the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

My take from about a year and a half ago:

Vito Antuofermo (c) vs. Marvin Hagler, 15 rounds for the WBC and WBA middleweight championship on Nov. 30, 1979, at Cesars Palace Sports Pavilion in Las Vegas.

This was a long time coming for me. I originally scored this a draw when it happened but I was a young lad just starting to score fights and while I had seen it since, I never knuckled down and revisited it. Tonight I did.

First, some background:

This was televised in primetime on ABC on a Friday night along with Ray Leonard vs. Wilfred Benitez and Marvin Johnson vs. Victor Galindez — one of the best nights of televised boxing in history, really. What a show!

Antuofermo, 45-3-1 (19), is 26 years old and making the first defense of the title he won from Hugo Corro. His purse is $190K. Hagler, 46-2-1 (38), is 27 and making his first title challenge after winning 20 in a row, 18 by KO.

Both weigh 158 1/2 pounds. Hagler is a 4-1 favorite. He is rated No. 1 by the WBA and No. 2 by the WBC, with Alan Minter rated tops by the latter.

My scoring:

1: Antuofermo 10-9 — He’s the aggressor, lands some body shots and roughhoused Marvin around a good bit. Hagler lands one good left but mostly misses.

2: Hagler 10-9 — Close, Marvin gets his jab on track, lands a few good lefts (he’s mostly southpaw the first two rounds) but Vito closes strong.

3: Even 10-10 — Neither is effective.

4: Hagler 10-9 — Close again but Marvin lands the cleaner punches. He starts switching from orthodox to lefty and does so for the remainder of the fight, although he spends more time southpaw.

5: Antuofermo 10-9 — Vito comes on strong with right leads and is all over Hagler from start to finish. Most decisive round so far.

6: Hagler 10-9 — Marvin controls the distance and lands some really nice combinations against the aggressive swarmer. Vito is cut under his right eye (by fight’s end he will be cut over and under both eyes, six cuts in all that will require 25 stitches).

7: Antuofermo 10-9 — Close but Vito outworks him.

8: Antuofermo 10-9 — Hagler gets on his bicycle but doesn’t land much while Vito gains momentum as he wings punches and lands combinations to the head and body. He’s not pretty but he’s productive.

9: Antuofermo 10-9 — Similar to the eighth but a bit closer. Now Vito is cut under both eyes and over his left.

10: Even 10-10 — Hagler jabbing, Antuofermo mauling.

11: Hagler 10-9 — What a great round. They go to war, brawling for 3 minutes as Hagler decides it’s time to make a stand. Close but Marvin rallies late.

12: Antuofermo 10-9 — And Hagler begins to sag just a bit as Vito comes on strong late to take a close round.

13: Antuofermo 10-9 — Vito with a big round, batters Hagler around just a bit.

14: Hagler 10-9 — Marvin edges it with a big rally but Vito works for 3 minutes. Hagler is cut over his right eye.

15: Hagler 10-9 — Toe to toe, Hagler rips shot and shows some dominance to close the show.

My scorecard: Antuofermo 144-143.

Official scores: 145-141 Hagler, 143-142 Antuofermo, 143-143 even — draw.

The Associated Press had it 143-142 for Antuofermo. The Ring had it 144-141 for Hagler.

The narrative around this fight has shifted over the years. A lot of the initial reaction was ‘so this is the guy everybody’s been calling the best middleweight in the world and uncrowned champion?’ This was expected to be a coronation for Hagler and he never quite stepped up and showed what we would later see him become — maybe he paced himself a bit too much in his first title fight, maybe he was tight being in the limelight for the first time … whatever. The later narrative is that Marvin got robbed (and there was some of that then, but I think it’s way too close no matter how you see it to call it a robbery … to many debatable rounds that could go either way depending on what you like).

Now it’s easy to see Hagler as the winner here — his best work is prettier while Vito is more of a caveman (apologies to Don Lee). If they were artists, Marvin would be a precise sculptor and Antuofermo would be one of those guys who splash paint everywhere to create some kind of messy abstract that you look at and can’t quite figure out if it’s really art or not … but in no way was he dominated.

I had two even rounds. Give them both to Marvin and he wins narrowly. Give them both to Vito and he wins by a close but comfortable margin. Split them and I still have Antuofermo narrowly.

