Giacobbe Fragomeni vs. Silvio Branco 1 (2012-03-17)
I remember there being a buzz about this fight in the hardcore boxing community when it popped up online. I made a mental note to track it down and watch it at some point. Here we finally are.
Both guys have been around forever, though I have only seen them fight once each. Fragomeni had what I thought was a great battle against Zolt Erdei. It turned out to be Erdei's final big bout in Germany before being put out to pasture and falling into obscurity. Fragomeni pushed Zolt to the limit and then some. As a result it was probably the most interesting fight Erdei ever had.
Silvio Branco is a weird looking dude. He has the look and build of a Pro Wrestler. He looks like some dude Vince McMahon would sign if he was trying to break into the Italian market and needed a homegrown guy to bust the door down. My only memory of him is being Jean Pascal's mandatory before the rematch with Adrian Diacanu. It was an ugly and awkward fight. Like most Pascal fights where he does his Pseudo Roy Jones act. Cept Branco's length and style made it even worse. Pascal got a late round TKO stoppage. Being Canadian the most depressing part of this fight was that it was only available on PPV! Fuck you InterBox.
Usually two aging cruiser weights with some pop and defensive liabilities make for an entertaining fight.
The basis of this are pretty simple in theory. Branco uses his height and reach to batter Fragomeni at a distance. Fragomeni's only way to win is to get inside and rough Branco up and slowly break him down and hope to stop him late. Seems simple enough, right?
The first round is a pretty pedestrian feeling out round. Round 2 things start to pick up a bit. Branco is heavily relying on his jab and Frago is constantly trying to pick off shots with his gloves and work his way inside and batter Brancos body for a pay off later in the fight. Both are fairly good at accomplishing there goals. Anytime Branco is trapped on the ropes Frago unleashes a flurry of body punches. For being such a tall muscular dude Branco seems like a light ass puncher. Round 4 has some great exchanges along the ropes. Though Frago is obviously the heavier puncher Branco holds his own and even turns the tables and puts Frago on the ropes at one point. Round 5 is pretty quiet until 1 min or so left. Another big exchange on the ropes that Frago gets the better of. Round 6 and 7 are really a turning point for Branco. He is able to dig down and win exchanges with Frago and successfully back him up and make you feel like maybe he can turn the tide of the fight around. Frago turns it around in the next 3. Round 10, 11 have some very exquisite exchanges between the two. but I favor Frago based on his punches having more pop on them still. Round 12 could have been really great but the over anxious Euro ref fucks up the flow of combat by continually injecting himself. He should have just let the action play out. Either way this was a great fight. I didn't really properly score it but I felt like Frago won the majority of rounds. That being said Branco was in it the whole way and gave a very good account of himself even when the fight was inside. Looks like we have to do this one again. Can't say I'm mad at that.
Judges score cards: 114-114, 115-115, 113-115. Majority Draw
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
the forgotten fights project vol. 1; Greg Page vs. Tim Witherspoon 3/9/84
The decision to start writing about boxing in long form is sort of quizzical; why do it? There's not really an audience for it and no demand for pieces on the people I want to watch fights of or write about. There's no commercial reason to write about the sport in this manner. There's simply no reason to do it other than a sort of love of the game. If you're reading this, then, hey, I hope I don't bore you.
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Two days after the 1986 NBA Draft, Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose. A star at Maryland, Bias was intended to be the man to lead the Boston Celtics out of the Larry Bird era and into the 1990s. His death effectively broke the contending lineage of the team. They wouldn't be a serious force again in the Eastern Conference for almost 20 years. I was pretty young then and honestly, I don't remember Len Bias' death as a thing that occurred in real time. It didn't affect me. What I would know about later on in my early development, thanks to my then life in the Dallas Metroplex, was the saga of Roy Tarpley. Roy was a highly skilled Center drafted in 1986, and was hoped to be a centerpiece of an emergent Dallas Mavericks squad. I watched, even after moving to Connecticut in December of 1989, as Tarpley battled his demons and ultimately wound up banned from the NBA for life in 1995.
1986's NBA Draft class is infamous for the drug abuse rampant among those taken. Chris Washburn, the 3rd pick, had significant drug problems and was also banned after just a couple seasons. #6 pick William Bedford went to prison for trafficking. These are just the lottery picks, mind you. The draft was littered with guys who barely or never played due to drug abuse. But this is a boxing blog and a post about boxing, so perhaps it seems strange to preface me writing about heavyweight boxing with a brief history of the NBA's most infamous draft class. It is with reason.
Like all the sports of the era, cocaine hit the top stars hard, and in boxing, where the top stars were some of the highest grossing athletes of the era, this is certainly true as well. An entire generation of skilled, big heavyweights from the United States was effectively lost to a combination of terrible management/promotion under the Don King Productions banner and cocaine. As much as the free agent market certainly hurt the future of the sport, the rapid degradation of the contenders and stars in the bright public spotlight could not possibly have done boxing any favors.
The 1984 WBC Title fight between Greg Page and Tim Witherspoon is a great place to start watching and writing about this era and about these particular fighters. Both were extremely talented, large, athletic heavyweights. Both were also rumored in years after to have been intentionally kept away from fighting Mike Tyson during Iron Mike's ascendancy and world title prime. Up until a point not long before this fight, the WBC title had been the property of one Larry Holmes. Holmes was still the rightful heavyweight champion of the world, but had given up the belt as he targeted Gerrie Coetzee, the South African heavyweight who held the WBA crown. The ultimate conclusion of all this was Larry Holmes accepting and legitimizing the then new IBF heavyweight title, and both Witherspoon and Page would end up on their way to what would be career pinnacles.
Page not only shared a hometown with Ali, but was clearly influenced by his style. The white trunks, the dancing, the fast hands; they all evoked a man looking to imitate the greatest hero the heavyweight division ever knew. As his own product, Page gave inconsistent efforts in the gym, often came in overweight, and had been derided for low punch output in his fights. Witherspoon was a different story. He was a large boxer/puncher type who didn't fit any easy mold. More Norton than Ali, Witherspoon walked men down with his imposing 6' 3 1/2" frame and beat them into submission. Quickly rising through the ranks, he earned a title shot against Larry Holmes 3 1/2 years and 15 fights into his pro career. He lost a close decision, but earned a tremendous amount of respect. Plenty of folks will tell you he deserved the win. Less than a year after that defeat, Witherspoon returned to a world title contest, this time to claim the belt Holmes gave up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvPpLSGwv0w
One of the major criticisms of heavyweight boxing at this point in time is that it was terrible. Essentially, the action was flat, fighters were lazy and out of shape, all the fights were boring, and there was nothing good about any of it. When you toss in the creation of the multiple sanctioning bodies known today during this era, things were all sorts of bad. But this isn't 1984 any more. I'm writing this in November of 2013, in a wildly different world than that of the mid-1980s. Instead of judging Page/Witherspoon against the likes of a Rocky Marciano bout from the 50s, we are able to look at everything that followed it, plus look at those earlier bouts without the misty eyed connection to some mythical period of youth. I am a millenial; hear me roar.
When I look at Page/Witherspoon now, cognizant of the history of the fight and how it was viewed, that only adds to the complete joy that is watching a fight like this. Here you have two large, skilled, athletic heavyweights going toe to toe for 12 hard, competitive rounds. They land big shots. They throw combinations. You can see footwork, defense, every goddamned thing you want to see in a heavyweight fight, here it is. Witherspoon walks down Page in every single round, and Page responds by putting his back on the ropes. In 2013, Page is guaranteeing that he loses the fight by doing this. Back then, not so much. I think judges were more willing to give him some credit for work he did on the inside. Mind you, I think Witherspoon beat the crap out of him, but that's how things might have been seen 30 years ago.
Witherspoon starts out strong and stays strong for most of the fight. We get great exchanges in rounds 2 and 4 with Page fighting off the ropes, but almost always getting the worst of the situation. The constant pressure and weighing on Page should, on paper, wear him down. At 239 1/2 lbs, this is not the best shape Page could have appeared in. He's lumpy, with hint of man tit. But sure enough, he starts to mount a bit of a comeback. Witherspoon becomes frustrated in the 8th with Page's ability to withstand his battering and throws a nasty chopping right on the break. In round 9, most of the round consists of Page moving laterally, jabbing, and keeping Witherspoon at distance. He won the round for me on that, even if Witherspoon nearly stole it with power punching in the last 30 seconds. I gave Page the 10th too, but by round 11, the rally is over. Page returns to playing almost total defense while an open mouthed Witherspoon gamely presses the action. I end up handing the final two rounds to Tim. Official judges Lou Tabat and the eternal Jerry Roth both agreed with my assessment.
