the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

I can’t figure any the scores nor discern any type point system that could have been used to come up with 100-ish points through 14 rounds … it’s roughly an average of 7 points per round to Victor and 6.3 or so for Kates. No 10-point nor 5-point nor rounds system adds up that way. I’m curious and puzzled.

 

Either the judges were extremely biased in their scoring towards Galindez or that scoring system makes absolutely no sense. Possibly both.

 

Was that the first time you’ve ever seen this one, Scar? Such a great fight.

Galindez was extremely fortunate to be allowed to continue but he showed tremendous heart and killer instinct right at v the end. I think I had it a bit tighter than you overall but it was a close fight whichever way you look at it.

I haven’t seen many better light heavyweight title fights than this one.

 

Yes it was. I've seen highlights over the years but every time I sat to watch it, there was some film of poor quality. The one I watched last night was of a better variety. Rarely do we get to see 2 fighters of this quality engaging. A brilliant fight.

 

Daniel Zaragoza v Miguel 'Happy' Lora (bantamweight title)

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

Total: 115-112 Lora (actual scores: 115-110, 118-107 and 116-109 all for Lora)

This bout actually appeared to be a rout through the first 5 rounds, but when it looked like Lora took his foot off the pedal in the 6th, it gave Zaragoza the chance he needed to come back into the fight. I thought Lora would step it up again but never like he did in the first 5 rounds. It appeared that he really gassed himself in those early rounds. I had it closer than most but I won't take the judges to task amid that very vocal pro-Lora crowd. Not because of intimidation but because of an elephant in the room that has been in the back of my mind that finally dislodged itself and came to the forefront. And that is the fact that Zaragoza is a bit difficult to judge at times. The ringside judges may have been noticing this too and that is the fact that Daniel Zaragoza is one of the most inaccurate fighters I have ever seen. It appears he only lands about 25% of everything he throws, which is considerable. But he has an incredible gas tank and heart, which kept him in the fight and made it closer down the stretch on my card anyway.

 

Ken Norton vs. Ron Stander, heavyweights, scheduled for 12 rounds on April 30, 1976, in Landover, Md., on the undercard of Muhammad Ali vs. Jimmy Young.

Norton weighs 224 and is 35-3. Stander scales 229 and is 28-8-2.

Ron is chunky around the middle and game but completely outclassed, basically a toughman club fighter vs. a world-class contender.

I won’t go into the scoring: it’s a whitewash for Ken, with a good argument to be made for a 10-8 round or two just on sheer discrepancy of effective punching in Norton’s favor. Stander wades in and eats uppercuts, body shots and jabs … really anything Ken throws his way. He lands an occasional clubbing shot.

Ron sustains a nasty cut over his left eye in the first round and it’s an issue all the way through. The ref has the doctor look at it at some point but it’s allowed to continue.

Norton does damage but can’t really knock Stander off his ballast despite the volume of heavy, clean shots landed, but the ref finally shows mercy and stops the slaughter at 1:19 of the fifth.

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After checking out Lora v Zaragoza yesterday, went on a bit of a Lora kick this morning. Here are 2 more:

Miguel 'Happy' Lora v Wilfredo Vasquez (bantamweight title)

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

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

About half way through this fight Lora or his corner decided, why make this fight so difficult by fighting Vasquez on the inside. From there on Lora outboxed Wilfredo comfortably from the outside, although he did sustain the most facial damage of the two by fight's end. A good, tactical fight with a few moments of drama throughout.

I saw Lora's fight with Enrique Sanchez was out there and I felt Sanchez was a good, quality opponent, whom I remember from his fight with Davila. So here we go:

Miguel Lora v Enrique Sanchez (bantamweight title)

Round 1: 10-8 Lora (scores a knockdown)
Round 2: 10-10 Even
Round 3: 10-9 Sanchez
Round 4: 10-7 Lora (scores a knockdown and administers a bit of a battering)
Round 5: 10-9 Lora
Round 6: Lora stops Sanchez

Total through 5 completed rounds: 49-44 Lora (actual scores: 49-43, 50-42, 50-44 all for Lora)

This was a fun fight. Again, Sanchez was a quality opponent, which made it all the better. What Lora brings to the table is a beautiful defense, a speedy jab and a sharp, explosive counter-punch. Everytime Sanchez went down or was hurt, it was from a left hook counter. That 4th round was wild. Even though I had it 10-7, Sanchez fought back like a man struggling for breath, which really made it an awesome round, especially with no legs under Sanchez. Again, a really fun fight.

