the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Jel, for some reason I'm not sure if I ever saw II or III. Something I wished to remedy. Checked out their second fight this morning and...oh, man! Talk about a toughie to score. Every round was razor close. Neither wished to take the initiative, the chance, the bull by the horns. What the hell, for what it's worth, here is my score in a disappointing return to a classic.

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

Total: 117-114 Barrera (actual scores: 116-112 and two scores of 115-113 all for Barrera)

I checked out a bit of our history from this thread on this fight and found 7 cards (including ours) and it was like 3-2-2 for Morales. This bout was simply infuriatingly close and would have been better off a draw. I hope their 3rd bout is better.

 

Fight 4: Beterbiev vs Koelling

1:10-9
2:10-9
3:10-9
4:10-9
5:10-9
6:10-9
7:10-9
8:10-9
9:10-9
10:10-9
11:10-9
12:ko

This was an incredibly boring fight.

Beterbiev used his active jab as a weapon to maneuver Koelling around the ring, but whenever he backed him up, Koelling covered up tightly, absorbed the punishment and then retreated away.

Beterbiev never had to leave first gear. This was the pattern of the fight.

Very negative performance.

Round 12 Beterbiev sensed Koelling was weakened and didn't have nah resistance left so he turned it on and ended affairs.

What we learnt today was Beterbiev has a lot of patience and isn't easily frustrated.

 

Fight 4: Beterbiev vs Johnson

1:10-8
2:8-10
3:10-9
4:ko
5:
6:
7:
8:
9:
10:
11:
12:

This was a much better fight. Johnson had said pre fight he'll be trying to knock Beterbiev out and he fought like he meant it.

He was throwing hard shots, pressing forward and taking risks to land that big shot.

The knockdown in the first round was a bit dubious, I think the ref messed up.

In the 2nd Beterbiev fought on the back foot, jabbing and then meeting Johnson punch for punch once he was inside. He got caught with a huge left hook and looked out on his feet, but he survived the round.

Round 3 and 4 were very much the same pattern, Johnson landing huge hooks, Beterbiev landing more shots. The final knockdown saw the two exchange up close, an exchange that Beterbiev won as he dropped down heavily and for the count.

Excellent fight.

 

Marco Antonio Barrera v Erik Morales III

As opposed to their second fight - which I found infuriating for their lacking to commit - I found this bout to be outstanding. Also, I found noticeable was my odd yells of "Whoooa!" throughout the fight. Something, again lacking, from their second fight (I actually had family members checking in on me during the fight to make sure I wasn't being attacked by a rabid dog). Anyways, here we go.

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

Total: 115-114 Barrera (actual scores: 115-114 and 115-113 both for Barrera and a 114-114 Draw for a majority win for Barrera)

Can't say enough about this fight. Pure action and the scores were all reasonable. Outstanding.

 

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Watching this at Rough's mention. Seems like a good style clash, and TBH, I have a new found interest in the Payakaroon brothers.

Tactical opener, with neither man doing much punching. Lots of feints, teasing of foot angles and "giving different looks". Either man could've took it but Roman's jab seemed better IMO. Similar second, but Payakaroon applying pressure more effectively. Payakaroon marching Roman down and trying to set up big punches. Roman remaining slippery, making Paya have to rely on the jab. Roman having to rubberneck a lot of Payakaroon's rights here, and he's not doing a good job of it. Kongtoranee having trouble finding Roman centre ring but landing big shots when he has Roman against the ropes.

Brilliant movement from Roman early in the fifth, but he didn't keep it up. Payakaroon out-worked him, and landed some big shots. I loved Roman's combinations in the sixth. Roman not having the same success with his movement, double uppercuts and left to the body like he was in the sixth. Seven for Payakaroon. Roman dictating range better in the eighth as he takes little half-steps into Payakaroon when Paya tries to attack. Completely smothering that big right and tight left hook. Actually Roman fought with success on the front foot most of the round.

Momentum shifted in favour of Roman by now. Paya's workrate has drastically dropped and Roman's having his way with the jab. In fact, the rest of the fight was basically the same with Roman out-working and out-landing a tired Kong.