MY SCORECARD: 117-111 Tim Witherspoon
Exactly 17 years later, Greg Page was knocked out by Dale Crowe. Crowe was a regionally based heavyweight and pseudo-journeyman who had lost to the likes of Cliff "Twin Tyson" Couser and Brian Nielsen. Page went into a coma and never fully regained consciousness, passing away in 2009. I can't think of a particularly good way to conclude this piece, as if there's some epilogue you can't put together without wikipedia or boxrec as a guide instead of my words. I suppose you could feign interest in knowing that there was a rematch of this bout in 1999, with Greg Page stopping Tim Witherspoon in 8. Page apparently took it to him hard from the opening bell. Honestly, I don't know. No one seems to have uploaded that piece of history to Youtube, even though it was taped and aired live on the undercard of Larry Holmes/Bonecrusher Smith II. Yes, that was aired. Live. On PPV for $20.
To me, the whole history of both men is indicative of just what we lost as fans of boxing during this period of time. As time has moved on, I start to see the availability of fight film via electronic sources as the great mediator in arguments past, present, and future. What we assumed from what we had heard all these years is that the heavyweights of the 1980s were trash compared to that of the 1970s, and in turn, all of history. That simply isn't true. They were actually really good. Not consistent, but when good, really good. But now that we aren't entirely reliant on ultra-hobbyists and old white man scribes to tell us how and what to think, but can instead start to postulate on our own different ideas and original takes, I'm beginning to shift towards the belief that the old Bert Sugar-esque writers of the period tore these guys down for no good reason aside from, best I can tell, a lack of racial parity. There were no white Italians or Jews out here fighting for the heavyweight title any more, and that probably irked them. Luckily, they got Tyson to come "clean up the mess" they helped to make and perpetuate going all the back to the 70s when many of them hailed Don King as the man boxing needed.
(By the way, Tyson kills both these guys dead. Page ain't running 12 rounds and Witherspoon isn't gonna stand in front of him and win. Just for the record.)
Comparing to the present, I usually try not to compare eras of boxers against one another. But with heavyweights, I can't help but do it here. Klitschko apologists (I being one from time to time) point out their size, actual skills and athleticism, and state they'd be tough challenges for heavyweights of any era. I have my moments where I sell myself on that. But Wladimir is horrible entertainment in the ring, and the heavyweight division as a whole is anathema to viewers in the US today because everyone in it is so goddamned bad. Page/Witherspoon I is supposed to be a terrible heavyweight fight of the era, and it is easily better than any heavyweight fight that happened this year. You sit down and say, "what are the best heavyweight fights of the last 5 years?" and that brings up bouts like Fury/Cunningham, Cunningham/Adamek II, Chisora/Helenius, Huck/Povetkin, and, god, Liakhovich/Quinn? Page/Witherspoon I is better than those fights, and these guys are bigger than most of the participants in those bouts. I have the feeling Page/Witherspoon II might be better than those 5 listed fights too. You go deeper in this discussion: Larry Holmes is Arturo Gatti next to Wladimir Klitschko. A whole lot of people fucked up when they thought the early-mid 80s was the bad era. If they knew that we know now, they'd be handing out suboxone like candy and begging these guys to get with Bob Arum. If you ask me, it's overdue that we reassess all these guys.
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Two days after the 1986 NBA Draft, Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose. A star at Maryland, Bias was intended to be the man to lead the Boston Celtics out of the Larry Bird era and into the 1990s. His death effectively broke the contending lineage of the team. They wouldn't be a serious force again in the Eastern Conference for almost 20 years. I was pretty young then and honestly, I don't remember Len Bias' death as a thing that occurred in real time. It didn't affect me. What I would know about later on in my early development, thanks to my then life in the Dallas Metroplex, was the saga of Roy Tarpley. Roy was a highly skilled Center drafted in 1986, and was hoped to be a centerpiece of an emergent Dallas Mavericks squad. I watched, even after moving to Connecticut in December of 1989, as Tarpley battled his demons and ultimately wound up banned from the NBA for life in 1995.
1986's NBA Draft class is infamous for the drug abuse rampant among those taken. Chris Washburn, the 3rd pick, had significant drug problems and was also banned after just a couple seasons. #6 pick William Bedford went to prison for trafficking. These are just the lottery picks, mind you. The draft was littered with guys who barely or never played due to drug abuse. But this is a boxing blog and a post about boxing, so perhaps it seems strange to preface me writing about heavyweight boxing with a brief history of the NBA's most infamous draft class. It is with reason.
Like all the sports of the era, cocaine hit the top stars hard, and in boxing, where the top stars were some of the highest grossing athletes of the era, this is certainly true as well. An entire generation of skilled, big heavyweights from the United States was effectively lost to a combination of terrible management/promotion under the Don King Productions banner and cocaine. As much as the free agent market certainly hurt the future of the sport, the rapid degradation of the contenders and stars in the bright public spotlight could not possibly have done boxing any favors.
The 1984 WBC Title fight between Greg Page and Tim Witherspoon is a great place to start watching and writing about this era and about these particular fighters. Both were extremely talented, large, athletic heavyweights. Both were also rumored in years after to have been intentionally kept away from fighting Mike Tyson during Iron Mike's ascendancy and world title prime. Up until a point not long before this fight, the WBC title had been the property of one Larry Holmes. Holmes was still the rightful heavyweight champion of the world, but had given up the belt as he targeted Gerrie Coetzee, the South African heavyweight who held the WBA crown. The ultimate conclusion of all this was Larry Holmes accepting and legitimizing the then new IBF heavyweight title, and both Witherspoon and Page would end up on their way to what would be career pinnacles.
Page not only shared a hometown with Ali, but was clearly influenced by his style. The white trunks, the dancing, the fast hands; they all evoked a man looking to imitate the greatest hero the heavyweight division ever knew. As his own product, Page gave inconsistent efforts in the gym, often came in overweight, and had been derided for low punch output in his fights. Witherspoon was a different story. He was a large boxer/puncher type who didn't fit any easy mold. More Norton than Ali, Witherspoon walked men down with his imposing 6' 3 1/2" frame and beat them into submission. Quickly rising through the ranks, he earned a title shot against Larry Holmes 3 1/2 years and 15 fights into his pro career. He lost a close decision, but earned a tremendous amount of respect. Plenty of folks will tell you he deserved the win. Less than a year after that defeat, Witherspoon returned to a world title contest, this time to claim the belt Holmes gave up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvPpLSGwv0w
One of the major criticisms of heavyweight boxing at this point in time is that it was terrible. Essentially, the action was flat, fighters were lazy and out of shape, all the fights were boring, and there was nothing good about any of it. When you toss in the creation of the multiple sanctioning bodies known today during this era, things were all sorts of bad. But this isn't 1984 any more. I'm writing this in November of 2013, in a wildly different world than that of the mid-1980s. Instead of judging Page/Witherspoon against the likes of a Rocky Marciano bout from the 50s, we are able to look at everything that followed it, plus look at those earlier bouts without the misty eyed connection to some mythical period of youth. I am a millenial; hear me roar.
When I look at Page/Witherspoon now, cognizant of the history of the fight and how it was viewed, that only adds to the complete joy that is watching a fight like this. Here you have two large, skilled, athletic heavyweights going toe to toe for 12 hard, competitive rounds. They land big shots. They throw combinations. You can see footwork, defense, every goddamned thing you want to see in a heavyweight fight, here it is. Witherspoon walks down Page in every single round, and Page responds by putting his back on the ropes. In 2013, Page is guaranteeing that he loses the fight by doing this. Back then, not so much. I think judges were more willing to give him some credit for work he did on the inside. Mind you, I think Witherspoon beat the crap out of him, but that's how things might have been seen 30 years ago.
