MOAR Lousy Boxing: Detroit, MI 9/19/08

Cornelius Bundridge and an annoying white man announce this card full of crappy mismatches featuring Darryl Cunningham and Rich "White" Power. Power's opponent is described by Bundridge as "looking like the Big Show". Hmmm. Cunningham is fighting a victim of Tavoris Cloud and former K.I.C.K. kickboxing champ in the main event.

----LARRY VENTUS (3-0) vs. ERIC RICKER (DEBUT): 4 Rounder in the 140 lb weight class.

SCORECARD: KO Rnd 2

Ricker is probably a natural featherweight, honestly. He's small for these guys. Lots of head movement on his part and some Hamed like power punching. He actually hurts Ventus in round 2, but apparently Ricker's never been hit to the body. Some uppercuts land to the kidney and he can't take them. Fight is stopped in round 2.

----JAMES LESTER JR. (4-2) vs. RAMON GUEVARA (8-17-2): Lightweights. Lester was 6-2 when I last saw him. So, lemme guess what happens here....

SCORECARD: Lester KO 3

Guevara is going for pressure and Lester is superior as a boxer, so its an interesting stylistic matchup in that sense. Guevara is a much bigger guy overall, and he's actually somewhat effective for much of the first two rounds and even the early part of the third, but Lester switches gears and begins tearing up Guevara with combination punching and the fight is stopped. The announcers are trying to sell it as a great war, but, c'mon. Lester was a decent amateur and Guevara is a low end journeyman.

----ANDREW GORGES (2-0) vs. JAMAL KHAN (0-3): 140lbers

SCORECARD: Gorges KO 1

Khan is hopeless. Gorges lands everything he throws. Quality midwestern matchmaking.

----DAN WALLACE (9-5) vs. ALEXIS HLOROS (6-2-2): Middleweights. Hloros ain't too bad.

SCORECARD: Hloros TKO 6

Wallace is trying to be all slick and stuff but he's not really good enough to pull it off. He just looks like a sloppy James Toney wannabe instead. Hloros is more or less orthodox and, guess what? He's landing the effective blows. Wallace has heart and not much else. That Hloros can land super clean over and over and not drop Wallace after 5 is amazing. The ref finally steps in during the 6th to end this charade after Wallace finally goes down.

----RICH POWER (2-0) vs. TONY PHILLIPS (4-5): Well, I actually skipped ahead and had watched this several weeks ago. I mean, hey, an undefeated heavyweight? That's my bag! Power is kinda, well, not good. Mike Mollo #2.

SCORECARD: Power KO 1

Phillips almost went over the top rope as he got smashed up with power shots. Phillips was pathetic.

----DARRYL CUNNINGHAM vs. DOUGLAS LAFONTSEE: MAIN EVENT~

SCORECARD: Cunningham TKO 4

Cunningham is a octopus inside. I mean he is getting beat up by a karate based kickboxer there in the second. Lafontsee spits out the mouthpiece to get some extra time in the third when he's knocked down by a hard right hand, but he's gassed. Cunningham reacts by just running at him and being wild, and he's utterly ineffective in terms of finishing him. The fight slows down again and Lafontsee is hurt by a knockdown and he gets a standing 8 card or something? I have no idea. The fight goes to a fourth round, which surprises me greatly. Lafontsee starts leading with the head, the ref goes to warn him, and then decides he's too hurt to continue? What the fuck?

Stuff from SNY: w/Glen Johnson!

Shobox announce team in effect for Dibella's desperation boxing programming.

Carlos Diaz (10-15-4) vs. Dat Nguyen (13-1): Nguyen was a hot prospect on ESPN once. Once. Featherweights.

SCORECARD: 79-73 Nguyen

Nguyen lands a overhand right early and I'm thinking this is probably not gonna last too long. Diaz is 7 1/2 years removed from his last win? Yikes. BTW, most interesting thing about this fight: its "Bam Bam" vs. "Dat's Dat". Oh I crack myself up. The announce tema would like to remind you that while Diaz has lost all his fights in the last 5 years, at least they were to good fighters. Diaz's problem is that while he's bigger, he is slow enough to be timed with a sundial and wide open when he throws. He squares up when he's on the run, his defense is so bad. 

