Robert Świerzbiński vs. Rafał Jackiewicz II & Przemysław Gorgoń vs. Serhii Zhuk RBR

Round 8

Świerzbiński is cheating his body 45 degrees away from Jackiewicz, yanking his neck away to keep Jackiewicz from being able to exacerbate the cut and rowing out sidearm jabs, only able to see his opponent with the one compromised eyeball. Jackiewicz is pressing in with a light jaunty gallop, arms raised high, elbows to his nipples, pushing outward to neutralize Świerzbiński's jabs with each one in turn, and then hammering with his right or pecking with his own jab to get inside and swat at the bottom of the chin with uppercuts.

10-9 Jackiewicz

76-76

 

Anyone that decided to pooh-pooh this match thinking it would be poo-poo...well, here's mud in yer eye.

This isn't high quality stuff and the winner is obviously not going anywhere (nor is the RoP middleweight title a prize that anyone outside that ring honestly cares about) but this is turning out to be a hell of a lot of fun on a Friday afternoon.

 

Round 9

Świerzbiński is jabbing at the head and missing, then diving in low and shoving at Jackiewicz's waist to create space (or simply colliding with him chest to chest and drawing him into a clinch). Jackiewicz is using the right hand inside like a gavel, banging down on Świerzbiński's bowed head, and then spearing it at his stomach when Świerzbiński trots outside with his arms up to instinctively cut his still-dripping eye. Jackiewicz is patiently allowing Świerzbiński his brief surges of initiative offensively, where Świerzbiński pummels his guard with straights to back him into a corner and then either flee or tie up - but Jackiewicz then puts the hard-hat back on and goes to work again, relishing this, occasionally glancing peripherally at the ref and speaking casually, apparently to have civil disagreements about warnings for low blows.

10-9 Jackiewicz

86-85 Jackiewicz

 

That's on them. I'll never in my life prioritize a weigh-in (however "big" an event it may be for) over a live televised fight that has even a slim chance of being good.

 

Round 10

Świerzbiński is completely gassed and partly blind, swooping in with big desperate overhand rights that skim harmlessly off Jackiewicz's left ear or thrusting out with triple jabs that fall an inch or two short of the chin. Jackiewicz is timing his advances just right, pacing himself patiently, stalking, unloading straight combos or jabs paired with awkward right-handed chops preceded by a watch-the-birdie spin of his loosened wrist. Świerzbiński isn't fleet enough of foot to get away from Jackiewicz but his best efforts to counter aren't discouraging him either. Jackiewicz, however, is too long in the tooth to summon any finishing instincts and is content to just step in & out, pecking away until the final bell.

10-9 Jackiewicz

96-94 Jackiewkcz

 

Official cards:

?? in Polish (but for Świerzbiński)
?? in Polish (for Jackiewicz)
?? in Polish

SD for... neither, split draw? Everybody looks surprised and the ref is laughing.

edit: nope, VERY wide score for Świerzbiński. 99-92. Wtf.

 

Jackiewicz being interviewed now in the middle of the ring. He is laughing graciously, electing not to be a whiny dick about it although he clearly seems a tad gobsmacked by the decision.

 

Seeing him close-up, buckets of sweat pouring out from the weathered crags in his face still partly grimacing with ten hard rounds' worth of effort...that is one goddamn old-looking 41 year old.

He should retire now. If they had given him the nod, I'd say go for a rubber match with Świerzbiński just to leave no doubt in the rivalry and ride off into the sunset on a nice 3-0 streak...but at this point, fuck it. Know when to fold 'em, as Kenny Rogers would say.

I have no idea what he said but he talked for a few minutes, all smiles, waved at the fans.

Świerzbiński now being interviewed, looking hangdog and not terribly proud of his accomplishment, still bleeding, sniffling and wiping at his bulbous swollen (possibly broken) nose as he answers questions with a disinterested tone & expression.

 

Here is the judges' array:

Krzysztof Bubak 96-94 Świerzbiński
Dariusz Zwolinski 96-94 Jackiewicz
Piotr Kozlowski 99-92 Świerzbiński


Both of the 96-94 cards, in either direction, are totally credible.

Piotr Kozlowski, however, isn't cut out for this line of work.

 

Kozlowski is never part of a consensus when (on rare occasion) assigned the relatively heightened responsibility of an 8- or 10-rounder. He is always the outlier in split or majority decisions, and even judges that have the same winner as him are usually not as generous as he is with points (he loves erring on the side of shutouts...or scoring what ought to be competitive but clear losses for the guy he's rooting for as draws).

Mykola Vovk vs. Krzysztof Kopytek - MD. Two judges for Vovk, while Kozlowski had a draw.
Norbert Dabrowski vs. Marek Matyja - SD. Kozlowski had it for Matyja.
Tomasz Gromadski vs. Eryk Cieslowski - SD. One judge had it for Cieslowski by shutout, the other 58-56. Kozlowski had it a draw.
Bartłomiej Grafka vs. Oleksandr Stretsky - SD. Stretsky was down 2x and even without those extra points would've lost on the other judges' cards. Kozlowski had it to Stretsky by a point.



At least they keep him confined to mostly just the small fry domestic circuit (doing four and six rounders) but still. Robberies even on the lowest rung of the sport's ladder are still robberies...and this guy is probably contributing to handing them out (when he can, or at least trying) left & right. 632 pro bouts adjudicated in his career.

 

Bonus swing bout!!

 

Przemysław Gorgoń vs. Serhii Zhuk, 6 rounds @ light heavyweight

 

Round 1

Gorgoń is hunching up his squat, broad shoulders tensely as he squares up against the much taller Ukrainian-Czech boxer. They both loosen their limbs, pawing a few jabs to get the blood flowing and start to circle around, feeling one another out - and then WHAM-O!!! BIG RIGHT HAND FROM NOWHERE! Gorgoń drops Zhuk hard, very early. Zhuk is up, more embarrassed than hurt. Zhuk is taking a couple of light jogging steps to his left at once, then standing up tall and ramping down jabs into the face of Gorgoń, who seems unable to bottle lightning twice as he doesn't subsequently connect on another single blow.

10-8 Gorgoń

 

Round 2

Gorgoń is jumping around Zhuk, throwing his right hand over his shoulder like a bag of sand while pitching his entire upper body forward, streamlined, head crooked down and to his left. Zhuk is carefully and calmly stepping around him, playing a game of pin the jab on the donkey, opening up with udder-milking straight combos and weak hooking volleys whenever he does find the face of Gorgoń. Almost nothing getting through for the short burly Pole in this session...and next to nothing overall since the KD shot after the opening bell. Zhuk's feathery blows from a safe distance are the only stuff landing either way.

10-9 Zhuk

19-18 Gorgoń