the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

R man, San has got you covered as always.

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Thanks man. @Mario040481 be careful man - loads of Gushiken fights have very recently (literally the past few days) been copy stricken and removed by TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System), especially if they're high quality like yours. One account even got removed, so possibly put your Gushiken fights on private to be safe.

 

James Scott vs. Eddie Gregory (later Eddie Mustafa Muhammad), scheduled for 12 rounds at Rahway State Prison in Woodbridge Township, N.J., on Nov. 12, 1978.

This was supposed to be a bit of a circus sideshow, HBO televising a fight live from a prison with No. 1-ranked (WBA) Eddie vs. Scott, the undefeated inmate. They aired a lot of interview/documentary-style footage as the lead-in and Don Dunphy, Ray Leonard and Larry Merchant on the call.

Only Scott wasn’t there for a sideshow. He was 12-0-1 (6) with most of his fights in Miami between periods of incarceration (at age 30 he had spent 16 of his last 18 years behind bars and was serving 30-40 years for armed robbery; a jury hung on a related murder charge, which he was convicted of in 1981).

Eddie was 29-3-1 (24) and a little less than a year removed from a close loss in a shot at Victor Galindez’s light heavyweight title. He weighed 177 3/4 to Scott’s 176. Eddie received $15K for what was supposed to be a tune-up for a shot at Mike Rossman (who had defeated Galindez for the title) while Scott was paid $2.5K.

Scoring on the New Jersey rounds system:

1: Even — Eddie boxed well, landed a few jabs; Scott got him on the ropes but was wild and missed most of his shots.

2: Scott — James works his way inside and begins working over the body.

3: Scott — More of the same.

4: Scott — Eddie is smiling and winking at someone in the crowd early in the round (attendance reported at 450 outsiders along with some inmates; the rest of the inmate population watched on internal closed-circuit). He wasn’t smiling after Scott started cutting loose and raking him over, also causing bad swelling under Eddie’s eft eye.

5: Scott — He continues his assault; Eddie employing some Jack Johnson tactics to tie James up, also makes him miss a bit but rarely counters.

6: Gregory — Close but he boxes well in spots and edges it, does some nice body work of his own.

7: Gregory — Repeat of the previous round but takes it by a more comfortable margin. Is he turning the fight around?

8: Scott — No, he was not. James finds a second wind and batters the outsider around the ring.

9: Scott — James is doing serious damage to the body and head and Eddie is just trying to tie him up and survive.

10: Scott — The pace slows and Eddie does an octopus imitation wrapping up Scott as best he can.

11: Scott — Eddie wants the final bell to arrive.

12: Scott — Eddie is too crafty to get stopped but also not willing to risk much as Scott closes out the fight as by far the stronger man.

My score: Scott 9-2 (for whatever reason, in New Jersey the score ignores even rounds but it’s 9-2-1 on my card).

Official scores: Scott unanimous — 9-3, 9-2 and 6-4.

Major upset as Eddie was a 4-1 favorite and Scott was an unknown (although his record in Miami had been impressive and showed him to be an up-and-comer). It’s the opening chapter of one of boxing’s best sagas of the late 1970s/early ‘80s as Scott would later knock off another No. 1 contender, Yaqui Lopez, and were he not in prison surely would have earned a title shot.

 

Pat, regarding your score, you are correct in calling it 9-2-1. New York and New Jersey would also call it 9-2-1 because it was fought on the rounds basis. It was always announced that way also (check out the score being read in James Scott v Yaqui Lopez) But somewhere along the line, boxrec took the liberty of dropping the Even round from their database. It was not like California. In California they used a point basis of 1 point for the winner of the round (2 points if there was a knockdown) 0 points to the loser of a round and no points for an Even round. So a closely fought contest that one might have as 5-3-2 in rounds becomes 5-3 on points, not rounds. But again, In NY and NJ it was a rounds basis and a 5-3-2 in rounds is a legit score and should be recorded as such and should not have the Even rounds dropped.

 

Thanks. For this particular fight they did not even announce the scores — the ring announcer (maybe Ed Derain, RIP) just said ‘a unanimous decision for James Scott.’

Later on it became ‘Great Scott, Super Scott … James Scott!!!”

 

Dude, I took a legit copyright strike for a Gushiken fight almost a month ago now, and a very high quality Golota vs Cory Sanders, of all fights, right around the same time. One more in the next 2ish months and I am outta there. Thanks for the reminder to do just what you suggested!

 

Frank “The Animal” Fletcher vs. William “Caveman” Lee, scheduled for 10 rounds, middleweights, at Resorts International in Atlantic City, N.J., on July 3, 1980.

This Thursday night fight is televised by ESPN and the bout is a semifinal in the network’s American Boxing Tournament. Sal Marchiano is on the call with Sean O’Grady and Duane Bobick on color commentary.

Fletcher, 6-2-1 (4) advanced with a win over 11-3-1 Jerome Jackson. Lee, 13-1 (12), defeated 5-1 Larry Martin to advance.

