Roger Lee Trust "The Black Mamba" Mayweather

I've seen a lot of obit threads and articles citing the "legendary coach" and "uncle (or brother) of ..." - but STFU, and put some respect on the name of a man who first and foremost was a fighter (over a nineteen year campaign) and unique record-setting two-division champion. This was the original Black Mamba (way before Kobe Bryant took up the moniker; hell, over a decade before that man even debuted in the NBA... and yeah it definitely is eerie that both of them passed away less than eight weeks apart) in the sporting world.

Racking up a 64-4 record in the amateurs during the late 1970's, the middle child of Bernice and Theartha Mayweather watched his elder brother rise & fall in the rankings. Undeterred, he charged into the breach to eke out greater prestige for his clan - and for himself. Soon enough he would put himself on the map with blistering hand speed coupled with a sagely judgment of counter timing and raw power offensively, along with a fairly effective rudimentary form of what later would be widely known as the Philly shell defense.

A mainstay in The Neon Babylon, where the family had migrated from Michigan in his teens, he was probably its most electrifying if not biggest hometown draw at the gate until his nephew's heyday some twenty years later. He fought in his native state of Nevada in 41 bouts - over half of his 72 total - and 18 of those in Las Vegas itself.

Perhaps fittingly given his surroundings, he would prove to be maddeningly impossible to handicap over the course of his career - be it on over/under or outcomes, his fights were always 'bettor beware'. His greatest benefactor - aside from day one trainer Jesse Reid - was effete Southern dandy and gamblin' man William E. Baxter Jr., who managed him throughout his career and cultivated a very odd couple sort of bromance with Roger. No doubt the mercurial nature of Mayweather's record caused the future Poker Hall of Fame inductee plenty of anxiety, but he remained a loyal camp fixture no matter the down times. Even after the destructive setbacks of being humiliatingly KTFO, the core team were ride or die.

On that note, I've seen Roger often lumped in with "glass cannons". This rings false, to me. He was a lights-out puncher under the right circumstances, but he didn't rely on the kayo - and on many assignments didn't even want it. He was heavy-handed when throwing his run-of-the-mill stuff (and not the signature harpooning right, or the secondary mega-weapon that was his sneaky meet-you-halfway-inside uppercut) - but not so much so that he was stopping anyone by accident, or grinding them down via pipe-busting aggressive work rate and punches accumulated. There is also in that phrase the problem of the descriptor - glass. Inaccurate here, although he could be and often was hurt - and not exclusively by monsters. His chin was imperfect to be sure, but were it truly glass he would carry far more than half a dozen stoppage losses. It was more a matter of the law of averages catching up with him; the defensive style he adopted was highly effective...until it wasn't. An opponent with the right style to penetrate it (or even one that Roger had been putting on a clinic against for several rounds until one slip-up) could find his chin exposed and his posture indisposed to properly absorbing impact, and put him in a bad way. Creditably, he was often (but not always) capable of shaking the cobwebs and restoring himself to functionality - whether or not that required bending the rules now and then, or alienating bloodthirsty crowds whose tickets had been purchased in the hopes of seeing a KO either way and whose patience for tactics (even in the service of a higher purpose such as striving towards just such a KO) was thin.

He was, for all his flaws, by far the best Mayweather to have donned gloves until a few years before his retirement to refocus on training. Even in that arena, he outshone his siblings (both the somewhat overrated elder as well as the somewhat underrated younger - neither of whom could hold Roger's proverbial jockstrap as fighters).

I'm not going to go into those relations in detail, however. Nor will this be a place to rehash the sordid details of his legal troubles, or his long declining health before passing. His kin (and protégés, and plaintiffs) are not going to even be name-checked here - because the spotlight is, for once, as it did for a time along The Strip, now again shining directly on The Black Mamba.

Here then in chronological order, I've curated some notable matches spanning every chapter in his lengthy run through five weight classes. From among that list, those a) with full videos available online that b) went the distance, I've scored on a RBR basis (as if they ended prematurely - the scorecards are kind of moot, eh? ) with detailed blow-by-blow analysis. For the rest - the knockouts (or DQ) or distance affairs for which only highlights are up for mass consumption - just little blurbs, a sort of guided tour of the highs and lows associated with this prizefighting equivalent of craps dice with legs.

 

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Boom. Now there's a debut for you. Not even Roberto Apodaca took quite that bad a Mayweather brand ass whooping.

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A crosstown rivalry, but not a very bitter one - at least not before the pistol-whipping doled out from one friend to another. "Two Guns" had just a couple of months prior been undefeated himself (upset with a single punch by Fili Ramírez, a late notice sub with an ugly losing record), with over double Mayweather's pro experience. Local scouts in Las Vegas had actually tipped Sparrow, not Mayweather, as the one whose championship aspirations carried the ring of destiny. Cautionary tale: don't pull trigger on prospects until they've stepped up to at least face their peers. This was just such a step-up for both young men (a chance at vindication, in Sparrow's case) - with Mayweather reaching the plateau twice as fast. He may well have been, already here, twice as good a fighter. Sparrow wasn't bad, mind you - but from the moment he was dropped (by a sensational Mayweather right hand reminiscent of Bruce Lee's 'one inch punch') pain and panic were both writ large across his features until Roger mercifully drubbed him down once more a harrowing eternity later in the 4th.

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His first professional title (USBA 130lb) - and most cherished for years thereafter. Here is that snakelike jab, already polished to a T even in the championship rounds (in his first time reaching them - versus a powerful southpaw, no less!), perhaps at its maximal speed at his most fluid weight in the bloom of youth. Muñoz pushed hard until the game reached its time limit, trying until the last to score a will over skill kayo against Mayweather, clearly fatigued in the second half but still able to keep himself treading just above Muñoz's level.

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Short and sweet. This is a young destroyer who's firing on all cylinders, taking out this caliber opponent exactly as he ought to. Faced with no meaningful resistance, the Black Mamba struck repeatedly and poor Suttington had to pay the price for the official's bizarre reticence to stop it sooner (much to both commentators' lament).

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The victory which Roger himself is on record saying he considers his finest. The boricua put up a heck of a scrap while he lasted but the human embodiment of the dendroaspis polylepis was in full swing, arguably peaking, and would not be leaving the island empty-handed. The second reign of El Torbellino would end in every bit as brutally violent a fashion as his first, with the difference being that unlike Yasutsune Uehara, this was no domestic-level journeyman (with all respect due the Japanese banger - whom Serrano did outpoint comfortably in a rematch, in Wakayama) scoring a lucky punch to make good on his title dreams. This was the resounding arrival of a new world class talent - who now had a belt to back that up. He also wouldn't fumble the belt in his first defense, as did Uehara. Granted, he didn't rematch Serrano - but there was no cause for one. Would've just ended quicker the next time, as the proverbial torch had been passed.