Witherspoon starts out strong and stays strong for most of the fight. We get great exchanges in rounds 2 and 4 with Page fighting off the ropes, but almost always getting the worst of the situation. The constant pressure and weighing on Page should, on paper, wear him down. At 239 1/2 lbs, this is not the best shape Page could have appeared in. He's lumpy, with hint of man tit. But sure enough, he starts to mount a bit of a comeback. Witherspoon becomes frustrated in the 8th with Page's ability to withstand his battering and throws a nasty chopping right on the break. In round 9, most of the round consists of Page moving laterally, jabbing, and keeping Witherspoon at distance. He won the round for me on that, even if Witherspoon nearly stole it with power punching in the last 30 seconds. I gave Page the 10th too, but by round 11, the rally is over. Page returns to playing almost total defense while an open mouthed Witherspoon gamely presses the action. I end up handing the final two rounds to Tim. Official judges Lou Tabat and the eternal Jerry Roth both agreed with my assessment.
| page | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
| witherspoon | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 |
MY SCORECARD: 117-111 Tim Witherspoon
Exactly 17 years later, Greg Page was knocked out by Dale Crowe. Crowe was a regionally based heavyweight and pseudo-journeyman who had lost to the likes of Cliff "Twin Tyson" Couser and Brian Nielsen. Page went into a coma and never fully regained consciousness, passing away in 2009. I can't think of a particularly good way to conclude this piece, as if there's some epilogue you can't put together without wikipedia or boxrec as a guide instead of my words. I suppose you could feign interest in knowing that there was a rematch of this bout in 1999, with Greg Page stopping Tim Witherspoon in 8. Page apparently took it to him hard from the opening bell. Honestly, I don't know. No one seems to have uploaded that piece of history to Youtube, even though it was taped and aired live on the undercard of Larry Holmes/Bonecrusher Smith II. Yes, that was aired. Live. On PPV for $20.
To me, the whole history of both men is indicative of just what we lost as fans of boxing during this period of time. As time has moved on, I start to see the availability of fight film via electronic sources as the great mediator in arguments past, present, and future. What we assumed from what we had heard all these years is that the heavyweights of the 1980s were trash compared to that of the 1970s, and in turn, all of history. That simply isn't true. They were actually really good. Not consistent, but when good, really good. But now that we aren't entirely reliant on ultra-hobbyists and old white man scribes to tell us how and what to think, but can instead start to postulate on our own different ideas and original takes, I'm beginning to shift towards the belief that the old Bert Sugar-esque writers of the period tore these guys down for no good reason aside from, best I can tell, a lack of racial parity. There were no white Italians or Jews out here fighting for the heavyweight title any more, and that probably irked them. Luckily, they got Tyson to come "clean up the mess" they helped to make and perpetuate going all the back to the 70s when many of them hailed Don King as the man boxing needed.
(By the way, Tyson kills both these guys dead. Page ain't running 12 rounds and Witherspoon isn't gonna stand in front of him and win. Just for the record.)
Comparing to the present, I usually try not to compare eras of boxers against one another. But with heavyweights, I can't help but do it here. Klitschko apologists (I being one from time to time) point out their size, actual skills and athleticism, and state they'd be tough challenges for heavyweights of any era. I have my moments where I sell myself on that. But Wladimir is horrible entertainment in the ring, and the heavyweight division as a whole is anathema to viewers in the US today because everyone in it is so goddamned bad. Page/Witherspoon I is supposed to be a terrible heavyweight fight of the era, and it is easily better than any heavyweight fight that happened this year. You sit down and say, "what are the best heavyweight fights of the last 5 years?" and that brings up bouts like Fury/Cunningham, Cunningham/Adamek II, Chisora/Helenius, Huck/Povetkin, and, god, Liakhovich/Quinn? Page/Witherspoon I is better than those fights, and these guys are bigger than most of the participants in those bouts. I have the feeling Page/Witherspoon II might be better than those 5 listed fights too. You go deeper in this discussion: Larry Holmes is Arturo Gatti next to Wladimir Klitschko. A whole lot of people fucked up when they thought the early-mid 80s was the bad era. If they knew that we know now, they'd be handing out suboxone like candy and begging these guys to get with Bob Arum. If you ask me, it's overdue that we reassess all these guys.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
archiving pt 4
Ouma/Martirosyan was a great fight. Shame the co-main was cancelled when one of the fighters didn't get on the plane, but the opener was more competitive than the shutout on the cards shows. Ouma at 147 looked better and will be a stiff task for any young prospects or even title level guys
Paul Williams vs. Sergio Martinez
round 1 10-9 Martinez
round 2 10-9 Martinez
round 3 10-9 Martinez
round 4 10-9 Williams
round 5 10-9 Williams
round 6 10-9 Williams
round 7 10-9 Williams
round 8 10-9 Martinez
round 9 10-9 Williams
round 10 10-9 Martinez
round 11 10-9 Martinez
round 12 10-9 Williams
114-114
Same scorecard as the previous two posted. Would love to see this as an undercard to Pacquiao/Mayweather to help drum up interest.
round 1 10-9 Martinez
round 2 10-9 Martinez
round 3 10-9 Martinez
round 4 10-9 Williams
round 5 10-9 Williams
round 6 10-9 Williams
round 7 10-9 Williams
round 8 10-9 Martinez
round 9 10-9 Williams
round 10 10-9 Martinez
round 11 10-9 Martinez
round 12 10-9 Williams
114-114
Same scorecard as the previous two posted. Would love to see this as an undercard to Pacquiao/Mayweather to help drum up interest.
Stuff I've put off watching forevah:
Tarvis Simms/Allan Green
Round 1: Green
Round 2: Green
Round 3: Green
Round 4: Green
Round 5: Green
Round 6: Simms
Round 7: Green
Round 8: Simms
Round 9: Green
Round 10: Green
98-92, Green. I thought rounds 7 and 3 were the closest in the fight, and I ended up giving both to Green. Simms won round 6 and 8 as a southpaw, but abandoned it in round 9 and returned to it in round 10. Odd choice to wait till the 6th round to give Green the look he's most uncomfortable with.
Malignaggi/Diaz I
Round 1: Malignaggi
Round 2: Diaz
Round 3: Malignaggi
Round 4: Diaz
Round 5: Diaz
Round 6: Malignaggi
Round 7: Malignaggi
Round 8: Malignaggi
Round 9: Malignaggi
Round 10: Malignaggi
Round 11: Malignaggi
Round 12: Malignaggi
117-111 Magic Man, I thought 5, 6, and 12 were closest. Really surprised rewatching this because I went in looking for Diaz rounds and found very, very few. Totally out of his element after the 5th. From that point on, even rounds in terms of effective punching (and there were a couple) had to go to Paulie; He was controlling the pace of the fight, the location, when engagements happened, etc. It was the very essence of ring generalship.
Tarvis Simms/Allan Green
Round 1: Green
Round 2: Green
Round 3: Green
Round 4: Green
Round 5: Green
Round 6: Simms
Round 7: Green
Round 8: Simms
Round 9: Green
Round 10: Green
98-92, Green. I thought rounds 7 and 3 were the closest in the fight, and I ended up giving both to Green. Simms won round 6 and 8 as a southpaw, but abandoned it in round 9 and returned to it in round 10. Odd choice to wait till the 6th round to give Green the look he's most uncomfortable with.
Malignaggi/Diaz I
Round 1: Malignaggi
Round 2: Diaz
Round 3: Malignaggi
Round 4: Diaz
Round 5: Diaz
Round 6: Malignaggi
Round 7: Malignaggi
Round 8: Malignaggi
Round 9: Malignaggi
Round 10: Malignaggi
Round 11: Malignaggi
Round 12: Malignaggi
117-111 Magic Man, I thought 5, 6, and 12 were closest. Really surprised rewatching this because I went in looking for Diaz rounds and found very, very few. Totally out of his element after the 5th. From that point on, even rounds in terms of effective punching (and there were a couple) had to go to Paulie; He was controlling the pace of the fight, the location, when engagements happened, etc. It was the very essence of ring generalship.
Watched this fight in my hotel room last weekend. Great scrap, actually. Erdei is woefully underpowered and undersized for this weight class and this fight showed it. Even with Adamek, Mormeck, and Haye gone, there's at least 4-5 guys at the weight who will blow him away.
I like Antonio DeMarco. He does a lot of things right and very few wrong. He's also getting to the top end the right way; eliminating the fractional contenders and doing so in impressive fashion. And let's be honest; 135 is a mess with lots of old guys hanging on and a lot of young guys who haven't really stepped forward. He's beaten guys every bit as good as the people Katsidis and Valero have beaten.
Meanwhile, the main event. I am fine with the 116-111 card due to the crappy headbutt call. Its probably what I'd have down as well. Montiel/Perez would be great, but my expectations are naturally very low about that happening.
Also, off TV: Williamson looks to finally be done in by Ray Austin. God only knows what we'll have to see now with Austin being a mandatory.