Wild brawl when the second opens and its kidna fun to watch. Then it slows back down to where it was with Nguyen landing a lot of punches and none of them really affect Ruiz. Nguyen is able to be punched by the lesser fighter, but Ruiz doesn't have the sort of pop to keep Nguyen off him. He's cut badly in the third round of the fight, but Nguyen doesn't jump on him while Ruiz is standing around squinting, leading to some criticism of his killer instinct. In fact, as the 4th continues on, they note that Nguyen's balance is off, he's not body punching enough, he's not snapping his jab, and a rash of other issues. Diaz actually lands a decent left hook that wobbles the prospect but he ends up backing off. Nguyen's defense is abyssmal, and as his hands have slowed down, offense as best defense isn't a working strategy. Diaz miraculously wins the round.

The bout marches on and Diaz isn't any more effective because the slaps from his smaller opponent have been enough to slow him as well. The fight devolves into a sloppy mess of tangled fists and clinching. Some shining hope before Round 7 that the fight is over due to the cut, but I and the 500 people or so watching at the Hard Rock in FL aren't so lucky. Diaz is begging to be stopped, but Nguyen doesn't even really try. He lands a couple shots, pushes him into the ropes, and then moves away, allowing Diaz to retake the center of the ring. This fight goes an unfathomable 8 rounds, with Nguyen not showing the panache or the power to put away a man desperately wanting to be KOed. Diaz hilariously lands the best punch of the 8th with the only punch he lands. Unanimous decision for Nguyen.

Sebastian Hamel (8-14-1) vs. Kenny Galarza (7-0): Galarza is undefeated with all KOs. Hamel lost his last fight by first round KO.

Galarza is looking for power punches but isn't setting them up, really. Hamel is looking to run. This is going to be the story of the fight, I'm sure. The whole first round is abjectly boring and barely watchable. The pace continues at this rate and the crowd is booing. This lasts the whole second round, but Hamel is dropped hard at the very end of the second with a single left hook and survives the longest 10 count in history. The fight is stopped by the doctor in between rounds. Galarza looks horrible.

Glen Johnson vs. Aaron Norwood (26-10-2): Whoo boy. Norwood is the rare older than Glen Johnson opponent.

Johnson starts in the first with some soft sparring. I mean, you can tell that is what Glen is after early on because he is fighting a slow old guy and isn't pressuring him at all. Again, more of that in the second with Glen only throwing the occasional hard shot and not really following up. Towards the end of the third, Glen begins to pour it on, and he decides to end it in the fourth. Nothing really to see.

BOXEO - Something that was on Fox Sports En Espanol

This was sitting on my DVR and I'm like "hey what the fuck". Pavel Miranda vs. Alex Viramonte! Thompson Promotions! Corona, CA! I know nothing about either guy. Welterweights? Viramonte is like 9-5-3. What the hell is this doing on TV? Miranda is 18-1. Oh boy.

SCORECARD: 78-72 Miranda

Viramonte walks forward and is a sucker for body punches. He ceases being the aggressor after a minute or so. Miranda is throwing right hand leads, and my expectation is that I will get to see another fight on this one hour show.  Viramonte again comes forward in round 2 and again eats lots of offense. Like, consistently. Everything thrown seems to land. If Miranda shows any negatives in this fight, its that he is way too willing to fight inside. Not that Viramonte can do anything about it, but someone who is better very easily could. He's actually a lousy inside fighter, to be honest. 

Viramonte looks more impressive in the 3rd than in prior rounds because he is landing some slappy punches. He is still being outlanded 2-1, if not worse. But because Miranda is letting him inside so easily, he's getting the shots off to possibly land. Viramonte actually gets off a few power shots in a row in the 4th to start with. Is Miranda gassed? His mouth keeps opening, so I suppose that answers that. Viramonte is about as willing to clinch on the inside too now. I hope this is only a 6 rounder. 

Round 5! I am surprised to be here. Viramonte is inside but now he is inactive there and eating uppercuts. Miranda seems to have a problem: He can't punch. I mean, he's more accurate and better trained and stuff, but he can't crack. No pop. That's all that keeps Viramonte in this. He's actually cutting off the ring well (because Miranda now cannot move) and throws some hooks when he does get him against the ropes. Miranda usually counters though and spins off before the episode repeats itself. I've got it 49-46 after 5.