 

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...and then, having seemingly expunged all that malice from his system on poor hapless Batman, the Mamba dispatched the next challenger to migrate up from South America with relatively compassionate pith. Seeming no less hungry & game than his predecessor from Panama, the Chilean wilted under the intense heat of the wholly dialed in Mayweather right hand. Ridiculously, the ref flashed half of a ten count on his fingers peering down into the unresponsive face of the supine Villablanca, extending the official time of the stoppage to a few seconds past the bell, at 3:04. Honestly it could have been stopped before that final knockdown, but at least the moment the back of Villablanca's head crashed into the mat, that should've been that. Feeling like a million bucks, the champion began earnestly calling out the also unbeaten and newly crowned WBC titlist Héctor Camacho - a clash of speedsters dream fight that as it happens would never materialize (although later they would become sparring partners).

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As quickly as Villablanca was taken out, Mayweather lasted only half as long in his next - and final - WBA title defense. That vaunted unification with Camacho was all but a guaranteed bird in Roger's clutches - until Rocky came along to punt that bird into the bush. This was his third attempt to capture a world championship after twice being thwarted by Eusebio Pedroza down at feather - and number three (with a couple of added kilograms) proved the charm. Compact spark-plug Lockridge, two years the older man, giving up a listed inch of height (although it looks to be more on film) and 5½" of reach, showed no fear and took several of TBM's hardest shots before laying waste to him with by far the heaviest blow Mayweather had ever felt. Rota Fortunae. Hasta nunca, Macho...

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{pts 1&2; second half in next post}

(see more detailed RBR post to follow)

 

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(see more detailed RBR post to follow)

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Known as "The Technician" but boasting a puncher's record, Baysmore was the second consecutive unbeaten opponent of Mayweather's comeback trail after posting those back to back losses against Lockridge and (very questionably) Baltazar. Mayweather showed toot sweet that his power hadn't gone anywhere, his confidence was on the wax instead of wane, and rumors of his chin's demise had been greatly exaggerated. Baysmore fought well enough to show he was no bum - and indeed he would come again, regaining the USBA super featherweight title a year late once Mayweather had discarded it - but in '85 he was an obstacle in the path of a gladiator yearning for lost glory, to be swept aside unceremoniously.

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Careful what you wish for. The green belt was finally in the kitty - but instead of Hector Camacho, now returned to lightweight, in the adversary's stool and in fiercely guarded possession of the vacated belt was a Mexican whose name was already taking on the glint of legend (seven years later, two divisions up, Chávez would settle the longstanding h2h debate with a dominant UD victory over the Puerto Rican). Mayweather actually won the first round and started off very well in the second - but a left hand carried low and merely "average" whiskers portent ill when you're in with a prime, bruising ATG in his most bone-crushing division. An overhand right started it, and before Mayweather even knew what was happening, he was being finished by the apex predator that was super feather Chávez.

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Less than a year removed from the Chávez loss, disaster struck. Pendleton was respected within boxing circles but didn't yet have quite the upset artist reputation he would gain in years to come (eventually becoming IBF lightweight champion) - and here was a loss away from a .500 wash-out record. Backing up with his arms down, Mayweather paid the price for his arrogance. Being knocked out by Chávez or even Lockridge is one thing, but this was a wake-up call for Roger...and heralded a pattern for another decade and change, of fighters thinking he would be putty in their hands if they could only walk him down (no mean feat, with that dynamite right of his) and crack his chin.

 

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(see more detailed RBR post to follow)

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With just a few expeditions to light welter to his credit, Mayweather targeted a powerful titlist in their second reign in his ambitiously historic bid to become the first two-division champion in boxing history to reign at both 130 and 140lbs (skipping clear over lightweight in the bargain). Mayweather showed that his speed and power carried up, and he took some of the best shots a tentative Arredondo could dish out until clipping him square on the button with a double right uppercut after backing into the ropes to lure him in. Picture-perfect stuff, and the Mamba has etched his name twofold in the annals.

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Yet another Mexican sacrificed at the altar of the Assassin. This one didn't last half as long as his countryman Arredondo, but then nothing on his CV had suggested that he was in the class of the former 2-time champion. Aceves took his lumps commendably enough, but a full-power Mayweather right into his temple caused his legs to betray him. After teetering sideways across the ring, Aceves would be waved off for his own good, barely cognizant of where he was.

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(see more detailed RBR post to follow)

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For his third defense of the super lightweight green belt, Mayweather tabbed a third Mexican foe in five bouts - and while he nearly made it across the finish line, El Gato would meet the same fate as Arredondo and Aceves before him (small world: González had dealt a pre-championship Arredondo his second loss, via SD, in a ten-rounder in '85). Mayweather had to upend his toolkit in dealing with the unorthodox pressure of González, dealing with spells of missile as well as trench warfare. González could not reliably avoid the right hand as they reached the late going, and this undid him. Too many grenades, hitting clean. This cat was tough, but he used more than nine lives over the course of eleven-plus rounds.

 

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(see more detailed RBR post to follow)

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Dat old school HBO WBC intro and theme music, doe!


Mayweather sweeps the first three rounds with jabs & movement, as Harold Lederman acknowledges - but Elespuru docked a point for a low blow in R3, so 29-27 Mayweather is the correct score. Larry Merchant had that same card but inverted the other way, in Chávez's favor, because he's a moron.

I disagree with Lederman on the next triplet, however. I gave Chávez all three while Lederman only gave him the fifth, sandwiched by rounds for the Mamba. Chávez started getting down the distance with his shots and hurt Mayweather legitimately in the fourth with a right hand, although Roger played it off with some hammed-up minstrelsy to mock El Gran Campeon. The fifth was undeniable for Chávez, while the sixth was EXTREMELY close, with Chávez doing the best work early scoring body shots and rights up top, while Mayweather rallied in the final minute with his jab and right cross landing effectively.

57-56 Chávez on my card as well as Merchant's; 58-55 Mayweather on Lederman's at the halfway point.

Very bold move by Mayweather in the seventh, willfully infighting with Chávez, but I can understand why. He was clearly tired from all that movement in the first half (especially the first quarter, which is what allowed him to cleanly outbox Chávez early on) and his counters were not going to deter the iron-chinned Mexican from running him down, so bracing up close and trading free-hand blows (mostly on the body) was his best recourse. Of course, it meant sacrificing another 10-9, as despite his admirable work this is Julio's wheelhouse.

He found a nice compromise in round eight, walking Chávez onto right hand leads and left hooks from mid-range while taking sliding reverse steps, unhurried, just enough to give himself room and elude Chávez's waving lefts meant to be the door-jambs for longer salvos. 10-9 Mayweather, super close. 76-75 Chávez.

