Posts Tagged ‘recap’

Another Clinic: News & Notes on Mayweather vs. Guerrero Aftermath

Posted: May 6, 2013 in Fight Reports
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A day later it’s come as no surprise to anyone that Floyd Mayweather is still undefeated after a superb strategical performance against a clearly overmatched Robert Guerrero. The result was a wake-up call of sorts on a few fronts. For one, the fight is proof that rumblings of Mayweather’s physical decline were grossly premature. And secondly, the hope that  welterweight out there can give Mayweather a legit, tough challenge before he closes his career is a longshot at best. Nonetheless, there was a little intrigue in and out of the ring this weekend. Let’s get right to it.

 

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GABRIEL ROSADO ROBBED BLIND: There is no other way to state this. J’Leon Love and Gabriel Rosado opened the pay-per-view with a hard-fought battle that saw Love open up an early lead with good counter-punching off the backfoot. The fight would change in the sixth when Rosado scored a heavy knockown off a counter right, and the contender from Philly would land the more telling blows over the final four rounds.

Two of the veteran judges, Dave Moretti and Glenn Trowbridge, were split in giving Love and Rosado respective one-point victories (95-94). An argument could be made for both, but it’s harder to argue the 95-94 score that Moretti gave Love, as he had the Mayweather Promotions fighter taking round nine (most ringside writers, including myself, had Rosado taking the last two rounds as he rocked Love in exchanges and forced him to hold multiple times). But the 97-92 card from Herb Santos? Keep in mind that’s with Rosado scoring a knockdown in the sixth, meaning that Santos only gave Rosado two rounds (the sixth and tenth).

Santos delivered a gift-wrapped present to Love and the fans knew it immediately, showering him with boos so loud we could barely hear his post-fight interview. Rosado showed a lot of balls taking a fight like this so soon after the beating he took from Gennady Golovkin, and it’s unfortunate that his efforts were not rewarded. He really shouldn’t even be fighting at middleweight. Hopefully this showing earns him another high-profile title shot, preferably at 154 against the winner of Ishe Smith vs. Carlos Molina

In regards to Santos, Rosado was of the opinion he should be fired for that score. Surprisingly, there was no real bitterness in him when he attended the post-fight press conference, and he appeared content in knowing who the true victor was.

I felt like I won the fight. I had a 10-8 round. We both fought with heavy hearts. There are no hard feelings. I fought my heart out. Everyone knows what happened. I don’t have anything to prove. I feel I deserve a shot at a world title. I came back from a tough loss, and felt I won tonight.

To his credit, J’Leon Love said he’s open to a rematch.

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SANTA CRUZ HANDLES MUNOZ: Last night was my first opportunity to see Golden Boy’s undefeated super bantamweight Leo Santa Cruz, and he sure didn’t disappoint in brutalizing veteran Alexander Munoz over five one-sided rounds. Santa Cruz had a distinct size and power advantage that he used accordingly to break down his opponent with vicious left hooks to the body and counter rights upstairs. Munoz was game, but his attempts to exchange with Santa Cruz to earn respect got him buckled legs and scrambled senses.

Santa Cruz’s seek and destory style and tall frame have drawn comparisons to Antonio Margarito, but where Santa Cruz differs from the Tijuana Tornado is in his accuracy. He connected on 52% of his total punches (219 of 424), and a staggering 57% of his power shots (183 of 323). The last three rounds were especially brutal in Santa Cruz holding a 135-26 edge in connects, culminating with Munoz being sent crashing into the bottom rope for the stoppage.

This was the 34-year old Munoz’s first major fight at super bantamweight and Santa Cruz’s beating was enough to convince him to hightail back to 118 pounds.

“The inactivity hurt me,” said Munoz, who’s only fought four times over the last three years. “I have to go down in weight; this weight was too much for me. Santa Cruz is very good but he hasn’t improved. I landed a lot of punches.”

As for what’s next for Santa Cruz, there is talk among fans of what would be an explosive battle against the fighter below who also shined on the card.

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MARES KOs PONCE DE LEON: Abner Mares notched another career-highlight in disposing of his good friend and power-puncher Daniel Ponce de Leon. The intrigue with this fight was if Mares, making his debut at a third weight class in featherweight, could handle the brutish strength of Ponce de Leon. What we should have been asking was if Ponce could handle Mares’s power, as he scored to big knockdown to force a ninth round stoppage.

What’s always impressed me about Mares is how he modifies his gameplan for each fight. With Anselmo Moreno, he applied constant pressure. With Ponce, he was mostly patient and jarring Ponce with flush counter shots before unleashing flurries of power shots when Ponce was trapped on the ropes. Ponce got dropped by a left hook in the second, but never quit and succeeded in stunning Mares a few times with his dangerous southpaw left.

In the end, Ponce’s recklessness would be his undoing. Mares drilled him with a right hook for the second knockdown, and forced the stoppage when Ponce got trapped on the ropes eating more flush shots. There were some complaints among the press (and definitely Ponce himself), since he was throwing back at the time ref Jay Nady stepped in, but the writing was on the wall and Nady saved Ponce some brain cells.

Although Leo Santa Cruz mentioned Jonathan Romero as a potential opponent, he acknowledged a Mares fight would be action-packed and a opportunity he wouldn’t turn down. If I were Golden Boy, I’d leave this two apart for now. For one, Mares has just picked up the WBC title at featherweight while Santa Cruz is trying to build his name further at super bantamweight. Santa Cruz just got to a new weight class so it makes no sense to move him up so quickly, and Mares definitely shouldn’t move back down. In addition, Mares has a huge experience edge in having fought the best fighters in his weight classes the last few years. Santa Cruz needs a lot more seasoning, and the Romero would be a good test.