Meanwhile, the main event. I am fine with the 116-111 card due to the crappy headbutt call. Its probably what I'd have down as well. Montiel/Perez would be great, but my expectations are naturally very low about that happening.
Also, off TV: Williamson looks to finally be done in by Ray Austin. God only knows what we'll have to see now with Austin being a mandatory.
archiving pt 3
Watched a ton this weekend:
-Derric Rossy/Carl Davis Drummond: A better fighter than Rossy stops Drummond easily. He was landing practically at will. I'm not sure that it was Rossy having developed technically as much as it was Drummond not being any good. Speaks volumes of the Chagaev Wlad beat.
-Victor Cayo/Julio Diaz: Diaz looked like the bigger man here, and significantly so. That's no good for Cayo over the long term. Guys who can't punch and run a little are not gonna become fan favorites here and sad as that is to say for Cayo, he's definitely running uphill if he wants to get a title shot against someone like Bradley or Alexander. I don't think he can be really competitive with either too. Diaz is washed up, which we already knew. Too bad.
-Henry Buchanan/Andre Ward: Man, Ward just roasted this guy. Embarassing that he couldn't put him away, but total domination. Sugar Poo was never in the fight.
-Derric Rossy/Carl Davis Drummond: A better fighter than Rossy stops Drummond easily. He was landing practically at will. I'm not sure that it was Rossy having developed technically as much as it was Drummond not being any good. Speaks volumes of the Chagaev Wlad beat.
-Victor Cayo/Julio Diaz: Diaz looked like the bigger man here, and significantly so. That's no good for Cayo over the long term. Guys who can't punch and run a little are not gonna become fan favorites here and sad as that is to say for Cayo, he's definitely running uphill if he wants to get a title shot against someone like Bradley or Alexander. I don't think he can be really competitive with either too. Diaz is washed up, which we already knew. Too bad.
-Henry Buchanan/Andre Ward: Man, Ward just roasted this guy. Embarassing that he couldn't put him away, but total domination. Sugar Poo was never in the fight.
Brock is going to go down, historically, as part of a crop of prospects that basically sunk the division. You look at the guys who began to emerge at that time frame, and its stunning:
-Sam Peter: ate his way out of the division
-Sergei Lyakhovich: Showed up woefully in his first title defense, basically gone
-Sultan Ibragimov: Whatever happened in the leadup to that eliminator fight destroyed his interest in the sport and ultimately his career
-Ruslan Chagaev: Hep and ultimately total failure
-Joe Mesi: Brain damage
-JC Gomez: Like you hear so often on the streets of Amsterdam, "coke coke coke coke".
The odds were desperately against Fast Eddie Chambers to rise to where he is now, and yet he's arrived. Part of that, admittedly, is the failure of others.
-Sam Peter: ate his way out of the division
-Sergei Lyakhovich: Showed up woefully in his first title defense, basically gone
-Sultan Ibragimov: Whatever happened in the leadup to that eliminator fight destroyed his interest in the sport and ultimately his career
-Ruslan Chagaev: Hep and ultimately total failure
-Joe Mesi: Brain damage
-JC Gomez: Like you hear so often on the streets of Amsterdam, "coke coke coke coke".
The odds were desperately against Fast Eddie Chambers to rise to where he is now, and yet he's arrived. Part of that, admittedly, is the failure of others.
That's a list of international guys. I don't consider Sultan a US Heavyweight. Those guys basically failed and providing a generational gap when there should have been one. What happened as a result was that guys like Rahman stuck around 2-3 years longer on the scene than they should have.
still mowing through these old cards on the DVR:
Leon Bobo/Ira Terry: This was chief support to Carlos Molina/Danny Perez earlier in the summer (6/5?), probably the worst ESPN card this summer. Bobo was a former prospect who had appeared a few times on ESPN2. and Terry was an former prospect appearing for the first time in memory. Both had two losses, and its not hard to imagine how they got them. Bobo lacked heart and interest in fighting, along with possessing no power. Terry is a younger fighter and has better speed, but is small, not a particularly hard hitter himself, and not terribly good coming forwards.
Bobo ends up running virtually the entire fight from Terry any time Terry jumps in. When he stays put, its with his hands up defending against the ropes, absorbing blows. Terry wins all but maybe the 5th in my book, but Teddy gives him more and one judge has it a draw. Doesn't really matter. Watched it more as busy work.
Leon Bobo/Ira Terry: This was chief support to Carlos Molina/Danny Perez earlier in the summer (6/5?), probably the worst ESPN card this summer. Bobo was a former prospect who had appeared a few times on ESPN2. and Terry was an former prospect appearing for the first time in memory. Both had two losses, and its not hard to imagine how they got them. Bobo lacked heart and interest in fighting, along with possessing no power. Terry is a younger fighter and has better speed, but is small, not a particularly hard hitter himself, and not terribly good coming forwards.
Bobo ends up running virtually the entire fight from Terry any time Terry jumps in. When he stays put, its with his hands up defending against the ropes, absorbing blows. Terry wins all but maybe the 5th in my book, but Teddy gives him more and one judge has it a draw. Doesn't really matter. Watched it more as busy work.
Bobo IS horrible. No doubt about it.
Also watched the main event last night; Carlos Molina vs. Danny Perez. I watched some of this fight from a flat screen in a casino while gambling, so I didn't pay much attention. Forgot who both men were, but the announcers helped that fast; Perez was on the undercard for that Casamayor/Marquez PPV last year and beat up on Julio Garcia. He followed it up with a win over Eric Mitchell; not too bad. Molina's an interesting story though - the draw with JCC Jr. and loss in the rematch, then some tough opponents added a few more Ls to his record. Recently, he has wins over Camarena, Ed Paredes, and Alexis Camacho. Basically, he's a guy who wasn't babied and now he's a tough guy capable of competing with at least middle of the road opposition. He came in as a late replacement in this fight for Carlos Quintana, as well.
Anyhow, the fight; Molina basically runs the table against Perez, giving up two rounds out of 12 on my card. He was inside, outside, jabbing, landing body shots. Perez was completely lost, and while Teddy Atlas warned that it would be likely for Molina to gas, Perez's mouth was open from about the 5th round forward. Total demolition.
Also watched the main event last night; Carlos Molina vs. Danny Perez. I watched some of this fight from a flat screen in a casino while gambling, so I didn't pay much attention. Forgot who both men were, but the announcers helped that fast; Perez was on the undercard for that Casamayor/Marquez PPV last year and beat up on Julio Garcia. He followed it up with a win over Eric Mitchell; not too bad. Molina's an interesting story though - the draw with JCC Jr. and loss in the rematch, then some tough opponents added a few more Ls to his record. Recently, he has wins over Camarena, Ed Paredes, and Alexis Camacho. Basically, he's a guy who wasn't babied and now he's a tough guy capable of competing with at least middle of the road opposition. He came in as a late replacement in this fight for Carlos Quintana, as well.
Anyhow, the fight; Molina basically runs the table against Perez, giving up two rounds out of 12 on my card. He was inside, outside, jabbing, landing body shots. Perez was completely lost, and while Teddy Atlas warned that it would be likely for Molina to gas, Perez's mouth was open from about the 5th round forward. Total demolition.
Jesus, even more watched the last couple days:
-Leonildo Miranda/Orlando Cruz (Shobox, 1/15/09): Edison Miranda came over and suddenly promoters lined up to grab these new Columbians who had monster KO records. And since Edison, they've all been total frauds. No diss on Cruz, because he weathered the early storm that Miranda brought, but after about the 3rd round, Miranda was shocked to see Cruz and his brace face still hanging around, and never adjusted. Cruz then nearly decapitated him with a KO of the year candidate.
-Jorge Barrios/Mike Anchondo (ESPN2, 2005): This was replayed on ESPN Classic, and since for whatever reason my original has disappeared, I recorded it. Mighty Mike was hot shit, but came in waaaaaay over the limit (by 5 lbs!) and then promptly was obliterated by Barrios. I can't say I feel bad that he got demolished by Darling Jimenez either. Barrios had all the reasons in the world to be the guy coming in at a different weight class with the death of his child and best friend, and instead he showed up 1 1/2 under. Barrios is one of the best action fighters of his generation. Shame he never got to be more than he turned out to be.
