Carl and Shane got it wrong last night

Carl prepared wrong. He expected Leo to be the same fighter as in New York and said as much before the fight, despite Leo insiting he would box this time. I think the plan for Carl was to box similar to New York and this time counter with something really big, hence the extra weight he put on after the weigh in. They wanted to do something sensational in Vegas and it proved to be naive.

Instead Leo boxed very efficiently, picking his shots and using his huge reach advantage. You could see Carl was shocked by this and literally looked confused in the opening rounds. He was so certain Leo would start like a train and didn't know whether to box on the front or back foot he was that surprised. You've got to remember Carl usually wins the early rounds of a fight and isn't used to chasing a fight. Winning early rounds is particularly important v a guy with the stamina of Leo.

Credit to Carl, he made some adjustments and did get back into it and was possibly 4-4 after 8 rounds. But Carl is notorious for tiring later in a fight while Leo can fight hard for twelve rounds. But Leo didn't fight hard, he continued to box at range and won the important rounds against a more tired and sloppy Frampton.

Great tactics and execution by Leo. Wrong preparation and lacklustre performance by Carl. I actually think the trilogy is necessary because it's 1-1 and both fights were quite close and exciting. It's also an intriguing matchup because both guys now know the other can both box and fight. It will be less entertaining, more for the purists and a bit of a chess match. But both guys boxing ability deserve that.

I think Carl can win the third fight if he forgets about entertaining the crowd or getting a KO and instead has a chess match with Leo using his quick sharp counter punching. He lost his precision last night loading up and needs to go back to point scoring and winning rounds. But it will take an unbelievable performance to beat Leo who showed he's got a bit of everything last night.

 

I don't think you can say Leo is all wrong for Carl after it being 1-1 and two close fights. If the first loss is as beneficial to Carl as it was to Leo then Carl can win the third fight.

Also people are quick to stick the knife into Shane. I've acknowledged Shane got it wrong but it's literally the first time he has. Everyone makes mistakes, even the best trainers. He's only 28 or something.

Truth is nobody expected Leo to box how he did. It was an unprecedented performance by him and the best of his career no doubt. So I'd cut Carl and Shane some slack and lets see how round 3 goes!

 

The 10 inch reach advantage is a very tough obstacle to overcome when utilised by Leo.