But the real shame here is that it’s forgotten just what a great fight this is with a lot of shifts of momentum and action. Maybe not an all-time epic but one of the better middleweight title scraps in my lifetime and a grueling 15-round affair when those were a thing. It’s Marvin’s toughest fight in his prime, I think, and along with Duran and Mugabi you have to say Antuofermo on this night was his toughest challenge in a title fight — and I’d give Vito the nod over the other two on how close it was.

 

Zhang vs Joyce

Rewatched the fight Had it 48-47 Zhang live giving Joyce round 3 and 5. Upon review I have the fight scored 49-46 Giving round 3 to Zhang this time. The fight was not very entertaining the second time around and I really found myself just underwhelmed by Joyce, horrible defense, strategy and punch technique

I watched it the second time around with my dad whose been watching boxing since the late 60's early 70's and had never seen either Zhang or Joyce or had any knowledge of them heading in. He was not impressed really by either man and was shocked to see Joyce had such a high KO rate with the arm punches he was throwing.

I will say Joyce was coming on more in the fight and it was tough to tell if Zhang was gassing or just understood the situation and was biding his time. He really stopped fighting the back half of round 5 and let Joyce come out strong to start round 6. Zhang did have one strong offensive burst prior to the ref stopping it. I think if Joyce's eye held up he wins the fight down the stretch in a close one because I think Zhang was going to gas out. However, I wont call this a fluke given it was Zhang's power and accuracy combined with Joyce's disregard for defense that caused it. I would like to see a rematch of this fight at some point if politics allow

 

Sugar Ray Leonard vs Roberto Duran I
​

Rounds Won/Even
Leonard - 1,5,6,7,13,14,15
Duran - 2,3,4,8,9,10,11
Even - 12

Notes
- I scored round 12 even. Round 6 was close but I feel Leonard edged it
- I scored the fight a draw.

Results
(L)143-143(D)
Winner: Duran via UD15​

Review
A wild, rough, rugged, scrappy, but spectacular & classic fight between 2 of the best to ever do it in Leonard & Duran. Duran dominated most of the early rounds with his dynamic inside fighting & aggression, & was making Leonard miss a lot, as well as fighting his kind of fight. Leonard was surprisingly flat-footed from the 1st round until the end - never making an attempt to move (like he usually would); ultimately making things easier for Duran. I guess the taunts & mind-games from Duran pre-fight got to him, as well as Angelo Dundee thinking that Leonard could outmuscle the smaller Duran. Duran coasted in the 2nd half of the fight (IMO) allowing Leonard back into the fight to steal some rounds. He briefly hurt (or atleast stunned) Duran in the 5th & 11th (IMO) with some left hooks - but was unable to capitlise on it. The last 3 rounds were the deciding factor on my scorecard. Had Duran just won 1/3 of them, he'd have won by a point of my scorecard. Duran did enough to win the fight, but I don't think he won it decisively & it could have been scored a draw (like I had it) or even potentially a Leonard victory.​

 

I see nothing wrong with this. It was a tough fight and the first time I saw it I had it 8-7 Hagler in rounds, just scraping home with that last round. So perceptions can change in a tough inside fight that Vito was utilizing.

 

Monzon vs Napoles

Entertaining scrap for the first four rounds as Napoles gave it a good shot. However it looked like a lightweight fighting a light heavyweight and Monzon could easily push Jose about. Carlos seems to get some stick for taking 7 rounds to beat Napoles but it seemed like a pretty complete performance from Monzon, gradually sizing his man up before grinding him down. Angelo Dundee blamed a thumb for Jose's cut but even without this I can't have seen him lasting the full 15.

1 - Monzon 9 Napoles 10

2 - Monzon 10 Napoles 9

3 - Monzon 9 Napoles 10

4 - Monzon 9 Napoles 10

5 - Monzon 10 Napoles 9

6 - Monzon 10 Napoles 9

7 - Napoles retires

Monzon 57 Napoles 57

 

Excellent fight and write up!

 

Oh, just to be clear I wasn’t posting it as disagreement with your scoring even though we see the outcome and several rounds differently. It’s not an easy fight to score with most of the rounds competitive and a lot of what-do-you-like-best work — Hagler’s best work is cleaner and ‘prettier,’ while Vito’s is mauling and ‘ugly.’ A true eye-of-the-beholder type fight.

