the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Michael Carbajal v Kwang Sun Kim (lt. flyweight title)

Round 1: 10-9 Carbajal
Round 2: 10-10 Even
Round 3: 10-9 Carbajal
Round 4: 10-9 Carbajal
Round 5: 10-9 Kim
Round 6: 10-10 Even
Round 7: Carbajal drops and stops Kim

Total through 6 completed rounds: 59-57 Carbajal (actual scores: 58-56, 59-55 and another 59-55 all with Carbajal leading)

Despite Al Bernstein saying he had Kim ahead, there was obviously no way he was. However, he did put up a tremendous fight and made it very entertaining. The problem here is pushing a fighter into a title fight who was clearly not ready. Despite his long amateur success, he was nowhere ready with a record of 6-1 to fight Carbajal for the title. And get this; it wasn't his first title shot. He had already been stopped by Chiquita Gonzalez after 5 pro fights. I remember the handlers of a title challenger once saying something like, "The idea is not to fight for the title, but to win the title." And this takes experience and preparation. Not shoving your man into a title fight that he's not going to win to make a good purse because you're backed by a country that has money to burn, which is why so many Koreans fought for the title and so many unsuccessfully. And of course, that was it for Kim, retiring with a record of 6-2. I'm on my soapbox here, guys. But enjoy the fight while it lasted. I did.

 

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The score were too wide at the end

 

I don't disagree with the overall sentiment of your post mate, Kim was certainly rushed and sabotaged as a result, but he probably was winning on the cards going into the 11th round against Gonzalez. It's conceivable that his handlers actually thought he had a very good chance at beating Carbajal based on that performance.

 

Carlos Monzon W15 Emile Griffith (2)

I was sitting here having coffee yesterday morning when I read a post from someone referencing this fight, and how they had Griffith winning. I'd read here and there about the somewhat controversial nature of the decision, and decided to finally check it out. I say "finally" because these two are perhaps my least favorite classic fighters to watch. Both great, but very nearly unwatchable, both of them. I hate their styles. So I figured, "this should be fun."

It was as bad as I reckoned it might be. Very nearly as bad was Howard Cosell's constant bitching about how bad it was. If I'm a network exec, I'd have looked into getting rid of him, he was practically begging the audience to turn the channel, going on about the lack of action. But he was right; it was incredibly boring, as only these two can make it.

Monzon does what he does, which is nullify and control pace. He tries to keep the pressing Griffith at the end of his long arms and does so marginally well. Griffith plods after him, initially trying to catch Monzon with his hands down with sweeping left hooks. With his shorter stance and shorter arms and Monzon always leaning back, however, he never catches him.

Griffith tries to shorten the distance in the third by double-jabbing his way in and going to the body, but Monzon discourages him with uppercuts to the midsection and re-establishes command of things. Honestly, I can't see a card for Griffith; to me at least, this was Monzon all the way, Griffith couldn't land much of anything at all and never got untracked. Monzon didn't exactly light it up either, but he was doing almost all the scoring while evading essentially everything Griffith could muster.

Anyway, awful fight. Glad to get it out of the way.

1. Monzon
2. Even
3. Monzon
4. Monzon
5. Monzon
6. Monzon
7. Monzon
8. Griffith
9. Griffith
10. Even
11. Monzon
12. Monzon
13. Monzon
14. Monzon
15. Griffith

147- 140 Monzon

 

Buster Drayton v Matthew Hilton (jr. middleweight title)

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

Total: 146-139 Hilton (actual scores: 146-139, 147-138 and 144-140 all for Hilton)

This fight was haymaker city. Man, they went at it hard. If I was watching this and not knowing the result I would've said that Hilton was going to gas down the stretch and Drayton was going to take him out. But he hung in there, ripping away at Drayton in flurries everytime he caught his wind. Drayton looked like he could have done it in the 14th, but he was as gassed as Hilton and just couldn't put them together. I thought his uppercuts would be the key with this fight but it just didn't pan out for him. Outstanding finish in the 15th in a tremendous brawl.

 

Rewatched Holmes-Weaver I (there was a rematch at the end of Larry’s comeback career). Didn’t score it but looked up my previous scoring and didn’t see anything different.

This is a low-key ATG heavyweight championship fight that seems to be a bit forgotten/overlooked. I can’t recommend it more highly to anyone who hasn’t seen it or hasn’t in a long time.

Happy New Year everyone!

 

Michael Carbajal v Jacob Matlala (lt. flyweight title)

Round 1: 10-9 Carbajal
Round 2: 10-9 Matlala
Round 3: 10-9 Carbajal
Round 4: 10-9 Matlala
Round 5: 10-10 Even
Round 6: 10-9 Matlala
Round 7: 10-10 Even
Round 8: 10-9 Matlala
Round 9: Doctor stops the fight due to the severity of cuts over both of Carbajal's eyes

Total through 8 completed rounds: 78-76 Matlala (actual scores: 76-76 and two scores of 77-75 both for Matlala)

It was strange looking at Matlala. From the neck up he was an Earnie Shavers doppelganger, but putting that head on a light flyweight body seemed so strange. Unlike Shavers there was no one-punch KO power, but he was a real volume puncher this Baby Jake. So many of these rounds were close because, as I mentioned, Baby jake was throwing quite the assortment of shots - far exceeding what Carbajal was throwing. However, Carbajal's shots - fewer that they were - were absolutely deadly, especially to the body. Wouldn't be surprised to see a card going the other way. Carbajal, by this stage of his career was no longer the speedy fighter but now, the type of fighter that was looking to take you out with one shot. And he just met a very resilient opponent who was able to slice him up. A damn good fight.

 

I remember watching this live at the time and being stunned Carbajal lost.