Lead rights from Mayweather in the ninth, digging into his reserves and controlling the distance. BEAUTIFUL uppercut by Mayweather, with Chávez showing he does indeed have a hell of a chin. His offense is very sloppy, however, and the crowd is roaring his name despite very little getting through. He finally bops Roger on the nose with a couple of rights and Lampley overreacts by suggesting the fight has been beaten out of Mayweather. He is tiring but counters and clinches throughout the last minute, smothering Chávez's work. 10-9 Mayweather, close. 85 apiece.

Lederman's card reads the same, by a different route - he saw Chávez sweeping those last three.

Mayweather on his bike flicking jabs to start round ten, but Chávez has begun to cut the ring off and score body shots in multiple by the 90 second mark. He out-throws and out-lands the American (Chávez 24 of 52, 46%; Mayweather 12 of 39, 31%) in the frame, both winning it - for a final IB scorecard of 95-94 JCC - and convincing the incumbent champion to surrender on his stool.

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As of the JCC rematch, the sun had seemed to set on not only the decade but the career that had spanned it. Mayweather now carried the mark of damaged goods - and even though "Alli" was a year older and had never climbed the same heights, the Guyanese fighter was rolling in comparison. He was riding an 11-1 streak dating to his close UD loss against José Luis "El Zurdo" Ramírez for the vacant WBC lightweight title - and that included a SD victory over Darryl Tyson, with the loss also being a split decision against recent title challenger Rodolfo Aguilar. Ever the master of reinvention (and contemptuously dismissing the perennial soothsayers of his 'last hurrah'), Mayweather showed a new wrinkle to his game, denting Halley's ascending colon with a doubled and tripled up left hook downstairs - never so prominently featured a part of his arsenal, especially in multiples. Halley managed to hurt Mayweather sporadically, and came on particularly hard late, but could never hang onto the reins for long. As would become a recurring theme in the nineties, Mayweather gutted it out...

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Except, sometimes he couldn't gut it out. The strong but not exceptionally skillful Colombian unraveled 2½ years of work. After several ugly rounds pitting the artless banger against the declining counter-puncher - mostly a scorer's nightmare stalemate with plenty of misses parlayed into wrap-around clinches - things were brought to a sudden anticlimactic halt when a not particularly effective looking jab/hook brushed the face of a retreating Mayweather, and tumbled him backward into the ropes (with his neck's impact on the bottom ones likely causing more lasting damage than Pineda's left). The vacant IBF super lightweight title had a new minder, but he would only squeeze in a single voluntary defense over a no-mark while keeping it warm until Sweet Pea came along to school him.

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At this juncture going by the name Ras-I Alujah, the man who made his bones twice conquering Boom-Boom Mancini around the same time Mayweather beat Serrano had gone from champ to journeyman and then in an uncommon renaissance back to contender. True, he was coming off two defeats and seven in his last eleven outings, but some of those decisions were unlucky (including his 1991 war against Oba Carr) this match-up between contemporary umpteen-miles-of-bad-road veterans was classified as pick 'em. Bramble out-threw and out-landed Mayweather in the 1st, but started to ship big punishment in the second. Bramble would continue to post impressive numbers on the stat line, but the damaging and effective blows were piling up for the less hirsute relic of the Big Hair decade. Mayweather had taken command of even the punch counts by the fourth, and sent Bramble flying onto the seat of his pants midway through. Bramble mightn't have been hit like that since Chapo Rosario in '86. To his credit, he saw out the round, and even answered the bell for the next despite increasingly grotesque swelling around his eye from Mayweather's punches. His chief second did come to his rescue, albeit belatedly - and in awkward fashion, breaching the protocol of the ring. Kind of stupid that it went down in the books as "disqualification", as this just needlessly drags Mayweather's kayo ratio down. If this were officially a TKO, as it ought to be, Roger's legacy would be a nice round 50% - and not this unsatisfying 48.61 garbage. You seriously couldn't just throw in a white towel, Janks?

 

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I already made a thread on this one, as part of my "War Zone" series...and so am giving myself a lazy out.

Suffice to say a draw (or razor-thin nod for Rog) would have been fair, but the official result of a SD for Padilla is hardly unfair. Jerry Roth's score of 97-93, however, is probably gilding the lily for Zack Attack.

Here's my write-up on it:

https://www.boxingforum24.com/threa...7-zachary-padilla-vs-roger-mayweather.628990/

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(see more detailed RBR post to follow)

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(see more detailed RBR post to follow)

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From a Fight Hype interview w/ Ray Lovato himself:

"I worked with Miguel Diaz. ...Miguel had worked with Roger before, so he really knew what we had to work on and stuff. I trained right there at Top Rank Gym in Vegas. We were both there. Everything was good with us. We didn't have no animosity towards each other; it's just something that happens in boxing eventually down the line. We had to fight each other and that's what happened. It was either me or him, so I got the good side of the deal on this particular night.

I had worked with Roger for a while in sparring and when they asked me if I wanted to fight him, I said, "Okay, let's fight then. Let's do it." In order to get ahead, you gotta be able to compete with the best ones out there, so I said, "Let's do it," and that's what happened. Roger did his fair share of talking. He was pretty much saying it wasn't going to be much of a fight for him. He said it was going to be an easy fight for him, but the truth is sparring is a lot different from the fight. You have the little gloves, you don't have the headgear, so it's a different ballgame when you fight. I let him talk and I just went out and boxed and I ended up on the good side. It all worked out well for me.

Man, I'm trying to remember the 1st round. I can't really remember the 1st round other than the fact that I remember using my jab a lot. I was throwing a lot of jabs. Of course I had to stay away from his right hand. He had a really good right hand. I remember thinking about that. I remember him dropping his hand down a lot. I remember thinking I'm going to come over the top with the right hand. In the 2nd round, I had threw it and it caught him and the rest is history. That was something that I just got in the fight; it was nothing that I really picked up on him doing during sparring or anything. I really remember thinking how much his hand was down and how I could score with my overhand right because his hand was low. A lot of people fight different than the way they spar, so I wouldn't have taken too much into consideration from our sparring anyway. But he could fight. Roger was a great fighter. I'm not trying to take nothing away from him. I've seen it myself and he could fight. Thank God I was just on the better end of that fight. I didn't think he would get up after the right hand. I remember I caught him flush, right on the spot, but guess what. He got up. He did beat the count, but I think he injured his ankle or something and he was dazed. I'm just glad I came up on the winning end and that both of us came out okay.

The attention after beating Roger was nice, although I didn't get to enjoy it too much because a few months later, I went down and fought [Derrell] Coley, so I went right back to the gym to prepare for that fight. For me, the win over Roger was a good win, we worked hard for it, but after the win, you get back into the gym and go on to the next fight. Me and Coley had a pretty good war. He edged me out in D.C., but everything is good. Everything happens for a reason, so..."

