Jong Seon Kang vs. Nam Jun Lee RBR (...has par for 2021 FOTY already been set?)

Round 11

Kang is landing with both hands, reaching up and out and strapping Lee on either side of the head. Lee is pressing into Kang, taking some huge body shots in the process, and then spanks Kang with a few enormous body shots of his own as he finally has Kang trapped on the ropes. The crowd and commentators are losing their minds. Both men just full-on slugging it out now, landing head-snapping jabs at mid-range and then colliding when either of them whips up a right hand, and then both banging the body inside. Lee throwing big anti-aircraft rights but missing as Kang hooks lefts and rights into his face and body.

10-9 Kang

107-102 Kang

 

Round 12

Kang is landing two-pieces on the face and then suffocating Lee on the ropes as both men struggle to disentangle themselves, even with the ref's assistance. Both of them are noodle-limbed at this point but continue to fight hard, with Kang landing a butterfly net right atop the dome and then a left hook on the jaw leaping in, then working the body. Lee is pawing with jabs into Kang's line of vision and then pushing through big right hands as Kang dances around him landing combos. Huge right hand by Lee flush on Kang's eye socket, even as Kang pounds him on the breadbasket ducking in. They both land some final bombs as the clock winds down.

10-9 Kang

117-111 Kang

 

UD for Kang.

I am zero percent fluent in Chosŏnmal, does anybody know what the scores were?

 

Honestly the hype on Twitter maybe got a little carried away. It was really fun, but hardly the best fight I've seen in my life or anything. I think people are just hard up for good action with it being the usual boxing drought period (from Thanksgiving until early February) and with 2020 being kind of an overall downer - on the sport and in general - because of Covid.

Skill level was only moderate but entertainment value I'd give it a solid 8.

 

Interesting; we scored it quite differently - only agreeing on the 9th for Lee (whereas I saw him clawing into the contest for the first time in the 4th & 5th, both of which you gave Kang...and thought he was a spent force making a valiant last stand in the championship rounds, which he actually swept on your card) ...but that's quite alright. It was a close, fun rumble throughout, with very few dominant or decisive rounds either way.

 

Crazy to have developed a reputation like that 'for a couple of years' and be just 19.

And like I said earlier kudos to Lee for hanging with someone literally half his age in such a grueling war over twelve.

As for 2020 it wasn't without some bright spots, but certainly a down year overall considering the first few lockdown months when there was nothing globally ..and then lack of audiences making promoters reticent to bother putting up expenses for shows without a live gate. I also happened to be going through a 'falling out of love' phase with boxing even in late 2019 anyway, so didn't go out of my way to catch all of what there was last year, may well have missed some gems.