-Chris Byrd/Shaun George: (ESPN2, 2008): Finally got around to watching this, since I was out of town when it was originally on last year. A lot of people thought Byrd looked bad because he dropped. No, not at all. This is the Chris Byrd that's been at heavyweight for years, except with slower reflexes and handspeed. It was amazing to see George do what McCline and Oquendo had done in backing Byrd up in spite of massive size differences compared to those guys, but once he had, it was no shock that he took Chris out. What McCline lacked in talent and stamina, George had. Byrd needed to retire a very, very long time ago to "protect" himself and now with his divorce, that won't happen
-Leonildo Miranda/Orlando Cruz (Shobox, 1/15/09): Edison Miranda came over and suddenly promoters lined up to grab these new Columbians who had monster KO records. And since Edison, they've all been total frauds. No diss on Cruz, because he weathered the early storm that Miranda brought, but after about the 3rd round, Miranda was shocked to see Cruz and his brace face still hanging around, and never adjusted. Cruz then nearly decapitated him with a KO of the year candidate.
-Jorge Barrios/Mike Anchondo (ESPN2, 2005): This was replayed on ESPN Classic, and since for whatever reason my original has disappeared, I recorded it. Mighty Mike was hot shit, but came in waaaaaay over the limit (by 5 lbs!) and then promptly was obliterated by Barrios. I can't say I feel bad that he got demolished by Darling Jimenez either. Barrios had all the reasons in the world to be the guy coming in at a different weight class with the death of his child and best friend, and instead he showed up 1 1/2 under. Barrios is one of the best action fighters of his generation. Shame he never got to be more than he turned out to be.
-Chris Byrd/Shaun George: (ESPN2, 2008): Finally got around to watching this, since I was out of town when it was originally on last year. A lot of people thought Byrd looked bad because he dropped. No, not at all. This is the Chris Byrd that's been at heavyweight for years, except with slower reflexes and handspeed. It was amazing to see George do what McCline and Oquendo had done in backing Byrd up in spite of massive size differences compared to those guys, but once he had, it was no shock that he took Chris out. What McCline lacked in talent and stamina, George had. Byrd needed to retire a very, very long time ago to "protect" himself and now with his divorce, that won't happen
Watched a terrible Telefutura show that's been languishing on my DVR for nearly a year (11/28/0
:
-Joaquin Zamora/Jose Luis Gonzalez: Gonzalez made a name for himself among the really, really hardcore fans by getting cheated out of a win against Jason Lehoullier and fighting competitively with Carson Jones. Zamora had, himself, done a shockingly good job destroying fraud Ray Sanchez on Telefutura's air a couple months prior. The 8 rounder they were booked in was a pretty decent war and actually featured technique and skill. Quite a solid little fight. While Zamora went down in the first and was hurt several times in the fight, he ended up getting the nod with some pretty questionable scores. I felt Gonzalez got screwed again. Oh well.
-Jesus Soto Karass/Hicklet Lau: Lau comes in at 20-17. Why on earth is this on TV? A joke: Lau is over powered from the 1:00 in mark and ends up stopped in the 2nd. Karass is a great fighter to watch with the right guys (Buendia, Estrada), and this wasn't that. Horrid.
-David Proa/Ricky Vasquez: Proa comes from the Valero school of fighting, which means he is all KOs, no defense, and probably not good. Vasquez tags him a few times but goes down 4 times in the first and still needs to be counted out by the ref. Ridiculous.
-Arturo Crespin/Daniel Gonzalez: Closing out the show, this, a 4 rounder with a very in shape 30 year old nobody and a soft 18 year old prospect. Crespin is wild and goes for it in 1 and 2, then tires and slows, but wins the fight because Gonzalez (who is larger and just all cut up) does nothing but bounce.
:-Joaquin Zamora/Jose Luis Gonzalez: Gonzalez made a name for himself among the really, really hardcore fans by getting cheated out of a win against Jason Lehoullier and fighting competitively with Carson Jones. Zamora had, himself, done a shockingly good job destroying fraud Ray Sanchez on Telefutura's air a couple months prior. The 8 rounder they were booked in was a pretty decent war and actually featured technique and skill. Quite a solid little fight. While Zamora went down in the first and was hurt several times in the fight, he ended up getting the nod with some pretty questionable scores. I felt Gonzalez got screwed again. Oh well.
-Jesus Soto Karass/Hicklet Lau: Lau comes in at 20-17. Why on earth is this on TV? A joke: Lau is over powered from the 1:00 in mark and ends up stopped in the 2nd. Karass is a great fighter to watch with the right guys (Buendia, Estrada), and this wasn't that. Horrid.
-David Proa/Ricky Vasquez: Proa comes from the Valero school of fighting, which means he is all KOs, no defense, and probably not good. Vasquez tags him a few times but goes down 4 times in the first and still needs to be counted out by the ref. Ridiculous.
-Arturo Crespin/Daniel Gonzalez: Closing out the show, this, a 4 rounder with a very in shape 30 year old nobody and a soft 18 year old prospect. Crespin is wild and goes for it in 1 and 2, then tires and slows, but wins the fight because Gonzalez (who is larger and just all cut up) does nothing but bounce.
Another Telefutura show from the DVR's archives, this from 12/5/08:
-Rock Allen/Humberto Tapia: I cannot, for the life of me, remember a prospect like Rock Allen. A member of the 04 Olympic team, he was eliminated long before winning a medal, and has been a pro now for over 5 years. In that time frame, he has fought no one. Not a single mildly relevant opponent. Tapia proves no different, as Allen defeats the .667 fighter with an array of relatively nondamaging combination punching and avoids most, though not nearly all shots. He is so standard, so boring, so...there. And the lack of a test only hurts him more in my eyes. What would happen if Rock fought any halfway decent fighter? Supposedly he has had a litany of injuries that have only further hampered things.
-Mike Jones/Luciano Perez: Unlike Rock, Jones took his decent amateur record and immediately split for the pros. He's a big dude at welterweight and is physically cut up. Perez is small for the weight and not particularly good; most memorably ran close with Carlos Baldomir a couple years ago. Jones controls most of this fight with the jab but gets caught leaning back in the third by the soft Perez. Jones does recover and ends up smashing Perez in the same round, dropping him twice, and forcing a ref stoppage. This was by no means a perfect fight; you could see the flaws in terms of Jones' inside game (or lack thereof) and ability to be hit moving straight back. But he's got incredible KO power and does actually have some technique. I'm more impressed with him than many.
-Jason Cintron/Pascali Adorno: Cintron played the part of slick boxer puncher up until he knocked Adorno out cold in the second. I noticed that he kept dropping his right hand when he'd duck down and Adorno landed a couple of hooks; I wonder if it played into Cintron's defeat earlier in the year against Henry Lundy. I actually liked the kid too in terms of what he showed.
-Rock Allen/Humberto Tapia: I cannot, for the life of me, remember a prospect like Rock Allen. A member of the 04 Olympic team, he was eliminated long before winning a medal, and has been a pro now for over 5 years. In that time frame, he has fought no one. Not a single mildly relevant opponent. Tapia proves no different, as Allen defeats the .667 fighter with an array of relatively nondamaging combination punching and avoids most, though not nearly all shots. He is so standard, so boring, so...there. And the lack of a test only hurts him more in my eyes. What would happen if Rock fought any halfway decent fighter? Supposedly he has had a litany of injuries that have only further hampered things.
-Mike Jones/Luciano Perez: Unlike Rock, Jones took his decent amateur record and immediately split for the pros. He's a big dude at welterweight and is physically cut up. Perez is small for the weight and not particularly good; most memorably ran close with Carlos Baldomir a couple years ago. Jones controls most of this fight with the jab but gets caught leaning back in the third by the soft Perez. Jones does recover and ends up smashing Perez in the same round, dropping him twice, and forcing a ref stoppage. This was by no means a perfect fight; you could see the flaws in terms of Jones' inside game (or lack thereof) and ability to be hit moving straight back. But he's got incredible KO power and does actually have some technique. I'm more impressed with him than many.
-Jason Cintron/Pascali Adorno: Cintron played the part of slick boxer puncher up until he knocked Adorno out cold in the second. I noticed that he kept dropping his right hand when he'd duck down and Adorno landed a couple of hooks; I wonder if it played into Cintron's defeat earlier in the year against Henry Lundy. I actually liked the kid too in terms of what he showed.
More spanish language boxing! Jesus, how wasn't I watching this? Oh, that's right. Most of it was terrible.
