the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Rey Vargas vs Nick Ball
(WBC World Featherweight)

Round 1 - 10-9 Vargas
Round 2 - 10-9 Vargas
Round 3 - 10-9 Vargas
Round 4 - 10-9 Vargas
Round 5 - 10-9 Vargas
Round 6 - 10-9 Vargas
Round 7 - 10-9 Ball
Round 8 - 10-8 Ball
Round 9 - 10-9 Ball
Round 10 - 10-9 Ball
Round 11 - 10-8 Ball
Round 12 - 10-9 Ball

114-112 Ball

Scorecards :
114-112 Vargas
116-110 Ball
113-113 Draw

I didn’t watch this live and heard the complaints after, I did watch Ball vs Ford which I may go back and score, I thought that was an excellent fight and extremely close. I do need to catch up on the Goodman fight so may complete the set.

As for this, it was one of the biggest fights of two halves I have seen, it was difficult to see a way in for Ball in the first 6, he was competitive but Vargas always had the edge and landed some great body shots. Then it switched with Ball’s intensity and distance really becoming an issue for Vargas.
I can’t see too much ground for complaint with the first knockdown as Vargas was initiating the holding quite aggressively, and for once got caught on his way to the floor.
I scored it identical to the broadcast which is not usually the case but I thought it was a pretty standard fight to score. There were close rounds but I thought it was pretty evident with the pattern. Ball proved himself to be a world level 12 rounder and was unfortunate that the knockdowns didn’t give him the deserved victory.

 

Late reply because I was sleepy last night,anyways..

This was a very good match,I was rooting for Muguruma here and thought he'll be able to ride out the storm/last the distance,but it's fine..it was clear that he'll lose by points anyways.

Estrada wasn't a bad boxer,he has guys with seemingly decent records in his resume,he could fight inside a bit,land good shots with some snap,and very rangy..like Gilberto Roman.

Takuya Muguruma was an action hero, he's not the most skilled,can be quite stiff and when he gasses out/gets hesitant to jump in, he's quite vulnerable,but he has heart and the will to win,and it produced so many colorful, awesome fights where he showed his heart/relentlessness.

The fight started out with Estrada winning easily,then the momentum shifted at Muguruma's first down, despite being downed,he pretty much won that round by his workrate,then the next 3 rounds went into Muguruma,7th was super back and forth but I think Muguruma pushed the action a bit more.

After all that, Estrada adjusted and started boxing comfortably around the gassed out Japanese,before knocking him down and getting the towel thrown.

Muguruma would retire after this,and it was a good way to go out after a short career full of explosions, Estrada would win..just one more fight from what I remember,and go on a losing streak after that.

 

Carbajal pastrana
Carbajal the IBF 108 champ comes in at 44-2 30 KOe with his only losses to the great Humberto Gonzalez. Mauricio Pastrana is 23 years old and 15-0 13 KOs and has beaten no one of note, from Colombia.


1Carbajal
2Pastrana
3P. Carbajal in big trouble, wobbled then put on spaghetti legs
4Carbajal close
5 Carbajal
6 Carbajal
7 Carbajal Carbajal cut by headbutt, fight momentum changes
8 Pastrana
9 Pastrana
10 Pastrana
11 Pastrana
12 Pastrana

114-114
Actual scores 115-114, 115-113, 112-116, split decision for Pastrana

Pastrana changed his tactics completely going from running boxer to aggressive combo puncher. Fun little fight, but nothing to write home about, nice little upset. This was on the undercard of Oscar De La Hoya vs Miguel Angel Gonzalez on January 18 1997.

Little note on the main event, Longest layoff of Oscars career at 5 months and this is 5 years into his career. Oscars 1997.....
January beat 41-0 Miguel Angel Gonzalez to retain the WBG 140 title
3 months later in April decisions 40-1-1Pernell Whitaker to win the WBC welter title. 2 months later beats 28-1 David Kamau to retain his title. 3 months later in sep beats 63-3-1 Hector Camacho (fresh off his KO of come backing Ray Leonard).
3 months later he closes out the year beating 27-2-1 contender Wilfredo Rivera

5 fights in one year, if that was by todays standards, we would be lucky if the WBC welterweight champion fought David Kamau in January and Wilfredo Rivera in December.