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(see more detailed RBR post to follow)

Wishlist:

Mayweather vs. Juan Manuel Soberanes (whom Roger said was the physically strongest fighter and hardest puncher he faced in his entire career!)

 

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(big yikes on the commentator dubbing this "Jungle Warfare" - just because, what, it was a white guy versus a black guy? Oh well, it was '84...)

Round 1

Mayweather is jabbing the body and sidestepping, getting under Baltazar's double jabs and sandbag rights. Very quick feet by Mayweather. Baltazar walking him down, trying a pincer left-right hook combo while trapping Mayweather in the corner. Both shots are blocked and Mayweather is able to shimmy clear. Quick pinpoint toe placement by Mayweather, but he is partially caught with a few of Baltazar's looping shots nudging past his parrying glove and has to ride them, his balance stricken momentarily but instantly recovered as he stays laterally mobile. Really beautiful out-boxing from Mayweather, using side to side movement to flatten out Baltazar's aggression, then sniping him with stiff jabs off the lead hip.

10-9 Mayweather

Round 2

Mayweather continues to keep Baltazar guessing - incorrectly - as to his whereabouts from one moment until the next. Lots of step-in feints and then sidelong dashes. Mayweather steps in with a jab, gets a little greedy and is caught by a stiff jab from a vengeful Baltazar, who switched it up and used a right hand lead feint to disrupt Mayweather's defensive rhythm. Mayweather hurt and skating along the ropes as Baltazar now barrels into him, unloading with both hands. Baltazar headhunting, and Mayweather is able to slip and block a majority of his shots. A few hooks get through, however, ringing Mayweather's bell further. Baltazar is the one that ends up on the canvas, a slip exacerbated by a push from Mayweather. Quick body jabs by Mayweather. Baltazar is struggling to get in range now that Mayweather has space to roam free, unable to replicate that successful barrage when Mayweather was stunned and backed into the proverbial wall. Mayweather scoring with jabs, changing levels, bouncing around, staying well beyond the reach of Baltazar. Desperate lunging javelin rights from Baltazar, missing, and then lunging after Mayweather with hooks as he flits around him, popping jabs.

10-9 Mayweather, super close

20-18 Mayweather


Round 3

Mayweather is scissoring those stilts, never remaining fixed in place long enough for the reach-in Baltazar jab to nick anything past his occluding left elbow. Mayweather is almost entirely fanning Baltazar on jabs. A few wingnut rights graze as Mayweather is snapping his pivots to navigate by the ropes, but nothing making real contact. Mayweather doing well over ninety percent of the clean effective scoring, making full use of his quick feet and long wiry frame.

10-9 Mayweather

30-27 Mayweather


Round 4

Mayweather is keeping the stick in Baltazar's face, landing just one in every four, but denying Baltazar anything in turn. Mayweather is handling Baltazar's aggression in classic matador style, gliding around the perimeter and countering from every direction, weaving a cat's-cradle of hypotenuses from which the sharp left off the lead hip (and very occasional right from the rear) continue to land.

10-9 Mayweather - in a two minute round (early bell; ringside timekeeper's mistake)

40-36 Mayweather


Round 5

Mayweather sprints out to meet Baltazar, then breaks aside into a careening duck at the last second. Baltazar swipes at the after-image, with Mayweather befuddling him with more quick footwork and slippery upper body swivels. Baltazar loses his gum shield while lunging and missing. Time in. Baltazar is rallying as the crowd begins a chant of "TONY!" and rockets some big left hooks from his thigh up toward Mayweather's face. He is falling short but the constant pressure has Mayweather blowing a little. Baltazar's punches getting closer. Baltazar stuffs a high double jab hoping to pin Mayweather on the ropes but he just escapes. Mayweather gets caught with the next combo and has to hold. Chopping right from Baltazar, and Mayweather skips out clockwise behind a prodding jab on the chin. Wild fastball right from Baltazar, missing.

10-9 Mayweather, closer

50-45 Mayweather


Round 6

Mayweather is widening and narrowing his base as needed to work his way around Baltazar like a mathematical compass, but always maintaining a pyramidal shape with his legs' stance. Mayweather pecking with jabs as Baltazar rushes, unloads, lands nothing, and then jogs in place while licking the wounds to his pride and rethinking his next move (which invariably winds up being the same ineffective one...) - until Mayweather gets hit with a low blow, hurt. Mayweather's legs slow down considerably thereafter. Baltazar coming a bit closer now stomping in and pitching his upper half forward behind lead jabs and hooks, but still not striking Mayweather squarely. Clinch shortly before the bell. Mayweather pushes his jab into Baltazar's forehead while stepping wide around him.

10-9 Mayweather, ugliest round so far.

60-54 Mayweather


Round 7

Mayweather is carrying both fists by his knees and using lots of draw-up feints, bringing the right halfway up to his chest, for instance, and then instead shooting an unseen jab out to snap Baltazar's head back. Nonstop pressure from Baltazar, paying no dividends. When he gets close Baltazar is easily tied up as Mayweather falls back into the ropes, yanking on Baltazar's arms in a crocodile death roll and towing him along. Mayweather is now reserving his energy a bit more, trading jabs and short head shoeshines with Baltazar at medium range for a while before resuming outside movement. Baltazar is vaulting himself at Mayweather slinging high left hook leads, but not finding that right side of Mayweather's jaw, which is turned away defensively as the slicker boxer keeps his feet active on a second by second basis.

10-9 Mayweather, closer

70-63 Mayweather


Round 8

Mayweather is now feeling confident enough to push Baltazar into the ropes and lands a 1-2 between the gloves. Baltazar frees himself with a right hand but doesn't get much of a piece of Mayweather, just sort of spooks him with it. Mayweather is landing jabs, ducking Baltazar's and threading in a sharp right cross on the nose. Baltazar chucking hard leather, all straights, all one and done, very predictable, grazing or missing as Mayweather ducks and sidesteps. Mayweather is keeping both arms low, but is able to raise them as needed to parry as Baltazar telegraphs all of his attacks. Baltazar ends up in a headlock as he dives in low with a big windmilling shot. Mayweather circles almost into the ropes but stops, and clocks the oncoming Baltazar with a few solo right-handed blasts.

10-9 Mayweather

80-72 Mayweather


Round 9

Head clash. Mayweather is warned by the ref for holding. Mayweather scoring body jabs while Baltazar takes aim up top with his own jab, finding it mostly deflecting off the downward-slanting left arm of Mayweather. Baltazar is getting painted by light jabs as Mayweather leans away, not sitting down on anything. Mayweather getting more negative, spending lots of time posing and waiting on Baltazar, only moving when he needs to now. Baltazar gallops in and rattles off a few shots underneath Mayweather's guard, drumming on his six-pack. Mayweather is holding Baltazar in his sights from medium-long range, shooting his jab at the same moment as Baltazar to neutralize it.