Telefutura 12/12/09:
Brian Viloria/Benjamin Garcia: The Brian Viloria story is something else. 2 years ago, he fights Omar Nino and loses on Versus at the peak of his career. The rematch is a NC after Nino wins again, thanks to a positive piss test for meth. Viloria still does not rebound, losing again to Edgar Sosa and starting his run at the top of the division. But from then on? Lots of nobodies to get him back together. This was the last of them. Garcia shows the lack of depth at this weight by being blown out of the water in every aspect and taken out in the 2nd. Viloria, of course, stuns everyone by beating longtime title holder Ulises Solis and is now a 2 time champ.
Urbano Antillion/Juan Ramon Cruz: Another total walkover; Cruz was down like 10 seconds in, eventually stopped in the 4th. Two things were apparent, though - Antillion has no defense (Cruz landed at will, just had no power) and was being bred to lose. He had total confidence that Cruz couldn't do anything to him, and his smile throughout the bout reflected it. No wonder he got demolished recently.
TELEMUNDO 12/5/08
Saul Alvarez/Raul Pinzon: Can't remember seeing Alvarez before, but his record reminds me of JCC Jr.; lots of great records, no one I recognize. Just demolishes his Colombian opponent with two knockdowns in the first. I see though that Pinzon went 10 with Ricardo Torres. Maybe there's something to this kid?
Leon Bobo/Orlando Gonzalez: SD, I had it for Gonzalez along with one judge. The other two picked Bobo. I say this first because the fight was by far the worst 6 rounder I've seen in a long time. Bobo either ran or hugged. Gonzalez was the only one throwing punches in most rounds. Not even counters or anything from Bobo. The worst.
Amaury Torres/Derrick Moon: I specifically mention this unlike all the other jobber fights I watched on these two cards because it was a strange jobber/tomato can fight. Torres was 4-6. Moon was 12-25. Moon was the best damn 12-25 I've seen in a long time though; His hands were by his waist but he was fast, looks like he knows how to defend blows, and catches Torres with a great combination in the third to end it. Torres is a jobber to the jobbers: I see a draw to another famed journeyman, Jean Petit Homme, on his record.
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Telefutura 12/12/09:
Brian Viloria/Benjamin Garcia: The Brian Viloria story is something else. 2 years ago, he fights Omar Nino and loses on Versus at the peak of his career. The rematch is a NC after Nino wins again, thanks to a positive piss test for meth. Viloria still does not rebound, losing again to Edgar Sosa and starting his run at the top of the division. But from then on? Lots of nobodies to get him back together. This was the last of them. Garcia shows the lack of depth at this weight by being blown out of the water in every aspect and taken out in the 2nd. Viloria, of course, stuns everyone by beating longtime title holder Ulises Solis and is now a 2 time champ.
Urbano Antillion/Juan Ramon Cruz: Another total walkover; Cruz was down like 10 seconds in, eventually stopped in the 4th. Two things were apparent, though - Antillion has no defense (Cruz landed at will, just had no power) and was being bred to lose. He had total confidence that Cruz couldn't do anything to him, and his smile throughout the bout reflected it. No wonder he got demolished recently.
TELEMUNDO 12/5/08
Saul Alvarez/Raul Pinzon: Can't remember seeing Alvarez before, but his record reminds me of JCC Jr.; lots of great records, no one I recognize. Just demolishes his Colombian opponent with two knockdowns in the first. I see though that Pinzon went 10 with Ricardo Torres. Maybe there's something to this kid?
Leon Bobo/Orlando Gonzalez: SD, I had it for Gonzalez along with one judge. The other two picked Bobo. I say this first because the fight was by far the worst 6 rounder I've seen in a long time. Bobo either ran or hugged. Gonzalez was the only one throwing punches in most rounds. Not even counters or anything from Bobo. The worst.
Amaury Torres/Derrick Moon: I specifically mention this unlike all the other jobber fights I watched on these two cards because it was a strange jobber/tomato can fight. Torres was 4-6. Moon was 12-25. Moon was the best damn 12-25 I've seen in a long time though; His hands were by his waist but he was fast, looks like he knows how to defend blows, and catches Torres with a great combination in the third to end it. Torres is a jobber to the jobbers: I see a draw to another famed journeyman, Jean Petit Homme, on his record.
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TYC 12/19:
Cesar Cuenca/Pablo Godoy: Is there anyone in history with a record like Cuenca? 34-0 entering, 1 KO. One. He doesn't look like he can't punch either. Stocky body, fairly wide shoulders.
A couple things are obvious. One, he can punch a little. Two, he doesn't try to finish at all. If he stuns his opponent, he just backs off and waits again. His defense isn't necessarily impregnable, but its solid. Not a slickster, more of a Winky Wright type who you just can't seem to hit anywhere but the arms. Doesn't hold at all. I mean, those are typical things you expect with this kind of KO ratio. That said, he's not necessarily enthralling. The lack of killer instinct means you know the fight is going 10 once he starts to roll. And roll he does. He's briefly shook up in the 6th, but that's it. I ended up fast forwarding past the 10th.
Rodolfo Martinez/Sergio Benitez: Apparently a rematch between the regional contender and the nobody journeyman. Martinez has a glorious 36-2-1 record built against lots of nobodies. Benitez is horrible; slapping looping shots are all he throws. He lands on occasion (which is sad), but otherwise absorbs jabs. Martinez hurts him in the second and gets a 8 count as Benitez holds onto the ropes to stay up. Benitez survives awhile longer, but at the end of the round, he is hit with an uppercut and starts stumbling. Ref just stops it for the technico technico technico. The classic "nothing is learned" fight.
Cesar Cuenca/Pablo Godoy: Is there anyone in history with a record like Cuenca? 34-0 entering, 1 KO. One. He doesn't look like he can't punch either. Stocky body, fairly wide shoulders.
A couple things are obvious. One, he can punch a little. Two, he doesn't try to finish at all. If he stuns his opponent, he just backs off and waits again. His defense isn't necessarily impregnable, but its solid. Not a slickster, more of a Winky Wright type who you just can't seem to hit anywhere but the arms. Doesn't hold at all. I mean, those are typical things you expect with this kind of KO ratio. That said, he's not necessarily enthralling. The lack of killer instinct means you know the fight is going 10 once he starts to roll. And roll he does. He's briefly shook up in the 6th, but that's it. I ended up fast forwarding past the 10th.
Rodolfo Martinez/Sergio Benitez: Apparently a rematch between the regional contender and the nobody journeyman. Martinez has a glorious 36-2-1 record built against lots of nobodies. Benitez is horrible; slapping looping shots are all he throws. He lands on occasion (which is sad), but otherwise absorbs jabs. Martinez hurts him in the second and gets a 8 count as Benitez holds onto the ropes to stay up. Benitez survives awhile longer, but at the end of the round, he is hit with an uppercut and starts stumbling. Ref just stops it for the technico technico technico. The classic "nothing is learned" fight.
archiving pt 2
The problem with that is Grant could still be really good if he had interest in fighting. Physically, he's a cut above almost everyone at heavyweight, even now past his "prime", whenever one may debate that having been. He still looks fantastic in that respect. I mean, go back 7 years: If you had to pick who would have the better career, Oleg Maskaev or Michael Grant, who would you have picked?
As for Wlad fighting Haye or Arreola, yeah, I think we all agree that it sucks. Right now, who else is there with a belt? Chagaev is apparently being given a chance to defend against Carl Davis Drummond, which leaves you with "interim" champ Valuev. Obviously Valuev would be choice in that situation. I'm also debating whether to rank Valuev over Povetkin overall.
As for Wlad fighting Haye or Arreola, yeah, I think we all agree that it sucks. Right now, who else is there with a belt? Chagaev is apparently being given a chance to defend against Carl Davis Drummond, which leaves you with "interim" champ Valuev. Obviously Valuev would be choice in that situation. I'm also debating whether to rank Valuev over Povetkin overall.
I watched a lot of boxing today. I'll recap all of it at boredomboxingmma.blogspot.com later but for you guys, a shortened version of what "matters".
I talk about the magical DVR a lot. Picks up everything. Well, 5 John Duddy cards appeared around Christmas thanks to MSG, and I've not seen him fight since he fought Yori Boy. I watched all of them in one day, and as you might expect, it was a long day. My Day of Duddy:
-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.
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I talk about the magical DVR a lot. Picks up everything. Well, 5 John Duddy cards appeared around Christmas thanks to MSG, and I've not seen him fight since he fought Yori Boy. I watched all of them in one day, and as you might expect, it was a long day. My Day of Duddy:
-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.
