the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

It’s not a long fight and is definitely worth watching. Love that post-Hagler era of middleweights.

 

A fight I was looking for but couldn't find was the 1991 bout between the still viable Michael Olajide and Ralph Moncrief. I couldn't believe the result when I heard it at the time that Olajide got stopped. The main reason was that the trial horse Moncrief was 40 years old at the time. Really want to see that one and to tell you the truth, I had never seen Moncrief fight although I always knew of him as an Ernie Singletary-type. The guy that was going to come in and give your local hotshot a good fight for 10 rounds but ultimately lose to the local. Anyways, I saw his fight with James Kinchen was out there and thought I would give it a look see.

James Kinchen v Ralph Moncrief (NJ rounds scoring)

Round 1: Even
Round 2: Kinchen
Round 3: Kinchen
Round 4: Moncrief
Round 5: Even
Round 6: Kinchen
Round 7: Moncrief
Round 8: Moncrief
Round 9: Kinchen
Round 10: Kinchen (scores a knockdown)

Total: 5-3-2 Kinchen (actual scores 6-3-1, 7-2-1 and 5-5. The last score by referee Vinnie Rainone is where supplemental points come in to play. You can't use them unless you have an even card. Having an even card Rainone was able to employ them and he had Kinchen ahead 45-43 on points - I'm not familiar enough with the system to know how he came to that conclusion.)

To be perfectly honest, the 9th and 10th rounds were the only two rounds I felt comfortable saying someone won that round. This was t*t-for-tat boxing and very hard to score. Indeed, Tim Ryan at ringside had Moncrief ahead 5-4-1 at the end. Ralph Moncrief was just a handful for anyone with a very busy style. Gil Clancy at the mic said he didn't like Moncrief's wide stance. That it took away from setting his feet for power. But I tell ya, I saw it as a primary weapon because it gave him the range to keep that hard jab constantly in the opponent's face, which had Kinchen reaching throughout. I think if I watched it again, my score would be completely different. That's how tight these rounds were (to me anyway). But a good, hard 10 rounder. We're really missing a Ralph Moncrief today. The kind of guy that could spring an upset on guys like Olajide, Bruce McIntire, Gert Steyn, Ernie Singletary, Jim McDonald and Leroy Green when he wasn't supposed to.

 

You mention Singletary and I think he was in the same mold as Moncrief in being on the edge of world class — always a handful and good enough to surprise. I believe he and Ralph split a pair of decisions, right?

I’m pretty certain that at some point Singletary’s manager took out what amounted to a classified ad in one of the boxing mags — IIRC it was Hank Kaplan’s International Boxing Digest — challenging to fight any contender anytime anywhere.

That led to a real upgrade in competition where he fought a series of top guys starting with Alan Minter, losing most of those but showing up ready willing and able every time. Wish we had more guys like that today, as you said.

 

Man, I know what you mean. It's like they were all in the Ralph 'Tiger' Jones mold where if you came in complacent or out of shape you were in for either a long night or an explanation to your promoter on why you were on your back looking up at the ring lights.

 

D, I penciled this one in when you wrote this and I'm finally getting to it. Never saw it before and I must say with the controversy that has surrounded this for the last 1/2 century it was overdue. I gotta say it was very competitive and very close and it could have gone either way. I scored it on the British scoring system of 5 points to the winner of a round to 4 3/4 for the loser, which was employed in this fight.

Henry Cooper v Joe Bugner (British, Commonwealth and European titles)

Round 1: Cooper
Round 2: Bugner
Round 3: Cooper
Round 4: Bugner
Round 5: Cooper
Round 6: Even
Round 7: Even
Round 8: Bugner
Round 9: Bugner
Round 10: Cooper
Round 11: Even
Round 12: Bugner
Round 13: Cooper
Round 14: Cooper
Round 15: Bugner

Total: 73 1/2 - 73 1/2 Draw (Harry Gibbs score: 73 3/4 - 73 1/2 for Bugner)

To begin, I see nothing wrong with Gibbs score. It was a good, tight fight. Cooper fought as valiant a fight as one could at 36 against a 21 year old over 15 rounds. But I do have an argument with the Bugner camp. Bugner would fire these repeater jabs and fall into a clinch. Only once did I see him follow the jabs with a straight right. I felt Cooper was wide open for them. What were they telling him? Secondly, one could see from Cooper's body language that he was in severe distress from Bugner's body shots. Yet, he only occasionally whacked Henry in the breadbasket. I was yelling at the screen to go to the body. Joe must've been quite the headache to his corner. But aside from my nit-picking, I enjoyed the fight and again, long overdue viewing it.