I’m normally not a big advocate of the Bob Arum school of letting potential in-house action fights marinate forever (remember what happened with Juan Manuel Lopez and Yuriorkis Gamboa), but I’d like to see Mares-Santa Cruz revisited sometime in 2014.

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ROBERT GUERRERO PROVES TO BE EAAAASY WORK: My prediction going into this fight was that Mayweather would stop Guerrero in the 10th round with the “competitive” portion of the fight ending around the fourth. An injury to Mayweather’s right hand prevented a potential stoppage, but the writing sure was on the wall regarding the outcome of this one as early as the third round.

Mayweather had got in a few clipping lead right hands in the first two rounds, but the third is when Floyd started to really snap Guerrero’s head back with the punch. From then on Mayweather couldn’t miss and made The Ghost look like a fool. He mixed it up by alternating between stabbing straight rights to the body, crosses down the middle, and whipping hooks around the guard. The fustration was clear on Guerrero’s face as the round’s and punishment built up. And when Guerrero became fixated on avoiding the right, Mayweather, as his father had guaranteed beforehand, started to smash Guerrero with left hooks.

Guerrero got hurt bad by a right hook late in the eighth that had him backpedaling over the last 20 seconds. At that point, it looked like this fight would go no more than two more rounds. Unfortunately, Mayweather hurt his hand somewhere around the 10th and per his defense-first mentality, Floyd took his foot off the gas and played it safe. The scores of 117-111 across the board reflected the dominance.

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The main reason I picked a Mayweather KO was Floyd’s track record of being more aggressive in walking down southpaws behind a high guard, as seen in his wins over Zab Judah, Sharmba Mitchell and DeMarcus Corley. Where my analysis was flawed is those fighters had faster hands than Guerrero and could take advantage of Mayweather’s shoulder roll defense. Guerrero was too slow to do any such thing — once Mayweather used his own speed to take away Guerrero’s lead hand with his own counter left jab, The Ghost was done for.

Guerrero dared not throw a lead left with the deadly right hands coming back his away. That second guessing allowed Mayweather to get off first with his impressive array of right hand leads. To put in perspective how badly Guerrero was shut down, the Ghost’s welterweight punch output per round was at 48 last night, down from his usual 78 punches per round. Guerrero’s jab was confined to 11% accuracy (32 of 291), 28% in power shots (81 of 290) and 19% in overall punches connected (113 to 581).

Mayweather’s footwork was excellent in keeping off the ropes and forcing Guerrero to constantly have to reset his offense. And the few times Guerrero tried to maul inside, Mayweather proved to be strong enough to hold his own and made sure to land short but stinging counters out of clinches.
You couldn’t ask for a better performane from a figher that’s 36 years old and competing in his 17 year of professional boxing.
MAYWEATHER VS. CANELO? NOT SO FAST: Of course, the main question most of us have is what’s next for Mayweather. The obvious name is Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who did much to raise his profile in unifying the WBA and WBC light middleweight titles by defeating Austin Trout two weeks ago in front of 40,000 fans in San Antonio, Texas.

Although Mayweather and Canelo both said they plan to fight next on September 14, I’m more inclinded to believe Canelo gets the date himself and Mayweather takes another year off. A Mayweather-Canelo fight needs time for that pay-pre-view build in addition to the training, and Floyd can’t jump back into another camp until his hand heals. If the fight truly was a go for September, you can bet there would have been some inkling of it from Golden Boy or Mayweather last night. Instead, Floyd fell back on the old “I’ll have to discuss it with Al Haymon and Leonard Ellerbe.” The only thing confirmed was Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer stating Canelo for sure would be fighting on a September 14 pay-per-view. And I caught Schaefer mentioning Cotto as a potential opponent for that date.

Maybe Floyd fights someone else in September? I highly doubt it. To fight o Mexican Independence Day weekend, Floyd needs a marketable Mexican. Before, he had Juan Manuel Marquez and Victor Ortiz. There’s no one on Golden Boy’s roster that fits that bill these days except Canelo. Fights with Amir Khan or Devon Alexander on that date make zero sense.

Floyd as all about business first, so what’s makes better fiscal sense over sitting out in September to heal that right hand, letting Canelo increase his rep even further by knocking out Cotto, and then facing him in a huge 2014 pay-per-view during Cinco de Mayo weekend.

Let’s hear your thoughts. Did you enjoy the Mayweather-Guerrero card? Is the time right for Mayweather-Canelo?

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[Video] Knockdown Gives Canelo Close Edge Over Trout

Posted: April 21, 2013 in Fight Reports
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SAN ANTONIO, Texas — Golden Boy did everything to persuade Saul “Canelo” Alvarez to avoid taking on Austin Trout. He wasn’t marketable. You’ll mess up potential bigger fights. You won’t look good even if you win, But Canelo proved his championship worth in not only taking on the best challenger in his division, but showing new facets to his game in defense and counter-punching to take a unanimous decision and unify the WBA and WBC light middleweight titles.

Once again, we had scorecards that didn’t reflect the high competitiveness of this fight. However, the verdict was one that most sane fans won’t have much of a problem with.

 

ADJUSTMENTS, CLOSE ROUNDS AND PREFERENCE: The fight had lots of ebbs and flows with each man making a strong case for their strategies in every round. Starting off, Trout controlled the pace behind his southpaw right jab. Canelo began timing it and shooting powerful right hands down the middle. Trout’s chin held up and he made sure to keep enough distance to make Canelo have to lunge with follow-up hooks. Trout also kept himself off the ropes which nullified Canelo’s offense to one punch at a time. Nonetheless, these singular Canelo punches were very powerful and often times the clearest, most effective punches of the round. Over the first six rounds, I thought Trout’s activity and ring generalship was effective enough to have him ahead 4-2.

