Premier Boxing Champions: Keith Thurman vs. Luis Collazo RBR

Edner Cherry vs. Luis Cruz, 10 rounds @ lightweight

 

Six rounds in the books.

 

Cherry Bomb is banging Cruz up, casually slipping jabs with grandfather-clock pendulum head movement in a crouch on the outside and then slamming home with right hands, throwing away jabs past Cruz's head to get inside.

Cherry is the aggressor, landing the more effective punches, and Cruz isn't exactly busy. Atlas & Tessitore are acting like Cruz is dominating. He's landing the occasional counter 1-2 on the backfoot and Cherry is just ignoring them and landing his own heavy rights. :blood

 

I'd be very mistrustful of Atlas' scorecard, given his poor read on the seventh.

 

This seems like the kind of night where Atlas has just made his mind up beforehand and won't admit having been wrong unless the other guy kayos the one he picked.

 

Cherry is blocking all of Cruz's jabs on the outside on the bony edge of the forearm. Cherry is keeping the pressure on in the eighth but not throwing many punches. Cruz is just watching him with both hands down at long range. Cruz is flicking light jabs up at Cherry's jaw. Cherry now backs up and circles right. Cherry was doing a little possum-play, letting Cruz surge forward and gain confidence, and plants a solid right hand on him as he comes in. Cherry and Cruz fall onto the canvas in a spinning tackle. Cherry is hurt. Cruz's skull busted open Cherry's lip from below as they awkwardly clinched before tumbling.

1:45 left in the 8th. Unsure whether Cherry will continue. He may have a tooth knocked loose; a lot of blood from his mouth. Replays show it was a very clear headbutt, unclear whether intentional. Punk move if so from Cruz, and you can understand why he'd do it as Cherry had rocked him & backed him up with that right hand a moment before.

Time in.

Cherry is backhanding up-jabs from the mid-thigh frills on his trunks' outermost layer and poking a few straight ones into Cruz's belt line. Cruz is walking forward, spearing 1-2s into Cherry's head. Cruz bossing the 2nd half of the round clearly as Cherry is just retreating and pawing at the body with jabs. Nice overhand right by Cherry in the waning seconds, however.

 

Coach Dan Birmingham is telling Cherry all the right things.

 

Edner looks dispirited. He must overhear Teddy at ringside and figures he doesn't have a prayer at this point if the official judges are remotely in sync w/ Atlas. :yep

 

Atlas has it 78-75, giving the 4th even.

The fans scoring along on Facebook have it 77-75 Cherry.

 

Cruz whipping some hooks at the body on the outside without his feet set, very arrogant. Cherry nearly catches him with a right hand over the top. Cruz still keeps his defense loose and flicks lazy jabs at Cherry, diving in to rest the point of his chin on Cherry's shoulder while narrowly passing the overhand right in the other lane of traffic.

BIG right hand connects for Cherry, finally!! Cruz down HARD, badly shaken. Cruz refused to adjust with any head movement or tightened defense. Cherry kept recalibrating the overhand right and trying it again, until he scouted Cruz's response: a slight duck and dip of the head to one side. In an exchange where both missed hooks, Cherry followed with a short right hand straight down the pipe and LEVELED his man.

Cruz up, but plenty of time remaining on the clock. Another big right, this one that money-punch overhand Cherry has been looking for. Cruz is chopped down like a tree. ALL OVAH!!

TKO9!

 

I really want to know what the official scores were.

That's some classic boxing drama if Cherry pulled that off while about to get robbed. (if the judges were even remotely in lockstep with Teddy)