 

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All rounds 10-9 Gomez except the first when he scored a knockdown and the fourth, when he dominated enough. I had it 90-79 going into round 10, total domination.

 

Michael Carbajal v Scotty Olson (some vacant crap lt. flyweight title)

Round 1: 10-9 Carbajal
Round 2: 10-10 Even
Round 3: 10-9 Olson
Round 4: 10-9 Olson
Round 5: 10-9 Carbajal
Round 6: 10-9 Carbajal
Round 7: 10-9 Olson
Round 8: 10-10 Even
Round 9: 10-9 Carbajal
Round 10: Carbajal drops Olson for the count with a left hook to the liver

Total through 9 completed rounds: 87-86 Carbajal

Still on my Carbajal kick and I went for the two amateur rivals. Carbajal fought a subdued fight as he languished on the ropes and I couldn't tell if it was by design or by Olson's pressure. Maybe a bit of both. But while Olson was pounding away at Carbajal, Michael was coherently absorbing a lot on his arms and when he got his opening, would lash out to the body. I think that early work paid dividends. It wasn't winning a lot of rounds but it was depleting the tough Canadian. That final left hook was a beaut with Scotty down for the count gasping in pain.

 

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Fantastic fight! I had it 96-93 Qawi.

In another year, I'd been the FOTY!

 

Loved this fight. This is what I wrote when scoring it:

Dwight Qawi v Eddie Davis (light heavyweight title)

Round 1: 10-8 Qawi (scores a knockdown)
Round 2: 10-9 Qawi
Round 3: 10-9 Davis
Round 4: 10-9 Qawi
Round 5: 10-9 Davis
Round 6: 10-10 Even
Round 7: 10-9 Qawi
Round 8: 10-9 Qawi
Round 9: 10-10 Even
Round 10: 10-9 Qawi
Round 11: Qawi stops Davis

Total through 10 completed rounds: 98-93 Qawi (actual scores: 97-93, 97-92 and 96-92 all for Qawi)

Once you get past the Fright Doctor screaming 'stop the fight!' you really get into it. What a great mesh of styles with Qawi pressing and Davis countering and flurrying off the ropes. Outstanding fight.

 

Those Davis brothers were never an easy night's work. They are the types that would have benefitted from a land of 4 titles and not boxing during a deep division.

 

Several people a page or three back nibbled around the edges of the exciting late 1970s/early 80s 130-pound division, so I figured I’d jump into the deep end with a goody.

Alexis Arguello (c) vs. Rafael “Bazooka” Limon, scheduled for 15 rounds for the WBC super featherweight championship on July 8, 1979 at Madison Square Garden’s Felt Forum in New York City.

Arguello, 27, is 58-5 (50) and making the fifth defense of his title. At 5-10, he weighs 130 on the nose and in post-fight interview admits he had trouble making weight.

Limon, 24, is 43-8-2 (30) and ranked No. 1 by the WBC. He weighs 129 and is 5-7, giving away height and weight.

I’m scoring it on New York’s round system that was in use at the time. All would be 10-9 if using that method.

1. Arguello: Bazooka bombs away with two big lefts in the first 10 or 15 seconds. Alexis settles in and begins sharpshooting with that straight right hand and lands enough jabs to edge it. The biggest thing that happens is a clash of heads that leaves Limon bleeding over his right eye, a problem that will plague him throughout. Referee Tony Perez rules it was from a punch, but video seems to suggest otherwise.

2. Limon: Ninety seconds of nothing then fireworks in the second half of the round. Limon works that left under and over and can’t seem to miss with it. He doesn’t back away from Arguello’s power.

3. Even: What a round. Arguello buckles Bazooka early but Limon storms back and takes command, working Alexis over to the head and body. He’ll throw six to land two and take whatever he has to take to get his in. But then AA hurts him again late. I can see this to Arguello but I saw it as even. Limon’s cut really opens up but he also opens a cut below Arguello’s left eye.

4. Limon: Clubs away with that left, still on target. He also lands a neat right uppercut-overhand left combo.

5. Limon: He can’t miss with the left. Arguello digs in and lands his big stuff. Another clash of heads and Limon looks to the ref to complain … and Alexis, not always the gentleman, clocks him with a right. Bazooka comes right back at him with vigor.

6. Arguello: Pace slows and Arguello lands the cleaner punches.

7. Arguello: Repeat of the fifth, Bazooka retreats more and is wiping the blood away from his eye throughout.

8. Arguello: Limon moves around a lot more, fighting in spurts. He seems ahead until Arguello comes on late in the round, clipping him with a couple big shots before the bell.

9. Limon: Bazooka bombs away with that clubbing left.

10. Arguello: He snipes with that right hand and lands a big hook late. Bazooka really beginning to look like he can’t see with all the blood, which has his lemon-colored trunks a shade of red.

11: Referee Tony Perez steps in to look at the cut and stops it at 1:40.

My card: Arguello 6-5 (one even). Official scores: 6-2, 7-1 and 7-2.

I thought it was much more competitive than the judges. Wonder what the scores would have looked like if they had fought in LA.

Arguello was really right-hand happy in this one, seemingly solely intent on landing one big bomb to end it. He landed a few good hooks but rarely threw it, toyed with body work in a few spots but nothing steady, and really didn’t do much with the jab most of the way.

Trivia note: First Sunday afternoon fight in NYC history, apparently. Boxing on Sundays had been outlawed and that law was finally overturned.

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Geez that Limon. he got hit---and beat to the punch maybe more than any top fighter I ever saw. Beat to the punch usually is a ko or knockdown or badly hurt. Not Limon. And that was against elite fighters getting hit on the button. Can you imagine the trainers of those Limon opponents? They knew their guy was going to land their A#1 right hands on the guy. But the result of that picture perfect impact was not going to deter Bazooka 1 iota. You had better have your fighter in top shape.