10-9 Mayweather

90-81 Mayweather


Round 10

Mayweather is scoring with short lead rights and tying up. Baltazar hitting the body in the clinch. Mayweather answers in kind. They waltz into the ropes and get broken up. Mayweather doubles a jab and then aborts the right as Baltazar lobs an overhand at him, ducking in low to hold and getting partially hit by it anyway. Baltazar grabs Mayweather by the waist and carries him into the ropes, and plugs away on the body. Lead rights by Mayweather, thrown blindly as he flops over to his side, face by his waist. Mayweather getting sloppy but out-slugging the weary Baltazar nonetheless.

10-9 Mayweather

100-90 Mayweather

Official cards:

Lou Moret 98-95
Eddie Fiero 96-95
Marty Denkin 96-94

UD for Baltazar?

Pretty horrific robbery there, actually. Rog boxed Tony's head off. Not a pier six brawl or anything but not as bad as the overly apologetic commentators make out, either. These guys DKSAB, admitting in the ninth they "gave Baltazar the last couple on just effort, really, even though nothing is landing" - which isn't a thing, in scoring.

 

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Round 1

Mayweather plants his left forefoot astride Whitaker's right and jabs hard into his face. Whitaker counters with his southpaw jab and then sways back from a Mayweather right after scoring with a straight left on the belt line. Mayweather grazes with the right and keeps pumping it out, never planting it flush on the chin but knocking Whitaker's head back. Whitaker maneuvers his forearms in the way of Mayweather's quick 1-2s, catching shots on his elbows, and shooting back with fluid right hooks off the jab stepping to Mayweather's port. Whitaker burying jabs into Mayweather's left mitt and then popping left crosses into his gut, as they circle in the middle of the ring. Whitaker pushes his right glove cloyingly into Mayweather's face, dangling it there and looking to land more lefts on the body. Mayweather takes a step back and launches a huge right, cutting tightly acros Whitaker's flat-top. Both land big straights as they fence with their opposite stance jabs. Whitaker sets up a PEACH of a right hook in an exchange after ducking a Mayweather straight right and surging up from the crouch, and Mayweather is down! They swap more 1-2s after Mayweather gets up, fighting until the bell.

10-8 Whitaker


Round 2

Mayweather is shifting his way inside, jabbing past Whitaker's neck and grinding in for some trench warfare, both clasping each other by the nape and digging in with coal-stokers on the chest. The ref moves in after letting them hold & hit for a few seconds, and while pushing them apart is caught by a massive looping left of Whitaker's, which he couldn't brake the momentum of quickly enough. Southpaw 1-2 into the nexus of the high guard by Whitaker, aimed with precision in the small gap between Mayweather's thumbs, and then he arches up on his rear left toe and sets himself for a reach-around slapping right hook on the body. Mayweather is countering as best he can as Whitaker floods him with high right jabs and slashes at his body with hooks. Mayweather scoring with sharp 1-2s, enough to back Whitaker up several paces. Quick left hand lead from Whitaker, sharp but not a lot of emphasis behind it, causing Mayweather to blink momentarily but no more. Slight edge in speed for Whitaker in exchanges. Whitaker doing more body work and using more lateral movement, which is making the difference for him. Whitaker doubles up on a left hand as he weaves through a Mayweather 1-2 and snaps Roger's head back. Left uppercuts by Whitaker on the inside pry Mayweather off like a crowbar, discouraging clinches. Mayweather remains calm & steadies things into a slower pace by measuring the jab out into Whitaker's face and keeping the right hand threatening.

10-9 Whitaker

20-17 Whitaker


Round 3

Mayweather is catching Whitaker's catapult lefts as he jumps in by clamping his forearms together protectively over his chest and biding his time, picking his spots with counter jabs and right crosses. Whitaker very hyperactive, jumping in with those lefts and then dipping to either side while slapping high with blind hooks. Neither landing much yet halfway into this frame. Whitaker blocks a Mayweather straight flurry but is unprepared for the left upper-hook that Mayweather sneaks under his right bicep to clip the bottom of his chin. HUGE left uppercut inside by Whitaker, rocking Mayweather. Double left uppercut by Mayweather skidding off the anterior lung of Whitaker as his own chin gets turned by a Whitaker right hook. Good sustained inside action. Competitive but clearly Whitaker in control.

10-9 Whitaker

30-26 Whitaker


Round 4

Mayweather is starting to solve the puzzle, realizing that Whitaker is a menace both outside (whence he can fling himself with those catapult lefts) and up close where his bobbing-and-countering and overall infighting skills are superior. Mayweather starts to hit the abs of Whitaker in the process of sliding backward, and then seizes the opportunity to crack him with a straight right lead as his defensive focusing reroutes onto the body shots. Whitaker jumps in and clinches, then lands a light show-pony behind-the-back shot on Mayweather's trunks. Whitaker is walking into left jabs now, many of them clinking the side of his neck even as he tries slipping them. Whitaker pumping out his right jabs at range, not landing many. Whitaker jumps in with a flurry and they end up in a messy clinch. Whitaker is starting to score better with the jab as he settles down and throws one, taking aim from outside before dashing in. Mayweather is caught with a jab, head snapped back, yet hangs in the pocket landing his left - even as Whitaker smacks him with an overhand left.

10-9 Mayweather, close

39-36 Whitaker


Round 5

Mayweather is throwing very loose uppercuts into the sides while leaning down upon Whitaker. Counter lefts up top by Whitaker as he straightens from a crouch, and slapping Mayweather upside the head with right hooks while swerving into a leftward coil. Whitaker forces Mayweather to duck a high straight left but immediately retracts it and finds him with a follow-up left when Mayweather's head changes positions and droops to where his shoulder had been an instant earlier. Whitaker grinding his way in behind the right jab, unloading a bit, and surfing out with the low tide before Mamba can size him up for a counter right. A little extracurricular action past the bell, just heat of the moment stuff; nothing egregious.

10-9 Whitaker

49-45 Whitaker


Round 6

Mayweather is pushing his left jab in pursuit as Whitaker ducks in, slaps the body, and either clinches or flits outside again. Mayweather is starting to scoop in some hard underhanded rights on the body as they collide repeatedly. Whitaker still the general, dictating range and operating the spigot to either increase or decrease their mutual work rate. Mayweather hanging tough and getting his licks in, but Whitaker lumping him with left uppercuts downstairs at will and keeping Mayweather held in check with the right jab when he wants to reset.

10-9 Whitaker

59-54 Whitaker


Round 7

Mayweather is walking through Pete's southpaw 1-2s, and no-selling them. Whitaker starts to look spent from all this expenditure, but catches a second wind and rips Mayweather several times with bullwhip lefts up top and hard body shots. Mayweather tries pushing down on Whitaker's clavicles to stifle his offense but Whitaker just whips in body hooks while his face is pointed at the canvas. Mayweather is weary, just shoulder-tackling in and initiating clinches. Whitaker shreds him with left hooks on the body.

