Fight of the week #2: Lupe Pintor v. Carlos Zarate

13 Zarate (Zarate 125-122)

14 Pintor (Zarate 134-132)
Pintor lands a good counter 30 seconds in and Zarate backs off. Then a few solid jabs one that snaps Carlos’s head back. Not a lot of damage but Lupe with the cleaner shots.

15 Pintor (Zarate 143-142) close round could be scored either way. Zarate scores the nicest punch of the round snapping Lupes head back with a good jab, but Lupe’s strong start body work takes this one slim.

Zarate 143-142 on my card. There are many swing rounds that could be even or swing one way or the other.Looking at the fight as a whole I never felt that either guy was in control, or that the result was out of the question.

Not that I put stock in announcers commentators or media or crowds. Both announcers saw it close, with one even going into the final round.

There is no crowd reaction at the announcement of a split decision and no booing at the decision. I have read accounts of Lupe being surprised at the decision but you see no look of shock on his face.

I do think it is a shame to lose your title in this manner, but I don’t see this as a major robbery. Most of the won rounds were still close and many could be even or swing one way or the other.

Rating of the fight: very technical and I don’t expect to rewatch this again any time soon if ever lol.

Rating of the decision: I felt Zarate did just enough to pull it out, but not emphatically IMO.

 

I used to love reading Bernard Fernandez’s boxing column in the Philadelphia Daily News. If some one can post his scorecard or thoughts on the fight, I would be willing to just write in his scorecard as my own to verify his result.

 

This is admittedly a small sample size as only 5 have submitted cards:

1 for Pintor (145-144)
4 for Zarate (144-141/144-142/143-142/143-142)

So far 3 cards see it as a single point win with another by 2 and the other by 3.

Rounds where there was a 5-0 agreement on cards:
3 Zarate 4-5-7
2 Pintor 2-10

Majority rounds where one guy won on 4 cards:
2 Zarate 9-12
3 Pintor 8-11-14

So far 5-5 in clear rounds

Slight majority 3 for 1 guy and 2 even or 3 for 1 guy and 1 even

1 Zarate 13 (3 for Zarate 1 Pintor 1 even)
1 Pintor 6 (3 for Pintor 1 for Zarate 1 even)

Still even here at 6-6
So I don’t understand robbery cries in this fight

Rounds decided by a hair
1 Zarate 15 (2 Zarate 1 Pintor 2 even)
1 Pintor 1 (1 for Pintor 4 even)

I hope robbery claims are not based on a single round that most find close either way

7-7

1 draw round
3 (2 for Pintor 2 for Zarate 1 even)

The consensus so far is 7-7-1

 

Great stuff PhillyPhan69!

Thanks man - you saved me a job. Was going to post something similar.

I think the 'controversy' over this one can be put to bed. Close fight, no robbery. Done!

 

I'd look at it this way, if you had him up by 2 points, but two of the official judges has him up by a point, that is a 3 round swing, correct?

Based on all media cards, this was a bad decision. Any decision where the vast majority of people felt the loser won the fight is a bad decision.

Is this the worst decision of that decade? NO, but is a bad decision in a big time fight which makes it more visible.

 

It should only take about an hour to watch the fight, and score it and post your own observations.

To be honest I would be much more interested in your scorecard (if your objectivity is not already compromised by influential reports), than the associated Press

 

Things have a way of building momentum and lives of their own. How did YOU score, it? To &^%$ with what the papers said, what was your scorecard? Don't get all Perry about this.

 

Ok having a look when i can.

Round 1 Even (Nothing happening)
Round 2 Pintor (Slight but definite edge for Pintor)
Round 3 Zarate (Zarate lands slightly more authoritatively)
Round 4 Zarate 10-8 (Genuine two point round as Zarate definitely ahead before the KD)
Round 5 Zarate (Lands some heavy blows, clear round)

 

Moving forward -

Round 6 Pintor (Energetic and aggressive and looking to come on)
Round 7 Zarate (Nice late flurry swings a close one)
Round 8 Even (I can't separate them here)
Round 9 Even (Same as above, just so close i'd be going out on a limb)
Round 10 Pintor (His best round by far and easy to score)

 

Our scoring is extremely similar to this point and KuRupt's wasn't much different either.
Only difference is that while i couldn't split 8 and 9 you split them one apiece which leaves us in the same place anyways. Good tight cards.

 

The last third of this bout is an absolute headache to score. I watched two or three of the rounds again.

Round 1 Even (Nothing happening)
Round 2 Pintor (Slight but definite edge for Pintor)
Round 3 Zarate (Zarate lands slightly more authoritatively)
Round 4 Zarate 10-8 (Genuine 2 point round as Zarate definitely ahead before the KD)
Round 5 Zarate (Lands some heavy blows, clear round)
Round 6 Pintor (Energetic and aggressive and looking to come on)
Round 7 Zarate (Nice late flurry swings a close one)
Round 8 Even (I can't separate them here)
Round 9 Even (Same as above, just so close i'd be going out on a limb)
Round 10 Pintor (His best round by far and easy to score)
Round 11 Zarate (Close close round with Zarate's late right edging it)
Round 12 Zarate (Zarate upped his tempo a bit and showed good energy and workrate)
Round 13 Zarate (Clsoe one for Zarate for me)
Round 14 Pintor (Comfortable Pintor round)
Round 15 Pintor (Pintors early work carries the round for me but not by a lot)

Zarate rounds 3, 4, *5 (* by two points), 7, 11, 12, 13.
Pintor rounds 2, 6, 10, 14, 15.
Even rounds 1, 8, 9.

Zarate 145-142.

Not huge robbery status but personally i do feel Zarate should have got this fight. I don't think Pintor thought he'd won.

 

Thanks as always John!

Yes, I thought both 8 and 9 were both very close and was looking for one or other fighter to edge it. It’s entirely possible I could rewatch those and come up with a different score. @PhillyPhan69 had a pretty similar scorecard to me as well if I remember right.

 

It was fun comparing cards Jel. Decent fight which never reached great heights but the skill on display was good. Pintor was quite difficult to hit cleanly with more than single shots and Zarate was superb in keeping that right glove high to discourage and/or ward off Pintor's hook.

 

I scored it 144-142 but aside from the knockdown round I thought it was an even fight.

A few additional thoughts:
My feeling before tallying up my scorecard was that only the knockdown edged it for Zarate as Pintor definitely hurt Zarate in the 10th (only a 10-9 round though) but also that Pintor’s jabbing had a more discernible effect on Zarate during the fight than Zarate’s on Pintor. I don’t want to overstate that though. It was just the impression I was getting as I watched the fight.

I also wonder whether or not Pintor would have been dropped from those blows in the 4th if they had been landed later in the fight. I think he was caught out by the first really significant punches Zarate landed. He wasn’t really hurt but regardless, it made the significant difference in the fight to the end result imo.

 

Yep, good stuff!

Nice analysis and I agree. I hadn’t seen it in many years and while I remembered that Zarate dropped Pintor I had mistakenly remembered that as happening earlier in the fight (round 2 rather than round 4). I also remembered that Pintor hurt Zarate at some point but that it happened later than it actually did.

I found it absorbing rather than out and out exciting and that was more because I was actively scoring the fight, I think. There were a few points where it looked like it might take off and then settled back into the previous, more cautious pattern of the fight - Zarate boxing off the back foot and Pintor trying to close distance but seemingly mindful of Zarate’s power too.

Good technical fight which I enjoyed for that reason but not a barnstormer!