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Saw Reed/EE last night as part of the Contender finale. Reed is an interesting name in the cruiser mix. I think people will sleep on him because of the Contender aspect, but he's stopped some decent small heavyweights/cruisers during the production of that show. I'd like to see him in with Godfrey or BJ Flores. Either is competitive.
Stuff I casually watched thus far this weekend apart from the live cards:
-Beltran Jr./Roman from two weeks ago. Roman might have deserved the nod here in a really competitive and entertaining fight. Another really good one in the books for ESPN2 this year. Providnikov is still way too vertical; reminds me of Tsurkan. Andrade looked his usual sparkling self against some nobody.
-Strange card that sat on my DVR for months: Headliner was Jason Naugler/Jean Paul Mendy. Mendy's been MIA ever since that 168lb Shobox tourney he drew in the finals of, and you see why here. Scorecards read domination but it was anything but, with Naugler constantly on the offensive and hurting Mendy with shots over and over and over. Really good scrap that while Mendy clearly won was way, way more competitive than the scorecards read being. Undercard featured Marcus Oliveria stopping an embarassing Kelvin Davis in 3 (though Davis had not gone down, he also didn't complain), and Shawn Hawk blowing out midwestern bum-to-be Joshua Green in 2.
-Beltran Jr./Roman from two weeks ago. Roman might have deserved the nod here in a really competitive and entertaining fight. Another really good one in the books for ESPN2 this year. Providnikov is still way too vertical; reminds me of Tsurkan. Andrade looked his usual sparkling self against some nobody.
-Strange card that sat on my DVR for months: Headliner was Jason Naugler/Jean Paul Mendy. Mendy's been MIA ever since that 168lb Shobox tourney he drew in the finals of, and you see why here. Scorecards read domination but it was anything but, with Naugler constantly on the offensive and hurting Mendy with shots over and over and over. Really good scrap that while Mendy clearly won was way, way more competitive than the scorecards read being. Undercard featured Marcus Oliveria stopping an embarassing Kelvin Davis in 3 (though Davis had not gone down, he also didn't complain), and Shawn Hawk blowing out midwestern bum-to-be Joshua Green in 2.
Watched a bunch of stuff to catch up before I get married and head on my honeymoon in the next week:
-Kendall Holt/DHop Shobox card: Missed this because my free Showtime ran out the day before. Downloaded it, deleted it, never watched it. Got Showtime again and recorded it on the DVR about 2 months ago, still didn't watch it. Now, 4 months later, I finally viewed it expecting the worst. My thoughts? Its always a bad sign when I liked the Yuri Foreman fight more. Probably my favorite Foreman fight to date other than the Tsurkan fight. Holt/DHop was horrible to sit through. Little to no action from Demetrius, Holt would come forward, throw a few shots, and lots of posing from both. Just ugly as hell. DHop made it closer than I thought he would taking the late rounds but god almighty, no offense to that dude that works with him, but I have no interest in seeing Demetrius again.
-ESPN2 from 4/10: I was with everyone else in thinking that Corley won that fight. I agree that he's shot but there's a place for him still in the sport based off what I saw here. Not an elite place, mind you, but he's a solid test and can still punch. Main event was lacking: David Lopez being the#6 ranked middleweight according to Ring Magazine is nothing but further proof of the GBP connections working wonders. Dude has never beaten anyone good and struggled with the eminently beatable journeyman Duran. Rock Allen was on this card and didn't make TV. WTF?
-ESPN2 from 2/13: Strange show I skipped at the time and finally got around to watching. I liked the matchmaking for Jiles/Robinson a lot but can't say I like Robinson in victory. Came across as a second tier Quillin to me with the wild repeated headshots. Carlos Molina solidified himself as an excellent test disposing of Camacho, and I was somewhat stunned to learn on Boxrec that he beat Ed Paredes a week ago off TV. Not too bad. Again, he'll never be anything special but stylistically he's someone I'd like to see hot welterweights put in with. Camacho is just shitty. There's a hundred guys in Argentina just like him.
-Kendall Holt/DHop Shobox card: Missed this because my free Showtime ran out the day before. Downloaded it, deleted it, never watched it. Got Showtime again and recorded it on the DVR about 2 months ago, still didn't watch it. Now, 4 months later, I finally viewed it expecting the worst. My thoughts? Its always a bad sign when I liked the Yuri Foreman fight more. Probably my favorite Foreman fight to date other than the Tsurkan fight. Holt/DHop was horrible to sit through. Little to no action from Demetrius, Holt would come forward, throw a few shots, and lots of posing from both. Just ugly as hell. DHop made it closer than I thought he would taking the late rounds but god almighty, no offense to that dude that works with him, but I have no interest in seeing Demetrius again.
-ESPN2 from 4/10: I was with everyone else in thinking that Corley won that fight. I agree that he's shot but there's a place for him still in the sport based off what I saw here. Not an elite place, mind you, but he's a solid test and can still punch. Main event was lacking: David Lopez being the#6 ranked middleweight according to Ring Magazine is nothing but further proof of the GBP connections working wonders. Dude has never beaten anyone good and struggled with the eminently beatable journeyman Duran. Rock Allen was on this card and didn't make TV. WTF?
-ESPN2 from 2/13: Strange show I skipped at the time and finally got around to watching. I liked the matchmaking for Jiles/Robinson a lot but can't say I like Robinson in victory. Came across as a second tier Quillin to me with the wild repeated headshots. Carlos Molina solidified himself as an excellent test disposing of Camacho, and I was somewhat stunned to learn on Boxrec that he beat Ed Paredes a week ago off TV. Not too bad. Again, he'll never be anything special but stylistically he's someone I'd like to see hot welterweights put in with. Camacho is just shitty. There's a hundred guys in Argentina just like him.
Watched a couple things from the DVR last night:
Balzsay/Inkin: Looked like a sparring session with Balzsay being the only one willing to load up with anything. He had Inkin in all sorts of trouble in the 10th but couldn't put him down nor never really pursued him the rest of the fight. Inkin's pitty pat scoring shit went nowhere. Not the most thrilling bout, since Balzsay won the vast majority of rounds.
Toygonbaev/Tsurkan: God, what an undervalued war. These dudes just went at it for all 10 rounds. I had it closer than the announcers at 96-94, but the right guy definitely got the nod here. The missed knockdown by the ref at the very end was a bit unfortunate, because it would have locked it up for Toygonbaev lock stock and barrel, but he didn't end up needing it. Shame Toygonbaev never really did anything else in the US, losing to Keith Holmes and Ian Gardiner.
Balzsay/Inkin: Looked like a sparring session with Balzsay being the only one willing to load up with anything. He had Inkin in all sorts of trouble in the 10th but couldn't put him down nor never really pursued him the rest of the fight. Inkin's pitty pat scoring shit went nowhere. Not the most thrilling bout, since Balzsay won the vast majority of rounds.
Toygonbaev/Tsurkan: God, what an undervalued war. These dudes just went at it for all 10 rounds. I had it closer than the announcers at 96-94, but the right guy definitely got the nod here. The missed knockdown by the ref at the very end was a bit unfortunate, because it would have locked it up for Toygonbaev lock stock and barrel, but he didn't end up needing it. Shame Toygonbaev never really did anything else in the US, losing to Keith Holmes and Ian Gardiner.
Bunch of stuff recently:
Lauro Salas/Jimmy Carter II: Extremely close decision that went the way of Salas. The problem I had scoring is that ESPN eliminated round 8 and 9 from TV, so I can't properly score. In spite of that, I sorta felt that Carter deserved the win. Even in the later rounds that Salas was trying to pour it on during, he would connect with cleaner blows and dictated the majority of those rounds.
Joe Greene/Francisco Mora: Greene is a miserable finisher. Mora was there to be taken out in round 2 and he instead went for rounds. Now he lost that HBO date and he hasn't been in the ring since August of last year. By the time he comes back he will definitely be a sacrificial lamb.
John Duddy/Wallid Smichet: Close, close fight. Smichet was just smashing up Duddy and then Duddy went boxer/puncher. I still think Duddy as a Gatti-Lite is acceptable. He's in entertaining fights more often than not and seems to be able to box on some minimal level.
I watched some ESPN stuff I'll bring up later too.
Lauro Salas/Jimmy Carter II: Extremely close decision that went the way of Salas. The problem I had scoring is that ESPN eliminated round 8 and 9 from TV, so I can't properly score. In spite of that, I sorta felt that Carter deserved the win. Even in the later rounds that Salas was trying to pour it on during, he would connect with cleaner blows and dictated the majority of those rounds.