10-9 Whitaker

69-63 Whitaker


Round 8

Mayweather is finding Whitaker more regularly now backing up and picking spots with the 1-2, but Whitaker is extending the right jab and getting off first as the conveyor-belt aggressor. Whitaker's arms looking more leaden and his form suffering the more tired he gets, his punching technique now very sloppy, but on work rate alone he is dominating Mayweather. Whitaker ducks a series of long chopping rights as Mayweather now comes forward.

10-9 Whitaker

79-72 Whitaker


Round 9

Mayweather is cheating his body rightward an extra 10-15 degrees and pumping out double left jabs, then slamming heavy rights into the chest of Whitaker. Mayweather keeps hoisting up his trunks as they step apart. Whitaker lands a couple of sucker punch lefts before the ref calls time. Jesse Reid cinches Mayweather up tight, crimping with his fingers and then maybe sticking on a pin? Time in. Mayweather is riding with that effective 1-1-2, and Whitaker is knocked back a step multiples times by the hard right on the belt line. Mayweather leans away from a Whitaker left but it still buzzes him, but he slips the next one - and counters with a hard right. Whitaker stunned. Another right, Whitaker down on hands and knees and Mayweather gets in a late short uppercut. Hard 1-2s by Mayweather. Whitaker evades and survives.

10-8 Mayweather (was going to be 10-9 Mayweather even before the KD; his best round all night)

87-82 Whitaker


Round 10

Mayweather keeps jabs and rights clattering down on the retreating Whitaker. The southpaw appears to be favoring & nursing his rear power hand, tossing almost nothing but jabs as he backs up. Mayweather throwing and landing more, but all oblique stuff as Whitaker brings all that defensive skill to bear and never takes 100% from any individual shot. Whitaker's own jabs are mere chaff on Mayweather's radar, not intended to score.

10-9 Mayweather, close

96-92 Whitaker


Round 11

Mayweather is all over Whitaker - jabbing into the armpit, then curling a hard right into the opposite ribs. Whitaker lies in wait, picking off shots, and then explodes with a double 1-2, hurting Mayweather badly with the second hacking left. Mayweather regains control, thumping Whitaker repeatedly with orthodox straight combos, but Whitaker again changes the complexion with a single overhand left and Mayweather backs all the way into the ropes, sagging, halfway limp. Whitaker jabbing hard through his fatigue into Mayweather's face and slamming down with slingblade lefts.

10-9 Whitaker

106-101 Whitaker


Round 12

Mayweather is jabbing into Whitaker's arms, deflecting his punches. Mayweather creeps in close and eats a left but keeps trudging onward. Mayweather paws at Whitaker's face with his jab. Whitaker fakes a high jab and dives in with a left on the body. Heavy right by Mayweather backs Whitaker up. Mayweather catches an overhand left on the crook of his right arm. Hard right downstairs by Mayweather. Face jab by Whitaker. Double uppercuts by Mayweather. Wild exchanges, both tired & missing. Whitaker shoeshines the last ten seconds, a bit of "SRL".

10-9 Mayweather, close

115-111 Whitaker

116-110, 117-111, 116-112 - UD for Whitaker

 

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Baby Mikey Buffer sighting! More pepper than salt!


Round 1

Mayweather starts out jabbing the body and propelling himself outside before any retaliation from Brazier. Mayweather is hopping side to side and checking Brazier in place with a high jab feint. Brazier is stretching out a left jab, aiming for Mayweather's chest but only glancing off his inner bicep as Mayweather bounces around in a controlled-chaos free-jazz rhythm that Brazier can't warm to and predict. Mayweather is turning Brazier after luring him into the ropes, and jabbing into his sideburns from afar while creating more space. Mayweather with a sharp double jab over the right eye, never ceasing to move his feet. Brazier advances behind a high turtle shell, blocking several jabs but Mayweather sneaks a hook under & up through it.

10-9 Mayweather


Round 2

Mayweather is jabbing the body and moving left. Brazier is using a bizarre leaning-tower-of-Pisa stance, kind of pooping a wheelie as it were onto the insole of either shoe and letting his upper half dangle to his side drunkenly as he ambles in. Perhaps a tactic meant to get Mayweather off his game, but he remains unperturbed and businesslike, stepping, jabbing, and using head-feints. Brazier reaches in with a right and tickles Mayweather's cheek with it but eats a pull-counter 1-2 in response. Mayweather is flicking out jabs at the full limit of their reach, flinching away to make Brazier fall short with his own, and then boomeranging in to score yet another quick jab. Lots of Mayweather's jabs hitting Brazier's goalposts, but enough penetrating to keep him on top. Lots of following, twitching and posing from Brazier - not much punching.

10-9 Mayweather

20-18 Mayweather


Round 3

Mayweather is roping out the quick jab and walking Braizer onto them. Mayweather working the jab firmly on the leftward step and then hooking off it. Brazier holding up the high guard and cruising forward, and paying for this one-dimensional stubbornness as Mayweather starts to pile up stinging body jabs underneath. Mayweather is warned to keep them a little higher, just to be sure. Brazier over-committing with his jab stepping in and getting countered. Brazier manages to brush him with a right but can't follow up before Mayweather has mounted a new steed on the carousel's outermost track.

10-9 Mayweather

30-27 Mayweather


Round 4

Mayweather is squeezing his elbows together and blocking as Brazier tries lowering the plane of attack on his jab. Mayweather keeps moving clockwise and doubling & tripling up on his jab. Mayweather is stepping in to let his bottom lip get just touched by the jab of Brazier, jerking away from it as it does to mitigate, and then piercing Brazier's cheek with a retaliatory jab. Rainbow lead right from Brazier suddenly marching in quick-step. Mayweather rolls with it and holds. Brazier pivots away from another partially landed right and lands a 1-2 flush on Brazier's chin. Mayweather proves too slippery for Brazier after lingering by the ropes a moment, and scores with jabs but is caught by a lead right at mid-range.

10-9 Mayweather, closer

40-36 Mayweather


Round 5

Mayweather is snapping that jab but can't hold Brazier off. Big right hand from Brazier just as Mayweather temporarily loses his footing in his attempt to strafe by the ropes. Mayweather recovers but the confidence of Brazier is booming. Mayweather is having to reduce his number of jabs thrown at once, as when he tries more than a couple Brazier is stamping down into his nose with his own hard jab. Mayweather landing a jab or two and then reclining back in an invisible La-Z-Boy while continuing to scissor his legs. Brazier is catching Mayweather's high 1-2s on his guard like flypaper, and having more success with his spearing right, a little more contact each time. Mayweather boxing scared now, putting out a fine spray of jabs but hardly touching Brazier with any, not setting his feet.

