the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Julio Cesar Martinez MD12 Samuel Carmona

Carmona, 8-0, kind of fascinating, takes a tilt at Julio Cesar Martinez who is steppiing back into 112 after that weird asswhipping Gonzalez gave him at 115 (supposedly). This win took Martinez to 19-2 and put him right back into the divisional mix with Sunny Edwards and Artem Dalakiam.

I always feel like Martinez looks tiny in the ring, so wee, and Carmona is not a huge fly, but still, he looks small. He's also got the most fun uppercuts in all of the sport right now and he looks to use them, his left-uppercut off the left-hook is legit beautiful, tight, torque, swift, but he's outpaced by Carmona who doesn't react to the right handed uppercut feint of Martinez but scores with a gorgeous, whipping right hand straight. The battle lines are drawn here, this is shaping up great.

This is a pretty fight. Martinez is the deftest switch hitter going I think, it almost looks like he's still fighting orthodox then you realise that on the step he has switched and has just thrown the riskiest punch in the southpaw lexon, the lead trailing hand to the body, and it lands too, then he steps out of that punch into orthodox. Shameless, beautiful. Carmona steps right off him though and lands most of a 1-2. He also lands the best punch of the fight, a stiff-right-hand off lateral movement that seizes Martinez for a second. What a great fight, Carmona's orthodox punching behind control of range and angles against Martinez's unorthodox aggression. "Boxing is dead."

Martinez hurts Carmona early to the body in the third after a wild miss, a double shot, both good blows, and Carmona goes on the run. I hoep this is just round-changing and not fight-changing, a disappointing lapse in discipline there. Nope, he surrunders the third, but he is back in a big way in the fourth, delightful two-piece to take control of the round. Martinez smokes his way to the round though, this is great. Carmona will want the fifth bigtime given his strategy. And he gets it, glorious left-handed comeback, this really is a jab-activating fight for Carmona who uses athleticism and blah blah to win fights, but here he is a jabbing machine, relatively. Huge learning fight for him and he learns on the job jabbing his way to the fifth. Martinez sweeps him up in the sixth though, I have it split.

It bothers me how slow Carmona's corner is in producing the stool. It also bothers me when after an admittedly one-sided seventh the referee informs Carmona "you can't run all night." **** you, yes he can. Also, he only ran for the round. Some speculation in the woeful commentary that Carmona might have hurt his right hand. He only threw one all round, but he's told his corner it's ok apaprently so I guess he just got swept up in six and is feeling it. Shame if this pats out into a one-sided fight.

It did a bit. Whatever happened with Carmona's right: he may have won this fight if he had the right hand. This is a shame - it was genuinely thrilling through six.

Martinez:3,4,6,7,8,9,10,11.
Carmona:1,2,5,12.

8-4 Martinez.

 

David Jimenez MD12 Ricardo Rafael Sandoval

Two punchers here. Sandoval looks weird, all the way out over that left leg, sometimes he looks like his right is the further extended punch. He outspeeds Jimenez here, it will be interesting to see if Jimenez adjusts in the second...he doesn't, and looks befuddled to me. Third though, blockbuster, Jimenez makes himself small and becomes very aggressive, keeping his stance tight, moving in and betting on himself to land accurate shots, often beginning with a bodyshot. Sandoval blazes back for a good round.

Great fourth round, love it, Wonderful round, battle of the jabs, battle of the bodyshots, Jimenez shades it but combat. Jimenez cries uncle in the fifth so far as dropping his guard goes - he doesn't like the bodyshots. But he fights such a close round with Sandoval, it's even basically, but Jimenez makes a seriou smistake switching to southpaw and Sandoval lashes him back to the ropes. So based upon that tactical blunder i give it to Sandoval. Sixth is close, Jimenez looking to hodl on a bit in this round, but you can see how important it is to both these guys. This is a really big fight, Sandoval would have moved probably to 1 or 2 in the world with the win here, Jimenez is stepping up for the first time. 4-2 Sandoval after 6. I will say though, Jimenez is finishing close rounds stronger. Could easily be 4-2 the other way.

Disaster for Jimenez! He's been warned twice for holding and the referee takes off a good point. So he closes the gap but he doesn't. Sandoval takes the eighth with eye-watering bodyshots and a cream straight-left. Sandoval has six rounds in the bag after nine and Jimenez's corner are telling him combos, you'll lose the decision. He for sure needs something big. He wins the tenth on pure aggression and then in the eleventh, he gets that something big. I understand how it happened. Jimenez was putting everything on his punches but Sandoval hit him to the body a couple of times and Jimenez was on his bike a bit and looked a little like he was ready to surrender the round. But he was winging in these tight right hands too high, missing or glancing but one went righ through the top of his man's head. Sandoval was flashed, 10-8 round. I now have JImenez needing the 12th to draw. And he gets it, outworking Sandoval in exactly his fight, a messy, raucous, disorgansied punch up. Jimenez is better than that makes him sound, but the fight he needed he finally got, and deserved. Not sure he deserved the Majority deciion (114-112 twice, 113-113) but it's no robbery.


