Andy Lee Vs. Billy Joe Saunders & Liam Smith Vs. "Jimmy" Kilrain Kelly RBR.

Interesting point to take away from this fight - yes, BJS is an excellent boxer and Tibbs came up with a great plan which they executed well - BUT, Lee took a lot of rounds off him in what was pretty much solely a boxing contest and it was consequently the knockdowns that cost him the fight...I know that hypotheticals are meaningless in sports, but for the sake of solely ****yzing the boxing skills on display, when the two extra points are taken out of the scorecards then Lee would've won on one judges card, drawn on the other, and lost closely on the third...

My point is - going into the fight everyone said either Lee KO or BJS outboxes him...the script was well and truly flipped with BJS getting the knockdowns, and Lee taking a lot of close rounds off BJS by boxing him.

It was 2 very high level technicians, and Lee should get more credit for his boxing skills in future. Likewise BJS for his power! It was almost like the fight turned out the opposite to how the armchair pundits imagined.

I had it 113-113 FYI.

 

By the way, I am in no way saying that BJS shouldn't have won...he was excellent and best of luck to him...just surprised that no one seems to have mentioned that he was supposed to out-slick Lee in a lot of peoples opinions, when in actuality, barring the knockdowns, we would've had a split draw 115-113, 114-114, 115-113.

Food for thought. :think:thumbsup

 

We will have to agree to disagree there - I actually had it the same as the second judge 114 - 112 - I made an error on my OP...the right man won don't get me wrong.,,but these were extremely close rounds, and BJS is very highly regarded as a slickster, yet for my money and 2 of the ringside judges, Andy won as many rounds by boxing as BJS did.

As for UK bias - it was an FW card and FW don't give a f**k about anyone elses fighters. There would have been absolutely no reason to make it that close, and FW was visibly p***ed on the Boxnation interviews after the fight that 1 of the judges would've had Lee ahead had there been no knockdowns.

It was a relatively quiet fight - because it was being conducted at a very high technical level. The rounds were tough to split, so respect to Andy for boxing the boxer so closely, and respect to BJS for flooring the puncher :good

 

I had it 6-6, 4-2 to Billy in first 6 rounds and 4-2 to Lee in the second with a final score of 114-112 to Billy. KD's made the difference. Without the knock downs Lee would surely keep his belt, be it a draw or a win. But in the end it was a deserved win for BJS.

 

That was the same way I had it too :good

It was an exceptionally tense fight.

 

But BJS needs to up his game to stay a champion. He should leave the Nathan Cleverly school of boxing where you fight well for the first first half of the fight then stall until the final bell hoping your early success will win you the fight. This is what he did vs Eubank Jr too. It will only get him so far. The moment he steps his foot somewhere outside the UK he will either be robbed or soundly beaten by someone decent if he continues to fight like this.

 

I just think your card was off.

 

you had BJS winning by 16 POINTS? Then it's safe to say that your card is indeed WAY off! #thankAlHaymon

 

There were some extremely close rounds. I had Saunders winning by 2 points but I can see how somebody could maybe give Lee rounds 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12.

 

It was a joke relating to wide scorecards - which in itself was a joke. No need to be so touchy...

Personally I think your card is a stretch - and as for the judges:

113 - 113 is incorrect, but scored with benefits to the champ status
114 - 112 I agree with
115 - 111 is a stretch, but not inconceivable

Anyway, my initial point was how it was interesting that the script was essentially flipped, with the 'boxer' flooring the 'puncher' and the 'puncher' taking enough rounds (on the judge's scorecards) from the 'boxer' to retain his belt (were it not for the KD's, which settled this fight essentially). It was just a point of interest. And I think both men boxed to a very high standard.

 

:good My thoughts exactly