the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Mickey Ward v Arturo Gatti 1

My memory of this fight was it had two exceptional rounds but that Gatti also controlled it for large portions of the fight and, rounds 5 and especially round 9 aside, it was a very good fight but perhaps a little overrated. Having watched it again I would say my memory was largely accurate but it would be a little harsh to call it only ‘very good’. I’d also forgotten that the final round was top notch as well.

I had never scored this before but felt Gatti controlled the early going before Ward pinched a share of round 4 because of Gatti’s low blow (Harold Lederman had it 10-8 Ward) No warning, just a straight point deduction seemed harsh.

Round 5 was one Gatti largely controlled but Ward came on strong at the end and hurt Gatti and that was a pattern - Gatti out scoring Ward but not seeming to be able to hurt or discourage him whereas Ward struggled to get inside for large parts of the round but when he did unload had Gatti clearly hurt. That won him at least a couple of rounds on my card.

Round 9 has been written about enough times but it was a clear 10-8 and could have been a 10-7. But Gatti bounced back remarkably in round 10 to take it on my card.

1 9-10 (good, smart start from Gatti. Ward cut over right eye)
2 9-10
3 9-10
4 9-9 (Gatti’s round but deducted a point for low blow)
5 10-9 (tough to score. Gatti doing more work but Ward’s shots having the bigger impact)
6 9-10
7 9-10
8 10-9 (another tough one. Gatti controlled most of the round but then hurt at the end)
9 10-8 (The late, great Emmanuel Steward: “This should be the round of the century!” Enough said.
10 9-10 (great finish from Gatti)

Ward 93-95 Gatti

 

That's pretty wild, lots of close rounds. Also wild that MSM was probably in three or four other brawls before we even got to this point in his young career. Thanks for sharing your card, good read.

 

After watching the Kel Robin - John Verderosa fight the other day, I was really curious what happened with Kel Robin. Why did his career spiral the way it did after looking like a sure thing, so I checked out another of his bouts that may have been the catalyst. Here we go...

Kel Robin v Daryl Fuller (Continental 140 title)

Round 1: 10-8 Robin (scores a knockdown)
Round 2: 10-10 Even
Round 3: 10-9 Fuller
Round 4: 10-9 Robin
Round 5: 10-8 Fuller (scores a knockdown)
Round 6: 10-9 Fuller
Round 7: 10-9 Robin
Round 8: 10-9 Fuller
Round 9: 10-8 Fuller (scores a knockdown)
Round 10: 10-9 Fuller
Round 11: Fuller drops and stops Robin

Total through 10 completed rounds: 96-92 Fuller (actual scores not known)

This fight was a mystery to me. Against Verderosa, Robin looked so sharp, firing sizzling combos throughout. Against Fuller, he was flat as a pancake. And believe me, Fuller was nothing earth-shattering. Robin should have taken him if he showed half of what he did against Verderosa. I don't know if Robin had had a long amateur career and just burned out. The last fighter I saw that happen to was Kelcie Banks, who should never have turned pro because he was already showing eroding skills at amateur level. As for Robin, he simply looked jaded and he never did recoup in his career.

 

Oleksandyr Usyk vs Tyson Fury

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

116-111 Usyk

 

Oleksandr Usyk vs Tyson Fury (May 18, 2024) (12 Rounds for the Undisputed Heavyweight Championship of the World)

1.) 10-9 Usyk
2.) 10-9 Usyk
3.) 10-9 Usyk
4.) 10-9 Fury
5.) 10-9 Fury
6.) 10-9 Fury
7.) 10-9 Fury
8.) 10-9 Usyk
9.) 10-8 Usyk
10.) 10-9 Usyk
11.) 10-9 Usyk
12.) 10-9 Usyk

116-111 Usyk

 

@rorschach51 welcome back!

 

I was looking for some decent fights today and I saw a few out there of Kenny Baysmore. I don't know if anyone recalls him but I remembered him from his fight with Roger Mayweather. What struck me back then was his style was very pleasing to the eye and was doing well against Mayweather. He was supposed to be the next best thing but Roger didn't read the script and exposed the fragility of jaw that dogged Baysmore throughout his career. But I recalled him as exciting and wanted to see more.

Kenny Baysmore v Eugene Speed

This was a decent fight where both fought on even terms. I gave Baysmore rounds 1 and 3 and Speed 2 and 4 before Speed had cut Baysmore over both eyes with the severity of his right eye stopping the bout in the 5th round.

