the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Well worth a watch, a couple of dull rounds but it's always a joy watching Duran do his business, been reading quite a few people say that this was Duran at his very peak and it's hard to argue otherwise with the performance he put on, although I'd say the first Leonard fight was. Esteban gave a good showing as well but Duran shown he is a level above with his ring IQ.

 

Victor Galindez v Jesse Burnett

Really fun fight with an aged Galindez trying his hand up at cruiserweight against Burnett, who boxed very well behind his jab and used his natural height and reach advantages to good effect.

Galindez showed he still had heart after taking a pasting in a tremendous 7th round by putting Burnett in trouble in the same round and he rallied well over the next three rounds to keep things competitive but Burnett clearly deserved the win.

Well worth a watch this one.

1 9-10
2 9-10
3 10-10
4 9-10
5 10-9 (close)
6 9-10
7 7-10 (great round! Galindez down at the beginning and end of the round but put Burnett in trouble as well)
8 10-9
9 10-9
10 10-9
11 9-10
12 10-9 (cracking final round)

Galindez 112-115 Burnett

 

I always thought Burnett dropped Galindez twice.

 

Yep, he did.

 

Was that also in round 7?

 

I just watched round 7 Jel. You're right. Great back and forth action. It cracked me up when Tim Ryan said that Galindez hurt Weaver with a shot! lol

 

Has anyone seen Ricardo Mayorga v Cory Spinks? My first recommendation is, don't! Bad mashup of styles. Nevertheless, here is how I had it.

Ricardo Mayorga v Cory Spinks

Round 1: 10-9 Mayorga
Round 2: 10-9 Spinks
Round 3: 10-9 Mayorga
Round 4: 10-9 Spinks
Round 5: 9-9 Even (I had Mayorga winning the round but 1 point deduction for hitting after the bell)
Round 6: 10-9 Mayorga
Round 7: 10-9 Spinks
Round 8: 10-9 Mayorga
Round 9: 10-9 Spinks
Round 10: 10-9 Mayorga
Round 11: 9-9 Even (I had Mayorga winning the round but another point deduction - this time for holding & hitting)
Round 12: 10-10 Even

Total: 114-113 Mayorga (actual scores: 114-114, and a 114-112, 117-110 both for Spinks for a majority win)

This was a stinker IMO and regardless of how close I had it, I just don't think Spinks deserved it. Mayorga may have been his usual wild self - swinging from left field - but he was the one doing the fighting. Spinks ran and held most of the way. There were times he would show spirit with good counters, but then it was back on his bike. I watched the version with 2 British commentators - one of them being Nicky Piper - and there was a point where they were talking about Spinks beautiful jabbing attack, whereas I saw Spinks continually coming up short with his jab. Perhaps a different perception at ringside, but I did feel Mayorga - inelegant as he was - deserved the verdict.

 

Galindez must have had long arms to reach Weaver in the commentary booth!

 

Not for scoring purposes, but in the last couple of days I’ve watched:

Roberto Duran TKO 6 Wellington Wheatley in Las Vegas early 1980, four months before he fought Ray Leonard in Montreal.

Duran was mostly on point here, a bit sloppy and the Ecuadorian (I think that’s where Wheatley was from) fought hard and well, landed a few sharp punches but was overmatched — down in rounds 2 and 5, I think, before Roberto closed the show.

And ...

Ray Leonard TKO 4 Pete Ranzany in 1979, this was his penultimate fight before dethroning Wilfred Benitez, about 3 1/2 months prior (he squeezed in the too-overlooked spectacular blasting of Andy Price about six weeks after Ranzany before the title challenge).

Pete was NABF champ, a herky-jerky guy who was as game as they come, took it to Ray and landed some meaningful punches in a few sequences, but my oh my was Leonard sharp in this one. His jab was a bludgeon and his hooks were otherworldly.

 

Saw a bit of activity on the board over this fight and needed to check it out.

Fernando Vargas v Winky Wright

Round 1: 10-9 Vargas
Round 2: 10-9 Vargas
Round 3: 10-10 Even
Round 4: 10-9 Vargas
Round 5: 10-9 Wright
Round 6: 10-9 Wright
Round 7: 10-9 Vargas
Round 8: 10-10 Even
Round 9: 10-9 Wright
Round 10: 10-9 Vargas
Round 11: 10-9 Wright
Round 12: 10-9 Vargas

Total: 116-114 Vargas (actual scores: 115-113, 116-112 both for Vargas and a 114-114 Even, for a majority win for Vargas)

Wow, so close. If I scored this again, I know my score would be different. I think a draw would have been the correct score here. One has to stay super-focused on this fight when scoring. I wanted to just sit back and enjoy it after a couple of rounds of scrutinizing, but then just kept to the task. There's no bad score here as long as its close.

 

Jel, I haven't seen this since it took place. I didn't remember that part in the beginning where they said this was actually a cruiserweight title match originally between Galindez and Marvin Camel. The weight didn't look good on Galindez, btw. Nevertheless, here we go.

