Antonio DeMarco: I thought he had a very poor showing tonight. He was up against a very slow, limited fighter and couldn't do much in there against him. I felt he could have put him away much earlier, but for some reason he allowed the other guy to make a fight out of it. Not very impressed with DeMarco and don't think he is going to beat any of the top guys in his division. Brandon Rios: I have to admit that it didn't look to good for Rios after the 3rd round. He looked a little too green and was taking some real hard shots. He did seem stunned by that one right hand and if Acosta had gone balls out he may have stopped Rios. I don't know if anyone saw when Rios hurt Acosta in the last minute of round 5. I saw Acosta's legs buckle slightly after a Rios left hook, I believe. After the first knockdown I saw the momentum slowly start to swing in Rios' favor, but he was being a little too careless for my taste. After the 6th, Acosta was really starting to breathe heavy and by then Rios had the fight's momentum clearly on his side. The right hand that Rios caught Acosta with in the 10th was a damn good shot and definitely put him to sleep. On a side note, I still don't know why the ref doesn't take points off for clinching. I know a lot of people say that is a veteran move or a smart move, etc., but I don't like it. It's almost like if an NBA team has an unlimited amount of timeouts and are always calling timeouts or NFL players running out of bounds instead of going for the first down. It's one thing to hold or clinch when hurt, but to tie up just so you won't get hit is a penalty in my book. Either run or learn how to slip, duck, or parry shots.
If they started deducting points for clinching that easily, it would take away from the sport. If you want to see what kind of clinching does get points deducted, watch Witter's last fight, it was a JOKE.
Regardless of whether you like it or not, it's part of the sport. It's a certain tactic. In fact, some guys get really good work in during clinches. It's smart thing to do when you're in with a guy like Rios and it's up to Rios to learn how to work out of clinches or keep his opponent from grabbing him.
Good post. I like that you brought up the issue of holding. I understand the importance of an inside game, but it seemed every time the fighters got close Acosta initiated a clinch.