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10 : 9*
10 : 9
9 : 10
9 : 10 (38/38)
9 : 10
10 : 9
9 : 10
10 : 9 (76/76)
10 : 9
10 : 9
10 : 9
10 : 9 (

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All the recent talk about Roman being overrated might have some weight to it, but I don't think he's quite as overstated as he's being made out to be. I'd still give him good odds of beating Galaxy, although now I probably would lean towards the Thai. And I'd have always picked Moon over him. I'd pick him over guys like Jiro, Penalosa, Tapia, Too Sharp, etc. Nana Konadu is probably my favourite match up. Really finding that one hard to predict coz it's really difficult to get the image of Tapia winning every round out of my head. Almost as difficult as it is Nana using Roman as a yo-yo.

Kong looks pretty damn good too. And he was clearly capable of changing up his style to get an advantage.

 

I don't think I've seen this one since 2004 and I've not scored it properly. Will try and give this one another view soon.

 

Marco Antonio Barrera v Erik Morales 3

Great fight - yes, maybe not as great as their first one but a fitting finale for their series and once again, there wasn't much to split them.

I hedged on a couple of rounds - the 9th and crucially the 12th. Most cards I've seen have Barrera winning the 9th and Morales the 12th, so if I'd gone the same way, I'd have still scored a draw.

I don't begrudge Barrera getting the win but I don't think it conclusively showed that he was really better than Morales. Ultimately, their names will be linked in boxing folklore and no-one will think less of Morales for coming out a 2-1 loser in the series on the official cards.

1 10-9 (good start to the fight and from Barrera)
2 9-10 (terrific action)
3 10-9
4 9-10
5 10-9
6 10-9 (close. Good back and forth action)
7 9-10
8 9-10
9 10-10
10 10-9 (close again)
11 9-10 (excellent action)
12 10-10 (Barrera rallied to take a share of the round imo)

Barrera 115-115 Morales

 

After seeing that William Walker posted this fight I couldn't wait to see it. Here we go scoring on the NY rounds basis.

Federico Thompson v Gaspar Ortega

Round 1: Thompson
Round 2: Ortega
Round 3: Ortega
Round 4: Even
Round 5: Ortega
Round 6: Ortega
Round 7: Ortega
Round 8: Thompson
Round 9: Thompson
Round 10: Thompson

Total: 5-4-1 Ortega (actual scores: 5-3-2, 5-4-1 and 6-3-1 all for Thompson)

After 7 rounds and knowing the result, I was sitting there wondering how the hell they were going to steal this from Ortega. Don Dunphy even mentioned Thompson had the title fight with Benny (Kid) Paret wrapped up unless he lost. I felt Thompson turned it on in the last 3 rounds to make it reasonable, but the fact that the title fight - which was promoted by MSG - was 6 weeks away really looked like a bit of conflict of interest with the decision. Anyways, not to detract from a great fight, these two warriors gave it their all. The 4th round was very interesting in their contrasting styles. Ortega threw the more flamboyant, eye-catching blows while Thompson would throw beautiful short hooks on the inside and that can be a bit of a problem to the judge on which is more effective. Anyways, again, a great fight, which I thoroughly enjoyed and I highly recommend.

 

Scar, I watched this one, myself, today. I was very impressed and enjoyed it a lot. You can't not with with an Ortega fight.

In the first round I liked how Thompson set up his left hook and worked the jab. Ortega hadn't looked to have gotten going yet. In the second, Ortega showed really nice head-movement and balance, while landing some nasty counters. Thompson definitely coming off worse when they exchanged up close, and not being able to keep Ortega behind his jab. Same again in the third. In the fourth it was closer but at a slower pace, where Ortega got the better of it again IMO. Thompson has started trading more now and was seeming to have a bit more succes when he did so. In the fifth, Ortega turned up the pressure and really took it to Thompson.

In the sixth, Ortega showed one of my favourite things in boxing. That gritty skill, where a rough and tough veteran uses some tricks he's picked up along the way; Hagler had it, Morales had it, Zivic had it, etc. Ortega took away leverage from Thomson and landed some massive shots upstairs and beautiful, tight hooks to the body. The seventh was brilliant, I thought Thompson's shot selection and accuracy took it. I liked Ortega's pressure fighting again in the eighth, but I thought it was really close. Thompson took the ninth when he seemed to come alive with his power shots and right hand. Ortega still got his shots in. Same again in the tenth.