10-9 Mayweather, closer still

50-45 Mayweather


Round 6

Mayweather lands an incidental rabbit punch as they both come flying in together with bow-and-arrow 1-2s. Brazier is blocking jabs on his outer wrists and walking Mayweather down. Brazier starting to really hammer Mayweather with the right hand after showing a deep plunging left jab in pursuit. Very light jabs on the flanks, elbows and thighs by Mayweather - precious few scoring legally. Brazier sidles up next to Mayweather, bucking into him with his left shoulder while slipping a jab, and then crashes down with a right behind the neck as they separate.

10-9 Brazier, close

59-55 Mayweather


Bernstein has it 58-57 Brazier at the halfway point. Uncharacteristically terrible card from Al.


Round 7

Mayweather is toying with Brazier, drawing him in with short light jabs that are quickly retracted (or pulled midway home) only to whip him around the side of the head with a fast hook while sidestepping. Brazier walking through everything, showing Mayweather no respect. Mayweather is slipping Brazier jabs and crosses with rapid neck snatches, and countering with jabs. Brazier steps in and does connect on a right but Mayweather answers back with a series of counter uppercuts.

10-9 Mayweather, strong comeback after slackening his lead in the sixth...

69-64 Mayweather


Round 8

Mayweather is landing jabs wherever he likes. Brazier is throwing and missing single blows as Mayweather keeps him on a skateboard tied onto a dog leash and saunters around the open space, letting off the odd deluge of jabs from the navel to mandible. Brazier is seeing his attempts to step in with a strong jab frustrated as Mayweather claps into that left glove with his right, and counters with his own jab. BIG right from Brazier, too little too late. Mayweather, however, blinks in consternation before the bell.

10-9 Mayweather

79-73 Mayweather


Round 9

Mayweather is throwing combos while backing into the ropes. Brazier is getting jabbed in the midsection on the way in but ignoring all of Mayweather's activity in order to hyper-focus on catching him with that right - which he is doing, increasingly. Mayweather on the move. Brazier is hanging back, letting Mayweather's jabs fall short as Mayweather anticipates steps to close the gap that never come, then plowing in with the right while Mayweather's defenses are still dissembled from jabbing. Brazier clocks Mayweather with a series of four unanswered jabs, straight and chopping, with Mayweather bending over hurt by the ropes. Mayweather viciously uppercutting to save himself, but the bell is a blessing.

10-9 Brazier

88-83 Mayweather


Round 10

Mayweather comes out with a big 1-2. Hook on the body as Brazier steps back, shelling up. Mayweather is dissecting Brazier with the jab and backs him all the way across the ring. Lancing right on the mouth by Mayweather. Brazier just pawing a defensive jab from the high guard, clenched up rigidly. Mayweather is jabbing from a cautious distance - wary of that right hand, and rightfully so as Brazier tags him with it again, hurting Mayweather slightly. Mayweather is baiting with a jab coming ¾ of the way in, triggering an instinctive jab response from Brazier, which leaves him open to Mayweather counters. Brazier waits patiently for a spot and then hurts Mayweather with a body shot and right hand, but again too late to steal the frame.

10-9 Mayweather, close

98-92 Mayweather


Round 11

Mayweather is getting crowded and given no quarter, Brazier jabbing heavily at the head and cutting off Mayweather as he tries circling either way. Mayweather nearly cornered several times, and hit with a hard right. Brazier sends a stiff jab into the corner turnbuckle, right about where he correctly guessed Mayweather's head was about to loll - and buzzes him. Brazier throwing combos now, mixing in far more body shots than earlier. Mayweather breathing through his mouth, labored. Desperate body flurries and wide slapping hooks up top by Mayweather. Brazier is blocking Mayweather's 1-2s but holding off for some reason, letting Mayweather off the hook. Mayweather hurt again - yet Brazier again eases off the pedal shortly thereafter.

10-9 Brazier

107-102 Mayweather


Round 12

Mayweather is hit with a hard right cross as they both throw lazy jabs stepping together. Mayweather shying away from exchanges. Heavy looping body shots by Mayweather. Brazier goes into a shell, letting Mayweather have the moment. Brazier hitting Mayweather on the gob with jabs, landing more quickly than Mayweather can bring his gloves up from his thighs. Brazier is waiting a lot, however, going long stretches without throwing. BIG RIGHT HAND FROM BRAZIER. Mayweather wobbling all over the place. A minute left. Body shots from Brazier. Mayweather on fumes. Brazier can't find any tidiness on his next several rights, flopping against Mayweather's left shoulder. HUGE counter right by Mayweather. Brazier now bombarded into the ropes. A few more from Mayweather. They're both ready to collapse.

10-9 Brazier

116-112 Mayweather


Official cards:

Abraham Chavarria 116-115 Brazier (awful card)
Arlen "Spider" Bynum 115-114 Mayweather
Carol Castellano 116-111...

SD for Mayweather

 

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Round 1

Mayweather finds Pazienza with the jab even as the reputed brawler shows more lateral footwork & head movement than customary for him. Mayweather tying up as needed when Pazienza tires of circling/trading jabs and leaps in with gazelle hooks. Mayweather very accurate fully extending his left arm while spiraling outward and planting his knuckles against Pazienza's forehead, landing the jab from a comfortable range. Pazienza charges in and ragdolls Mayweather with his right arm grinding against the face, before a break is called. Mayweather continues landing jabs.

10-9 Mayweather


Round 2

Mayweather is ducking the left hook and raising his left shoulder to buck Pazienza off, hoisting up Pazienza's arm before shoving outward. Mayweather is stalking, landing jabs from the hip, and sizing up Pazienza for a quick powerful uppercut. He finally connects and Pazienza does a little hop-step while regaining his balance. Pazienza now playing the mongoose, darting in halfway and pulling the reins, sometimes feinting and sometimes pecking in with a double jab. Mayweather not falling for any of his nonsense, just staying composed, moving, jabbing. Lead right by Pazienza grazes but sees him countered by a stiff jab as Mayweather steps around him. Pazienza jaws at Mayweather at the bell and gets a glove in the mouth for his troubles. Bad blood evident.

10-9 Mayweather

20-18 Mayweather


Round 3

Mayweather is repelling Pazienza's advances with a jab on the nose. Pazienza rolls fist over fist and jumps in with thudding croquet-stick body combos. Mayweather is stepping back and firing a 1-2 down into the belt line, then placing his rear foot down heavily and shifting weight. Pazienza flutters some high jabs out in bunches at the chin of Mayweather as it drifts away. Mayweather is pulling back and looking to counter with the jab but Pazienza giving him no room. Body combos scoring consistently for Pazienza, but when he goes headhunting most of his shots fall prey to Roger's shoulder roll defense. Quick stinging counter right by Mayweather. Pazienza jumps in, throwing jabs at the guard and uppercuts into the gut.

