the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Howard Davis Jr. W12 Vilomar Fernandez

I saw someone, maybe @AntonioMartin1 , mention this fight as being pretty solid and a couple others chimed in as well. I was hesitant at first, as frankly neither one of these guys was known for having thrilling styles, talented as they might be. All hands here thought it was a pretty good scrap though, so what the hell......

For this to have been a good fight, one of these two were going to have to abandon their natural boxing style to play the foil to the other. As it turns out, they both did, and when one took their turn being the aggressor they did better than when they tried to counter and box.

Fernandez took his turn playing Joe Frazier first, and took the first couple of rounds, even unceremoniously dumping the fragile-chinned Davis on his seat in what had to have been a bit of an embarrassing moment for the Olympian, with his hands down trying to make a pivot move along the ropes. Fernandez is no puncher, but he deposited Davis on his rump and built confidence.

To his credit, that was the moment Davis seemed to understand that he needed to hold his own and start to get a little more flat-footed. He took two of the next three on my card doing that, and despite still taking overhand rights from Fernandez over his low-held hands, Davis began to crawl back into it.

This is part of the maturation process for a fighter; he's going to run into situations where his Plan A doesn't work and he has to get creative and go outside his comfort zone. This was that moment for the 12-0 Davis. He's a little green here and yes, a bit brittle, but you could see him add to his repertoire here in front of your eyes. Invaluable experience, even though he still seemed not quite ready for the Big Time at the end of the 12 rounds, he showed the stuff here against a solid, world-class opponent in Fernandez. Hard thing to score, but here we go:

1. Fernandez
2. Fernandez (10-8)
3. Davis
4. Fernandez
5. Davis
6. Davis (Davis is badly rocked by right hand, but takes the round other than that)
7. Fernandez
8. Davis
9. Davis
10. Fernandez
11. Davis
12. Davis (close, very close)

114-113 Davis. Could eaaily see a similar score in favor of Fernandez.

 

Michael Carbajal v Melchor Cob Castro (vacant lt. flyweight title)

Round 1: 10-10 Even
Round 2: 10-9 Carbajal
Round 3: 10-9 Carbajal
Round 4: 10-9 Carbajal
Round 5: 10-10 Even
Round 6: 10-9 Carbajal
Round 7: 10-9 Carbajal
Round 8: 10-9 Carbajal
Round 9: 10-9 Castro
Round 10: 10-10 Even
Round 11: 10-9 Castro
Round 12: 10-9 Castro

Total: 117-114 Carbajal (actual scores: 115-113, 116-112 and 117-111 all for Carbajal)

Nothing scintillating about this fight. I would regard it as a good, solid sparring session. Many of these rounds were close, but Carbajal was eking out most of them due to power. I think Castro wanted to fight him like Miguel Canto but he was just getting outgunned. It took his cornerman Nacho Beristain to set a fire under his stool to go after Carbajal - which he did - but by that time the fight was gone. Again, not boring, but not a must-see.

 

Sal, scored this about a year ago. Agree with everything you said. It absolutely was a decent contest.

Howard Davis v Vilomar Fernandez (12 round eliminator)

Round 1: 10-9 Fernandez
Round 2: 10-8 Fernandez (scores a knockdown)
Round 3: 10-9 Fernandez
Round 4: 10-9 Fernandez
Round 5: 10-9 Davis
Round 6: 10-9 Fernandez
Round 7: 10-10 Even
Round 8: 10-9 Davis
Round 9: 10-9 Davis
Round 10: 10-9 Davis
Round 11: 10-9 Davis
Round 12: 10-9 Davis

Total: 114-114 Draw (actual scores: 114-113, 115-113 and 118-112 all for Davis)

Can't remember if I ever saw this back in the day but it was well worth seeing after hearing some chatter that Fernandez was robbed. Indeed, this was no rout as Fernandez went on the attack against the fleet-footed Davis and really controlled the first half of the fight before Davis got off his bike and started fighting back in the second half. For two fighters that really never overwhelmed the audience with excitement, it wasn't a bad fight at all.