Jimenez:3,4,7^,10,11*,12.
Sandoval:1,2,5,6,8,9.

^Jimenez point off for holding.
*Sandoval down

113-113

 

Rey Vargas SD12 Mark Magsayo

Top featherweights clash for an alphabet belt in a close one, Bernstein vs Roach too. Battle lines are very clear here: Magsayo the reach, Vargas trying to cut it off, get inside, work when he gets there becasue he's probably going to lose the ranged war. It's tetchy, bitty, technically uncertain both fo them at the moment, but I think I like Magsayo better this round as they both load up. Left hook the heart the most memorable punch. Second round follows the same pattern, but Vargas is going back though, and it does make a difference, even with just the landing of meaningful punches. I have no idea why Vargas is so insistent of leading with the hook - he could do so much damage with a good left-handed jab, it makes no sense the approach he has right now. Fight is yet to lift off and Vargas is yet to find his way, probably not a coincidence. He does land two right hands right on the bell though that do enough to poach a scrapy round. He gets hold of the distance in round 4 without the jab, and probably edges it but it's in the last minute when Vargas tags Magsayo with three jabs consecutively that he relay looks in control. He needs to jab. He doesn't, really, in the fifth, inexplicable, but he does kind of hold the distance regardless - but Magsayo nicks the round for me with a bodypunch mid-round and a right hand as the round winds down. Decent action but still not a great fight.

The sixth is better. Vargas showed interest in the body in the fifth and he doubles down here with left hooks to the body, Magsayo does not like it (does anyone?). I think Vargas might just have taken it away from Magsayo. Vargas is bleeding from his left eye though - let's see how that affects things...yeah none, Vargas is running away with things here, and given that I had one and two very close, it would be reasonable to have him unreachable on points without the knockdown. Bernstein winning the theoretical argument at the moment! The great man calls for the jab though. The cut looks like a clash of heads on the replay.

Important KD for Magsayo in the ninth! Vargas looks uncomfortable early after a seeming rabbit punhc, Vargas seeking a big right, Vargas jabs but gets hit by the right, Vargas lands back, Magsayo is absolutely winging with the left hook but it's a much shorter right that drops his man. Vargas looks mostly unhurt, but Magsayo's follow up is ludicrous, falling in, winging, getting hit. Missed chance i'm afraid.

Now - a messy tenth and Vargas does ok, probably lands some of the better stuff but he is all over the place and twice goes down when punches go in and the referee rules slips. I think they were slips, but they easily could have been called an maybe should have been - punches did go in. Bernstein looks horrified

The second half of the fight was better than the first. I'm not sure about the split - had it 8-4 and there was a knockdown.

Vargas:3,4,6,7,8,10,11,12.
Magsayo:1,2,5,9*.

Vargas down in round 9.

115-112 Vargas.

 

Mark Magsayo MD12 Gary Russell

Another big size difference, this time in favour Magsayo though, he looks huge. Really landed a couple of decen punches in this round, and Russell looks unsure, he's been hit hard despite taking control early with his southpaw jab. Wow, straight right to the head, uppercut to the body to open the second toopen the round, Magsayo is smoking. Even outjabs Russell briefly at the ropes. He's staying limber and relaxed at distance, seeing how Russell wants to cross or suddenly closing the distance with one or two punches. Russell isn't sure yet, he doesn't like the sudden attacks. He's been inactive for quite a while: what a ****ing nightmare to run into for your first fight back. Magsayo wins the second out of site. This is mad, he opens the third with a lead left hook to the body, the riskiest punch against a southpaw, and no problems. This is looking pretty onesided. The judges scorecards are so close, i'm wondering when the wrinkle comes, and how.

Russell appears to hurt his shoulder in the fourth - it was like he got punched on it though, i'll need to see a replay, but he hasn't thrown a punch with that arm since. Weirdly, he has a really good round, just winging in that left. He has sort of had no workable plan, I feel, maybe the injury has given him some much needed direction. Yeah, the injury was caused by a punch, he was puncehd on the shoulder and now he's one-handed, brutal. Yes, he is doing well though It's mad, Magsayo is walking onto the left hand like it's a lottery win Two-armed Russell was getitng dominated, one-armed Russell is a genius. Magsayo overreached a bit in the fourth and got punished, he got excited about Gary's injury and got taxed. Now he's weirdly pensive but isn't really jabbing.

Man, I took a peak at the punchstats, Russell throws zero jabs from 5-12. Eight though, is a left-handed clinic I like Magsayo but I find myself rooting for Russell. The first minute of the ninth is straight-up matador-bull as I have ever seen in the ring. The opening 30 seconds is hilarious; and Russell wins it, and the round. Magsayo catches up to him a bit in 10 and 11 though, can maybe feel it slipping.

Gary Russell's injury may be the worst thing that's ever happened to Magsayo post-injury I have him winning! Overlal though, 57-5 Magsayo.

Fascinating.

Magsayo:1,2,3,6,7,10,11.
Russell:4,5,8,9,12.

115-113 Magsayo.