Denis Lebedev vs. Roy Jones Jr. RBR

May as well get started.

Nate Campbell vs. Sherzod Nazarov

 

Round 1

Nate is aggressive, hooking his way in on a mostly defensive Nazarov who is just flicking some counter jabs out of a shoulder roll. Busier Campbell than we've seen in a while.

10-9 NC

 

Round 2

Campbell is laying it on, pecking away with right and left hooks to the body and slamming down on the side of Nazarov's head with overhands. They don't seem especially powerful when they land despite Campbell putting some hip into them. Jabs and uppercuts land a bit better for him down the middle. Nazarov wants to lay outside and pot shot, but Campbell is able to slip many of his long jabs. Nazarov lands a couple flush and gets a big crowd reaction. Campbell is landing better, though - nice jab/uppercut combination to the face and body.

20-18 NC

 

Round 3

Hefty right hand from Nazarov but it catches Campbell on the curve of his shoulder as the latter leans down and away with his head dropped out of sight. Campbell is firmly in control, pulling some James Toney upper body magic on the inside and landing a plethora of hard body shots. Nice uppercuts to the ribs by Campbell. Nazarov never stops trying to line him up and is managing incidental contact with a few of his straight shots but Campbell is rolling with them and shimmying side to side so as to blunt their impact.

30-27 Campbell

 

This is honestly the best Campbell has looked since 2008 against Diaz. :think

He is still clearly faded, though - as he's slipping about 3-4 punches at a time only to get hit flush with every fifth one. He also doesn't seem to have much pop anymore. He's throwing hard and landing - just not affecting Nazarov at all.

 

Round 4

Nazarov gets backed into the ropes and his hair completely shampooed with jabs, as right uppercuts scrub his frontside. Campbell is still intent on being about three inches or less from Nazarov and is actually doing a really nice job for a 39 year old at lolling around in the pocket in a focused manner, making Nazarov miss several at a time before landing stiff jabs and hard counter uppercuts.

40-36 Campbell