Comments Thread For: Devon Alexander: I Didn't Fully Follow The Game Plan

[Sugar Adam Ali]

I don't think he does. People mistake speed and movement with skills.

He doesn't punch with authority, his defence is leaky, he doesn't have a good attack, he has no inside game, he doesn't have ring IQ, he relies heavily on excessive clinching (remarkable that he has reached this point in his career without being docked a point for it).

What skills am I missing?

ok, maybe i misspoke,, I should have said potential and talent,,, Devon has the raw materials needed to be an elite fighter, but just cant seem to put it all together mentally

like you said he doesnt punch with authority, and no ring IQ,,, most of his problems are mental issues,, he could punch with more authority if he wanted to.

Alexander has shown decent power, he does have skills in terms of fundamentals, he just cant put it all together because of his mental shortcomings,,

[Porter's Dad]

ok, maybe i misspoke,, I should have said potential and talent,,, Devon has the raw materials needed to be an elite fighter, but just cant seem to put it all together mentally

like you said he doesnt punch with authority, and no ring IQ,,, most of his problems are mental issues,, he could punch with more authority if he wanted to.

Alexander has shown decent power, he does have skills in terms of fundamentals, he just cant put it all together because of his mental shortcomings,,

I agree, he has mental deficiencies, he has never really recovered from the Kotelnik fight. But ultimately, I think he's like Khan - a lot of speed and movement but not much else. I always find it odd how people think those two are skilled yet slow fighters like, say, Margarito are bums. Surely it requires more skill to be successful when you don't have world-class athletic gifts supplementing you?

[Sugar Adam Ali]

I agree, he has mental deficiencies, he has never really recovered from the Kotelnik fight. But ultimately, I think he's like Khan - a lot of speed and movement but not much else. I always find it odd how people think those two are skilled yet slow fighters like, say, Margarito are bums. Surely it requires more skill to be successful when you don't have world-class athletic gifts supplementing you?

khan and alexander are skilled because they have good handspeed, plus they throw straight punches, alexander boxes off his jab pretty well, they are both more fundamentally sound than margs... Margs was a tough hombre and gained success not by utilizing the jab, but by being able to break guys down..

Khan and alexander both possess the ability to counter, move backwards, footwork, etc while margs may be a better fighter, his success relies on god given skills like huge chin

all are skilled fighters, just different skill sets


There isnt much that seperates devon, khan from floyd, except floyd is a million times smarter,

Khan's chin will always be an issue, but most of his chin problems are due to him just coming in guns blazing and anybody with a decent hook and bomb on his exposed chin

[Porter's Dad]

khan and alexander are skilled because they have good handspeed, plus they throw straight punches, alexander boxes off his jab pretty well, they are both more fundamentally sound than margs... Margs was a tough hombre and gained success not by utilizing the jab, but by being able to break guys down..

Khan and alexander both possess the ability to counter, move backwards, footwork, etc while margs may be a better fighter, his success relies on god given skills like huge chin

all are skilled fighters, just different skill sets


There isnt much that seperates devon, khan from floyd, except floyd is a million times smarter,

Khan's chin will always be an issue, but most of his chin problems are due to him just coming in guns blazing and anybody with a decent hook and bomb on his exposed chin

Marg's attack, punch variety and combinations were 100 times better than anything Alexander could muster. Sure, he had a steel chin but his attack was amazing. This also comes down to your interpretation of what "skills" are, which a lot of people think is being able to move around the ring and fight on your backfoot, whereas I put much more emphasis on getting offensive work done.

Alexander is what he is. A speedy spoiler who often ruined the rhythm of his opponents as well as his own. I don't consider him a lost talent at all.

[apokalips]

It's funny seeing the hate for Devon now considering how everyone was on his nuts after the Urango KO. The amount of people saying he would be the one to take Floyd's 0, he would give Manny hell, etc etc. Seen the same story happen so many times here.

Anyway Devon has shown that ability wise he seems to have come as far as he can but there is no reason he can't still have a decent career with some decent fights. People complain about fighters not risking losses and say they would give credit if fighters take tough fights and lose but it seems after every loss fighters just get destroyed and laughed at by critics...it's silly.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Marg's attack, punch variety and combinations were 100 times better than anything Alexander could muster. Sure, he had a steel chin but his attack was amazing. This also comes down to your interpretation of what "skills" are, which a lot of people think is being able to move around the ring and fight on your backfoot, whereas I put much more emphasis on getting offensive work done.

Alexander is what he is. A speedy spoiler who often ruined the rhythm of his opponents as well as his own. I don't consider him a lost talent at all.

Good points about margs,, he did have a great offensive attack, much like JLC even though i think castillo is a better fighter,,

khan just is dumb and jumps in and gets clobbered,, outside of his chin, he is a damn good fighter

alexander on the other hand, has the fundamentals and probably looks like a million bucks in the gym on the mitts and sparring, but when faced with real competition, if he doesnt start off good, he is doomed, no ability to adjust like a mayweather, jmm, or ward...

His lack of adjustments i feel is the only thing that truely holds him back from being a top level fighter,,

[NachoMan]

Cong**** to Porter. He was hungrier and took full advantage of the opportunity. Having said that, there are a ****-ton of holes in his game and he won't last long as champ in this division. It says a lot about Alexander that he could not take advantage of Porter's lunging and **** defense.

[bojangles1987]

Once again, alexander showed he is just a front runner,,

I thought alexander had improved greatly since the bradley fight, and was just peaking as a pro, with a solid win over maidana,,

But alexander is a front runner that folds when he cant get off to a good start, bradley and porter both took the early rounds from alexander, and he cant make adjustments. Maidana tried to box with alexander, and devon got off to a good start and never looked back in that fight..

Alexander's front running is what seperates him from guys like floyd. Alexander has all the skills and talent, but he just cant make any adjustments whereas a floyd may get off to a rough start vs judah but he can adapt and win, whereas if alexander was having trouble early, he never recovers

last night vs porter was a clear example of not being able to make adjustments and it cost alexander dearly..

for the record, i picked alexander to win, because i thought he was more skilled and more experienced, but in reality once porter got off to that fast start it was all down hill for alexander

I don't understand why anyone thought Alexander was a different or improved fighter at 147. He had done absolutely nothing since Bradley to suggest so. It's the same argument people made about Ortiz just for beating Andre frigging Berto, and it was never the case.

[IronDanHamza]

I don't understand why anyone thought Alexander was a different or improved fighter at 147. He had done absolutely nothing since Bradley to suggest so. It's the same argument people made about Ortiz just for beating Andre frigging Berto, and it was never the case.

I don't understand that either.

It's like moving up one weight class from your original one makes some huge difference.

[bojangles1987]

I don't understand that either.

It's like moving up one weight class from your original one makes some huge difference.

Seriously, you know why they looked better? Take a look at who they're fighting. Amir Khan can knock out Ricky Burns at 147, doesn't mean he's improved at welterweight.