the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Nonito Donaire TD 5 Simpiwe Vetyeka

Maybe the weirdest fight of the modern era, it should have been celebrated, after all, this is the Flash against the man who beat the man who beat the man, Simpiwe also ranked the #1 featherweight in the world. It interested me at the time but wow, what a mess.

Donaire probably scrapes the first on a couple of hard bodyshots, but there is a clash of heads followed by an apparently mised punch to the back of Donaire's head after the bell. Donaire is on the floor in apparent distress, and he is seriously cut, beginning the second at a disadvantage. Arguably Vetyeka bagged a very close second having some joy with his 1-2, though that is arguable; Donaire, clearly concerned that his fight was in the balance as the cut, worsening and seen twice by the doctor already, began sitting down on rushing punches. Although Simpiwe had some of his own success with a right hand, Donaire won this one big.

He also won the fourth after Vetyeka dominated the opening seconds, dropping him heavily with a gorgeous counter left; this was the punch that made the eventual result inarguable.

The fifth round begins with referee Luis Pabon leaning over the top rope deep in conversation with the WBA (just who you want to hand when there's a difficult decision afoot). He then waves for the bell and stops the fight at two seconds of the fifth round.

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Some odd stuff this - no rematch. An interesting fight though from the perspective of rules and rulemakers.

Donaire:1,3,4*.
Vetyeka:2,
Even: 5**.

*Simpiwe down
** Only two seconds were completed.

 

Mikey Garcia TD8 Orlando Salido

Baby faced Garcia takes on his first ranked opponent in Orlando Salido and gets his nose broken for the trouble.

And it's pretty impressive stuff. Salido was the pre-eminent contender when he met Garcia, and Garcia handled him. Garcia just looks to establish his jab early, fake-feinting while moving back, trying to bring Salido onto something, maybe. Maybe just trying to find his feet while staying out of trouble. Hard to say for sure - he lands a nice left hook at 2 minutes remaining though and just looks a different man after that. The first knockdown of the round is a flash - hard punch, but Salido is straight up, more embarrassed than hurt. Cuffing right hand as Salido waded forward. Garcia now starts to look for the one-two, still boxing carefully but adding a right behind the jab here, a left hook behind the jab there. In the final seconds of the round, Garcia flashes Salido again and the veteran (Doesn't matter what stage of his career Salido is at, he's always "the veteran") looks confounded on his stools between rounds. A sweeping left hook was the culprit the second time around.

Salido is in bad trouble on the cards before the fight has really begun.

In truth though, he doesn't have a bad second. The fight looks much more as one would have expected, careful pressure from Salido, faster hands and careful bursts from Garcia. Garcia wins the round, but it's close, and you could see Salido winning such a fight normally, the probably being he has dropped four points in two rounds. Things get considerably worse in the third when Garcia flashes Salido again with a gorgeous uppercut through the middle - Garcia had warned him with this punch seconds earlier, but he didn't heed it.

In the fourth, Garcia flashes him for a fourth time with a very fast slightly underweight left hook and Salido needs a KO for victory at 30 seconds gone in round four

Garcia moves in and out with a mixture of commitment. It compromises Salido's pressure and balance both, it's delightful really. The key aspect is Garcia's defence which frustrates Salido and is already forcing him to overcommit. If he has joy, the pressure would be lifted, so Garcia has to prevent him scoring as a strategic as much as a practical matter. From here it's just a matter of using his faster hands to punish an over-committed, frustrated pressure fighter having no joy.

Facing Salido always has it's joys and Garcia was on the worst side of an apparently accidental clash of heads that didn't look that accidental in the eighth; this ran against Salido though who lost an eight-round technical decision.

Garcia clearly out-landed Salido in every round, even the seventh.

Garcia:1*,2, 3^ ,4^,5,6,8.
Salido:7.

*Salido down twice
^Salido down once

 

Carl Frampton MD12 Leo Santa Cruz

Dangerous game Frampton is playing. He wants to shuffle into range, "see", throw if safe to do so, then shuffle straight back when Santa rushes him. He does circle in the second half of the first though so perhaps that was just an early look. It's a very close very good first round that I think Santa just about steals on the volume but good grief it is close. Good tense round. But yeah, Cruz on the jab.

Some stiff body punching early in the second from the Niron man and they have a brief shootout punctuated by their trading more bodyshots; commentary likes Santa here but I disagree, i thought Frampton had the better first minute on the bodypunching. He's doing a tiny bit better with his guard too, maybe, when it is in place. Gorgeous counter-left hook settles it indisputably, sending Santa crashing back onto the rope. Good fight. Very good. I'm surprised to see Santa continue to try to swarm behind his jab in the third; set up the jab and deny the right to counter would have been the way I think, but hey. He does settle down a bit but a gorgeous Frampton uppercut settles the third. Delightful right hand to the body as bell approaches helps. Some very, very nice potshots from Frampton. Santa must outland him to win rounds IMO.

Double left hook by Framtpon half way through a tense, nothing third - Cruz has slowed the pace right down but success seem to make him want to come on. Very very close round. Oooft this is close. Frampton seems a little boxed this round - Cruz is landing his jab here and there. I can hardly split them...I'll go Frampton by no margin. He probably landed the best punches with that double left-hook. When Frampton outlands Santa in the fifth and this puts him in trouble on my card. He needs to string a couple together or he can forget it.

Trebling the jab is a good start. Eats a hard counter-left though. Cruz maybe wins his first fire-fight in the sixth though and that could be him on his way. He's going wider than Frampton so he's vulnerable, wider and longer, but he's relying upon volume. Hurts Frampton fo the first time at the end of the round, again, volume working for him. It's good work that. That's an important round.

Frampton has a problem now in that he is tiring and the pressure is on him rather than Santa to bring pressure - Cruz has the better jab and the better distance. Meanwhile, Santa has the marginally better engine anyway. So it's difficult for him right now. He's dropping rounds by default at the moment and if the balance doesn't change likely will continue to do so. Cruz lets Frampton right in at the beginning of the eighth and they swap hard shots fae to face, Frmapton builds up steam and is throwing in volume and Santa lands a couple of hard shots in a weird role-reversal. Wrong strategy from Santa there; Frampton wins a round that feels out of sequence. Huge round. I see Santa needing every round remaining to win. He does win the ninth with a bulldozer of a right hand in the final minute. Very very close rounds can be settled by these single punches, it's tense and excellent watching.

You can feel that tension more in Frampton's boxing for me late in this fight and it's narrowing things up for real. For the first time, Frampton wants to hold inside in the tenth, trying to bank the punch and then spoil; it only happens once but is telling. Santa has taken some of the zing off his punches but he's just about outstanding Frampton in the eleventh. He lands a cracking right hook from a square stance that catches the eye, a body punch that catches the eye, Frampton shoe-shining then holding; I have him closing the stronger of the two to take the draw.

Frampton:2,3,4,5,8,10.
Santa:1,6,7,9,11,12.

Official: 114-114, 116-112, 117-111 Frampton. 117-111 is risible.