HBO: Srisaket Sor Rungvisai vs. Juan Francisco Estrada & Carlos Cuadras vs. McWilliams Arroyo RBR.

That's how I scored it the first time. But then I looked at the compubox and was like "Rungvisai landed more? All he seemed to do was miss." I was so busy watching him miss that I didn't notice all the ones that were landing. He wasn't as efficient as Estrada who connected at a higher percentage, but the quantity came out about the same. If you look at compubox, I think it was rounds 1 and two go to Estrada, three through seven go to Rungvisai, and then 8, 9, 11, and 12 were Estrada rounds with 10 even. Rungvisai landed the harder shots so round ten goes to him. That's six to six man. You want to swing that one round either way and seven-five to either guy is fair.

Estrada's technique was levels above Rungvisai's but Rungvisai's power was levels above Estrada's. That plus Rungvisai outhustling Estrada most rounds and their advantages canceled each other out. At the end of the day, this isn't about who painted the prettiest picture (Estrada) it's about results, who hurt the other guy more, which was probably Rungvisai, although Rungvisai was looking like he might get knocked out at the end with Estrada firmly in the driver's seat.

 

I don't think that Rungvisai was on the verge of being knocked out. He seemed like he was gassing after throwing heavy bombs for 11 rounds prior. Estrada showed an iron jaw, but Rungvisai was ripping him w/ hard shots up until the final bell.

 

I can't disagree with your rbr take, backed up by compubox. We only differ with rounds 4 and 10. I accept anyone giving those two to SSR, resulting in a draw. But I favour tactical control rather than power as the equaliser in close rounds in clean punches landed. That might make me biased to the boxer, I don't care.

Estrada in the 10th controlled lulling periods with his jab. He won the first two minutes boxing on the outside, and the couple clean, head-snapping punches should've kept him with a more than slim scoring edge. He also better maintained punching position both after he landed and Rungvisai landed. Rungvisai's body punches or partially landed shots early I don't rate as that effective, because he did not establish tactical control with them. Rungvisai really only made his power count the last 10 seconds, and 10 seconds doesn't win a round.

Though I went Estrada in the 4th and 10th I accept that SSR could get them according to how boxing can be scored. But what round beyond 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 10? I don't see how he has a case for a single further round.

 

Broadly, I liked Estrada's style in all the close rounds.

 

I liked his style too, but style is no substitute for substance. It's not a dance competition and you still have to win the fight. I was clear about this when I said that Golovkin beat Canelo walking away even though Canelo had the better connect percentage and looked flashier. At the end of the day, landing punches is all that matters, not how you land them. Rungvisai could have windmilled at Estrada. If the punches land, ugly or not, they land. The whole point of boxing form is that it's supposed to be more effective so that you land more shots and harder shots. This time, that wasn't the case. Rungvisai, with his inferior technique, managed to land more often and harder.

Estrada made this fight closer than it should have been by not throwing enough punches. You can see that he realized that coming out for the eighth and he began to get aggressive and take the fight to Rungvisai, but by then he'd given away too many rounds.

This is textbook how you beat a guy who's better than you. Out muscle them and outwork them.

 

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