ANOTHER RBR: Guzman/Diaz

I've got Television Dominica, so here goes a RBR of this event.

Event starts really suddenly. No idea who is even fighting in this first fight and we are starting uh, midway through a mystery round. I don't speak Spanish, so no help here. Arena is empty too. No note as to who is who (one guy is wearing blue, another black) and all I know is that neither is Guzman. Given my complete inability to find out what the hell is going on, I fast forward to the end of the bout without watching, but listen to the announcer. Oh, wait, he's inaudible. Oh well. 

Wait! Now I can figure it out thanks to the interview. Kendal Mena is being interviewed after beating Rafael Romero. Maybe I'll watch it another day.

Long interview with some dude who I think was that guy who won a medal for them at the Olympics. Note: I have an internet feed of Canal 4 open and its way, way ahead of the one on DirecTV. Like a minute ahead.

Yup, it was indeed Felix Diaz. Expect him to turn pro sooner rather than later.

Jose Amaro Guzman/Cristian Martinez is next on the card.

ROUND 1:

Facially, looks similar to Joan because, hey, its his brother. Martinez decides to push him into the ropes and take him out and being a horrible fighter, fails miserably. Lesser Guzman is able to get him against the ropes and eradicate the 2-15 fighter with body shots about a minute in.

Guzman, just for the record, has fought opponents with a combined record of 7-62-1.

Next fight is up! And I don't know who is fighting here. I decipher it as Melvin Betancourt and Eduardo Mercedes.

ROUND 1:

Betancourt is in the red shoes I think. Both have gold trunks. The announcers can't tell, honestly. Whoever has the red shoes has a good jab. Wild punching by the dark skinned dude. Nothing really landing hard by either man. 

Red Shoes 10-9

ROUND 2: 

The guy with the red shoes is putting on a clinic right now. He's got more dimensions, can jab, move, etc. Hurt his opponent later in the roung with a nice combination. Only major flaw from the person I believe is Betancourt is the lack of a body assault. 

Red Shoes 20-18

ROUND 3:

I can understand enough to know that Betancourt is wearing the red shoes now. Hooray for my ever increasing Spanish vocabulary. He's able to cut down the ring and force Mercedes into the ropes pretty regularly. He does markedly little with that though. All head hunting too. Nearly drops Mercedes with some shots that throw him into the ropes but is forced to clinch in a resulting flurry. 

Betancourt 30-27

ROUND 4: 

Betancourt lands a hard combination and Mercedes almost goes out of the ring. KO win for the kid, bringing him to 4-0 with 2 KOS. 

Next fighters are in the ring now, and honestly, I have no idea who it is again. Oh, wait: Argenis Mendez/Arturo Gomez!

ROUND 1

Mendez is much bigger physically and they start swinging early in the round after Gomez is bothered by a punch. Good exchanges in the first with Gomez often working off the ropes. Lots of head hunting here. Monster right hand turns Gomez's head but doesn't drop him. Right now its looking like either Mendez will have a short night or that Gomez will drag him into deep waters and smash him. Good comeback for Gomez at the end of the 1st and Mendez returns with a near knockdown of Gomez.

10-9 Mendez

ROUND 2

Gomez is taking a beating and then suddenly makes a short comeback over and over again in the span of merely seconds. Good action in the early parts of the round. Mendez gets Gomez against the ropes and is looking for a stop. Lots of fast hands from Mendez, but Gomez has heart. Gomez is dropped with a right hand but the ref doesn't jump in fast enough and doesn't count it. Both men are trading almost the entire round. It only slows near the bell.

20-18 Mendez

ROUND 3

This is definitely not HBO production as the start of the round sees a long shot being left on waaaay too long. 

The two have slowed greatly and that's in Gomez's favor. Mendez may actually be punched out. Gomez is on offense in this round and looks effective. Hooks to the body are landing and Mendez is letting himself get pushed around. Mendez is getting a little wild with his punching, but almost turns the fight around with one crazy counter. Gomez weathered the early storm and he's landing now. Crowd is pretty quiet.

