also wonder if Colby has gotten under his skin. I love the mental aspect of the game, and can’t wait to see if that’s a factor during the fight.
I think Colby’s best shot will be if Usman fights emotionally, especially if he implements a wrestling-heavy game. He’s going to want to catch Usman over-committing on strikes.
Not saying that Colby can take advantage of this, but Usman reacts badly in the moment to taking clean shots. A quick striker can capitalize on that tendency.
In fairness to Usman, after the initial bad reaction he seems to recover quickly and then put it on his opponents. Obviously his overall striking has improved, but he’s defensively susceptible to getting sparked.
The actual rules don’t use the term ‘eye poke’ because a legal strike can poke someone’s eye, e.g. Megan Anderson vs Cat Zingano. But if this is your point, then your point is completely irrelevant: I didn’t use use the term ‘eye poke’. I said he ‘got poked’.
So you’re not arguing that a legal strike can’t poke someone in the eye? Then if all I said was that Usman’s punch–which I said “wasn’t an eye gouge”–poked Colby’s eye, what exactly are you objecting to?