Joe Greene/Francisco Mora: Greene is a miserable finisher. Mora was there to be taken out in round 2 and he instead went for rounds. Now he lost that HBO date and he hasn't been in the ring since August of last year. By the time he comes back he will definitely be a sacrificial lamb.
John Duddy/Wallid Smichet: Close, close fight. Smichet was just smashing up Duddy and then Duddy went boxer/puncher. I still think Duddy as a Gatti-Lite is acceptable. He's in entertaining fights more often than not and seems to be able to box on some minimal level.
I watched some ESPN stuff I'll bring up later too.
| Watched a bunch of stuff, but what sticks out most was the ESPN card with Escalente/Stark headlining and Jacobs/Varela on the undercard. Escalante has a hell of a yo-yo career going right now, but the swing is back northward. Banging out Oliver and Stark one after another is impressive IMO. Meanwhile, Daniel Jacobs needs to be talked about. He demolishes Varela with one punch and A WEEK LATER fights Michael Walker and wins a unanimous decision, pitching a shutout. That's better than David Lopez' performance against the same guy a year before. Also watched Jonathan Oquendo/some guy. Oquendo is on the road to being handicapped the way he waits for people to come in and hit. Some mexican with like 15 losses was tagging him repeatedly. |
Pt1: Archiving thoughts from the past
Gotta do this somehow. From BWBS:
Alright then....
With the boxing, which I'm woefully behind on and almost giving up on catching up, I watched the Holyfield/Oquendo card on DVD, which I had in my hands 3 days after the fight, but never watched. As a $10 PPV, I may have bit. At $44.95, there was no chance here.
Golden Johnson/Oscar Diaz got no love last year, but it was damn entertaining. Oscar gave it a lot of effort and really came close a few times to stopping Johnson. However, Diaz just fell apart piece by piece at the end until there was basically just a body barely able to stand on an injured leg, taking a beating. Oquendo/Holyfield was a waste of time, but being a waste of time, it was a clear Oquendo win. Holyfield landed chopping rights to the body and nothing else. I had Oquendo winnin 116-111. Not even competitive, IMO. Holyfield gained the opportunity to get bodied in a fight with someone decent.
With the boxing, which I'm woefully behind on and almost giving up on catching up, I watched the Holyfield/Oquendo card on DVD, which I had in my hands 3 days after the fight, but never watched. As a $10 PPV, I may have bit. At $44.95, there was no chance here.
Golden Johnson/Oscar Diaz got no love last year, but it was damn entertaining. Oscar gave it a lot of effort and really came close a few times to stopping Johnson. However, Diaz just fell apart piece by piece at the end until there was basically just a body barely able to stand on an injured leg, taking a beating. Oquendo/Holyfield was a waste of time, but being a waste of time, it was a clear Oquendo win. Holyfield landed chopping rights to the body and nothing else. I had Oquendo winnin 116-111. Not even competitive, IMO. Holyfield gained the opportunity to get bodied in a fight with someone decent.
Alright, that Versus show was just on and I watched it. Neither fight was very gripping. Fields is utterly horrible in every way and can't beat a single fighter in the top 50. The main event was just pathetic. It demonstrated for the final time that Grigsby was an awful boxer who just happened to be mildly athletic and a midget capable of making the weight. He came in to lose and didn't even really give serious effort in the 8 rounds it went, losing all of them and getting stopped for no other reason than that he was losing and obviously didn't care enough to try to win. Solis is still champion in a division where he's a weak titlist among many.
Cazares right now is numero uno at 108, even with Kameda around. I'd put him #2.
Cazares right now is numero uno at 108, even with Kameda around. I'd put him #2.
You know, in recent boxing history, there's been some pretty amazing reclamation projects. Guys like Glen Johnson, Oleg Maskaev, and even Wladimir Klitschko have all been totally written off by some only to return to greater success than they had previously enjoyed. I say this because I recently paid witness to such an attempt at a reclamation project.
When touring through my upcoming programs, I noted with shock and surprise that Michael Grant's most recent fight against Paul Marinaccio was to be televised on some of the FSN affiliates. Naturally, I recorded it, and unlike so many of the other events that are shown in two hour blocks, actually viewed it (Jean Paul Mendy/Jason Naugler is among the others, to give you some idea). I skipped over the opener and got right to the meat and potatoes. By round 8 I fell asleep, but I reconvened the next day and picked it right back up again.
What's been so apparent about those other comebacks is that the guys involved showed aspects that were entirely missing from earlier parts of their careers. Maskaev found the focus he needed just before his physical gifts fell totally apart. Johnson learned enough about how to not get killed coming in and was better than ever doing so, getting him to elevate from being lumped up by Derrick Harmon to knocking out Roy Jones. Wladimir Klitschko stowed away his offense and instead became robotically consistent with his piston jab and right hand combinations. Michael would probably need to show something along the lines of what Maskaev had, matching his brain to his physical abilities here at the end of the line physically for him.
Instead, Grant is more gunshy than ever. You have to wonder how long it'll be before his promoters cash him out on ESPN2 fighting one of the lower end prospects in the game like Cedric Boswell or Donnell Holmes. To say that a guy who was, just a few short years ago, the HBO heir apparent is in such a position is disheartening but entirely accurate. The undersized southpaw he fought, a guy stopped by CHRIS BYRD, easily walked through Grant's limited arsenal and actually appeared to win at least 4-5 rounds. He might have won 6 of the 12 en route to losing, in large part due to knockdowns created by rabbit punching.
That motivation, that want to win, that need to be better than his opponent: All of it was vacant. There was simply nothing that made him want to win. He's destined for something along the lines of Abraham/Taylor, IMO, and since Arreola's management is apparently claiming that Klitschko/Arreola is already set in stone for May 12th of next year, I guess using Grant in the capacity of punching bag isn't the worst idea in the world to hype the fight up. Looking at the rankings, I suppose I could get behind the fight along with a February setup card with both men in separate bouts (Klitschko would probably need a tomato can too: why not Maskaev or Chambers?), pull off the May fight, and then have Wlad take that fight with Povetkin in the fall, as they've both apparently been talking about now.
When touring through my upcoming programs, I noted with shock and surprise that Michael Grant's most recent fight against Paul Marinaccio was to be televised on some of the FSN affiliates. Naturally, I recorded it, and unlike so many of the other events that are shown in two hour blocks, actually viewed it (Jean Paul Mendy/Jason Naugler is among the others, to give you some idea). I skipped over the opener and got right to the meat and potatoes. By round 8 I fell asleep, but I reconvened the next day and picked it right back up again.
What's been so apparent about those other comebacks is that the guys involved showed aspects that were entirely missing from earlier parts of their careers. Maskaev found the focus he needed just before his physical gifts fell totally apart. Johnson learned enough about how to not get killed coming in and was better than ever doing so, getting him to elevate from being lumped up by Derrick Harmon to knocking out Roy Jones. Wladimir Klitschko stowed away his offense and instead became robotically consistent with his piston jab and right hand combinations. Michael would probably need to show something along the lines of what Maskaev had, matching his brain to his physical abilities here at the end of the line physically for him.
Instead, Grant is more gunshy than ever. You have to wonder how long it'll be before his promoters cash him out on ESPN2 fighting one of the lower end prospects in the game like Cedric Boswell or Donnell Holmes. To say that a guy who was, just a few short years ago, the HBO heir apparent is in such a position is disheartening but entirely accurate. The undersized southpaw he fought, a guy stopped by CHRIS BYRD, easily walked through Grant's limited arsenal and actually appeared to win at least 4-5 rounds. He might have won 6 of the 12 en route to losing, in large part due to knockdowns created by rabbit punching.
That motivation, that want to win, that need to be better than his opponent: All of it was vacant. There was simply nothing that made him want to win. He's destined for something along the lines of Abraham/Taylor, IMO, and since Arreola's management is apparently claiming that Klitschko/Arreola is already set in stone for May 12th of next year, I guess using Grant in the capacity of punching bag isn't the worst idea in the world to hype the fight up. Looking at the rankings, I suppose I could get behind the fight along with a February setup card with both men in separate bouts (Klitschko would probably need a tomato can too: why not Maskaev or Chambers?), pull off the May fight, and then have Wlad take that fight with Povetkin in the fall, as they've both apparently been talking about now.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
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?
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