Edit: OOPS. I math'd my math wrong, I actually had it 115-113 Pastrana

 

Kambosos vs Teo Lopez

1 10-8
2 9-10
3 9-10
4 10-9
5 10-9
6 10-9

Total 58-55 Kambosos

Kambosos high water mark as a pro catching the over confident fimo by surprise at home. Entertaining fight too

 

Lennox Lewis vs Željko Mavrović

Round 1: 10:9 Lewis
Round 2: 10:9 Lewis
Round 3: 10:9 Mavrović (could have gone either way)
Round 4: 10:9 Lewis (could have gone either way)
Round 5: 10:9 Lewis
Round 6: 10:9 Lewis
Round 7: 10:9 Mavrović
Round 8: 10:9 Lewis
Round 9: 10:9 Lewis
Round 10: 10:9 Lewis (could have gone either way)
Round 11: 10:9 Lewis
Round 12: 10:9 Lewis

Total: 118:110 Lennox Lewis

Fight closer than the scorecard suggests. Relatively unknown Mavrović put on a great effort troubling the lineal & WBC champion. The most you can give the Croatian is 4 rounds in my book, I gave him 2. One of these fights that makes you think... How would Lennox do against Usyk?

 

Tim Bradley W12 Ruslan Provodnikov

I had seen Bradley once before, beating Pacquiao (I though Tim deservedly got the nod, I know others disagree), and I'd heard this was good. Provodnikov is so very Russian. Block-like, stoic, remorseless and relentless in pursuit. It's like he trained for this by having his trainer hit him in the head with sledgehammers. Ungodly tough.

Bradley comes out boxing and pot-shotting, and sees his is worlds faster than his challenger. He gets a little too sure of himself towards the end of the round and catches a straight right full in the face as he comes inside, and is instantly on jelly-legs. Ruslan's assault continues for basically the entirety of the second, where somehow Bradley keeps his feet despite looking like Bambi on a bender.

Much to his credit, Bradley reestablishes his boxing gme in the third, and moves smartly. he takes the round and stems the tide, and continues in the next two rounds, regaining some movement and upsetting Provodnikov's rhythm with his fast combinations. A lesser version of Chavez=Taylor to an extent, though Bradley boxed more when he had to.

In the sixth, it unravels again for him, as he woblles all over the ring following a Provodnikov assault. The challenger's face is swelling but he just keeps chugging forward, heedless of the damage inflicted. From here, Bradley goes on a tear, winning the next four rounds with smart boxing and maximizing distance. Ruslan cannot find him to follow up on his success in the sixth, and those four rounds ice the decision for him on my card.

The 11th is messy, with Bradley coming down off his toes to rest and trying to smother nything inside by leaning on Ruslan. This inside thing is the Russian's game though, and though it wasn't a decisive round for him, he just looks better doing it than Bradley does, so I gave it to him. In the 12th, Bradley is exhausted and his legs are going fast. Provodnikov catches him and Bradley is forced to take a knee during the onslaught. Had I scored the second a 10-8 round (which I'm sure many scoring it would have), I'd have had it a draw, but it is what it is. A close but deserved victory for Bradley, in a fight that elevated both men, though they left something of themselves in the ring that night.

Excellent bout, with big swings in momentum, and a nice clash of styles/

1. Ruslan
2. Ruslan
3. Bradley
4. Bradley
5. Bradley
6. Ruslan
7. Bradley
8. Bradley
9. Bradley
10. Bradley
11. Ruslan
12. Ruslan (10-8)

114-113 Bradley.

 

This fight was an instant classic and one of the better waning years of HBO fights. I thought Bradley won a close decision and he dominated the middle of the fight. Ruslan was tough and hit hard. I got a chance to see him live when he lost his title to Algieiri. He had Chris on the floor a few times early and closed up his eye.

 

Vitali Klitschko vs Chris Byrd

Round 1: 10:9 Vitali
Round 2: 10:9 Vitali
Round 3: 10:9 Byrd
Round 4: 10:9 Vitali
Round 5: 10:9 Byrd
Round 6: 10:9 Vitali
Round 7: 10:9 Vitali
Round 8: 10:9 Byrd
Round 9: 10:9 Byrd

Total at the time of the stoppage: 86-85 Vitali

In my view, fight closer than a lot of people remember. Byrd made Vitali miss, made him injure his shoulder and made him quit. Vitali's volume was enough to win him more rounds, but Byrd was more accurate and his punches were crisper. He also started to come on stronger at the end, but it could be an effect of Vitali's injury. Too bad we never saw a rematch. 2004/5 was a perfect time to do it and crown the new lineal champion.

