HBO: Lucas Martín Matthysse vs. Tewa Kiram & Jorge Linares vs. Mercito Gesta RBR.

I expect Garcia to destroy Rios. Imo Rios IS completely shot, his heart is not in it anymore, that's the worst part to lose. If its a confidence booster fight so be it.

Hoping for the rematch. My money is on swift but maybe redemption may be enough of a motivator for LM to pull out a hurrah!

 

Anybody else cringe when Matthysse called out Pacquiao?

Like, bruh, the version that lost to Horn would either 120-108 (or 120-107, 120-106 etc) your ass or slice & dice you to a late cuts stoppage.

 

[QUOTEip"qwertyblahblah, post: 18989476, member: 99018"]How did Lederman have it? Was I the only one here who had it 5-2 Lucas, and thinks he was the better, more effective BOXER before he knocked Kiram out?[/QUOTE]
I had it the opposite but there was so many close rounds and in picking Kiram I may have been bias

 

Well I woudn't say the biggest, but the Atlantic City Express was smiling at home watching the fight...

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I know the feeling I lost a bit more unfortunately was only bet I had today thought was good value

 

Now if it was Khan who had been KO'd like that it would have made sense but that ending looked a little bit suspect to me.

 

Matthysse knocked Peterson out in the 3rd round, much better than Spence did...................Good fights tonight, Linares was also impressive.................this fight was good for Matthysse, this was only his second fight with his new trainer............

 

I thought Kiram was fighting a good fight before the knockdowns. Arguably he was winning by controlling the range with the jab and not letting Lucas get inside. The movement was confusing Lucas because Kiram was landing the jab and stepping back out of range.

I disagreed with the commentary claiming that it was a dreadful fight prior to the knockdowns. I thought it was a very entertaining fight and wasn't as critical by Lucas' lack of crispness as RJJ was. It seemed that Lucas was just taking his time figuring this guy out and the commentary was hilarious with both Lederman and Lampley criticizing the lack of hard punching by Kiram and Lucas respectively, then immediately seeing hard punches follow as Max commented on hilariously. Going into the bout, I expected Lucas to struggle due to the size disadvantage and Kiram's good jab, but Lucas stayed patient and took advantage of the openings that presented itself.

I wonder what were the results of the examination of the jar that the CSAC confiscated from Kiram's corner during the fight. Interestingly the knockout happened a round or two after that jar was taken away, so if it turns out that it was not a banned substance, perhaps that medicine helped Kiram's stamina and / or concentration. If anyone has any update on that situation, please share.

As to the Linares Gesta bout, I was impressed with Gesta for the most part, but I did think he gave away several rounds that he was very close to winning by letting Linares land a flurry of hard punches here and there that were clearly the hardest punches of the round. There were several times where Gesta appeared on his way to winning rounds, but then he would get hit with a surprise punch out of nowhere that stopped his momentum and obviously the judges noted that.

However in totality, it appeared that Gesta was the more fluid boxer throwing more combinations. I kept thinking that if Gesta would have used an upright blocking style as he tried to get inside he could have avoided alot of the Linares surprise punches which could have been a difference. Lets say Gesta would have put that guard up more, used the gloves to block punches and get past the jabs / straights from Linares, then when he got threw them start throwing his combos, that strategy could have won him more rounds. But Freddie Roach did not give him those specific instructions instead he just gave him very generic "back him up, when you back him up keep backing him up" I was like "Freddie why don't you tell him to block more, then unload his combos when he's inside"? I just don't think Freddie did anything to help Gesta make the necessary adjustments needed to pull out a decision, which is unfortunate because it seemed as though Gesta had the skill and fluidity to win the fight had he made some adjustments.

That said, in the 12th and final round, it appeared that Gesta was robbed of a knockdown when Linares went down after a two punch combo, the punches didn't appear to land that hard, and the 2nd punch appeared to land behind or on the side of the head, but they did land and cause Linares to lose his balance and go down. I don't know why Jack Reiss didn't call that a knockdown. A knockdown there wouldn't have been enough to get Gesta the win on the cards, but it would have made it close enough where if he could have edged some of those middle rounds by blocking some of those surprise shots by Linares (which he was close to doing in several of the rounds aside from the spurts of Linares hard flurries) all of a sudden you have a fight that could go either way.

All in all, a good night of boxing, I enjoyed both bouts.

 

I'm happy for Lucas, but let's be honest, if Kiram had a chin it would have been a long night, because he couldn't hurt him to the body and had no clue how to get through that guard and size.

Not that Kiram was doing much himself either, except surviving.

I think either Garcia and Pac are good choices at this stage, both smaller fighters like himself.

If he cashes out vs Thurman or Spence he will get eaten alive.

 

I’m sorry, but Kiram’s jab looked softer than the stuff inside of a baby’s diaper.

 

Kiram was terrible. He threw his jab off the back foot all night, which made the punch ineffective. That said, Matthysse is clearly past his best. The version of Peterson who fought Spence would’ve beaten him and the best version of Mike Dallas Jr. would’ve reached the final bell last night.

After last night’s performance, Garcia gives Matthysse his rematch, beats him easier this time, maybe even by KO, and then goes on to bigger fish like Berto or Ortiz. The only way this doesn’t happen is if Oscar and Al refuse to work together.

 

I believe Matthysse has all his chances against today's version of Garcia: he's not going to stop Matthysse going forward with those fractured hands.

 

I disagree that the Peterson who fought Spence would have beaten Lucas. I think Lucas takes that primarily because Peterson just doesn't throw enough punches. I think Peterson Matthysse would look a lot like last night only Peterson wouldn't throw the jab nearly as much as Kiram did, which is a recipe for disaster againt Matthysse who would have an easier time getting inside on Lamont than he did vs Kiram.

I think Danny vs Lucas would be a good matchup at this stage, and now with Lucas as a Champ and Danny would be the contender. You have to wonder if that fight could be made with Danny on Showtime and Lucas on HBO but that would be a good fight if it happened.

I'm not sure how you figure that Berto and Ortiz are bigger fish than Matthysse, I think most would favor Lucas to dispatch of both of those guys if they fought. But yes to make any of these fights you'd probably need Oscar and Al working together or at least HBO and Showtime to work together. But with Lucas now WBA regular WW Champ, perhaps that's enough of a bargaining chip for HBO to get fights like that on HBO.

 

I feel he took a dive. Not because I lost, but because the second KD looked a little bogus.