the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Jeff Fenech W12 Mario Martinez

This was Fenech's foray after a seven-month layoff due to hand issues following his bruising battle with Villasana, and unfortunately for him, the hands betrayed him again but it was yet another gutty, admirable effort from the Australian.

Martinez, coming off a recent 12th round stoppage loss to Azumah Nelson was a stern test for the naturally smaller Fenech, but truthfully he looked old, tired, and hesitant most of the time, too measured and careful against a whirling dervish like Fenech. It was truly the end of the line for him, though he did show a couple flashes here.

Fenech came out boxing right away, rather than the kamikaze style we saw in earlier efforts at the lighter weights. I at first took this to mean he was simply measuring his bigger opponent and careful not to walk into anything, as Martinez was of course renowned for his power. I started to winder if he hadn't simply busted his hands up again early on and had to once again gut it out as he had against Villasana. I don't know when he broke his hand/hands but when the left glove was taken off after the fight, the camera showed a hand that could have doubled for Mickey Mouse's. It was turned into a maraca, basically.

Save for a momentary lapse of reason in the sixth when he tried to slide off the ropes with his hands down and ate a left hook that put him down, it was more or less his soft flurries (to the body, so as to hurt his hands less) and movement that took the fight home. Gutty performance, if past-prime for both. Fenech would return later to have two high-profile fights against Nelson, being unlucky in one and trashed in the other, finished for good after the rematch, though he had to have the fact hammered home by Grove and Holiday. Martinez would fight a couple more times, but this was his last big outing.

1. Fenech
2. Even
3. Fenech
4. Fenech
5. Fenech
6. Martinez (10-8)
7. Martinez
8. Fenech
9. Fenech
10. Fenech
11. Martinez (Fenech's hands bothering him here, he hardly threw a punch)
12. Fenech

116-112 Fenech.

 

The announcer was rediculous he was clearly a Norton fan bc he was scoring all the close Holmes rounds as even his card had like 8 even rounds on it

 

This is how i scored it when i last watched it, the only real thing i disagree with you on is 15th round. That for me has always been a clear Norton round, Holmes's last flurry in the 10 seconds or so, is not enough for me to take away what Norton did in the first 2:30 of the round IMO.


Larry Holmes vs Ken Norton

1 Holmes
2 Holmes
3 Holmes
4 Holmes
5 Holmes
6 Holmes
7 Norton
8 Norton
9 Holmes
10 Norton
11 Norton
12 Norton
13 Holmes
14 Norton
15 Norton

143-142 Holmes

I always thought this fight was kind of overrated as a close fight, but watching it again years later i'm surprised how close it was.

I don't think you can really argue with the first 6 rounds, Holmes boxed beautifully circling and pot shotting Norton with that famous piston like left and right crosses. Although i think the 5th round was somewhat debatable, but one big right hand from Norton isn't enough for me.

After 6 rounds i had Holmes pitching a shut out, but after that Norton started to get warmed up. And started getting closer to Holmes really piling on the pressure, and Holmes was started to throw the jab less, allowing Norton to land more with his own jab and occasional right hand.

The 9th round is a very debatable round, and i can see how it could be scored for Norton. But for me Holmes had the better portion of the round out jabbing Norton, and even though Norton landed two big right hands in the round. Holmes responded immediately with his own right hands and a nice body shot to boot. So i don't think them two right hands from Norton were enough.

From then on i thought Holmes was looking tired, and i liked the effective aggression from Norton. The 13th round was huge round from Larry Holmes and i think there is an argument, that possibly it could of been scored 10-8 ? maybe that's reaching though.

But after the torrid 13th round for Norton, i thought he responded well and easily won the 14th round.

Then we have the famous 15th round which is considered one of the rounds in Heavyweight history. To me i've never understood people scoring the last round for Holmes. I think it's a clear round for Norton, who out landed Holmes 2 to 1 in that round for 2:30 of the round. Yes Holmes did have a great moment where he staggered Norton in the last 10 seconds, but i never thought that little moment in the round. Was anywhere near enough to steal the round with all the good work Norton done for majority of the round.

Overall the fight is as good as i remember, although some rounds were alot closer than i remember them being. Tomorrow i'd like to score Holmes/Witherspoon again. Because that's another fight i thought was an overrated close fight, but maybe i'll be surprised like i was with Holmes/Norton.