 

Yep same card as mine 114-113 Bradley.

 

José Luis Castillo vs Floyd Mayweather I

Round 1: 10:9 Mayweather
Round 2: 10:9 Mayweather (knockdown od Castillo not called)
Round 3: 10:9 Castillo
Round 4: 10:9 Castillo
Round 5: 10:9 Mayweather
Round 6: 10:9 Castillo
Round 7: 10:9 Castillo
Round 8: 9:9 (point deducted from Castillo)
Round 9: 10:9 Mayweather
Round 10: 9:9 (point deducted from Mayweather)
Round 11: 10:9 Mayweather
Round 12: 10:9 Castillo

Total: 113:113 DRAW

I love scoring this fight. This is my third time scoring it. I once scored it for Castillo, once scored it for Mayweather and now I scored it as a draw. The definition of the fight that could have gone either way. At least in my eyes. I don't get the consensus that Castillo was robbed here.

 

Checked out a couple of Miguel Cotto bouts today. Cotto, whom I always enjoyed, was rarely in a bad one.

Miguel Cotto v Muhammad Abdullaev (jr. welterweight title)

Round 1: 10-9 Cotto
Round 2: 10-9 Cotto
Round 3: 10-10 Even
Round 4: 10-9 Cotto
Round 5: 10-9 MA
Round 6: 10-9 Cotto
Round 7: 10-9 Cotto
Round 8: 10-9 Cotto
Round 9: Abdullaev retires himself

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

Although one-sided on points, every round was fought to the wire with both getting their licks in. Really good fight.

Miguel Cotto v Alfonso Gomez (welterweight title)

No sense running a card here. Cotto performed a real demolition job on Gomez, decking him in rounds 2, 3 and 5 before Gomez was retired by the doctor between rounds 5 and 6 for a score of 50-42 through 5 (actual scores: 50-42, 50-42 and 50-41 for Cotto). Gomez was game but simply outgunned on every facet of the bout.

 

David Tua vs Ike Ibeabuchi.

When you talk about greatest fights in Heavyweight history, Tua-Ike always comes up. It broke the ALL time Compubox number for punches thrown in a heavyweight fight in 1997. The relatively unknown Ibeabuchi came to win, and put on a hell of a performance. But I think Tua should have been given the nod. One of the best fights I've seen in the history of the HW division. It was a close fight, I can see a close win for Ike 7-5 as well.

115-113 David Tua.

Tua rounds. 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12
Ike Rounds. 1, 2, 3 ,4, 8.

 

I felt Cotto's fights with Abdullaev and Otkay Urkal fell into the category of one sided but entertaining. Both guys took punishment and gave back and landed on Cotto though neither could hurt or deter Miguel

 

I had it a round wider than you but agree with your take that Byrd deserves credit and was coming on strong. He seemed poised to win the last few rounds. Many chalk this up as a fluke but I think Byrd deserves a lot of credit

 

It's funny you mentioned the Urkal fight because I just watched it last night. Like you said, he gave back but just never felt he was going to do anything to Cotto. Like throwing stones at a tank. Anyways, this is how I had it:

Miguel Cotto v Oktay Urkal (welterweight title)

Round 1: 10-9 Cotto
Round 2: 10-9 Cotto
Round 3: 10-9 Cotto
Round 4: 10-9 Cotto
Round 5: 10-10 Even
Round 6: 10-9 Cotto
Round 7: 9-9 Even (Urkal's round but penalized a point for use of the head)
Round 8: 10-10 Even
Round 9: 10-9 Cotto
Round 10: 10-9 Cotto
Round 11: Urkal's corner retires him mid-round in protest after the ref deducts another point from Urkal for continued use of the head

Total through 10 completed rounds: 99-92 Cotto (actual scores: 98-91, 97-92 and 100-89 all for Cotto)

As early as the 2nd round one could see Urkal could nail Cotto with his overhand right anytime he wanted to, but he just lacked the firepower. I thought it was stupid and petulant retiring Urkal because you disagreed with the ref. But there was no overt argument coming from Urkal. I think he was just glad the body shots finally stopped.