Canelo then promptly had his best round in the seventh when he drilled Trout with a straight right for the bout’s only knockdown. It was a delayed reaction with Trout taking the blow, trying to reset and having his legs turn to jelly. Despite eating a jarring right uppercut later, Trout controlled the rest of the round and was actually coming forward as the stanza closed. A pure heart display.

Trout did good work in rounds 8-9 by focusing on the body and mixing in his own uppercuts. Instead of holding inside or moving away, he picked his spots with hooks and took advantage of Canelo’s tendency to fight in spots.

Rounds 10-11 were very competitive with Canelo holding the edge with his powerful counter shots. Trout got caught several times with thudding counter right uppercuts. In addition, Canelo showed good head movement in slipping Trout’s jab and disrupting the rest of his offense. Even when Canelo went on the backfoot, he was still able at times to counter Trout’s jab. On the other hand, Trout seemed confused on how to adjust to land his own power shots.

Canelo backed off in the 12th, allowing Trout to win it and making the fight 114-114 on my card. I wouldn’t be mad with either guy winning and usually the one moving forward and landing the harder punches will get the benefit of the doubt. To his credit, Trout had no complaints and said the better man tonight won.

 

OPEN SCORING: This has been tried a bunch of times over the last 30 years and it never works. The scores were told to each corner twice in the fight and Canelo took a cautious approach in the 12th because he knew he had it won. Had that info been withheld, we might have been treated to an awesome finale to what was an excellent fight. I honestly don’t think there’s any true benefit to this as it takes too much drama out of the sport. Back in 1977, open scoring was tried in Muhammad Ali’s title defense against Earnie Shavers. The scores were only told to the television audiences so the fighters wouldn’t be influenced to coast if they had a lead. Being ever the strategists, Ali’s camp got around this by having someone running to the back to watch the TV and get the scores after every round.

As for the actual scoring (115-112, 116-111 and 118-109), the one that jumps out at you as completely erroneous is Stanley Christidoulou’s card of 118-109. I would have loved to hear his justification for that atrocious score.

 

WHAT’S NEXT?: Canelo has wanted Floyd Mayweather for the past year and he reiterated that point in his post-fight interview. Although Canelo showed he’s still prone to being outboxed, the jury is still out on if Mayweather has the legs left to do it (we’ll see in a few weeks against Robert Guerrero). Mayweather-Canelo would be a huge event fight and there’s no other option that makes sense for both. If Mayweather pulls some BS at the negotiation table and opts to fight someone like Devon Alexander, he’ll rightly get a huge backlash from fans and media.

As for Trout, I hope Golden Boy sees his worth and we get to see him return on Canelo’s September card. As for an opponent, the winner of Erislandy Lara vs. Alfredo Angulo is a good option. And if James Kirkland ever gets himself together, that’d be a good fight although I doubt Kirkland would face someone like Trout in his first fight back.

 

FIGUEROA DESTROYS COTTO: Miguel Cotto was in the house and unfortunately had to watch his cousin, lightweight Abner Cotto, get annihilated in just one round by the whirlwind that is Omar Figueroa. This kid has that constant pressure of Abner Mares and Juan Diaz, but a good bit of power to back it up. He connected with a hook to the body that he followed to the head that sucked the fight out of Cotto. The punches dropped Cotto, and when he rose he found himself trapped in a corner and quickly put back on the canvas for good with a stabbing left to the body. With Adrien Broner gone from the division, lightweight is wide open for Figueroa to make a name for himself..

[Video] Too Big, Too Strong — Tyson Fury KO7 Steve Cunningham

Posted: April 20, 2013 in Fight Reports
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NEW YORK CITY, NY — Tyson Fury rose from a massive second round knockdown in his American debut to overpower and knock out Steve Cunningham yesterday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.

There had been a lot of jawing back and forth between these fighters and Fury continued it during the opening bell by mocking Cunningham’s jab. That disdain was quickly wiped off Fury’s face in the second when Cunningham took full advantage of a low guard and dropped Fury flat on his back with an overhand right  (think the first Marquez knockdown on Pacquiao in their fourth fight). Fury took time to collect himself and while he tied up Cunningham effectively, Fury remained buzzed for the rest of the round.

Realizing the peril with continuing to box with a faster opponent, Fury smartly changed the contest to an inside fight. He utilized his massive 6’9 frame and 40 pound weight advantage to manhandle Cunningham in clinches. In addition, Fury landed short, hard hooks and uppercuts during these inside exchanges that began taking effect within a few rounds.

It would be a right uppercut while Cunningham was trapped on the ropes that badly stunned him in the seventh. Fury kept him on the ropes and used his left forearm to hold Cunningham’s head in place to smash home a crushing right hook. Cunningham toppled backwards onto the canvas and couldn’t beat the ten-count.

The win was an IBF eliminator, putting Fury in line to face champion Wladimir Klitschko.

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It was really cool to have this fight going on in the Garden at the same time the Knicks were beginning their playoff race in the main building. Fury brought out a good crowd and handled business. That knockdown was strictly due to his arrogance and lack of respect for Cunningham. But to Fury’s credit, he adapted and started using his physical advantages. It was a nasty KO and reminds me of what you’d see someone do in a street fight.

Cunningham was very sour after the defeat. There was disbelief in there as I’m sure he really thought it was over after that second round knockdown. If he had landed that on a cruiserweight, the answer would have been yes. Getting stretched like he was after dealing with the Adamek robbery is a tough reality to swallow.

As for Fury-Klitschko, I hope we see that by the end of the year. Wlad is the massive favorite of course, but I’d like to see if Fury can get any work done inside and be the boss with the clinches. It’s his only chance and he’s sure big enough to do it.

