the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Just finished Edwin Rosario-Howard Davis. As interesting as I remembered it when I watched it live on TV as a teenager. I thought Davis got jobbed then, so thought it was time to rescore.

1. Rosario
2. Rosario 10-8 ( counter left hook)
3. Davis ( Rosario wobbled by straight right)
4. Rosario
5. Davis
6. Davis
7. Davis
8. Davis
9. Davis
10. Rosario ( Finally wakes up)
11. Davis
12. Rosario (10-8)

113-113, draw

Seeing it again now after all this time what strikes me is how much easier Rosario could have made it for himself. He was bossing this thing after four rounds, hammering Davis to the ribs with horrible-looking right hands and had the extra point by virtue of the knockdown, he was cruising.

Then he stopped fighting.

It was bizarre. He simply stopped throwing punches and Davis did a decent replica of an aggressive boxer-puncher, or at least as much as he could. Rosario ducked and dodged and pivoted away in so many middle rounds. I hadn't read that he hurt his hand again, but maybe so. Bottom line here was that when Edwin did come out of his shell, he won the rounds. It was just so infrequent, and he was saved ( at least on my own meaningless card) by the two knockdowbs. Without both of them he loses.

Not a very good performance from Rosario, and a brave, mostly effective, and hard-luck effort from Davis, who frankly didn't deserve to lose. On points I had it even, yes, but in terms of spirit and effort he just did more. I feel bad that he never won that title.

 

Spot on appraisal of Viruet, Pat. I haven't seen this one but I did watch the title fight so you get an extra 5 rounds in that one of Viruet doing what it sounds like he did here - enjoy!

Seriously, though, it isn't easy to look good against a guy like him and it was the only title fight Duran had at lightweight that went the distance. Viruet was a survivor if nothing else.

 

Watched an uneventful fight today, basically because it was there and I hadn't seen it. It was the 1980 Clyde Gray v Roger 'The Dodger' Leonard fight fought on the undercard of the first Leonard-Duran fight. I knew Gray lost but I was a fan of Gray's back in the day and needed to see what he had lost. He was an old 33 with a ton of scartissue and this was his second to last fight. And every network was pushing anyone called Leonard. Scored on Canada's 5 point system.

Round 1: 5-5 Even
Round 2: 5-4 Leonard
Round 3: 5-4 Leonard
Round 4: 5-4 Leonard
Round 5: 5-5 Even
Round 6: 5-4 Gray
Round 7: 5-4 Leonard
Round 8: 5-4 Leonard
Round 9: 5-4 Leonard
Round 10: 5-4 Gray

Total: 48-44 Leonard (actual scores: 47-45 Gray, 48-45 Leonard and 48-46 Leonard for a split win for Leonard)

Again, this is a fight to miss. Nothing eventful really took place. I just needed to see Gray in action again. I will say though that if this was the 1974 version of Clyde Gray, he would have gone through Roger the Dodger like a knife through butter.

 

Holmes vs Mercer.

I gave Mercer the first round and Holmes everything else.

What an absolute master class this was. He beat him at every single range.

And his jab, what a jab. Who else in history would jab on the inside the way Larry does, ludicrous.

How does he look at Mecer who had bulldozed his way to a high ranking, destroyed Morrison in one of the divisions most brutal knockouts and think "OK I'm gonna beat this man on the inside and I'm going to do it with my jab"

What an amazing display.

Interestingly he was one of the first HW fighters I know of, to perpetuate the idea the division had moved on leaps and bounds from the 50s.

His comments about Rocky were seen as a stain on his character, but I think he was on to something.

 

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Scoring for the first time for @AwardedSteak863.

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10 : 9
10 : 9
10 : 9*
9 : 10*
10 : 9 (49/46)
10 : 9*
10 : 9
10 : 9
10 : 9*
10 : 9 (99/91)
10 : 9
9 : 10*
10 : 9
10 : 9
9 : 10* (

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Spinks' head-movement was really sporadic, as were his crazy feints. Awesome ring IQ on show here, Spinks had an answer for anything Ali threw at him. When Ali stiff-armed, Spinks turned his shoulder and started jabbing, backing Ali up. When Ali lay on the ropes, he famously beat up Ali's arms, making them weak and weary. As Ali moved to his right, he'd feint with his left and catch Ali on the half-beat. Even in his advanced age, Ali still had a bit more pep in his step, but did that stop Spinks from cornering him? No. Leon's workrate and aggressive countering, combined with his angled half-steps, which narrowed the amount of angles Ali had to move out at, meant he could put Ali on the ropes more than enough.

Tubby old Ali, showing his craft with some half-decent moves on the ropes and still boxing and moving with the best of them in the centre of the ring. Using his shoulders and blocking more than he did when he was younger.

How was this an SD? Doesn't do this awesome performance justice.

Interesting points of view for how you'd rate this win. The extremist view on the one-side, is that it was a fluke, and Leon had nothing to do with it and it was ALL down to a combination of Ali's age and not taking him seriously enough. Then you have the other extremity, and that Ali's age and condition didn't matter at all. I think both of these are wrong, Leon and co concocted the perfect solution for the rope-a-dope, and executed the game plan almost flawlessly. Obviously Ali's condition played a huge roll (he isn't beating many other versions imo) but this is still an A class win.

 

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I watch a lot of amateur fights, but don't really score them. If that judging job comes through though I'll need to get on that!