 

Lora was so, so sharp, explosive, and skillful for a sadly short time. It happens to many, but the reasons for his demise are more difficult to pinpoint. He had no major injuries that I know of, he just kind of fell off a cliff. In his prime he reminded me a lot of Wilfredo Gomez at his best.

 

Sal, I know every so often you ask everyone if they have any good fight recommendations for you. Well I have 3 that I recently watched that I think you would get a kick out of. They are:

Pedro Decima v Kiyoshi Hatanyaka (spelling)
Myung Woo Yuh v Benedicto Murillo
And the most recent Miguel Lora v Enrique Sanchez

All 3 really fun fights

 

I've seen the Lora-Sanchez fight, but definitely have my eye out for the Yuh fight. Love that guy.

 

Orlando Fernandez v Jesse Benavides (super bantamweight title)

Round 1: 10-9 Jesse
Round 2: 10-9 Jesse
Round 3: 10-10 Even
Round 4: 10-9 Jesse
Round 5: 10-9 Jesse
Round 6: 10-9 Fernandez
Round 7: 10-9 Fernandez
Round 8: 10-9 Jesse (scored it Even but 1 point deducted from Fernandez for holding)
Round 9: 10-9 Jesse
Round 10: 10-9 Fernandez
Round 11: 10-9 Fernandez
Round 12: 10-10 Even

Total: 116-114 Benavides (actual scores: 118-110, 117-111 and 118-112 all for Benavides)

Clearly I thought more of Fernandez' efforts than the judges. I felt after the first 5 rounds Jesse never really reestablished his boxing dominance again. I felt he was fatigued the remainder of the bout and along with the strong-as-an-ox Fernandez banging his ribs non-stop he was simply dying out there. A very entertaining fight and both fighters showed a heart of a lion.

 

Bobby Chacon vs. Cornelius Boza Edwards II, scheduled for 12 rounds at junior lightweight on May 15, 1983, at Caesar’s Palace Sports Pavilion in Las Vegas.

You could write a book about this one. It’s The Ring’s Fight of the Year and the second such honor in a row for Chacon, who bested Bazooka Limon in 1982’s FotY in his previous outing.

Bobby is the WBC champ and Boza is the No. 1 contender, BUT this is a non-title fight because shenanigans. Chacon has signed a contract with Don King to defend vs. Hector Camacho for $210K, but instead fights his top contender on NBC for $450K (Boza got $110K). A California judge issued an injunction to stop the fight from happening but a same-day appeal in front of a three-judge panel overturned the injunction. The WBC withheld its sanction and ultimately stripped Bobby (who instead got a big payday to fight Ray Mancini at lightweight next time out).

Chacon is 51-6-1 (42) and has won six in a row since losing to Edwards in 1981 when he retired after 13 rounds fighting for this same belt, and won nine of his last 10. Bobby is 31, stands 5-5 1/2 and has a 69-inch reach.

Boza is 38-3 (24) and has won seven in a row and 11 of his last 12. He is 26, stands 5-10 but only holds a three-inch reach advantage.

Both weight 129 3/4. Ring announcer Chuck Hull says they are the “peoples’ champions” during introductions.

This is probably the fight where NBC’s Ferdie Pacheco earned the nickname “The Fright Doctor” for calling for it to be stopped for most of the way because Bobby is bleeding all over the place, talking about how Edwards is basically steamrolling him even as Bobby wins exchange after exchange in parts of the fight.

1. Chacon 10-9: Boza gets the better of an all-action round with Bobby landing good body shots and some winging rights and Edwards landing clean lefts from his southpaw stance, but Boza goes down on a flash knockdown (that may have been a half-slip) late in the round. Gave it to Bobby based on that but no two-point round from me because otherwise Cornelius gets the better of it.

2. Chacon 10-8: Similar with Boza doing the better work and keeping Chacon on the ropes, but this time Bobby scores a clean knockdown with a right-hand counter late in the round. Bobby is cut over the left eye, and within a few rounds he’ll be also cut over the right and bleeding heavily from the nose.