 

Wifred Benitez v Sugar Ray Leonard (welterweight title)

Round 1: 10-9 Leonard
Round 2: 10-9 Leonard
Round 3: 10-8 Leonard (scores a knockdown)
Round 4: 10-10 Even
Round 5: 10-9 Leonard
Round 6: 10-9 Benitez
Round 7: 10-9 Leonard
Round 8: 10-9 Leonard
Round 9: 10-10 Even
Round 10: 10-9 Benitez
Round 11: 10-9 Leonard
Round 12: 10-9 Benitez
Round 13: 10-9 Leonard
Round 14: 10-9 Leonard
Round 15: Leonard drops and stops Benitez

Total through 14 completed rounds: 137-130 Leonard (actual scores: 137-130, 137-133 and 136-134 all for Leonard)

Despite my eternal feelings that the always-confused Carlos Padilla stopped the bout too quickly, we at least saw one of the most highly skilled tactical fights ever, albeit lacking in real action. The 15th round was the best. Benitez clearly went out there to try and dismember Leonard as the fight had slipped away and we got to see the two really lock horns. Man, I remember this card so well, and on regular TV to boot. Good times.

 

Kell Brook vs Amir Khan

1 Brook
2 Brook
3 Brook
4 Brook
5 Brook
6 Brook wins by TKO

50-45 Brook

Couldn't watch this last night as i was with my girlfriend, so i only just watched it now on replay. That's the trouble sometimes with women.

Anyway joking aside i thought Kell Brook looked very relaxed in the ring, he was able to walk Khan down who for me. Always fights with too much nervous energy and so much wasted motion.

Anytime Brook landed the right hand Khan looked in trouble, i thought the only debatable round was the 2nd. Other than that Brook controlled the fight rocking Khan numerous times through the fight.

I thought the stoppage was a good one although i would of liked a KO. But overall a good performance from Brook. And surely that's the end for Amir Khan.

 

I never saw this fight before, only the highlights that we've all certainly watched - for the novelty of something underhanded taking place. I also looked to see what kind of history there was on this bout on this thread and found absolutely zero. So, remedying this situation now.

Ray Mercer v Jesse Ferguson I

Round 1: 10-10 Even
Round 2: 10-9 Ferguson
Round 3: 10-9 Ferguson
Round 4: 10-9 Ferguson
Round 5: 10-9 Mercer
Round 6: 10-9 Ferguson
Round 7: 10-9 Ferguson
Round 8: 10-9 Ferguson
Round 9: 10-9 Ferguson
Round 10: 10-9 Ferguson

Total: 99-92 Ferguson (actual scores: 99-91, 96-94 and 97-94 all for Jesse Ferguson)

I'm not sure what round Ray Mercer said to Ferguson, "$100,000 if you lay down." But they were jabbering thoughout. I know I saw and heard it on a highlight reel once. But the point of this was that Mercer showed up in poor shape against journeyman Ferguson while next in line to fight Riddick Bowe for the title and he saw his opportunity just fluttering away. I did enjoy the bout immensely just for that because Ferguson really put the hurt on Mercer throughout. Can't tell you how many times I yelled, "Ohhhhhhh!" throughout the fight.

 

Even in the rematch which Mercer was fitter for, i'm not sure he deserved the decision. Although it's been forever since i've watched Ferguson/Mercer 2. Mercer also got a gift vs Marion Wilson, it's crazy to me that Mercer had back to back razor thin close decisions vs 2 journeyman fighters. Then in his next 2 fights gives two of the best Heavyweights of the 90s Holyfield, Lewis, all they can handle.

 

The only thing to say here is the fact that you have a girlfriend and still have time to watch all of these fights is very impressive.

 

Ray Mercer v Jesse Ferguson II

Here is the rematch between 'Merciless' Mercer and the Boogeyman.

Round 1: 10-9 Mercer
Round 2: 10-9 Mercer
Round 3: 10-9 Ferguson
Round 4: 10-9 Mercer
Round 5: 10-10 Even
Round 6: 10-8 Ferguson (Ferguson's round and Mercer lost a point for a low blow)
Round 7: 10-10 Even (best action occurred after the bell)
Round 8: 10-9 Mercer
Round 9: 10-9 Mercer
Round 10: 10-9 Mercer

Total: 97-94 Mercer (actual scores: 95-94 Ferguson and two scores of 96-93 both for Mercer for a split win)

The rematch was no where as good as their first encounter. Ferguson did a sleep walk through much of this fight and looked like he could have done something at anytime during the contest but fought with no zip, only in spurts and it cost him. Mercer, on the other hand, came into this bout at 223 compared to the 238 he came in at in the first bout and was still throwing punches at the end, but nothing extraordinary. At least Mercer took this bout seriously this time. But if you want to see an enjoyable fight, check out their first go-round.