FULL FIGHT

Class In Session -Rigondeaux Schools Donaire, Unifies WBO & WBA Titles

Posted: April 14, 2013 in Fight Reports
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RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL, New York City — Forget the close unanimous decision scores (114-113, 115-112, 116-111). Tonight’s super bantamweight unification bout between Guillermo Rigondeaux and Nonito Donaire was not a close nor competitive fight, as Rigondeaux completely outboxed a clueless Donaire outside a one round where he suffered a balance knockdown. Donaire had put this fight off for some time behind the belief Rigondeaux hadn’t proven himself and wouldn’t “come to fight.” It was fitting that it was Donaire who ended the night with a busted up face and humbled spirit courtesy of the skilled Cuban exile. There’s a lot of ramifications from this fight not just for Rigondeaux and Donaire, but also for the division, Top Rank and HBO.

THE FIGHT: Rigondeaux set the tone early with a short, pin-point straight left inside that made Donaire stumble backwards. From there, Rigondeaux had Donaire’s respect. It was tense in the early rounds with each fighter using feints and waiting patiently for the other to make a mistake. Where Rigondeaux distinguished himself was in every facet of the scoring criteria. Clean punching? Rigondeaux repeatedly caught Donaire with lead southpaw right hooks and counter lefts to the body. Ring generalship? Rigo superb footwork kept Donaire’s offense ineffective while he peppered him off the backfoot. Defense? Again, the footwork aided by  smooth upper body movement had Nonito’s famed left hook hitting nothing but air and gloves. And with effective aggression, Rigondeaux was the one usually getting the better of exchanges.

The crowd didn’t always love it — as we all know, Rigondeaux will coast on his leads and he didn’t break that bad habit tonight. He was content to throw a few jabs to keep Donaire honest and Walcott shuffle his way out of any danger. The crowd boos didn’t faze him. As I said last night, be mad at Donaire for not being able to adjust.

Donaire’s best moment came in the 10th when he caught a lazy Rigondeaux out of a clinch with a left hook knockdown from the southpaw stance. While the punch was solid, the fall was due to balance and Rigondeaux quickly regained control, even being able to stun Donaire late with a straight left in the closing seconds.

Rigonddeaux slowly busted up Donaire in the last two rounds. A Rigo counter left hand stifled Donaire’s attempt to rush in for a hook, causing very bad right eye swelling. Donaire immediately pawed at the wound and kept his right glove glued to his face for the rest of the 12th. Rigondeaux pushed for a stoppage with Donaire in in full retreat. However, Rigondeaux didn’t get reckless while working Donaire over with left uppercuts, crosses and right hooks. You could see Donaire looking for a backfoot opening, much like his recent one-punch late knockdown of Toshiaki Nishioka, but Rigondeaux remained too elusive.

If it wasn’t for the knockdown, I would have scored this fight a shutout for Rigondeaux.

Rigondeaux_Donaire

DONAIRE’S RIDICULOUS EXCUSES: Donaire’s post-fight interview started real well as he gave Rigondeaux full credit for his boxing lesson.

The last two rounds I got stupid… I wanted to take him out so bad. I have much respect for the beautiful boxing he gave me.

From there, Donaire elicited boos from the crowd when he claimed most of his training with Robert Garcia was done long-distance, he had weight issues, a shoulder injury and didn’t study any tape of Rigondeaux’s style. The last point is what did it for me. How could you not prepare for someone as slick and tricky as Rigondeaux, especially when your last fight in NYC was the 2011 stinker at Madison Square Garden that was the Omar Navaez fight? It just boggles the mind that in a boxing era where one bad loss is a huge setback that Donaire wouldn’t make sure his preparation was top notch.

Donaire all but dismissed a rematch in saying he plans to move up to featherweight. A few years back there was talk of him doing that to face someone like Yuriorkis Gamba, but Donaire’s power is already diminished at super bantam and he loses all of his size advantage at a higher weight. I bet Nonito really wishes that Abner Mares fight would’ve been made over this one.

Top Rank and HBO have invested a lot in the Donaire brand over the last year. One loss doesn’t erase his great 2012 and “Fighter of the Year” honors, but how they move him from here will be interesting. There aren’t any big name, come-forward sluggers for him to smack around anymore like Jorge Arce, and a Rigondeaux rematch would go much like the first.

Don’t feel too bad for Nonito, though. I’m sure he found solace in the ample pregnant bosom of his beautiful wife Rachel. If you watched last night’s fight, you saw a stunning ending shot of Ms. Donaire displaying why pregnancy does a body good for some women. I didn’t screen capture it and the even the below shot doesn’t do her complete justice, but you’ll get the idea.

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FANS ARE ROBBED OF MARES-RIGONDEAUX: We saw how the bullshit between Golden Boy and Top Rank caused the Mares-Donaire negotiations to collapse before they even got any traction. What we all want to see is someone who can really make Rigondeaux open up and fight for a full three minutes of each round, and the only guy at super bantamweight who can do that is Abner Mares. The sad reality of 2013 boxing politics is we’ll never see it, which is why Mares has already left the division and faces Daniel Ponce de Leon next month.

THE SCORING: One last point about the scoring. Having regularly attended fights ringside over the last few years, I can say that there are times when fights live can be very much different from how they appear on TV. Ringside you can get the impact of blows much clearer than on TV depending on the fighter. But regarding this fight, I can’t see it. Yes, there wasn’t many punches connecting between them, but Rigondeaux was clearly landing the more effective and clean shots (especially the counter punches). Furthermore, if the so-called “4 points of judging criteria” are truly taught and followed (clean punching, effective aggression, defense, ring generalship), there’s no conceivable way this fight could be close. Outside of the few seconds he went down, Rigondeaux controlled every aspect of this fight.

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Trilogy-Minded: Alvarado Gets Revenge, Decisions Rios in Thriller

Posted: March 31, 2013 in Fight Reports
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Mike “Mile High” Alvarado made good on his promise to mix boxing savvy and gritty brawling to take a hard-earned unanimous decision win (115-113 twice, 114-113) over Brandon Rios to even their rivalry at one win apiece. It was everything we thought it would be with one exception — Alvarado never completely abandoned his game plan to outbox Rios no matter how brutal the exchanges got. That mental focus proved to the difference.