In Round 6 Miranda continues to back straight up, continues to land better punches, continues to....you know. Round 7 and Miranda is bleeding from the nose! Exciting! He is still landing better shots but he is immobile and letting Viramonte in this in the 8th. Miranda is hurt halfway through by a flurry against the ropes and keeps on him for most of the round. Too bad he lost the fight. Somehow this is a split decision and Miranda gets the nod.

BOXING: 11/14/08 Royal Oak, MI

Steve Munisitri (I think) and Frank Garza are announcing this less than amazing card from the Royal Oak Theater near Detroit. The main event is Darryl Cunningham (an 11-2 fighter) facing 7-0 light heavyweight Patrick Wesson. ALSO: Heavyweight pseudoprospect from mid-Michigan with Rich Power fighting the 1-3 John Smith. Jaime Costillano is fighting, and I've seen him getting his ass beaten on numerous MMA events locally.

1) JAIME COSTILLANO vs. GUY PACKER: This is epic matchmaking. Packer is 2-20-2. Costillano is 4-18.

SCORECARD: 39-37 Packer

Costillano is clearly the smaller man. He is hit with a right hand early in the fight and is stunned. Costillano begins to wild swing and hold. The first is mildly entertaining, albiet largely devoid of talent, with both men landing clean punches. The second is where it begins to go downhill, turning into a sloppy clinch and hook fest. I give Costillano the second because he lands some left hooks at the bell, but other than that, its all Packer. He wins a unanimous decision.

2) DABOE THOMAS vs. JAMES LESTER JR.: Thomas is 0-1, Lester 6-2. 

SCORECARD: 39-36 Lester Jr.

Both guys are playing it off as if they are defensive Floyd Mayweather wannabes and neither actually is. Lester is closer to one though and hurts Thomas in the first round on a couple different occasions. Thomas lands a right hand that hurts Lester early in round 2, and Lester holds on until he's wrestled down. And then they brawl out as the ref picks up Lester and drags him away. Oh, Detroit. The promoter is in the ring and the corners are in there, and so, uh, the fight is over? Or it is not. There's a point deduction? The fight continues? Really?

So back to round 2, and they throw down. Thomas is dropped with a right hand that looked to be to the back of the head. Lester lands some nice clean left hooks but its clear he has no power on that punch. Lester is hurt with a right hand at the bell to boot. Lester took the 3rd off assuming that he was safely ahead, which he was. Wild final round in this one where both men just trade like all get out and are each hurt repeatedly. Unanimous decision to Lester.

3) ANDRE GORGES vs. JOSHUA RODRIGUEZ: Gorges is hella thin. Welterweight bout, set for 4. 

SCORECARD: KO 1

Easy stoppage win for Gorges, who just mows over Rodriguez with sheer volume. Gorges doesn't punch properly though: He's landing more with the inside of the glove and wrist than with the knuckles, otherwise he might have ended this earlier.

4) ALEXIS HLOROS vs. CORY PETERSON: Peterson has some wild facial hair; like the upper lip is shaved but not the corners. Hloros is trained by the guy who trained Booker Ward, apparently. 6 round welterweight bout.

SCORECARD: KO 1

Hloros knocks Peterson down with the first punch of the fight. Peterson gets up and then is dropped for the final time after some wild combinations. 

5) JOHN SMITH vs. RICH POWER: Power is an undefeated heavyweight prospect of sorts fighting Michigan nobodies in the vein of a Kevin Montiy. Smith is garbage. Interesting note: Thomas Hearns joins on the announce team.

SCORECARD: KO 2

Power is a big strong dude but he moves slow in the ring and the ultra wild and aggressive Smith is able to land, however his punches have virtually no effect. Power covers up when swung at, even by somoene as garbage as Smith. Hearns, by the way, sounds retarded.

6) DARRYL CUNNINGHAM vs. PATRICK WESSON: Cunningham is the guy who has been headlining many of these shows. Why? No idea. Wesson is undefeated and from Grand Rapids, MI. 