 

I remember watching it when it happened. CBS, I think?

Good fight. Much more interesting and entertaining than the matchup would suggest based on their styles.

 

Pat, yes it was CBS. The reason I know that is because I remember when the boys came home with their gold medals in '76 and the networks were signing these fighters to long term deals. CBS signed Davis and ABC signed Sugar Ray Leonard. Comically, I thought at the time, "Man, CBS got screwed." I'm pretty sure I used coarser language, but you get the drift.

 

Well, Davis certainly wouldn’t have been anyone’s pick to be the USA gold medalist to not win a world title.

And Leonard waffled a good bit on turning pro, right? He was going to retire from boxing after the Olympics and go to college. So CBS probably picked the most marketable of the American gold medalists available at the time, as he was flashy and personable. IIRC, they also did most of Leon Spinks’ early fights.

 

Gerrie Coetzee v Randy Stephens

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

Total: 97-96 Coetzee (actual scores not known)

Several areas to cover here. First off, thanks to @20thCenturyBox for providing this on his Daily Motion channel. Second, I have no idea what scoring system was used in South Africa at this time or if in fact they even used 3 judges. Looking around a bit i did see on Pierre Fourie's record a few years earlier when he fought Mike Quarry, that 3 scores were rendered, but how you get a score of 67-66 out of a 10-rounder defies any understanding I have of what scoring system was used, so I'm just going to go with a 10 point must here.

As for the fight, it was unexceptional. Coetzee's accuracy was crap and Randy Stephens made Joe Bugner look like a whirling dervish. It's not that he didn't have talent but it seemed like he had a sparring partner mentality. It wasn't until the 7th round that this fight got going and that was because Stephens finally made an effort. I was screaming for him to get stuck in there. Several times Coetzee was on the ropes and he just backed off. He was decent in exchanges, but that was the counter-puncher in him. There was just no attack and it was really calling for him to go after Coetzee. Just my take on it.

 

Coetzee had a curious career.

He cleaned up the thriving South African heavyweight scene of his day, rising to the top over Kallie Knoetze and Mike Schutte, and beat a few American journeymen/gatekeeper types like Stephens, Ibar Arrington and Tom Prater, then iced Leon Spinks in one.

That win vaulted him into the world scene, but he spent a couple of years in win-one/lose-one form, falling short in his biggest fights. From 1981-83 he put together his best run, drawing with Pinklon Thomas and beating Stan Ward in a six-fight undefeated run that culminated with winning a title off of Michael Dokes.

There were two attempts to create a unification fight with Larry Holmes that both fell apart when the money didn’t emerge. then in his first defense he lost to Greg Page (his only fight in 1984) in the fourth minute of a three-minute round. For reasons obscure, no rematch was ordered nor did there seem to be much of an effort to put one together.

He beat James Tillis in his only fight in 1985, then got stopped in a dive-looking loss to Frank Bruno and retired for several years, making a who-cares comeback in the mid 1990s that went nowhere.

 

I cant find a video link to it but I saw Maria Sol Baumstarh vs. Leiryn Flores for the women's South American and WBC Latino junior flyweight titles. It was a certified war. There was a knockdown against Baumstarh in round two which was not counted, and then a double knockdown the same round. Anyways, Baumstarh won by split decision with a 96-93 and a 95-94 for her and a 96-93 against her I agree with the 96-93 against her but it was so competitive, it could have gone either way, Had the knockdown against her in round two counted as it should havebecause it came after a punch, it would have been a draw. The fight was on her home country, Argentina, also, and her opponent is Venezuelan. BUT, as I said, it could have truly gone either way so a split decision or a draw was ok IMO.

I recommend you guys go try to see if you can find it here, or in You Tube, then watch it!