Round 1: 10-9 Burnett
Round 2: 10-9 Burnett
Round 3: 10-9 Galindez
Round 4: 10-10 Even
Round 5: 10-9 Galindez
Round 6: 10-9 Burnett
Round 7: 10-7 Burnett (scores 2 knockdowns)
Round 8: 10-9 Galindez
Round 9: 10-9 Galindez
Round 10: 10-9 Galindez
Round 11: 10-9 Burnett
Round 12: 10-10 Even

Total: 115-113 Burnett (actual scores: 115-111, 116-111 and 115-112 for a unanimous decision for Burnett)

You and I were very close in our scores, Jel. Unbelievable how Burnett took his foot off the pedal in rounds 8, 9 and 10. Still, a good fight.

 

Today I watched the first and second bouts between Mark 'Too Sharp' Johnson and Rafael Marquez. Here we go.

Mark Johnson v Rafael Marquez I (10 rounds)

Round 1: 10-9 Johnson
Round 2: 10-10 Even
Round 3: 10-9 Marquez
Round 4: 10-9 Johnson
Round 5: 10-9 Johnson
Round 6: 10-10 Even
Round 7: 10-9 Johnson
Round 8: 9-9 Even (scored it for Marquez but deducted 1 point for a low blow)
Round 9: 9-9 Even (scored it for Johnson but deducted 1 point for holding)
Round 10: 10-8 Marquez (Johnson lost another point for holding)

Total: 95-94 Johnson (actual scores: 94-93 Johnson, 94-93 Marquez and 96-91 for Marquez for a split win)

When the decision was announced, the judge that had it 94-93 for Marquez was originally announced as having it 97-94 for Johnson. I think all the point deductions challenged their math skills. It wasn't a great fight, but I thought Johnson was a bit too slick for Marquez on this day. The only score that was out of line was the 96-91 score. Nothing in this fight was one-sided like that.

Mark Johnson v Rafael Marquez II (scheduled for 12 rounds - title eliminator)

Round 1: 10-9 Johnson
Round 2: 10-9 Marquez
Round 3: 10-10 Even
Round 4: 10-9 Johnson
Round 5: 10-9 Marquez
Round 6: 10-9 Marquez
Round 7: 10-8 Marquez (scores a knockdown)
Round 8: Johnson down twice and the referee stops the bout in favor of Marquez

Total through 7 completed rounds: 68-65 Marquez (actual scores unknown)

Despite Merchant's whining, I thought it was a good, tactical bout which began heating up. Marquez just seemed so much faster and stronger this time around and he wasn't to be denied. He really closed this show in emphatic fashion.

 

Michael Spinks vs. Alvaro “Yaqui” Lopez in a schedule 10-round bout on October 18, 1980, at Atlantic City Convention Center in New Jersey.

Spinks weighs 176 to Lopez’s 178 3/4. Michael (13-0), a 1976 Olympic gold medalist, is fighting for the fifth time in 1980 after taking most of 1979 off due to a knee injury and to help out his more famous brother Leon cope with his ups and downs after beating and losing to Muhammad Ali to briefly hold the world heavyweight title.

Lopez (49-10) is coming off a 14th-round TKO loss to Matthew Saad Muhammad in a thriller in Yaqui’s fourth try for the light heavyweight title.

Spinks is rated No. 4 by Ring Magazine, Lopez No. 6. NBC televises.

Round 1: Lopez 10-9 — Yaqui comes out with a brutal body attack from the start and sets a fast pace.

Round 2: Lopez 10-9 — More of the same as Spinks begins to establish a jackhammer jab but Lopez is finding the mark with combinations.

Round 3: Lopez 10-9 — Most people probably gave this round to Spinks as he rocked Lopez and had him in trouble early, but Yaqui takes the play away as they slug it out for the remainder of the round, landing solid combos and fighting the full three minutes. It’s becoming a war.

Round 4: Spinks 10-9 — Spinks’ jab is the key factor as he takes command, although both land good combinations.

Round 5: Lopez 10-9 — The pace slows a bit and Yaqui does the better work in a less hectic round. Michael complains he’s been thumbed and Lopez has a cut opened over his left eye.

Round 6: Spinks 10-9 — Spinks lands power shots with both hands and has a good round, but Lopez isn’t backing away from the slugfest.

Round 7: Spinks wins by TKO, putting Lopez down with a chopping right early in the round and battering hi when he gets up.

My card at the time of the stoppage: Lopez 4-2 using the New Jersey round system in place at the time. Two judges had Spinks up 4-2 and one had it even.

This is the first true test of Spinks’ career. Ever the warrior, Lopez fought with vigor and determination. He throws everything at Michael and seems intent on trying to break him. Spinks weathers it and matches the intensity to put away the grizzled veteran.

If you haven’t seen this one, I suggest you check it out.

 

This is one of my favorite fights of all time.

 

I don’t think I’d seen it since the original broadcast and forgot how good it was. This is where we found out that Spinks really did have the right stuff.

If I had to watch fights from only one era in one weight division the rest of my life, I’d choose late 1970s-early -80s light heavyweights.

In the same span the list included:

Michael Spinks
Matthew Saad Muhammad
Marvin Johnson
James Scott
Eddie Mustafa Muhammad
Victor Galindez
Dwight Muhammad Qawi
John Conteh
Mike Rossman

And there was a tier below that that included Richie Kates, Jerry Martin and others.