3. Boza 10-8: Turnabout is fair play as Cornelius scores a knockdown with a straight left. Boza’s jab and straight punches give him the edge all around but Bobby does some great body work and will continue to do so throughout.

4. Chacon 10-9: They go toe-to-toe for 3 minutes with a furious early flurry from Bobby giving him the edge.

5. Boza 10-9 (c): Heck, more close rounds than not in this one but Cornelius chews Chacon up on the inside and is relentless for 3 minutes.

6. Chacon 10-9: Bobby lands the cleaner, sharper and more explosive shots.

7. Chacon 10-9: More of the same. Doctor visits corner between rounds to inspect cut and tells Bobby he’s letting it go but not for much longer.

8. Boza 10-9: Finally Edwards works more at a distance and uses his reach. Doctor looks at cuts mid-round and lets it go.

9. Even 10-10: Boza works for 3 full minutes, Bobby gets home the better shots in spurts. Doc checks again and lets it continue.

10. Chacon 10-9: Bobby rallies, moving around and pot-shotting to good effect. Boza is relentless but he’s pushing his punches and tiring.

11. Chacon 10-9: Bobby is explosive in spurts especially with clean, hard rights, and Cornelius is fading with his legs unsteady.

12. Chacon 10-7: Big knockdown for Bobby with a right-left-right combo and he batters Boza for much of the round. Edwards is out of gas. I made it a three-pound round because Chacon really battered and punished his man, who had nothing left.

My card: 116-109 Chacon.

Official cards: 115-113, 115-112, 117-111. Me and the third judge watched the same fight more or less.

This one is illustrative of how a fight can be very competitive (Boza was in most every round and you can make an argument for him in several I had going to Chacon) and still have a wide scorecard (like mine) or very different cards (see the judges’ differentials) without any corruption or incompetence. I like Chacón’s bigger, better rallies but someone else might credit Edwards’ non-stop punching even if not as many land clean or with as much visible effect — and I also credit Bobby’s vicious body attack.

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Special thanks to @Russell for putting this on the old radar. Pure nostalgia for me.

Art Hafey v Alfredo Medrano (California scoring)

Round 1: Hafey
Round 2: Hafey
Round 3: Hafey (scores a knockdown)
Round 4: Hafey
Round 5: Medrano
Round 6: Hafey
Round 7: Hafey (scores a knockdown)
Round 8: Medrano touches down and the ref stops the fight

Total through 7 completed rounds: 8-1 Hafey (actual scores not known)

Although Medrano's known record was 2-2 going into this fight, the likelihood that it was more extensive is fairly clear, unless one believes he actually turned pro in 10-rounders. Medrano was game but out-gunned throughout. It seemed that Art could jar him, hurt him or drop him whenever he was close. Only in the 5th did the Mexican stay on the outside and fire in combos, which took the round on my card. But Art was not to be denied and when he rattled Medrano in the 8th with Medrano shakily stopping his fall with his glove, the ref had seen enough. A good stoppage. It was also cool hearing Mickey Davies and Armando Muniz at the mic. Good times.

 

Tim Witherspoon v Mike Williams

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

Total: 97-95 Witherspoon (actual scores: 96-94 and 97-94 both for Witherspoon and a 98-92 for Williams for a split win for Tim)

This was a fast-moving heavyweight fight. Witherspoon showed up in shape (the last time he was ever sub-220) but the speedy, sharp-hitting Williams was out-moving him throughout and Tim reverted to his bombs-away style of trying to land the haymaker. In the end, it was his power that talked here, which took the fight on my card in a good, close fight.

 

Interesting how many people bring up Larry Holmes not rematching Tim Witherspoon but don’t ask why Tim didn’t rematch Williams or Tony Tubbs or Jose Ribalta or Renaldo Snipes or Greg Page.

Same with Norton, who didn’t rematch Jimmy Young or Tex Cobb or Scott LeDoux or some others who gave him close fights.

Anyway @scartissue I scored Chacon-Boza II above and was hoping you’d scored it before and would share your card as you often do. It’s an interesting (and tough) fight to score in my eyes.