the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Leo Randolph v Sergio Palma (super bantamweight title)

Aww, man, this bummed me out. It only went 5 and the film is missing the 4th. What a load of crap. It was crazy while it lasted. Randolph was hurt within the first 30 seconds and took a lacing in the first 2 rounds. I would have given Palma a 10-8 round without the 2 knockdowns in the first, so you could have logically scored the 1st a 10-7 or 10-6 depending on your preference. The 2nd round I scored 10-8 for Palma due to the battering he administered without a knockdown. I would also have stopped the fight that round if I was in the Randolph corner. But unbelievably, whether his head had cleared sufficiently or Palma was arm weary, or both. Randolph came back to have a brilliant 3rd round. In the 5th, Palma caught Leo again, dropped and stopped him. But missing that 4th bugged me. I see the second fight between Palma and Leo Cruz is out there. I saw it live back in the day and I remember it being a good fight, so I'll check that one out. Here's hoping no missing rounds.

 

Some collectors omit rounds in ‘rare’ or ‘hard to find’ (even when they sell copies of fights) — one guy even used to omit a round and then dub one of the other rounds over it in its place (like you’d have round 12, 13, 13 and 15 with no 14). It’s a bad practice. If you’re not going to put the whole fight out there don’t put it out there at all … but don’t alter it.

 

Couldn’t agree more, Pat.

 

Crazy fight and I agree that the first is a 10-8 without the knockdowns, Scar, so with the knockdowns it’s a 10-6 and round 2 is a 10-8 as well.

This fight would have been stopped today in the first and I’m not even sure if it would have made it to the first knockdown. This is pre-Mancini-Kim, I think, so the ref was I think extremely generous to Randolph for allowing it to go into the third. But, my goodness, Randolph boxed amazingly well to take that round!

Would have been very interesting to see if it was more of the same in the 4th or not. But he was definitely out on his feet in the 5th when the ref waved it off.

Crazy, short fight and a great recommendation.

 

Standards change over time. Moore-Durelle would have been stopped too, and we would have missed out on one of the great fights and great comebacks of all time.

 

Of course. I think even for the time, the ref was generous to Randolph, probably because the fight was in Washington and it was a world title fight. He gave Randolph every chance to survive, that’s for sure.

It was Randolph’s last fight, unfortunately.

Sad to see that Palma passed away last year from COVID.

 

Sad news on Palma.

Leo said after the fight that he didn’t have the killer instinct to continue in professional boxing.

In fact he never wanted to turn pro after winning his Olympic medal but was lured by the chance to make good money. Harold Smith, who embezzled more than $20M from Wells Fargo to bankroll his promotion, had funded him as an amateur (with that funny money) and promoted much of his pro career, including his title bouts.

So Leo got in the pro game, won a world title, made several hundred thousand dollars and got out, unfortunately taking that one beating.

He went to work for the public transit authority in Seattle and is a supervisor today, from what I understand.

I’d call it a successful career. Better to get in, get yours and get out than end up like so many.

 

Always enjoy your knowledgeable posts, Pat.

 

Thanks pal. I always liked Leo. Classy guy. Nothing but respect for what he did as an amateur and a pro — he proved more in defeat after taking that beating and getting back in the fight than most fighters ever prove in their entire careers.

 

Gilberto Roman v Santos Laciar 1

The first 8 rounds were super tight and neither fighter gained a clear advantage for more than a round but I felt Roman stepped up a level from round 9 and simply outslicked Laciar. No doubt in my mind that Roman rightly held onto his title in this one, even if he wasn’t awarded outright victory.

1 9-10 (close and cagey)
2 10-9 (close again)
3 10-9
4 9-10 (Laciar landing the left hook well)
5 10-10
6 10-9 (not much in any of these rounds)
7 9-10 (Laciar landed the more effective punches)
8 10-10
9 10-9 (super slick boxing from Roman)
10 10-9 (for the first time in the fight, I feel one fighter has started to take some measure of control and it’s Roman - he’s winning the inside battle as well as the outside now. Just that bit slicker than Laciar at the moment)
11 10-9 (Roman spoiling a lot of Laciar’s attacks and the rushes from the Argentine seem a little desperate)
12 10-9 (Roman finishes the fight dancing around Laciar. He thinks he’s won and I do too.)

Roman 117-113 Laciar

 

Saul Alvarez vs Gennady Golovkin 1

When I first watched their fights I had Golovkin winning the first fight 115-113 and I had the second fight 114-114. I don't keep scorecards or anything like that so I do not know how I scored individual rounds. What I do know is that I was not outraged by either of the actual decisions, a draw and MD Alvarez. I found this forum six months ago and I have been really surprised that so many people are so convinced that Triple G was robbed in both fights. I had not heard that said very often.

Time to watch fight one again.