Fletcher weights 158 1/2, Lee 161.

Scoring:

Round 1: Fletcher 10-9 — The southpaw comes out aggressively behind a nice right jab and quickly finds the range for his left hand. Lee, taller at 5-11 to Fletcher’s 5-7, is unable to control the distance.

Round 2: Fletcher 10-9 — More from Fletcher as he bangs away, trapping Lee on the ropes several times and mixing body and head shots. Lee, who has a reputation as a fearsome puncher, lands a couple of sizzling rights and Fletcher doesn’t blink.

Round 3: Fletcher 10-9 — Frank turns it up a notch and swarms all over Lee, who still has some good moments with a few nice combos, but to no affect. An argument could be made for a knockdown late in the round when Fletcher lands a left just before the bell and Lee falls back into the corner, which is the only thing that keeps him upright.

Round 4: Fletcher wins by TKO at 2:39 of the round. They got at it pretty good but Frank is too strong and too determined. He’s all over Lee. Frank lands by my count 17 unanswered punches (not all of them clean or solid) culminating in a knockdown with a big left. Lee gets up but Frank swarms all over him and hardly misses a punch until the referee is forced to step in to save him.

This is Fletcher’s third win in a row — he was 4-2-1 coming into the tournament and undoubtedly the Philadelphian was supposed to just be an easy mark to showcase someone else. This is the first right where we begin to see that he is something special.

The ‘prize’ in the tournament was the winner in each weight division would get a shot at a ranked contender on ESPN. Frank won the division, stopping 10-1 Randy McGrady in his next fight, and then beat ranked Sammy Nesmith as his reward. The Lee win is the third in a string of 12 straight wins going all the way to 1983 before Frank was outpointed by Wilford Scypion.

Lee bounced back well, knocking out Marcos Geraldo in one round in his next outing to start a run of eight wins in a row before getting taken out in one round by Marvin Hagler when he got a title shot. Sadly, Fletcher never got a shot at the championship (a byproduct of having a unified champ in Hagler was opposed to having the title split). In another era I think he at least holds a belt for a little while.

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Talking recently about Yoko Gushiken fights had me checking what else was out there. And I see his first fight with Pedro Flores was recently uploaded. Had to check it out.

Yoko Gushiken v Pedro Flores I

Round 1: 10-9 Gushiken
Round 2: 10-9 Flores
Round 3: 10-8 Gushiken (scores a knockdown)
Round 4: 10-9 Flores
Round 5: 10-9 Flores
Round 6: 10-9 Gushiken
Round 7: 10-9 Flores
Round 8: 10-9 Gushiken
Round 9: 10-9 Flores
Round 10: 10-9 Gushiken
Round 11: 10-9 Flores
Round 12: 10-9 Flores
Round 13: 10-9 Gushiken
Round 14: 10-10 Even
Round 15: 10-9 Gushiken

Total: 143-142 Gushiken (actual scores: 146-140, 146-142 and 146-145 all for Gushiken)

Man, let me tell ya, after seeing both Gushiken-Flores fights it was very clear that Flores was to Gushiken what Junior Jones was to Barrera or Ricardo Mayorga was to Vernon Forrest. Flores was like a poor man's Guty Espadas with his short, hard punching that simply couldn't seem to miss Gushiken. Vinnie Rainone and the Japanese judge's cards did not accurately tell what went on in this fight. This was down to the wire and I would not be surprised if anyone else had a Flores card. A good fight where fortunes changed dramatically from the 12th round to the 13th when both fighters were hurt. I remember when both of their fights took place (reading about them), but seeing the first fight helps me understand what happened in their second fight. Flores was simply Gushiken's kryptonite.

 

Alexis Arguello vs. Billy Costello, scheduled for 10 rounds, welterweights, on Sunday, Feb. 9, 1986, at Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada.

True crossroads fight and a bit of an oddity as both winner and loser retired after this, both coming back years later.

This was billed as a junior welterweight affair but Costello, a former 140-pound WBC champ, scaled 144 and Arguello, himself a three-division champ, came in at 143.

Alexis is 33 years old, 79-6 (64) and has won once since losing his rematch with Aaron Pryor for the WBA version of the super lightweight crown.

Costello is 31-1 (18) and won his only bout after losing his title to Lonnie Smith in his fourth defense.

CBS televises, with the excellent team of Tim Ryan and Gil Clancy on the call.

Round 1: Costello 10-9 — Billy moves around the ring and throws sharp combos whenever he stops, landing some good left hooks and does some good body work. Arguello stalks but is off target when he does throw.

Round 2: Costello 10-9 — Costello with more of the same, mixing in a sneaky left uppercut and also jabbing well. He stops along the ropes for no reason too often, and Alexis does some good work in one flurry, but that’s about it.

Round 3: Costello 10-9 — Costello is too quick and his punches all have snap. He lands solid rights and left hooks, mixing in the jab and more body work.