Kenny Baysmore v Clifford Hicks

Hicks was a sub for Renaldo Carter. A far better opponent and very winnable for Baysmore. With Hicks, the handwriting was on the wall in the 1st round as Kenny couldn't miss and nailed the club-fighter with a picture left hook that put him down, where he just decided not to rise until the count of 10 was complete. A highlight reel KO for Baysmore.

Kenny Baysmore v Sergi Artiemiev

Round 1: 10-9 Artiemiev
Round 2: 10-9 Artiemiev
Round 3: 10-10 Even
Round 4: 10-9 Baysmore
Round 5: Artiemiev drops Baysmore twice and the ref stops the bout

Total through 4 completed rounds: 39-38 Artiemiev

Oh, man, let me tell you, this bout would have fit in nicely in the old MSG fights from the '60s. I loved it. Fast, clean, hard-punching from both fighters until the end. Highly recommend if you just want to sit back and enjoy.

In all, Kenny Baysmore could have gone places if only he had a jaw. He was so Bob Satterfield-ish with the tools he had.

 

I remember ‘Fast Fists’ Fuller … saw him in some of his early-career fights in or around Nashville.

He was pretty good and very dedicated and I think probably went a little farther than I would have expected as I know he was ranked by one organization or another for a time. Somewhere in the neighborhood of what I like to call a ‘world-class club fighter’ — no exceptional attributes (like enormous speed or power) nor skill, but a lot of want-to and could hang with the upper-class guys.

I think of Pete Ranzany as kind of a poster for for ‘world-class club fighter,’ although he’s a notch or two higher than Fuller Or Termite Watkins or Kevin Pompey or Harold Brazier. Didn’t look completely outclassed against the best and could surprise you every once in a while, but usually not quite good enough to get over the hump. Jimmy Heair is another on the top end of his spectrum imo.

 

Oscar DeLaHoya v Renaldo Carter

Round 1: 10-10 Even
Round 2: 10-8 ODLH (dominant round)
Round 3: 10-8 ODLH (scores a knockdown)
Round 4: 10-9 ODLH
Round 5: 10-8 ODLH (scores a knockdown)
Round 6: Oscar drops and stops Carter

Total through 5 completed rounds: 50-43 Oscar (actual scores not known)

In my previous post I mentioned Carter pulling out of a fight against Kenny Baysmore but wanted to see him as I remember him back in the day and I saw the fight with Oscar was out there. I thought it had potential as Oscar was only 8-0 at the time. However, it wasn't. Carter fought a very cagey fight. He would get a lick in or two and give Oscar fits trying to zero in on the ever-moving Carter, but Oscar was too much even at this stage. Solid performance from the star in the making.

 

Had to look it up to make sure it wasn’t a different early De La Hoya fight, but it was this one — I was there in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, at Casino Magic. They put on a lot of fights … had this huge, air-conditioned ‘permanent tent’ type thing (basically a small arena by assembly, the sides went all the way to the ground unlike how you think of a tent) connected to the casino floor.

I remember this fight as you described, with Oscar stalking but having trouble really teeing off because whenever he’d set his feet, Carter would make himself scarce. He didn’t really have the firepower to contend with the Golden Boy but he was clever.

Moreso I remember the other co-main event (I wanna say this was an HBO show) was Roy Jr vs. Sugar Boy Malinga. Jones iced him with a single punch, I think a right uppercut … a fairly unexpected ending as Nigel Benn and I think Chris Eubank by this point had really been troubled by Thulane. For Roy, it was setting the scene for his kill shot and pulling the trigger.

 

Good memories, dude.

 

I´m a big fan of Kenny Baysmore. Had real talent but fragile chin let him down. He won the USBA crown twice, made a combined 3 defenses including destroying touted fellow prospect Donald Caples in 2 rounds.

Check out his fight with Harold "The Shadow" Knight, one of the best fights you´ll ever see, a real closet classic. Had he won he would have fought Rocky Lockridge, Knight got the fight instead and fought very well over 15 rounds.

Baysmore would have given Rocky a good fight but doubt he would have lasted the full route.

 

Thanks to @Russell for uploading this. Russ, never saw this back in the day so it's cool that you put it on our radar.