SCORECARD: KO1

Wesson is knocked down with a straight right after a double jab about 1:10 in. Cunningham just keeps doing the same thing to set up another right and Wesson seems unable to adapt. He is KOed on the ropes with about :15 seconds left, and it was fairly brutal. He's caught by the ropes as he falls and takes a few extra punches, his hands still up by his face as he slowly tips over forwards.

Herman Ngoudjo vs. Juan Urango

Woooooh I got motivated to post tonight and this happened to be on my television screen. It should be in English on Friday Night Fights with ole scarface Teddy Atlas but Radio Canada has the Canadian rights so ill have to catch this in French. Off we go.

Round 1:
First round is pretty standard. Urango walked Herman down and try's to land while Herman uses the jab to keep Urango a a distance. as the round progresses Urango closes the distance and shows his superior punching power. He def lands more power shots and i feel he takes the first round Urango 10-9.


Round 2:
Urango with some nice body work to start the round. Herman drops his hands and pays a lil later in the round eating a combination he probably should have been able to defend. He answers back and there are some nice exchanges. Another round i fee was controlled by Urango despite Herman finishing a little stronger than the first round 10-9 Urango

Round 3:
Herman back to using the jab more this round. seems like a wise decision.huge uppercut from Urango and he drops Herman hard. He makes it but its not looking good. Urango is throwing everything now but Herman is surviving. Urango should be careful not to blow his wad. Down again and he answers the count. Herman looks to survive and he does. 10-7 Urango. Hes just straight overwhelming Herman

Round 4:
Urango is an angry man. hes stalking the hurt Herman and hes going to make it tough for him to survive. Herman gets caught when he shouldn't IMO. Hands are too low.Herman is doing well for the 2nd half of this round penetrating Urango's defense to arguably steal the round. Urango throws some bombs at the end but Herm catches them all on the gloves. 10-9 Herman

Round 5:
Herman using his hand speed to land crisp combos on Urango. He needs to stay off the ropes if he wants to win. Urango is getting wider and Herman seems to be finding his groove finally. Urango lands a few power shots but overall Herman controls where the fight is fought and lands some crisp combos to take the round. Herman 10-9

Round 6:
Another tough round to score. Herman is backing up as usual but he does slip shots and land his nice combos. Hes gonna have to do this for the rest of the fight. Urango is always coming forward landing thudding shots that even if blocked will accumulate I'm sure. 10-9 Herman

Round 7:
Urango working hard to the body now. Smart move. if you take Herms gas tank from him he cant run away. Urango goes back to head hunting a lil. Herman makes a mini comback towards the end of the round but its not enough. they have a nice exchange at the end of the round. Urango 10-9

Round 8:
These rounds are all pretty similar. Urango plods forward and throws heavy shots to the body and head while Herman tries to fend him off and fire back. He doesn't land enough in return to win the round in my opinion. 10-9 Urango

Round 9:
Again much the same. Urango works the body hard this round and chases Herman. Near the end Herman lands some hard shots and may hurt Urango a little but not anything to stop the Urango onslaught. The round ends. Urango 10-9

Round 10:
Herman is looking a little stronger this round. Urango looks like he may be losing a little steam on his movement and punches. Lots of holding going on this round. Heavy body shots from Urango. Herman is landing cleaner shots now. Urango def losing a lil zip. But he keeps coming and winning the round. Herman is looking much better than i thought he would at this point in the fight. 10-9 Urango.

Round 11:
Herman looks very worn down now. Urango coming forward as usual. Again lots of holding and inside fighting. Both guys are very tired. Urango 10-9

Round 12:
Herman needs to knock him out to win this. Urango needs to just hold on and survive for 3min and he has this in the bag. You never know what the judges will say but i don't see any way Herman is winning this. Urango coming hard now really pushing his punches but he wont stop. More holding from both guys. Herman getting off good
on the inside towards the end. You could maybe give that to Herman but too little too late. 10-9 Herman

A day of catch-up

I, like most people, cannot watch boxing every day. Or MMA, for that matter. Need to throw different activities into the mix lest I destroy my life. However, because I skip so many shows, I often need a "catchup day" to start watching many of them, often in repetition. The snow gave me good reason to do just this. The basic theme? John Duddy. No, really. 