Round 4: They throw rights at the same time and Arguello’s savagely correct arrow lands first and flush. Costello falls in a heap along the ropes. He beats the count but Alexis swarms over him and it’s clear Billy isn’t all there. Referee Mills Lane stops it at the 1:42 mark with Costello on wobbly legs and completely out of it for a TKO.

Official scoring is 30-27 across the board, same as my card. It would be impossible to score it any differently.

Arguello would retire until 1994 and go 1-1 in a brief comeback before hanging up the gloves for good.

Costello would come back in 1992 and go 8-0 (5) before hanging them up, taking a split decision over Juan Laporte at middleweight (!!!) on the Larry Holmes-Bonecrusher Smith undercard in his final bout in 1999.

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I believe it was after this fight that they found a heart murmur on Arguello which prompted his retirement at this time.

 

I think if Costello was really in tip-top shape he probably stops Arguello late. He didn’t really take any punishment until the big punch but he set himself up for it by constantly stopping along the ropes for a break … when he was skipping around, stopping to unload a combo and then stepping out he was dominating and it wasn’t pitty-pat stuff either.

 

Tim Witherspoon (c) vs. Pinklon Thomas, scheduled for 12 rounds on July 8, 1984, at Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for the WBC heavyweight championship.

Witherspoon, 18-1 (12), is making the first defense of the title he won via majority decision over Greg Page by majority decision. He has won three in a row since his unsuccessful challenge of Larry Holmes.

Thomas, 24-0-1 (20), is ranked third and over the last two years has gone 5-0-1 with a draw against Gerrie Coetzee and wins over the likes of Quick Tillis, Alfonzo Ratliff and Michael Greer in that span.

Thomas weighs 216, Spoon 217.

Round 1: Thomas 10-9 — He edges it with a late flurry that includes jabs and hooks.

Round 2: Thomas 10-9 — Pink’s jab really starts to find its mark.

Round 3: Witherspoon 10-9 —- Close but Witherspoon is busier on the inside.

Round 4: Thomas 10-9 — That jab.

Round 5: Thomas 10-8 — More of that jab (point deducted from Witherspoon for repeated back-handing)

Round 6: Thomas 10-9 — Thomas steps it up and really works Terrible Tim over.

Round 7: Thomas 10-9 — Best round of the fight with some sizzling exchanges, but Thomas finishes stronger.

Round 8: Thomas 10-9 — Witherspoon gets thumbed and Thomas pours it on pretty well.

Round 9: Witherspoon 10-9 — Tim finally finds something that works as he begins to use lateral movement nad box from the outside.

Round 10: Witherspoon 10-9 — Spoon keeps it up.

Round 11: Thomas 10-9 — Witherspoon fades and Thomas gets the jab back on track.

Round 12: Thomas 10-9 — Closes the show as Witherspoon seems content to just get to the final bell.

My scorecard: Thomas 117-110

Official scoring: 115-112, 116-112 and 114-144, majority decision for Thomas.

Not the easiest fight to score and I could see someone having it closer (but not even). Pinklon tended to work the full three minutes while Witherspoon would have success in spurts. And Thomas almost always finished the rounds stronger, giving him the edge on my card in rounds that were otherwise pretty close or even.

It’s worth a watch just to see that sublime jab in all its glory as this is one of Pinklon’s best performances.

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Pat, I did this one awhile back. Some close ones here. Here is how I had it:

Round 1: 10-9 Witherspoon
Round 2: 10-10 Even
Round 3: 10-9 Thomas
Round 4: 10-10 Even
Round 5: 10-8 Thomas (Point deducted from TW for repeated backhands)
Round 6: 10-9 Thomas
Round 7: 10-9 Thomas
Round 8: 10-9 Witherspoon
Round 9: 10-9 Witherspoon
Round 10: 10-9 Thomas
Round 11: 10-10 Even
Round 12: 10-9 Thomas

Total: 117-113 Thomas

Those first 4 rounds were very close and those haymakers of Witherspoon could change the complexion of a fight depending on what a judge is looking for.

 

Pat, you can't go wrong with a Frank Fletcher fight. Just watched it and I don't believe I ever saw this. Don't know why but better late than never. I had it the same as you. 3-0 going into the 4th on the NJ rounds basis. Lee just seemed too passive in this one and once he embraced the ropes he didn't seem to want to change his gameplan. And that was suicide against Fletcher. Still in all, I enjoyed seeing these two in action again. Good rumble. BTW, have you seen Fletcher against Clint Jackson? Outstanding fight.

 

You are right — dial up a random Frank Fletcher fight and you’re guaranteed to be entertained. I’m pretty sure I watched the Fletcher-Lee fight live back in the day but didn’t remember it (I watched ESPN boxing religiously and loved their tournament).

I have seen Fletcher-Jackson. Someone started a thread a while back about best southpaw vs. southpaw fights and it was the one that immediately came to mind. Need to watch that one again sometime. What a war!