 

Yeah when I first watched it I thought it was a close as could be. This most recent watch I felt like it was a clear win for Holmes. For me it was about how much of each round Holmes was able to control the action and pump that jab in Kenny's face. Norton landed the bigger looking shots, but he spent a lot of time chasing Larry. While that was happening, Larry was scoring and the clock was running.

 

Watched Tommy Hearns vs Fighting Jim Richards

Quick little 3 round stoppage for Hearns. Never seen Jim Richards fight before he seems like a decent crafty fighter, but Hearns at welter was so powerful seemed like just a matter of time.

I looked up Richards on Boxrec and one thing that caught my eye was that he started his pro career (no amateur record on Boxrec if he did box amateurs) doing 10 round fights. Lost his debut, tried again 2 years later but also doing 10 rounders.

Near as I can tell he ONLY fought scheduled 10 rounders his entire career, as he never got a shot at any sort of title. I don't know if I've ever seen that before except for like Lomachenko or other guys who were vaunted amateurs.

 

Have a sneaking suspicion that Fighting Jim (the Richards was added later IIRC, he just went by Fighting Jim for a good while) had a few lost island fights apart from those recorded. No way to know, really.

 

Thanks for recommending this one, D. Terrific scrap! Here’s my write up:

Kevin Kelley v Ricardo Rivera

Kevin Kelley must have thought he’d have a nice little 10 rounder after losing his title a couple of months early in a war to Alejandro Gonzalez so Rivera must have come as quite a shock.

Arturo Gatti gets a lot of the attention as one of the most exciting fighters of the 90s but Kelley, a bit like Boza-Edwards the decade before, is the unsung exciting fighter of his era.

1 10-9 (close)
2 8-10 (top action; Kelley having trouble with Rivera’s height and reach)
3 9-10 (tough round. Kelley fought back well but ended the round bloodied)
4 9-10
5 10-9 (better round for Kelley)
6 8-10 (standing 8 count for Kelley after taking a pasting. Again, fights back well after that.)
7 10-9 (Kelley hurts Rivera for the first time)
8 10-9 (Kelley all over Rivera now)
(74-76)
9 Kelley TKO Rivera
(Rivera goes down from a punch and a push and he’s too exhausted to make it up until it’s a little too late. He’s on unsteady legs and the ref chooses to wave it off)

 

Glad you enjoyed it Kelley is one of my favourite Featherweights, win or lose he was always value for money, and actually gets a bit underrated nowadays.

 

Victor Callejas KO7 Loris Stecca (second fight)

Having recently seen their first encounter, when Callejas was challenging Stecca for the 122-pound title, I realized what a nice meshing of styles these two had, and knew I had to see the rematch.

This one featured the game and aggressive Stecca trying to regain the title in his native Italy, having lost his belt in Callejas' own Puerto Rico. The first round was sensational, both trying to take each other's heads off with every punch. Callejas took it by virtue of his quick, powerful hook, which rocked the challenger.

Stecca was tough and game however, and rallied to take 2,3, and 4 based on his aggression and sharp one-twos that had the champion backing up and even rocking him here and there, to the delight of the partisan crowd. Suddenly, all the momentum was firmly with the Italian.

But he let up slightly in round five, allowing distance and letting Callejas pick his spots and win the round.

Then, late in round six after already flooring Stecca with a short hook, Callejas landed another that lifted Stecca off the floor and deposited him onto his knees, whereupon he fell backward. I thought that it was more a case of Stecca being sort of mid-bounce when the shot landed, but "lifted off the floor" sounds so much cooler. To his immense credit, he climbed to his feet, lucky to hear the bell ring right away. His corner wisely did not let him come out for round seven.

Excellent, excellent, fight. Very much recommended.

1. Callejas
2. Stecca
3. Stecca
4. Stecca
5. Callejas
6. Callejas (10-7)

Stecca is retired between rounds by his corner.

 

Canelo Alvarez vs Mauricio Lara

Round 1: 10-9 Lara
Round 2: 10-9 Lara. Close
Round 3: 10-9 Lara.
Round 4: 10-9 Canelo
Round 5: 10-10
Round 6: 10-9 Lara. Close
Round 7: 10-10
Round 8: 10-9 Canelo. Close.
Round 9: 10-9 Lara. Close
Round 10: 10-9 Lara. Close
Round 11: 10-9 Canelo. Close
Round 12: 10-10.

