Fight of the Fortnight #7: Quarantine...

Michael Spinks v Eddie Davis. Here was my score on the fight when I saw it not too long ago and what I wrote.

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

Total: 116-114 Eddie Davis

The official verdict was unanimous for Spinks. Two of the judges had it wide for Spinks. IMO they weren't even trying. They had to be at the concession stand getting a couple of dogs and a brew. They should have just mailed their cards in. I felt Davis deserved the verdict.

 

On my scorecard Eddie Davis took it too

 

But every legend had a bad night, that's happens

 

God I hope there's an alternate world where that isn't so sad.

 

I watched the Davis - Spinks fight and scored it for ED 116-114, giving ED rounds1,4,8,9,10,12, MS rounds 2,5,6,7, and EVEN 3,11. MS punched hard inside and outside, Davis was busy and made MS miss a lot. I wouldn't argue with anybody who scored it for MS, it was close, but unless it was one of those fights that looked much different at ringside, two of the judges scorecards didn't seem to match what happened on the video.

I thought ED followed MS a lot and could have cut the ring more but MS punched so hard that I don't blame ED for not forcing a showdown. It was close, but ED did well following and staying close to MS. Good fight.

 

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Michael Spinks - Eddie Davis (Found my scores)

1R: Davis
2R: Davis
3R: Spinks
4R: Davis (even)
5R: Spinks (even)
6R: Spinks (even)
7R: Spinks
8R: Davis (even)
9R: Davis
10R: Spinks (even)
11R: Davis
12R: Spinks (even)

DRAW, But you can see how many even/close rounds I scored for Spinks. Despite the fact that he was champ, I see the victory of Davis. He won his rounds more convicingly. If you look at the pure technical-tactic moments, I also see the victory of Davis

 

Hilario Zapata v Jung Koo Chang 1

Matador v Bull - who do you like more? I liked some things that each fighter did and disliked some as well. Zapata's defensive moves were great to watch and he managed to make Chang look quite amateurish and sloppy at times bbut he didn't throw enough. Chang was the aggressor throughout, although that aggression wasn't always effective. His best and cleanest work came to the body. When he was head hunting, Zapata tended to nullify Chang's attacks but Chang was consistently busier than Zapata.

My scorecard is inconclusive as round 3 is missing but it's a fight that realistically could have gone either way and I'm not surprised it was a split decision (judge from Korea scores for Kim; judge from Panama scores for Zapata - shocker).

I had Zapata ahead until the last 2 rounds but neither fighter dominated the other so a draw would be fine too and I reckon if I scored it again, my tally might end up looking different - it was just one of those fights.

1 10-9 (close)
2 9-10
3 (missing round)
4 10-10 (difficult to score)
5 9-10 (Zapata did some decent work off the back foot but Change landed the better shots overall)
6 10-9 (another tricky one to score but Zapata did some nice work defensively to nullify Chang's attack)
7 9-10
8 10-9 (close)
9 9-10 (close)
10 10-9 (very slick defense and countering)
11 9-10 (the pattern continues - previous round to Zapata, this round to Chang. Chang worked the body well)
12 10-9 (Zapata countered well and nullified Chang's attacks)
13 10-9
14 9-10 (better shots from Chang, Zapata not throwing enough)
15 9-10 (close)

Zapata 133-134 Chang

 

Damn. Quarantine life is real when your watching this fight.

 

Michael Spinks v Eddie Davis

Even the great ones struggle. In most of the long title reigns there tends to be at least one title defense where the champ is just not on it and gets the rub of the green and this was Spinks's example.

This was a close and tricky fight to score but I came away feeling that Davis had done enough to win the fight. Backed by an excellent defense and superb head movement he pressed the fight throughout and landed well on Spinks with the seemingly more hurtful shots.

Both fighters were slick and elusive but Spinks seemed to miss a lot more than he landed, especially with his power shots. I'm surprised he didn't change up and go to Davis's body more as he tended to land those punches when he flurried.

Joe Cortez and Larry Hazard should have stuck to refereeing because both of their scorecards were horrible. They must have been awarding points to Spinks for missing his punches - inexplicably wide tallies. At least Carol Castellano had it close.

I find Spinks a frustrating fighter to watch. He's never quite as busy as I'd like and he does this thing where he takes a step in, looks like he's going to throw a punch and then steps back without throwing - part of his defensive arsenal of moves, I guess, but it makes him look hesitant to engage. His style is one I have a hard time watching to be honest.

1 9-10 (clear round for Davis)
2 9-10 (closer but still Davis)
3 10-9 (close)
4 9-10
5 10-9 (close)
6 9-10 (Spinks swinging and missing during to Davis's excellent head movement)
7 9-10 (close - Spinks with some big flurries which missed more than they landed while Davis showed excellent head movement and kept up steady pressure over second half)
8 10-9 (good defense from both fighters but Spinks countered slightly better this round)
9 9-10 (close. Rounds too tightly edited in this video- keeps cutting off ends of rounds)
10 10-9 (better round from Spinks, controlling it with his jab)
11 9-10 (overall better work from Davis)
12 10-9 (close but felt Spinks edged it)

Spinks 113-115 Davis