 

Steve Robinson v Duke McKenzie (featherweight title)

Round 1: 10-10 Even
Round 2: 10-9 Robinson
Round 3: 10-9 McKenzie
Round 4: 10-9 Robinson
Round 5: 10-9 Robinson
Round 6: 10-9 Robinson
Round 7: 10-10 Even
Round 8: 10-9 Robinson (scored the round Even, but McKenzie docked a point for continuous holding)
Round 9: Robinson KOs McKenzie

Total through 8 completed rounds: 79-75 Robinson (actual scores: 78-73, 77-74 and 77-75 all for Robinson)

A good old-fashioned domestic squabble with the WBO featherweight title on the line to boot. Not super-exciting but there were some nice exchanges. The only downside was Duke's constant clinching. A tactical move that ultimately cost him a point in the 8th. He actually started the 9th throwing some nice, sharp combos but Robinson's strength had been evident throughout and a hefty body shot took out Duke. Not a must-see, but it did look like there was quite an atmosphere there.

 

Felix Machado v Julio Gamboa (vacant super flyweight title)

Round 1: 10-9 Machado
Round 2: 10-9 Machado
Round 3: 10-10 Even
Round 4: 9-8 Machado (scores a knockdown but loses a point for holding and hitting)
Round 5: 10-9 Machado
Round 6: 10-9 Machado
Round 7: 10-9 Machado
Round 8: 10-9 Machado
Round 9: 10-9 Gamboa
Round 10: 9-9 Even (Machado's round but loses another point for holding and hitting)
Round 11: 10-9 Machado
Round 12: 10-9 Machado

Total: 117-109 Machado (actual scores: 115-114 Machado, 116-111 Gamboa and a 114-114 Even for a Draw)

Even though I felt that eventually Gamboa was going to at least deck Machado, the punch never came. A good fight where I really don't see the closeness of the scoring. I felt I gave Gamboa credit for everything, but while he was winging haymakers, the far busier Machado was firing sizzling combos all night and connecting. I can't give points for just doggedness, but I can for the man that was landing cleanly and often. Again, good fight, which grabbed my interest from the opening bell.

 

Gerry Cooney vs. Jimmy Young, heavyweights scheduled for 10 rounds on May 25, 1980, at the Convention Hall in Atlantic City, NJ.

Cooney is 22-0, weighs 224 and is ranked No. 1 by the WBA and No. 3 by the WBC.

Young, 223, is 25-9-2 and is ranked No. 6 by the WBC. He’s won two in a row, one of which was over once-beaten John L Gardner in the UK.

This was supposed to be the fight where Gerry got tested or at least extended, as Young is a defensive whiz whose only previous stoppage loss was to Earnie Shavers in 1973.

I assume they scored on the rounds system still at this point in Jersey (haven’t been able to find scores) so I’ll use that.

1 — Cooney: Gerry works the body well in spots but has trouble finding Jimmy with head shots. Young mostly seems preoccupied with getting a measure of Cooney and working his defensive magic.

2 — Young: Close round, but Jimmy is the one who does some good body work here and lands a few jabs and an occasional counter to the head.

3 — Cooney: A left uppercut relatively early round causes a major cut over Young’s right eye, ripping open a gaping wound that turns Young’s face into a bloody mess. Jimmy fights back well in spots, especially to the body, but Cooney shows some killer instinct and opens up — Young fends off a lot of the shots but enough gets through to give him the edge.

4 — Cooney: More of the same as Jimmy is a bloody mess. He digs in and lands some decent shots but Cooney smells blood and overwhelms him, working body and getting through enough to the head.

My score: Cooney 3-1. Official scores not available.

Yes, Young is past it but he’s in good shape and came to fight. It’s a shame the cut happened because it’s possible that Jimmy would have taken Cooney into deep water and we’d have seen how he handled it. But Cooney fought well and took advantage of the situation when he busted Jimmy up.

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Competitive fight but I had Zaragoza by 88-82