^ Yup! Most of the smaller events have been as good as the PPV ones. And I think it’s more Thompson is getting washed than Muhammad getting a lot better. But yeah.. At this point, Muhammad has the higher ceiling than Thompson but only cos of age. Thompson is in near retirement.
Yeah, Wonderboy is getting on a bit now. His takedown defense has never been that good, but his ability to constantly hurt the man in front of him is whats kept him at a high level. I think a few more fights for him, and he'll call it a day. Any fighter he goes up against knows the recipe to beat him, its a bit like Kevin Holland, where they're both incredibly dangerous on the feet, very skillful, though there's a clear pathway to beating them.
The thing is with Thompson he's slowing down with age so he doesn't have that element to his game like he did a few years ago. Luckily Kevin Holland still has that, and will always remain dangerous while he's still in prime condition.
Its sad to see one of my favourite fighters deteriorate like this, especially against what I thought was a poor performance from Belal despite getting the win. I won't lie, when Belal said post fight he's the one with the hype in the division, I give a little laugh. In no alternative reality is he the hype man in the division, and I can't believe he had the audacity to even suggest so after that performance.