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10 : 8
9 : 9* (

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Hitting on the break for the first time warrants a point deduction? Wtf...

Absolutely brilliant fight though. Leon was really something when he wasn't boozed up and off his tits. Impartial round in the third, unfortunately, but that KD was legit. I'd hate to assume, but it looked like another 10-8. Blistering double right hand to get the KD in the first, and an even better one to get the KD in the third.

 

Marcos Villasana DREW PTS 12 Antonio Esparragoza, WBA Featherweight title, 1988

A generally good and enjoyable fight between the hard-as-nails, all-action Villasana, who gave a good account of himself and eventually won a world title against a string of very fine Featherweights from the mid eighties to early nineties, and the classy, smooth-boxing Esparragoza, who oddly by comparison seems largely forgotten these days. The general consensus around this fight seems to be that while a draw was no disgrace, it was probably a shade kinder to Villasana than it was Esparragoza, and that if there was a winner it would have been Esparragoza.

Pretty much in line with what I saw.

R1: Villasana a bit busier as Esparragoza sizes him up. 10-9 Villasana.
R2: Esparragoza's work a bit cleaner, but I'd favour Villasana's industry and decent body shots. 20-18 Villasana.
R3: Esparragoza lets his hands go, some lovely combinations to the head. Classy stuff. 29-28 Villasana.
R4: Villasana still coming forward with some success, but Esparragoza sitting on his shots more, initiating more exchanges and combinations, and picking him off with jabs. 38-38.
R5: Villasana loses a point for low blows, but it's his round otherwise. Esparragoza not busy enough, Villasana landing jabs and lead rights. A 9-9 round. 47-47.
R6: Good Esparragoza round. Mixing it up, checking Villasana's forward rhythm with lead right hands instead of just jabs, forces Villasana back for the first time. 57-56 Esparragoza.
R7: I favour Villasana's work over Esparragoza's class. 66-66.
R8: Esparragoza switches back on. More combinations, counters off the ropes, more alert. 76-75 Esparragoza.
R9: Esparragoza is up on his toes now and banks the round with his jab, movement, defence and counters. 86-84 Esparragoza.
R10: Very good round for Esparragoza. Out of nowhere he brings in accurate, hard right uppercuts. Again, good combinations, too much movement for Villasana. 96-93 Esparragoza.
R11: Good response from Villasana. Drives his man back and hits him with good left hooks, sometimes doubled up. 105-103 Esparragoza.
R12: Esparragoza seems relatively content to see this one out, and Villasana outworks him, landing the bigger shots. Stiffens his opponent's knees with a nice left hook, right uppercut move mid-round. 114-113 Esparragoza.

So I ended up with 114-113 for the Venezuelan - but that comes with the caveat that he generally won his rounds clearer than Villasana won his. One of those fights which highlights the occasional vagaries and difficulties of the ten point must system, because all of Esparragoza's rounds came through quality, whereas a couple for Villasana were through industry and work rate. So while the general feel of the fight is that Esparragoza was the better man, I don't think you can really argue too much with a draw. Villasana definitely didn't win in my opinion, but he arguably didn't lose outright, either.

Some final general points....

* Esparragoza very classy and relaxed with his boxing, but a little too relaxed and lackadaisical at times, which cost him the odd round here and there.

* Perhaps didn't always make the best use of his speed advantage, and was intermittent with his jab. When he was throwing it consistently he generally kept Villasana at bay and scored with it. When the jab lulled, he had a few more problems.

* Villasana's jab was underrated - not flashy, but very heavy and he had some good success with it here. Good left hooks, particularly when he was able to double them up.

* Some good inside exchanges where both men could handle themselves. Would slightly favour Villasana's body shots in the majority of them, but some of Esparragoza's super-fast combinations to the head in these kind of exchanges were excellent.

 

This is such a fun fight to watch, and I think it is too bad that Holmes wasn't the playful guy we see in this fight more often as it would have gone a long way to helping his image and he would come across more relatable i think instead of always so surly and dour and everything else he did that put people off of him almost immediately. "I ain't Tommy Morrison!" just had me rolling

 

It's an absolute clinic of a performance.

 

Really good write up, @McGrain. I watched / scored this for a second time recently, and ended up with the same score as you, 114-114. What's more, I agree with you on every single round in terms of who won it. There was ebb and flow throughout the fight itself, but not so much in the rounds, which as you say were generally quite straightforward to score. That one 117-112 card was a disgrace and the one big sour note in an otherwise superb fight.

How refreshing, as well, to see two fighters who targeted the body, wanted to fight on the inside and punch their way out of clinches rather than just clinch and wait for the ref to separate them - and how refreshing to see a referee actually let the fight flow and allow them to work inside. Getting rarer and rarer these days, unfortunately!

Also agree with some of your more general points regarding the two fighters themselves. Prograis a little more polished, maybe, and had the better jab and fluidity. Taylor still technically good though, very clever at making enough room for himself to get punches off in close, looked the physically stronger and his punches seemed to have just that little bit more behind them. Both showed great work rates and stood up to plenty of punishment - no dog in either of them.

Really enjoyable fight which it appears we saw virtually identically.

 

I love those two, and that fight was awesome. Might have to rescore it myself.

 

You watched that not that long ago right?

 

As long ago as anyone else. When it happened.