 

STARTED HOW THEY FINISHED LAST YEAR: Alvarado began off the backfoot, but Brandon Rios was cutting off the ring superbly. Rios held a strong edge inside with his body punching, but Alvarado made his presence known with a series of big overhand rights. Rios, who put on about 20 pounds since the weigh-in, appeared a lot stronger in these early rounds. He wobbled Alvarado badly with a power jab in the second and appeared very close to a stoppage. However, Alvarado began taunting Rios for more and amazingly finished the round on his feet despite eating a right uppercut.

 

ALVARADO MAKES HIS STAND: Alvarado’s first big moment of the fight came in the third when he staggered Rios with a massive right hand. Rios survived the ensuing onslaught, but Alvarado realized his counter rights were money and utilized the shot to great effect again in the fourth.

 

THE 7TH ON: Although Alvarado was landing the harder and cleaner head shots through six rounds, Rios was right there in the fight due to his immense pressure and clubbing shots to the body. It wasn’t until the seventh round that you began a notice a clear shift in ring generalship towards Alvarado, who’s movement coupled with hard power shots began to limit Rios’ offense. Alvarado doubled his left hook to the body which visibly bothered his rival, and from this round on the big shots that Rios had landed previously became very sporadic and has much less effect.

Alvarado got on his bike over the last few rounds whenever he needed a break from the bruising exchanges. The reason this didn’t hurt him on the scorecards is whenever Rios got into range, he nailed him with that big right hand. Rios’s earlier inside work virtually disappeared due to Alvarado’s timely clinches. And in nearly every one of those later rounds, Alvarado started off the proceedings with a hard 1-2.

 

RIOS WANTS HIS OWN REVENGE: Rios took it upon himself to crash Alvarado’s post-fight interview with Max Kellerman to demand a third fight. Although Rios’s demeanor wasn’t respectful in the traditional sense, the conversation had the tone of two drunk frat brothers rather than any real animosity. Alvarado had no problems with a rubbermatch on the condition it happen in his native Denver, which Rios readily agreed to.

 

LET THE BLOODTHRIST REST: Like everyone who saw this bout tonight, I’ll all for a third fight. But please, for the love of humanity, let these two men rest and heal. This is the second time in five months that they’ve beaten the hell out of each other and no doubt taken years off their careers. These two should not face each other again until November or December at the earliest.

Immediately after this fight I stayed up to watch the replay and will probably check it out again on Sunday. If you missed this fight, make sure you track it down over the next few days.

 

CRAWFORD BEATS PRESCOTT: Prospect Terence Crawford got the biggest win of his career with a dominant unanimous decision over Breidis Prescott. Crawford outboxed Prescott pretty easily in this bout and even had him in some trouble during the 12th round. Word in the post-fight press conference is that Ray Beltran may be Crawford’s next opponent.

***UPDATE***

FULL FIGHT LINK

[Video] Fight of the Year Contender: Bradley Rises from Knockdown to Slip By Provodnikov

Posted: March 17, 2013 in Fight Reports
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What fans witnessed last night was not just an exciting Timothy Bradley fight (!), but unquestionably what will go down as one of the most dramatic and brutal contests of 2013.  Those familiar with Ruslan Provodnikov knew this was a good fight on paper, but no one predicted Bradley would come out and seek to brawl with this power-punching Russian (God bless him for it). The boxing world is still buzzing, and unfortunately for Tim, this bout also had a scoring controversy that put some damper on this thrilling battle.

WHAT GOT INTO BRADLEY?!: In the leadup to this fight, Bradley claimed that his technique had massively improved and we’d see a marked improvement in punching power. That, coupled with his other promise to not go 12 rounds with Provonikov, caused him to come out guns blazing with quick combinations inside and repeated jabs to the head and body. Provodnikov walked through them, and Bradley obliged him with more punishment inside with hooks to the body.

Bradley’s issue was lingering too long inside, and Provodnikov hurt him badly with a wild right hand. Bradley was on queer street immediately and soon hit the canvas. It was ruled a slip, but that didn’t stop Bradley from doing an impressive Trevor Berbick impersonation and falling back over. To his credit, Bradley showed a huge heart in staying uprght and exchanging as Provodnikov unleashed a frightening array of power shots with Bradey trapped on the ropes. The exact same sequence repeated again in the second round (minus the missed knockdown), with Bradley boxing well until being caught by another big Provodnikov hook.

Bradley barely made it out of this one, and survived on nothing but heart and instincts as this one was just a solid punch or two from being over.

CRUCIAL SCORING MISTAKES: Unfortunately for Provodnikov, the scoring of the aforementioned two rounds factored heavily into his narrow defeat on the scorecards (113-114 twice and 112-115). If referee Pat Russell had correctly ruled the knockdown in the first round, Provodnikov would have at least earned a draw. Or even better, if the judges had given him credit for a 10-8 second round (which there’s a strong case he deserved even without the knockdown as badly as he had Bradley hurt), he’d have received a narrow win when you add in his dramatic work on Bradley to secure the knockdown in the 12th.

PROVODNIKOV’S STAMINA BETRAYS HIM: What hurt Provodnikov’s case was that there were at least four rounds where he did absolutely nothing. After throwing so much in the two opening rounds, he literally had nothing left in the third and simply let Bradley tee off with combinations while he recovered. Bradley would take rounds 3-5 like this before Provodnikov would catch and him hurt again in the sixth.

