Perhaps you guys don't know this, but for the past few months of doing posts (even when I didn't post for over a month), I kept watching fights and taking notes, so when I started posting again, I had about 20 fights to catch up on. I would have done it in three to five days, except that I never stopped watching fights to catch up. So as it stands now, I'm about a dozen fights behind. In addition to that, a lot of times when I take notes while watching fights, I will try to be less job-like about it and just have some fun, so if a lot of action occurs in a round sometimes, I won't always try to write everything down right then, but I will merely write down "REWATCH". I've said all that to conclude with the idea that rewatching a fight weeks after the first time you saw it can be really amazing actually. In this case my original thoughts do not differ drastically from my current thoughts, but it surprised me to rewatch this fight nonetheless. This content is protected 1. JC going to work on Salas with fast combos, but his boxing was stifled somewhat by Salas' clinching. Salas came on strong at the end. Carter. 2. Although the round was close, (also in hindsight), this was where Salas began to take control of the match. His right uppercut in particular he used to hurt Carter early in this round. Salas. 3. Carter went to work back-tracking in an attempt to regain any control he seemed to be losing in round 2. Carter. 4. A cleaner-fought round (that is with less clinching and mauling) that had Carter already losing control again. Even. 5. Carter fought at his most aggressive, at first scoring with hooks, uppercuts, and even bolos. However, a hard left hook by Salas in one of their exchanges discouraged Carter from continuing such aggressive work. Carter jabbed from then on for the most part. Carter. 6-15. Generally a more appealing set of rounds actually, although far from great. I lost my scores for the rounds, although I remember that rounds 8-9 were missing, and that of the other 8 rounds, that I gave 5 to Salas, 1 to Carter, and called 2 even. Final score: 9-3-3. Many close rounds, but still a comfortable win for Salas IMO. Verdict: First time I saw this, I was miserable. On the second watch I enjoyed it no more, but did appreciate it more as both did fight hard. Mainly it was a huge disappointment for a Carter fight, considering how great his fights with Bassett and Aragon were. Carter didn't look good either. He looked dull from start to finish, and I'm not really surprised he lost to Salas, who looked like a B-level fighter to me. I wouldn't suggest watching this one.
Good write-up, William. Reading this I was keyed up thinking this fight was in its entirety until you mentioned rounds 8 and 9 missing. I'm anxious to see what else you've been watching.
You advised me not to the watch it after I watched it? All right. I agree with your scoring and take on this one. Rounds 8 & 9 were missing, but I still had Salas winning 8 rounds out of the 13 I saw. Moreover, Salas won several rounds clearly. Carter's rounds were 50/50 pick 'em affairs. I agree that Carter--and I must emphasize this is for a champion--looked mediocre. Not much boxing skill--where was his jab? And a leaky defense. Salas couldn't seem to miss him with right leads. As for Salas, I agree. He looked like a B-level fighter. A mauler with little punch. What he did have was his punches coming from all angles. How this ended up a split decision is a head-scratcher to me. I thought Salas won easily. Thanks for posting.
Maybe Carter slowed down a bit from all the wars piling up. But he did look terrible, even a class below Salas. I think the SD must of been sentiment towards the champion. But I totally agree, an SD was wrong. Salas won quite comfortably.