-JOHN DUDDY vs. SHELBY PUDWILL (3/16/06): Pudwill was a lousy fraud and got beaten violently, dropped early in round one with a left hook to the chin and he never recovered. Between the Pierre and Campos fights, so people were still somewhat willing to buy into Duddy. 

-JOHN DUDDY vs. DUPRE STRICKLAND (5/18/07): Strickland had an impressive record (as did many Duddy opponents) but it lacked any substance. He was knocked down on an off balance shot in the first and lost every single round of the fight on my card and that of the judges. A horrible fight in which Strickland ran and Duddy's lack of actual punching power made it impossible for him to slow down Strickland. Strickland did nothing to win. 

-JOHN DUDDY vs. ALESSIO FURLAN (7/24/07): Duddy's return to Ireland, a necessary move to remotivate him and keep him from going stale with the NY fanbase. A lot is said by the RTE announcers to hype him, and he lives up to it in some sense. Duddy drops him in the first and then out throws him most of the fight, with Furlan winning only the 5th. Furlan was given a ton of credit for a career journeyman, and much was made of his survival for 11 rounds against Sylvester. Duddy stops Furlan with less than 20 seconds remaining in round 10 after the second knockdown of that final round. Furlan made sure to land a few solid rights on Duddy, but being a weak puncher, nothing truly came of it. 

-JOHN DUDDY vs. PRINCE ARRON (10/20/07): Simply no way Nevada or NY would ever accept this fight. Arron is beyond overmatched and while he lands a pretty decent combination in round 1, Duddy simply piles over the stringbean with a few knockdowns. Arron is really looking for a soft spot on the canvas in round 2 when a solid slap on the inside puts him down and forces a ref stoppage. 

-JOHN DUDDY vs. HOWARD EASTMAN (12/8/07): Eastman looked good here, which is perhaps not the strongest complement to Duddy's skills. Lots of right hand uppercuts landed clean and Eastman as counterpuncher seemed to have the answer to Duddy's forward movement all night long. Earlier in his career, Eastman obliterates Duddy. At 37, it is a close fight due to Duddy's ability to soak up punches while throwing his own. I had it Eastman 96-94 but the ref scores it that way for Duddy. Eastman really ran out of gas in the 6th and just sorta coasted in from there. The announcers again put over Duddy's success and popularity in the US (hah!) as well as Eastman's ability. 

My thoughts with Duddy is that he probably gets a bad wrap. He didn't look bad with Eastman, who is very awkward. Alternately, a 37 year old Eastman shouldn't be competitive with a guy constantly brought up in world title bout talks. What I found most hilarious was watching these shows, you see several prospects as good or better than Duddy (Macklin, Quillin, Moore), and whatever momentum you imagine building for Duddy gets blown up. Duddy is what he is, which is Mickey Ward with good management.

OTHER STUFF:

-Peter Quillin had two fights on these shows. He was outrageous wild against Willie Cruz, just throwing shit everywhere. Fast forward to the Victor Paz fight and he's much, much more controlled. Viewing him versus Duddy, there's a marked difference in technique, hand speed, movement, hell, everything. He deserves some accolades.

-I might have seen Pawel Wolak/Troy Browning but forgot about it. He made Anthony Little look horrible with nothing but sheer offense, but I can't say I'm shocked to know that he lost to Ishe Smith in the last year. Zero pretense of defense.

-I've seen plenty of Paul McCloskey now. Good fighter with all the punches, but a lack of head movement means he probably won't progress beyond the Commonwealth level. He's beaten Garnica, and that deserves some respect in my eyes. Not much power, though.

-Haughian/Grassellini I is a tough ass fight to score. I actually had it wide for Haughian and was surprised as hell to see the italian winning the fight. Very competitive bout with both men throwing and blocking everything coming back. Kinda liked it. Haughian looked good against O'Connell as well. 

-Can someone explain why anyone likes Joe Greene? One punch at a time, slow, inactive, holds. He's beaten nobody good. Here against Brian Norman he gave away the first two, and he ain't superman. 

-Haven't seen Macklin in a minute but boy oh boy did he look good against Furlan. Just bashed him in. Great body punching.