When Bradley used to footwork to move and fight on the inside, Provodnikov could do nothing with him. The powerful Russian’s face was being rearranged with the constant barrage of shots, but he flashed a ghoulish smile at Bradley and kept coming. Bradley’s massively outworked and outlanded Provodnikov with clean shots in rounds 7-10, but I thought Provodnikov delivered significant damage in the 11th (courtesy of that big right hand). The thudding left and right hooks that forced Bradley to take a knee in the waning moments of the 12th, had Provodnikov finishing the fight strongly.

THE WRONG STRATEGY, BUT THE SAME BRADLEY: Boxing is all about adjustments, and after those hellacious opening rounds Bradley found a winning strategy by moving and boxing Provodnikov at a distance. However, that’s not Tim’s style — he loves to mix it up inside and break guys down with his workrate. That’s what enabled Kendall Holt to drop him twice with big counters in their fight, and why Provodnikov had him out on his feet on no less than 4 separate occasions.

We should also keep in mind that Bradley was coming off a nine month layoff in part due to feet injuries. Bradley is always ripped, but also he looked softer in the middle than previous fights. Add all that together, and that’s likely why he couldn’t keep up the constant movement.

REMATCH?: Well, Ruslan Provodnikov has certainly earned one. He was very bitter at the decision, saying Bradley never hurt him. That’s not completely true, as a few body shots stopped him dead in his tracks. But Provodnikov was never out on his feet or on the verge of a stoppage loss. My gut tells me the rematch would be nowhere near as good as the first with Bradley making sure he spends the majority of the fight on the move and clinching when Provodnikov traps him. Nonetheless, this performance ensures he’ll be back one way or another. Can you imagine Provodnikov and Brandon Rios going at it?

BRADLEY STILL GETS NO RESPECT: With an obvious concussion after the fight, Bradley still had the misfortune of being booed afterward and in front of his hometown fans no less (the same ones that delivered a few “Bradley!” chants during the fight). People there were not happy with the decision. My colleague Jeandra LeBeauf of Bad Culture was there ringside and vehemently disagreed with the decision. I have to admit, I was yelling at my TV and wanted a Provodnikov KO bad in that 12th round.

Let us remember though that it takes two great performances to create an awesome fight, and the last thing people should have been doing is booing Bradley.

VARGAS OUTSMARTS OMOTOSO: The undercard featured a solid fight with Jessie Vargas keeping his undefeated record via a unanimous decision win over Wale Omotoso. Vargas appeared to be in big trouble through the first three rounds —  Omotoso had dropped him on a body shot and couldn’t miss with counter right hands. But Vargas adjusted by working stiff jabs and 1-2s that keep Omotoso on the outside. The fight slowed down and Omotos got buzzed bad and nearly stopped off a right hand counter. In addition, Omotoso’s own right was now falling short. He wasn’t happy with the decision, but he never adjusted to Vargas’s changes. He had only himself to blame.

So what’s your take? Did Bradley redeem himself or get another undeserved decision? Watch the full fight HERE if you missed it.

FNF Recap: Gradovich Wears Out Dib, Nelson Smashes Medina

Posted: March 2, 2013 in Fight Reports
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Gradovich

MASHANTUCKET, CT — A new IBF featherweight champion was crowned with Evgeny Gradovich earning a bruising 12-round split decision over Billy Dib last night. It sure wasn’t the outcome 50 Cent wanted for Dib, who was the only champion in SMS Promotions, but overall it wasn’t a bad showing for 50′s first boxing event on network TV. Onto the highlights.

 

DIB ELECTS TO BRAWL, GRADOVICH MAKES HIM PAY: Dib had success early on roughing up Gradovich with mauling clinches filled with fouls. But after the third round, Gradovich settled into the pace and started to land short hooks inside which forced Dib to hold. Gradovich would keep this up for the rest of the fight and Dib couldn’t avoid Gradovich’s clubbing overhand rights. Dib did some underrated work to the body throughout the fight, but Gradovich looked so much stronger and shrugged off Dib’s power. On the other hand, Gradovich’s flush shots knocked Dib off-balance several times, especially in the all important championship rounds.

Gradovich_Dib

It was a ugly fight with both guys fouling and getting points docked in the eighth for holding, but the winner was never in question (even with one judge laughably giving Dib the nod with a 114-112 score). Thankfully, Gradovich got the well-deserved victory. And to give you an idea of how rough this fight was, take a look at the referee.

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Dib was gracious in defeat, but he’s not a good investment for SMS Promotions. He’s not the guy that will help 50′s fledgling company get off the ground, so now’s a good a time as any for him to cut his losses. Other than that, 50 carried himself very well throughout the evening. The only thing that needs to be axed immediately are these ring-walks. If he had someone flamboyant like Broner it might could work, but the boxers look totally lost (Gamboa, Dirrell and Dib) and the performances come off very awkward.

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NELSON BLOWS AWAY MEDINA: Ever punch someone so hard you broke their ankle? Willie Nelson can now hit people with that one-liner courtesy of his impressive blowout of the normally durable Michael Medina. Nelson doesn’t have one particular attribute that jumps out at you when you first see him, but on closer inspection you see that he’s sound in every area and uses his height and reach advantages. He can box behind the jab using said physical tools, or bang inside relying on a tight guard and sharp counter-punching. You got a little of all that in less than three minutes before he caught Medina with some hard right hands to close this one out. Nelson should get a shot at a major title this year.

 

LUIS OLIVARES STARTS WITH A BANG: 50 had a 24-year-old, junior welterweight fighter making his debut. Will be some years before we see if it pans out, but Olivares looked very good and had a killer left hook that put his opponent on the canvas twice.

[Video] Broner Wins Handily, But Rees Reveals New Questions About ‘Da Problem’

Posted: February 17, 2013 in Fight Reports
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Broner_Rees

Last night’s HBO main event between Adrien Broner and Gavin Rees was deemed a mismatch and that soon became clear with Broner needing just just five rounds to overwhelm the much smaller Rees in route to a TKO stoppage.