Round 1 - 10-9 - Alvarez (Close) - Golovkin jabs his was to an early lead but the harder punches of Canelo eventually take the round.
Round 2 - 10-9 - Alvarez - Alvarez lands power shot counterpunches following missed GGG jabs
Round 3 - 10-9 - Golovkin (Close) - Golovkin starting to warm up and chase Canelo down.
Round 4 - 10-9 - Golovkin - Alvarez much less active. Easy round for Triple G
Round 5 - 10-9 - Golovkin - Golovkin shook Alvarez with a punch along the ropes and won the round with his aggression.
Round 6 - 10-9 - Golovkin (Close) - Definitely a quality/quantity round. Canelo landed better punches but I'll go with Triple G's activity level.
Round 7 - 10-9 - Golovkin - Good back and forth round. I believe Gennady was a bit more effective
Round 8 - 10-9 - Golovkin - GGG much busier and more active
Round 9 - 10-9 - Golovkin - Very competitive round. Alvarez nailed Golovkin with some good shots but not much else.
Round 10 - 10-9 - Alvarez - Unlike round 6, this time Alvarez' quality, especially in the first minute, outdid GGG's quantity.
Round 11 - 10-9 - Alvarez (Close) Tough round to score, I want to score if for the always moving forward Golovkin but I just thought Alvarez nipped the round.
Round 12 - 10-9 - Alvarez - Easily Alvarez' best round of the fight

My score 115-113 Golovkin. Actual scores 115-113 Golovkin, 118-110 Alvarez and 114-114. The fight is a draw

Although I scored the fight the same as when I saw the fight live, I doubt that I scored all of the rounds the same. While Adelaide Byrd's 118-110 score for Alvarez is one of the most egregious scorecards in recent memory I still don't see where the final result of a draw was a robbery.

 

The last on my Sergio Palma kick. Today we have.....

Sergio Palma v Leo Cruz II (super bantamweight title)

Round 1: 10-10 Even
Round 2: 10-9 Cruz
Round 3: 10-9 Palma
Round 4: 10-9 Cruz
Round 5: 10-10 Even
Round 6: 10-9 Cruz
Round 7: 10-9 Cruz
Round 8: 10-9 Palma
Round 9: 10-9 Palma
Round 10: 10-9 Cruz
Round 11: 10-9 Cruz
Round 12: 10-9 Cruz
Round 13: 10-9 Cruz
Round 14: 10-9 Cruz
Round 15: 10-9 Palma

Total: 146-141 Cruz (actual scores: 149-140, 146-143 and 147-144 all for Cruz)

I didn't feel confident picking the winner of a round until the 6th round. Those first 5 were so tight. This fight was just like I remembered it, fought at a break neck speed. They just never took their foot off the gas. I will say I enjoyed Palma-Cardona II as much or maybe a little better, which is amazing. As for Cruz, you have to see his fight with Loris Stecca. These were some tremendous fights.

 

The other day I watched Jose Napoles W15 Clyde Gray. It was a vintage Napoles performance, featuring his almost patented "shuffle forward, feint, jab, counter" technique. Just beautiful to watch.

I gave Gray only the 2nd, 9th and 15th rounds, a pretty convincing victory for Napoles against a quality technical fighter. Gray showed courage and grit, but just couldn't offset Napoles' incremental aggression. Napoles got to the point where after countering Gray's counters he would stalk a bit and methodically chop at him in bits here and there. As always, Jose was economical with his right, using the left as his calling card. Gray couldn't box and move well enough and didn't have the firepower to discourage the champion so it degraded into a simple effort to survive.

Good display and emblematic of the toolkit Napoles brought to bear in so many other efforts.

 

Sal, I enjoyed this fight too. This is how I had it and what I wrote when I scored it a while back:

This fight was fought at such a high-level of skill with jabs, combos, body-work, etc. that the fight went really quick for me. Although it did bog down in the 12th and 13th when the fighters appeared to take some time off work to gain a second wind. Anyways, here we go, 5 point must system in effect.

Jose Napoles v Clyde Gray

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

Total 71-64 Napoles

They tried this deal during the fight of flashing the scorecards to the audience and Cosell relayed it on the vid. Out of the 3 judges (70-67, 71-67 and 71-65) I had it the widest for Napoles, so I can't fault judge Tony Canzano too much. But not to detract from Gray's performance, he was an excellent fighter and very underrated in the history of 147. He could do it all, just not as well as Napoles could.

 

I saw this fight recommended somewhere and thought I would check it out. Don't recall if I ever saw it before, so clearly it didn't leave an indelible mark on me, but it had some moments of drama. Anyways, here we go.

Frans Botha v Clifford Etienne

Round 1: 10-10 Even
Round 2: 10-9 Etienne
Round 3: 10-9 Botha
Round 4: 10-9 Etienne
Round 5: 10-8 Botha (scores a knockdown)
Round 6: 10-8 Botha (scores a knockdown)
Round 7: 10-9 Etienne
Round 8: 10-9 Etienne (crazy stuff after the bell)
Round 9: 10-9 Botha
Round 10: 10-10 Even

Total: 96-94 Botha (actual scores: 95-93 Botha and 2 scores of 94-94 for a majority Draw)

I must admit to chuckling at Etienne's corner instructions twice during this contest. After round 1 his corner told him to show him your boxing skills. And after the 5th instructing him to bob and weave. I was staring at the screen mumbling to myself, "He's a bruiser, what are they talking about boxing skills and bobbing and weaving?" Unless he showed it in the gym I have no idea what they were on about. Anyways, this is not a fight I would recommend. It was a bit of a mauling affair with these two and the end of the 8th produced the most controversy. Clearly the referee Elmo Adolph didn't hear the bell and neither did Etienne. Botha must have because he dropped his hands and was hit about 3 times after the bell. He looked like he was doing a bit of acting with how serious hurt he was but the ref gave him a 2 minute rest while pandemonium reigned outside and inside the ring. And then after the fight the ref was grilled by the ever-annoying Jim Gray and that went t*t for tat. If you want to see this for some drama, I say go for it, but the fight itself was a bit of a mauling affair.