 

Good shout buddy, I watched the fight live , so what with all the comotion wasn't bothered to score it then, did score after some years had gone by, and found it hard to seperate the fighters, only just came out with Bugner winning by a round, as for wanting more aggression form Joe, that pretty much followed him all his career, he was so bloody frustrating to watch, he had all the other tools, highet, strength, size, great chin and stamina, but he just didn't hit his opponents often enough , I often thought if he had a quarter of his stablemate Dave Greens fierceness , he could have been world champ.
True anecdote to this fight, Cooper went to his grave with out ever speaking to Gibbs again. stay safe matey.

 

Miguel Cotto v Shane Mosley

Watched this one courtesy of @UndergroundBoxing’s recommendation and it was a lot of fun. Strange in places, though. Cotto looked to be in control at the halfway point and to his credit, Shane changed up his tactics but then in the 9th, Cotto started backing up and looked like he was hurt and didn’t want to engage. Whether he was winded or something else was bothering him was not clear to me but he fought off the back foot for much of the rest of the fight. He did do it reasonably effectively too but I thought Shane could have gone a bit harder at him, perhaps. I think a Cotto win was a fair result overall but the scoring of some rounds was mighty close and I had a couple of even rounds.

1 10-9
2 9-10 (close)
3 10-10
4 10-9 (close, excellent action)
5 10-9
6 10-9
7 9-10 (Mosley moving more and pot shotting Cotto. Change of tactics and it’s working)
8 10-9 (close)
9 9-10 (good round from Mosley. Cotto backing up, looking a bit gun shy suddenly)
10 10-9 (close, but Cotto edged it)
11 10-10 (good body work from Mosley, good countering from Shane)
12 9-10 (anti climatic final round)

Cotto 116-114 Mosley

 

Muhammad Ali vs George Foreman - Rumble in the Jungle
​

Rounds Won
Ali - 2,3,4,6,7
Foreman - 1,5

Notes
- The first 5 rounds were close (especially 1,2 & 3), but I felt Foreman edged 1&5, while Ali edged 2,3 and clearly won 4,6 & 7.
- Ali wins via KO in the 8th round to regain the championship for a 2nd time after being stripped 7 years ago.

Results
A(68) - (65)F
Winner: Ali KO 8​

My Review
Probably the most historic fight in boxing history. Ali - a man who was seen as past his prime & not the same man he was 7-10 years ago, was a monumental underdog against George Foreman. Ali was given no chance due to two names. Joe Frazier & Ken Norton - the 2 men responsible for handing Ali his first 2 loses. Foreman walked through both with ease. Foreman was expected to do the same with Ali.

However, the now-famous saying "Styles make fights" didn't occur in the minds of many, and so many were in for a shocking revelation come fight night. After a back & forth battle, with Ali taking a fearsome battering (mainly to the body) but still getting the better of the exchanges most of the time - Ali reigned supreme in the 8th Round with a stunning KO out of nowhere. Easily the most memorable fight of both fighters careers.​

 

Man, I watched a fight today that was fought at an incredible pace. Here we go:

Sergio Palma v Ricardo Cardona (super bantamweight title)

Round 1: 10-9 Cardona
Round 2: 10-9 Cardona
Round 3: 10-9 Palma
Round 4: 10-9 Palma
Round 5: 10-9 Palma
Round 6: 10-9 Palma
Round 7: 10-9 Palma
Round 8: 10-10 Even
Round 9: 10-9 Palma
Round 10: 10-9 Cardona
Round 11: 10-9 Palma
Round 12: Palma drops and stops Cardona

Total through 11 completed rounds: 107-103 Palma (actual scores: all 3 officials had it 109-110 for Palma)

Palma was the aggressor and Cardona was the boxer/counter-puncher. Clearly I thought more of Cardona's counter-punches than did the 3 officials. But again, what a good fight. Fought in the pocket throughout the bout. Palma was the harder banger who always succeeded in maneuvering Cardona to the ropes, which Cardona didn't mind. As I said, his counters were flawless but Palma's pressure was paying off. I was a bit surprised at Zack Clayton's stoppage. Felt a bit early to me despite Cardona getting dropped earlier in the round, but maybe he was following Cardona's corner's wishes. All I know is I enjoyed the hell out of this.