Maybe the 80-1 odds against Rees were a little harsh, but once Broner found Rees’s rhythm in the third it was just a matter of time. Nonetheless, Rees made good on a few of his prefight predictions and showed why we shouldn’t think Broner will just waltz to the top of the Pound4Pound rankings.

REES’S GAME PLAN AND CRITIQUES: Gavin Rees said beforehand that Broner’s recent record was made up mostly of guys who stood in front of him flat-footed. Rees showed the success a fighter he can have when they give Broner angles. Rees used upper body movement in the first two rounds to evade Broner’s shots while ripping his own to the body. In addition, he reminded everyone that timing works just as good as speed when he was able to punch with Broner to land left hooks.

Unfortunately, it was a game plan that Rees just didn’t have the physical dimensions or skill to keep up for long. Broner started to time Rees with his own left hook and head-jarring lead right potshots. The gulf in punching power was massive as Rees’s shots seemed to do little more then annoy while Broner’s clean shots to the body and head had a visible damaging effect.

Two big knockdowns off a right uppercut and the other from a slashing left hook to the body had Rees reduced to hapless displays of taunting bravado by the fifth round. His trainer Gary Lockett rightly threw in the towel to end the beating, and Rees had high praise for the man he previously called an “arrogant prick.”

“He’s [Broner] the best I have ever been in [the ring] with,” said Rees. ‘It’s not a case of whether he will go on to be a super star… he is already there. I made a lot of mistakes and I believe I have a better skill set than that.”

“I knew he [Broner] hit hard, but his power just stunned me. I got reckless and that was the end of the night, but I was always going to get back up. I would have gone on until I was knocked out cold. I disagree with Gary pulling me out, but he knows that I would have gotten hurt. We are good friends and he was just looking out for me.”

BRONER’S QUESTION MARKS: Broner looked to be two weight classes bigger than Rees last night so it stands to believe his days at lightweight are numbered. Once he moves up to 140, here are the questions that we need to see answered.

1. Fighters His Size. Broner has proven to be a legit puncher at lightweight, but will it translate on fighters he doesn’t have a distinct weight advantage over?

2. Dealing with Speed and Pressure. Broner has destroyed the pressure fighters he’s faced thus far at lightweight. Rees correctly pointed out they simply came at him head-first. At 140 there are pressure fighters who are much more craftier in their attacks in addition to possessing heavy hands. Guys like Lucas Matthysse and Brandon Rios would connect just as Rees as able to do. Does Broner’s chin hold up? Would Broner be able to outbox a guy like Lamont Peterson, who would keep coming all night?

On the speed end, the guy that stands out who could match Broner at 140 is Amir Khan. Rees over those first two rounds made Broner reach with his punches. Unfortunately, Rees’s short reach prevented him from really being able to counter. How Broner’s defense holds up under faster hands would be intriguing.

BRONER’S LAST LIGHTWEIGHT BUSINESS: Before leaving the lightweight division, Adrien Broner has one more assignment. The WBO (Ricky Burns) and IBF titlists (Miguel Angel Vazquez) will face off to unify their belts on March 16. With the WBA strap being vacant, the winner of that matchup should be Broner’s #1 target by the summer. Either one is a tough assignment (with Vazquez maybe being a bit trickier because of his running tendencies). Burns is the favorite to beat Vazquez, but let Broner tell it at last night’s post-fight press conference, Burns is another night of easy work.

“If I fought Ricky Burns, he would get burnt out,” he boasted. “I want to fight him, but if he doesn’t want to fight me. Oh well.”

Broner made an offer to Burns to be last night’s opponent, but the low money made little sense considering Burns has a considerably bigger fanbase in the UK. We’ll see how much money becomes an issue in sealing this one should Burns get by Vazquez.

BIKA DOMINATES: With new trainer Kevin Cunningham in his corner, a more patient Sakio Bika had an easy time outboxing (!) Nikola Sjekloca. Bika worked behind the jab and did his best work inside with vicious body shots. The issue was after about the sixth, you felt like Bika wasn’t upping his output to knock out Sjekloca. The crowd began to share those sentiments and boo despite the bout having solid to decent action in most rounds. Funnily enough, this fight has made Bika the #1 contender to Andre Ward’s title. Ward already holds a tough (but clear) victory over Sakio. I don’t think there’s any doubt that a rematch will not be happening. Whenever Bika gets his next title shot, it’ll be his fifth crack at a super-middleweight strap.

Let’s hear you thoughts. Are you convinced that Broner is a “problem” that no one at lightweight and junio welterweight will be able to solve?

FULL FIGHT LINK

[Video] Friday Night Fights Recap: Rodriguez Dominates Tahdooahnippah

Posted: February 16, 2013 in Fight Reports
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Rodriguez-Tahdooahnippah

UNCASVILLE, CT — Delvin Rodriguez added another scalp to his tenured Friday Night Fights resume with a systematic beatdown of previously undefeated George Tahdooahnippah at the Mohegan Sun.

The entire card was promoted around Rodriguez’s being one of the best action fighters in Friday Night Fights history and he sure didn’t disappoint.

 

THE FIGHT: After about a minute and a half of both starting fast and landing good shots, it became clear where this fight as headed. Rodriguez settled into his offense and began timing overhand rights and left hooks to the body. Rodriguez was landing most of these shots off the backfoot with the much slower Tahdooahnippah plodding forward into traps.

This one nearly ended early in the second when Rodriguez hurt Tahdooahnippah badly with the overhand right. Tahdooahnippah stumbled into the ropes where he received a series of rights that had his head grotesquely careening over the top rope. Referee Eddie Cotton was seconds away from stopping it at as the ring bell sounded. And in an ironic twist, Cotton misunderstood Tahdooahnippah’s corner and briefly called off the fight before the truth was discovered.

