This content is protected 1. Not a distinguished round, but better than most. Both set a decent pace that would foreshadow the evening, and it was not bad at all. The action started to get a little heated by the end. Castellani. 2. Castellani has an excellent left hook and a fairly good left jab as well; both punches he kept in constant use. At the same time, Bratton blocked well and took Castellani's huge punches well. Castellani. 3. Fought at a distance for most of the round, but the two brought out the fireworks in the last 30 seconds or so, swapping big punches. It was here that I think Castellani's main weakness and inexperience was shown. Though he fought well in the long exchange that occurred before the bell rang, I believe Castellani was better suited to the outside and inside fighting, but when he got into a big exchange with Bratton, he walked right into a right hand that I believe hurt him a little bit. Had this occurred earlier in the round, his condition might be worse. I don't know, just a guess. Bratton. 4-9. With the pace never slowing, Castellani never failed in pumping a heavy jab into Bratton and landing hard blows to the body when they were inside. Too, Bratton never failed in making Castellani miss big shots and also giving back as good as he got when the two opted for the energy-sapping exchanges that normally occurred near the end of each round. The 6th and 9th rounds were especially tough. Castellani won rounds 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9, and Bratton took the 8th. 10. At the start of the round, Castellani landed a whopping left hook that took effect. The two slugged it out a lot, and I would have to say it was dead even. A left hook wobbled Bratton with a minute left. Castellani. Final score: 8-2 for Castellani. I liked Castellani. He reminded me a lot of Jerry Quarry. He was very bouncy and punched about equally to head and body. He had quite a punch too. I also was fond of his jab. So many fighters, some of them even ATGs, have trash jabs, so it was great to see a fighter with a very good jab. Verdict: A pretty good fight. Not a classic for me on the basis that it lacked drama and suspense, but both fighters displayed superb boxing skills while putting up a good fight for the crowd. I was pleased with the outcome of this fight.
Ha ha, that is alright. It's happened to me many times. I think you're assessment is right on. I don't understand the vote for Bratton. Castellani appeared to me a very fine boxer; it's too bad he never got past a title fight with Olson.
William, I checked this out tonight. Scoring was on the Illinois 10 point system, which divides the 10 points (6-4 for the winner of a round, 5-5 for an even). Here we go. Rocky Castellani v Johnny Bratton II Round 1: 6-4 Castellani Round 2: 6-4 Castellani Round 3: 6-4 Bratton Round 4: 6-4 Castellani Round 5: 6-4 Castellani Round 6: 6-4 Castellani Round 7: 5-5 Even Round 8: 6-4 Bratton Round 9: 6-4 Castellani Round 10: 6-4 Castellani Total: 55-45 Castellani (actual scores: 56-44 and 52-48 both for Castellani and a 51-49 for Bratton) I ended up with an almost identical card to yours. I think only the 7th was different. Very entertaining fight. Bratton was so pinpoint with his shots, but he just didn't throw enough of them. Castellani was so strong and continually throwing those clubbing punches of his, which won it on my card on workrate. First time seeing Castellani fight. By his record, I always assumed he was more boxer than anything else due to his low KO percentage. Although I did see on an old film when he dropped Sugar Ray for a count of 9, I thought it was a bit of an anomaly. But he was a real banger on the inside.