My Score: 117-114 Lara

Official Scores: 115-113 Lara, 115-113 and 117-111 Canelo for Canelo SD Victory

Lot of close rounds but 117-111 Canelo seems ludicrous.

 

Evander Holyfield vs Lennox Lewis

This 1999 fight was for the IBF, WBA and WBC heavyweight titles

Round 1 - 10-9 Lewis
Round 2 - 10-9 Lewis
Round 3 - 10-9 Holyfield
Round 4 - 10-9 Lewis
Round 5 - 10-9 Lewis
Round 6 - 10-9 Lewis
Round 7 - 10-9 Lewis
Round 8 - 10-9 Lewis
Round 9 - 10-9 Lewis
Round 10 - 10-9 Holyfield
Round 11 - 10-10
Round 12 - 10-9 Lewis

My score - 118-111 Actual scores 115-113 Holyfield, 116-113 Lewis, 115-115 The fight is a draw.

I cannot find a way that this fight was a draw. There were at least seven rounds that Lewis won easily. This was a pretty horrible decision.

 

The rematch, on the other hand, could conceivably be scored a draw. I think I still had Lewis ahead when I watched it originally but only by a point or two.

 

Here's a fight I've never seen and didn't know was out there, although I read about it in-depth at the time. Here we go...

Julio Cesar Chavez v Willy Wise I

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

Total: 100-93 Wise (actual scores: 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93 all for Willy Wise)

At this time the Chavez camp - in association with the WBC, naturally - were trying to secure a title fight for their man against Kostya Tszyu and needed a quick stepping stone fight, so they chose Willy Wise who had lost his last 3 fights. Man, talk about cherry-picking gone wrong. Chavez had no reflexes left, just a punch that he was unable to deliver. Comically though, the WBC didn't let a little thing like a loss interfere with the Tszyu fight. Chavez took out journeyman Buck Smith in his next fight and the title bout was on. Of course Chavez went through a meat-grinder in that fight, which everyone knew he would. But at least the WBC got their favored son his shot and they got their sanctioning fee. So it was win-win as long as you're not counting Willy Wise.

 

Not a fighter I've dwelled on much but checked out a few Zab Judah fights today.

Zab Judah v Jan Bergman (vacant jr. welterweight title)

Round 1: 10-7 Judah (scores 2 knockdowns)
Round 2: 10-8 Bergman (scores a knockdown)
Round 3: 10-9 Bergman
Round 4: Zab drops and stops Bergman

Total through 3 rounds: 27-27 (actual scores: all 3 judges had it 28-26 Judah)

Zab never looked better. He went right after the banger - paid the price in the 2nd - recomposed himself and finished matters in the 4th. Brilliant win and a fun fight.

Zab Judah v Amir Khan (140 lb. title with both fighters holding a portion of it)

This bout was 11 years after the Bergman fight and this seemed to be perfect for Khan and was. Judah, despite some decent stoppages in his career, just wasn't firing the type of guns anymore that would bother a fighter who had a suspect chin like Khan's. Khan was all over him from the start. I gave him every round and in the 5th he nailed Zab with a beltline shot and Zab went down like he was shot, claiming a low blow, despite the punch clearly a good 4 inches from the twins. He appeared to be trying for a DQ. Ignominious way to bow out of a fight.

 

Miguel Cotto v Zab Judah (welterweight title)

Round 1: 10-9 Judah
Round 2: 10-9 Cotto
Round 3: 9-9 Even (Cotto's round but docked a point for a low blow)
Round 4: 10-9 Cotto
Round 5: 10-9 Cotto
Round 6: 10-9 Cotto
Round 7: 10-9 Judah
Round 8: 10-9 Cotto
Round 9: 10-8 Cotto (Judah takes a knee under heavy fire)
Round 10: 10-9 Cotto
Round 11: Cotto drops and stops Judah

Total: 97-91 Cotto (actual scores: all 3 judges also had it 97-91 for Cotto)

Cotto simply too much for Zab. Zab only fights with flashes, but could never sustain anything under the heavy fire of Cotto.