29-28 Mendez

ROUND 4

Gomez returns to offense in this round, pushing Mendez into the ropes and body punching. Good uppercuts inside too. Mendez gets off the ropes and starts moving a little with the jab and is somewhat effective with it, and again gets Gomez into the ropes. Mendez is getting better blocking stuff against the ropes but he's not really countering when in that position. He's letting Gomez look good doing it and when he does land its enough to basically hand the round to the guy. Mendez turns his back at one point and you get the feeling that he's taking a beating.

38-38, draw

ROUND 5

Gomez is briefly affected in this round by Mendez's power advantage but otherwise its another Gomez round. Mendez looks bad constantly ending up in the ropes and flat our running from the journeyman mexican. I mean, Gomez is literally springint after him in the ring at times. Mendez might not make it the distance.

48-47, Gomez

ROUND 6

Better round thus far for Mendez. He's staying off the ropes in this one and not holding as much, so he's able to use his handspeed and reach. Gomez is still able to force his way inside more often than not and land shots. Final minute is all Mendez.

57-57, draw

ROUND 7

Gomez is rocked on a few occasions in this round by right hands thrown by Mendez, who looks like he's got his second wind. He's really establishing the middle of the ring. Second half of the round and Gomez is nearly dropped with a monster right hand and fights his way back off the ropes. 

67-66, Mendez

ROUND 8

Another really good round. Gomez is trying to spark another comeback in this round and Mendez is letting it happen by sticking around on the ropes. Gomez is just going to town when that happens with combination punching. Its generally just shoe shining but looking good is half the battle.

76-76 Draw on my card. Apparently we're going to the official cards.

No surprise, Mendez gets the win in his hometown. Couldn't hear the cards.

Long interlude before what I assume is the main event. Meanwhile boxing is now suddenly on the DirecTV schedule. Figures they just throw it out there randomly when I finally change the channel. 

Carlos Fulgencio vs. Francis Ruiz is next up.

ROUND 1

Fulgencio has the nicer record but is way smaller. At least I think he's the dude in the silver. Oh, no, he isn't. Ruiz throws more but you'd swear these are different weight classes.

Ruiz 10-9

ROUND 2

Lots of static from the mics. That is the major news here. Good thai clinch from Fulgencio. Didn't know that was legal here. 

19-19 

ROUND 3

Ruiz knocks down Fulgencio twice really, really hard in this round early on. I'm surprised the ref let it continue after a rubber legged Fulgencio got up the first time. Fight is stopped after the second knock down.

Its time for the main event! Finally.

ROUND 1

Guzman clowns poor Diaz. All sorts of Roy Jones channelling.

10-9 Guzman

ROUND 2

Guzman is landing some power punches here and there but its a lot of style and flash with not nearly as much actual substance. In other words, I smell decision.

20-18 Guzman

ROUND 3

The highlights are generally good enough to watch. Diaz comes forward being much bigger, Guzman gets super low and is gone after landing a couple pitter pat shots. Repeat over and over and over.

30-27 Guzman

ROUND 4

AND1 boxing, thanks to Joan Guzman. Diaz is putting in effort, sure, but that's about it. My stream is cutting in and out now and the TV is about 5 minutes behind, sadly, so I am not getting the best look at this, but I don't know that its really necessary. Guzman has his hands by his knees by the end of the round. 

ROUND 5

Guzman was a monster at 122 because he was so big and powerful for that weight. At 135, he's got feather fists that happen to be fragile to boot. It sucks because you want to see someone like him be able to actually stop someone and no matter how clean he's landing, it seems far out of reach. Diaz actually lands a punch that forces Guzman back but Guzman is able to recover on the ropes and land about 5 counters with the right hand. 

50-45 Guzman

ROUND 6

Big update: Guzman's tape was coming loose. Other than that, more of the previous 5 rounds. Less flash, perhaps. 

60-54, Guzman

ROUND 7

I remember watching Guzman's fight with Antonio Davis some time ago. It was boring. This is not much better. Sure, it was impressive to see him use his talents but the lack of competition was such that you were lured to sleep.

70-63, Guzman

ROUND 8

I'm basically gonna stop scoring because I've honestly lost interest in this fight. Guzman will win a decision and we can spend another year wondering when he'll rise to the top of whatever division he's in.