 

Matthew Saad Muhammad vs. Marvin Johnson II

Classic brawl! No much else to add, just watch it!

1 - Muhammad 9 Johnson 10

2 - Muhammad 10 Johnson 9

3 - Muhammad 9 Johnson 10

4 - Muhammad 9 Johnson 10

5 - Muhammad 9 Johnson 10

6 - Muhammad 10 Johnson 9

7 - Muhammad 10 Johnson 9

Final KO 8 Muhammad

Muhammad 66 Johnson 67

 

Everybody better put on their big-boy or big-girl pants before watching this one.

 

Let me just preface this bout by saying, What...a...Fight!

Mike Alvarado v Breidis Prescott

Round 1: 10-9 Prescott
Round 2: 10-9 Prescott
Round 3: 10-9 Prescott
Round 4: 10-9 Prescott (terrific round)
Round 5: 10-9 Alvarado
Round 6: 10-9 Prescott
Round 7: 10-10 Even
Round 8: 10-9 Alvarado
Round 9: 10-9 Prescott
Round 10: Alvarado drops Prescott twice and the ref intervenes.

Total through 9 completed rounds: 88-84 Prescott (actual scores unknown)

Man, I don't know where to begin. Prescott got off to such a dynamic start, throwing such a beautiful array of jabs, hooks and crosses that his victory appeared imminent. Especially after he cut up Alvarado so badly. But Alvarado just kept chiseling away at the tiring Prescott and finally his efforts saw fruition in the 10th. Guys, if you haven't seen this, you need to treat yourselves. Wow!

 

Checked out a couple of Art Frias bouts. Art was never going to make anyone forget the Duran era but he was a good honest pro. Here we go.

Art Frias v Ernesto Espana (lightweight title)

Round 1: 10-9 Espana
Round 2: 10-9 Espana
Round 3: 10-9 Frias
Round 4: 10-9 Espana
Round 5: 10-9 Frias
Round 6: 10-9 Frias
Round 7: 10-9 Frias
Round 8: 10-9 Frias
Round 9: Due to a butt-induced cut suffered by Frias, the bout is stopped and goes to the scorecards

Total through 8 completed rounds: 77-75 Frias (actual scores: 79-76, 79-77 and 80-76 all for Frias on a technical decision)

Man, I remember back in the day a co-worker and I would be watching everything on boxing and we would always have that big discussion on the weekend's events come Monday. We talked endlessly on the lightweights, but when it came to Ernesto Espana we agreed that he was without a doubt the most ungainly fighter we had seen. There was no doubt he could hit but the awkwardness on display was akin to the Cat-in-the-hat wearing gloves. Art was getting beat until the 5th round when he simply went at Ernesto, which negated any leverage the Venezuelan was able to get on his shots. It was still anybody's fight, but unfortunately, an unsatisfying ending with the tech. decision. Something was bound to happen with the heads in this bout.

Art Frias v Ruben Munoz (USBA lightweight title)

Round 1: 10-10 Even
Round 2: 10-9 Frias
Round 3: 10-9 Frias
Round 4: 10-8 Munoz (scores a knockdown)
Round 5: Ref stops contest after Munoz drops Frias and begins a pummeling

Total through 4 completed rounds: 38-38 Even

Frias actually fought one of the better fights I've seen of him here. He was banging on the inside so well, but Munoz had that game changer of a punch. One thing to note was the 5th round knockdown. One of the more dramatic knockdowns you'll see. Munoz nailed Art with a right hand and Art just hung there like a tree momentarily before his descent. I expected more from Munoz after this bout but with this notoriety, his level of comp went up and he wasn't able to match it.

 

Frias was one of those guys who was always worth the price of admission. Always in a war.

His wars with Ray Mancini and Bobby Chacon (imagine the Schoolboy in a knock-down, drag-out haha) are great action fights.

 

Funny you should mention this fight. Only a few days ago I was chatting about Prescott in the gym in connection with Amir Khan and THAT first round KO Prescott dished out to him way back in 2008. I wondered what had happened to BP since, so I checked out boxrec to see how he progressed post Khan. And there I saw Prescott’s first KO defeat of his career was against Mike Alvarado. So I said I’d take a look at it and lo and behold…here it is being scored by you. And after your positive review, I’ll definitely take a look.

 

Vic, you'll love it.