Danny Lopez v Jose DePaula (featherweight title)

Round 1: 10-9 Lopez
Round 2: 10-9 Lopez
Round 3: 10-9 Lopez
Round 4: 10-10 Even
Round 5: 10-8 Lopez (scores a knockdown)
Round 6: The towel is tossed in from DePaula's corner as he is battered by Lopez

Total through 5 completed rounds: 50-45 Lopez (actual scores: 50-45, 49-45 and another 49-45 all for Lopez)

To begin, Lopez' original opponent was to be Eduardo Prieto who pulled out from illness and DePaula was subbed. Now, TBH, DePaula did not deserve this shot at the crown, having fought very poor South American opposition. However, that's not to say this wasn't a bad fight. Indeed, DePaula gave it his all and tagged Lopez repeatedly throughout. He grabbed this opportunity that would not normally come his way without a bit of politics thrown in, and he made a fight of it even though he was outgunned in every department. Thanks again for the upload, Russ.

 

I saw a bit of activity on this fight recently and thought I would check it out.

Joichiro Tatsuyoshi v Yasuei Yakushiji (bantamweight title)

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

Total: 116-115 Yakushiji (actual scores: 115-114, 116-112 and a 114-114 for a majority win for Yakushiji)

To tell you the truth, I was waiting for the fireworks through almost the first half of the fight, but then things started heating up in the middle rounds and I enjoyed it thereafter. Yakushiji was great on the outside where he was peppering JT and pot-shotting him, but when JT would get him on the ropes he would let it all hang out. I was a bit disappointed that JT didn't unleash the kind of body bombardment that he did in the Greg Richardson fight. I thought it was made to order on YY's narrow torso, but then again, the challenger was very elusive. The two fighters suffered some kind of facial damage and I felt it was neck and neck, but the challenger did just that much more on my card. Good fight.

 

Matthew Saad Muhammad vs. Richie Kates Philadelphia, PA at The Spectrum for Saad Muhammad’s NABF Championship 2/10/78

I couldn’t find MSM’s fights with Billy Douglas (TKO 6 for MSM) or Dave Lee Royster (UD 10 W for MSM) so I jumped ahead to this fight. The Douglas fight was apparently another war (surprise) so I’m sort of bummed the film isn’t out there, that I can tell.

12 Rounds

Round 1 - MSM 10 Kates 9 - Decent round. Saad Muhammad landed a few good right hands while Kates had some solid counter-punching.

Round 2 - MSM 10 Kates 9 - Saad Muhammad landed an amazing combo of four hooks in a row. A few seconds later he lands a right hand that sends Kates to the canvas. The ref calls it a slip, which appeared to be pretty clearly the wrong call. When Kates gets up from his “slip” MSM basically pummels him for the rest of the round. The announcers here were funny saying Kates wasn’t really hurt when it’s obvious he is hanging on for dear life. Even if the no-call knockdown, this could be a 10-8 round for MSM. I’m unsure who the announcers are but they seem to be very pro-Kates for some reason.

Round 3 - MSM 10 Kates 9 - Kates had more left in the round than I thought he would based on how the 2nd ended. The bell rang to end the round and the ref never stepped in for the second time in the match. It appears MSM is the one who alerted Kates the round is over.

Round 4 - Kates 10 - MSM 8 - I recently read the Tres Dixon book about MSM and totally forgot that this was coming. That “this” was Kates dropping Saad Muhammad with a HUGE right hand with about eight seconds left in the round.He went down face first, hard. MSM got up but had no idea where he was, luckily he was saved by the bell. Just when I thought Saad Muhammad may have had an easier night of action here, things get really dicey really quick. Kates handlers thought they had stopped the fight but it was just the end of the round.

Round 5 - MSM 10 - Kates 8 - It’s hard to imagine that Saad Muhammad would win the round after not throwing a punch for about the first minute while he found his barrings. Just I was considering if MSM had pulled out the round, he made my decision a lot easier by dropped Kates hard near the same time MSM hit the canvas in the previous round. Kates is also saved by the bell, in the sense that there would be no follow up for Saad.

Round 6 - Can Kates show the same recuperative powers as Saad Muhammad? Well, he did for about 45 seconds, before a flurry by Saad Muhammad sends Kates to the canvas. Kates wobbled around the ring, staying on his feet longer than seemed possible, before falling. He gets up rather quick. Saad Muhammad follows up with an absolutely measured right hand. Kates doesn’t fall, but the ref stops the fight as Kates is stumbling around the ring.

My card through five completed - Saad Muhammad 48 - Kates 45.


Within seconds of winning the commentary team has a microphone in Saad Muhammad’s face, which also seems sort of hilarious to me. Not 30 seconds earlier he was in a huge battle. Before his team can even congratulate him, he’s being asked questions about the fight.


This is a great fight, full of “holy crap” moments that seemingly come out of nowhere.