Sadly for the Tahdooahnippah, the fight being stopped in the second would have been much better for his health. Rodriguez went back to work and remained in cruise control — the overhand rights could not miss and every solid left hook downstairs had Tahdooahnippah doubling over. Tahdooahnippah wisely held time he was hurt, but Rodriguez finally hurt him for good in the sixth. Falling back into the ropes, Tahdooahnippah’s head did a replay of the second round by getting snapped back and forth under Rodriguez’s right hand before the ref stoppage.

 

RODRIGUEZ BACK FOR ANOTHER SHOT: Rodriguez had an ugly performance in his last fight back in September against Austin Trout. This win did a lot of justify him possibly earning another shot on Showtime or maybe HBO. I’m not sure if Gabriel Rosado would look at it as a step back after battling Golovkin to face a guy like Rodriguez, but that fight would be straight warfare. And I’m sure Friday Night Fights would have no problems airing a fight with Rodriguez against Brian Vera, who just scored a knockout of Sergiy Dzinziruk a few weeks back.

 

TAHDOOAHNIPPAH’S REALITY CHECK: George Tahdooahnippah was undefeated coming into last night (31-0, 23 KOs). The knock on him was he had zero notable names over his eight-year career (last night was his first 10 round bout). During the ring walk, with a rapper in tow and clad in the attire of his Comanche Indian roots, Tahdooahnippah had the look on his face of a fighter happily anxious to meet the moment that would define his professional career. But as the beating mounted, Tahdooahnippah wore the mask of a man helpless too change his fate. He tried for sure — Tahdooahnippah continued coming forward in hopes Rodriguez would make a mistake. But there were none and every Tahdooahnippah flaw, from his lack of head movement to the tendency to lean with his punches, was exploited in merciless fashion.

Next week Friday Night Fights returns with the excellent matchup of Lamont Peterson vs. Kendall Holt.

[Video] Friday Night Fights Results: Bizier Downs Campbell Off Back Injury, Laham Upsets Asselstine

Posted: February 9, 2013 in Fight Reports
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Bizier_Campbell

MONTREAL, Quebec, Canada — Friday Night Fights featured bouts last week featuring Jose Luis Castillo and Cory Spinks. The senior circuit continued last night at the Bell Centre with Nate Campbell facing undefeated welterweight prospect Kevin Bizier. Unlike the bouts last week, there was a bit of intrigue in this main even and on the undercard. Onto the notes…

 

NATE CAMPBELL THE BOXING JUNKIE: Before the main event, ESPN showed a pre-taped Campbell interview where he described his reason for still fighting as a junkie looking for his next fix. In this case, the “fix” is being world champion again, a feat he achieved back in 2008 by defeating Juan Diaz to become the unified lightweight champion.

But at 40 years old, his body has other plans. Campbell showed flashes of the old-school brilliance he’s known for: rolling with punches, effectively countering, and nullifying much of Bizier’s inside offense simply with upper body movement. It’s the stuff that guys like Archie Moore and James Toney perfected, unlike the faux pas shoulder rolls you see a lot of younger fighters trying today and nearly getting their heads taken off. Unfortunately for Campbell, his reflexes have dulled enough where he was getting hit flush repeatedly and a step-behind with his attempts to fire back. On the ropes, Campbell would look masterful slipping 3-4 power shots only to get creamed with a jarring left hook or right cross.

Ironically enough, I thought Campbell did enough to take the eighth round by lulling Bizier inside and ripping the body. But all that leaning and contorting was too much for Campbell, whose back went out and forced him to retire on his stool before the ninth.

As expected, Campbell said he wasn’t hurt and blamed the back issues on having to grapple with a fighter he claimed was around 160 in the ring. He vowed to continue his career as 140 despite turning 41 next month.

Campbell was right about one thing — his decision to keep boxing is akin to a junkie. And like a feind, it’s an extreme detriment to his health that he remains blind to. When your back can fall apart that badly, the last thing you need to be doing is fighting. The Galaxxy Warrior was the first fighter I ever interviewed back in 2008 and I vividly recall him stating he’d love to get into commentary once his career wraps up. That time is calling.

 

BIZIER UNIMPRESSIVE: Bizier got the W but isn’t someone most will go out of their way to see again. He was completely lost at times trying to break Campbell’s defense. That’s not to say he should have knocked out Nate; even way bigger guys like Victor Ortiz resorted to movement to dominate the Galaxxy Warrior. But Bizier couldn’t even recognize where he was having his best success. At mid-range, there wasn’t much Campbell could do with him except eat punches and with a shorter reach have to lunge on his counter attempts. Instead of Bizier making his fight much easier, he spent the majority of the fight trying to maul and got touched him pretty good in a few rounds.

 

ASSELSTINE GETS A MONTREAL SCREWJOB?: Vince McMahon, Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels were nowhere in sight, but the look on Tyler Asselstine’s face after the decision was rendered looked like he felt he was at WWE predetermined event. After appearing dead in the water during the middle rounds from Baha Laham’s pressure, Asselstine began using his height and frame to lean on and bully Laham inside. This wore out Laham in the later rounds while Asselstine picked up his punch output. Laham, who landed some very hard body shots that had Asselstine visibly laboring as early as the fourth round, couldn’t find that same rhythm down the stretch with Asselstine’s mauling.

The scores were close with Laham taking a majority decision by scores of 95-95, 96-94 and 96-95. With how he finished, the scores indicate that the judges were giving a good number of the early rounds to Laham, favoring his harder shots and pressure to Asselstine’s higher activity. Laham being a Montreal native couldn’t have hurt either.

Personally, I had Asselstine by a few rounds and was surprised by the decision.

Let’s hear your thoughts. Is Nate Campbell done? Was Asselstine screwed?

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