Here's how I ended up having it:

Thompson - Ortega
10 : 9
9 : 10
9 : 10
9 : 10
9 : 10 (46/49)
9 : 10
10 : 9
9 : 10
10 : 9
10 : 9 (94/96)

I feel like Ortega showed his abilities here more than he did vs Scott or Paret. Those two fights were fought at an incredibly fast pace, whereas this one was at a slower pace - although not a boring fight by any means, on the contrary. He showed some very nice head-movement and counter-punching skills, as well as an onslaught to the body and Sung-Kil Moon-esque know-how of what to throw and when to throw it. The right hook to the body when coming forward, the overhand right when the other guy jabs, etc; as well as a good jab and left hook when he needed to use them.

Thompson was a very good fighter. It's no wonder he gave Paret lots of trouble.

 

Well detailed, George.

 

I recently checked out the first fight between Pernell Whitaker and Wilfredo Rivera and felt Rivera deserved the decision. So here I am again checking out the rematch.

Pernell Whitaker v Wilfredo Rivera II

Round 1: 10-9 Whitaker
Round 2: 10-9 Rivera
Round 3: 10-10 Even
Round 4: 10-9 Rivera
Round 5: 10-8 Rivera (scores a knockdown. It's a BS knockdown. Whitaker tripped over Rivera's left foot, but it counts)
Round 6: 10-7 Whitaker (scores a knockdown and Rivera loses a point for a low blow - also Rivera scores a KD but it's ruled a slip)
Round 7: 10-10 Even
Round 8: 10-9 Whitaker
Round 9: 10-10 Even
Round 10: 10-9 Whitaker
Round 11: 10-9 Rivera
Round 12: 10-9 Whitaker

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

It at times was going decent but also bogged down with sloppiness and clinching. But I should mention about rounds 5 & 6. Ref Santore ruled a KD on Whitaker but one could see that Whitaker tripped over Rivera's left boot. He had no place to go but down. The announcing team really missed this thinking it was a slip or legit. But round 6 was really whacky. Whitaker scores a solid KD and the ref compounds it by deducting a point from Rivera. But hold on a second. Rivera then has his back to the ropes and lashes out with a beauty of a straight left and down goes Whitaker. As solid a knockdown as one could see, but the ref rules it a slip. He misses it, Lampley, Merchant, Foreman and Harold misses it and the only replays from the HBO truck is Whitaker's knockdown of Rivera. Oh, well, the KD in the 5th was BS so I guess this is payback for a bad call. But if anyone wants to check it out you'll see what I mean.

 

Matthew Saad Muhammad v Yaqui Lopez 2

An incredible war in two main parts. From round 2 on, Lopez boxed beautifully while Saad encouraged him by staying on the ropes. It all culminated in a round 8 for the ages, the most incredible 3 minutes of action I've seen when Lopez couldn't finish Saad off and by the end of the round Saad was incredibly on the attack. From round 9 on, Saad gradually wore Lopez down and in the 14th, it all finally fell apart for Yaqui as he was dropped four times.

Even without the epic 8th round, this would have been a great fight, but that round puts the fight in the company of the very best fights available on film. As long as there is boxing and there are boxing fans, this fight will be talked about with reverence.

1 10-9
2 9-10
3 9-10
4 10-10
5 9-10
6 9-10 (Saad taking a bit of a pasting)
7 9-10 (close)
8 9-10 (contender for the greatest round ever?)
9 10-9
10 10-9
11 10-9
12 10-9
13 10-9 (another great round but Saad has Lopez hurt)
(124-124)
14 Saad Muhammad TKO Lopez
(Saad puts Lopez down four times before the ref waves it off)

 

Start this at 29:00 of Whitaker-Rivera II. The punch lands at about 29:05. How did everyone miss that clear knockdown?

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It's one of those lighting in a bottle moments. Almost perfect. Of course, Saad had a few of those, he was like that guy we all read about that just has the propensity to get struck by lightning all the time. If he fought his grandmother he'd find a way to have to come back form the brink.

 

James Toney - Tiberi

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

Toney wins by SD, first time watching the fight and too put it simply there are no words, a biblical robbery.