10-9 Pazienza, close

29-28 Mayweather


Round 4

Pazienza with a quadruple jab on the stomach and several looping rights but he loses his footing along with his cool and stumbles onto the canvas. Mayweather got in a blow as he was going down, but correctly not ruled a KD as it wasn't caused by the punch but rather preceded it. Mayweather is baiting with a 1-2 and then reeling back from Pazienza when he lunges up off his toes flurrying. Pazienza grazes Mayweather's chin jumping at him with a hook but Mayweather stuffs him with a check hook. Mayweather lands a rabbit punch as Pazienza exposes the back of the head sidling in, and doubles up on it, landing atop the crown as Pazienza straightens up his stance. Triple jab downstairs by Pazienza, blocked on the horizontal left arm of Mayweather, held in place like a carnival ride locking-bar. Mayweather is jerking his chin back and shimmying his upper body a few inches to his left every time Pazienza jabs, then sniping up from below with a counter jab. More rough stuff just after the bell.

10-9 Mayweather, close but clear

39-37 Mayweather


Round 5

Mayweather is targeting Paziezna's cut left eye with the jab. Pazienza is having trouble getting in past that left stick. Pazienza tries every trick in the book, swooping in from different angles, with overhands and uppercuts - all smoothly dodged with sidesteps, or slipped & countered as Mayweather fixes himself in place and relies on the shoulder roll. Mayweather picking him apart surgically with the jab, making Pazienza cautiously overthink.

10-9 Mayweather

49-46 Mayweather


Round 6

Mayweather is leaping back to deny Pazienza his kamikaze body hooks. Pazienza throwing flurries while hurtling in on Mayweather, but almost nothing landing (the little that does glancing above the waist). Mayweather countering with primarily jabs but also shotgunning the right into Pazienza's face when he is given room & time. Pazienza hacking wildly, throwing big axing rights that fall short of Mayweather's tilted head and uppercuts getting stumped on the bottoms of Mayweather's arms. Idiot commentators talking about how Mayweather couldn't possibly be winning the round because of how much Pazienza's throwing, ignoring that he's landing nothing. Actually, they're claiming he's landing but he isn't.

10-9 Mayweather, clear, ignore the idiot commentators.

59-55 Mayweather


Round 7

Mayweather is snapping the jab into Pazienza's face at long range. Pazienza dives in and slaps a few wide body shots. Mayweather blocking the left hook on that right arm, elbow serving as quillon, then either unfolding the arm for a straight right counter or stepping diagonally out and counter-clockwise and loading up on a big uppercut. Pazienza is swarming and throwing loads of punches, but Mayweather is slipping 90% of them even as the play-by-play man lauds Pazienza's effort while admonishing Mayweather for "taking punches" (which he isn't) and ignoring Mayweather's big counter uppercuts.

10-9 Mayweather

69-64 Mayweather


"I don't think Mayweather did anything offensively in that round!", whines Ray Firestone. That's because you're blind, Ray, or you just DKSAB. At least his broadcast partner Randy Gordon is crediting Mayweather's defensive work and counter-punching, although he is allowing himself to get brow-beaten into 'admitting' that on sheer activity Paz is winning rounds that you can tell by Ray's tone he knows he truthfully isn't.


Round 8

Mayweather is catching Pazienza running in with the left hand, both jabs and short hooks. Pazienza is chopping at the left shoulder with his right hand to distract Mayweather and then swiveling above the waist to crank in the left hook - but Mayweather refuses to get suckered in, and breezily twists his own upper body to deflect both punches fairly effortlessly. Mayweather economical but highly accurate picking off Pazienza however and whenever he attacks.

10-9 Mayweather

79-73 Mayweather


Damn...can hardly believe I'm saying this, but young Whoopi Goldberg could get it. And she's a giant boxing fan to boot?


Round 9

Mayweather stuffing the jab in Pazienza's face. Mayweather popping up & rolling his left shoulder to slip half of Pazienza's wild hooks, and rotating his starboard inside to absorb the rest on the far side of his chest at oblique angles that disperse the impact. Mayweather tools over that eye with the jab, prompting the ringside physician to have a look. Time in. Pazienza keeps chipping away barreling in with left hooks and chopping rights, but Mayweather is putting on a defensive clinic and slicing up the challenger's face with his jab. Pazienza spraying hooks alternately high and low now, and manages to clap Mayweather on the nose and torso. Hard counter uppercut by Mayweather, jaw-jacking Pazienza. Straight right by Mayweather and Pazienza is hurt, clowning & selling it exaggeratedly to create the impression he wasn't.

10-9 Mayweather

89-82 Mayweather


Round 10

Mayweather creating a moat around himself with the jab, still very sharp. Pazienza spends the whole first minute cowed, waiting on the outside, taking barely a half-step inside before raising his guard and circling away from the jab. Pazienza tries ducking and weaving to give himself an opening to submarine in with body shots, but Mayweather's stance adjusts so that he's able to shoot jabs down into Pazienza's face, discouraging the whole plan. Mayweather leaves a jab suspended in midair to shield against Pazienza's leaping hook, catching it on the crook of his arm. Pazienza just tossing himself atop Mayweather, hammering down, landing nothing, eating uppercuts.

10-9 Mayweather

99-91 Mayweather


Round 11

Mayweather leads with a double left hook. Mayweather stands his ground and shreds Pazienza with oil-drill rights descending into the Rhode Islander's brow and upper cheekbones. Pazienza is launching himself at Mayweather and throwing shoeshines on the body and big spearing rights at the head, the latter of which sail harmlessly past as Mayweather slips and counters. Some vicious shots getting timed and landed flush by Mayweather now as the already easy-to-anticipate Pazienza begins to slow down. Mayweather catches him with a perfect counter uppercut and down he goes shortly before the bell.

10-8 Mayweather

109-99 Mayweather


Round 12

Mayweather is ready as Pazienza begins his final desperate assault. Pazienza tries jabbing his way in, but is getting matador-turned and force-fed jabs himself. Mayweather now dropping both arms by his sides, baiting Pazienza, then ripping into him with straight rights and short, powerful uppercuts. Pazienza taking a bruising, yet keeps on cruising. Mayweather laser-focused with the jab and using just enough movement with his legs to pull the chair out from under Pazienza, disrupting his wild reckless offense. HARD counter right by Pazienza, wobbling him. Mayweather smells blood in the water and wants the KO. He loads up on hooks off the jab, advancing cautiously in a Philly shell. Pazienza is a beaten animal, not getting too close, throwing half-hearted flurries to head and body from a respectful distance. They clinch at the bell and Pazienza retains a two-armed clamping grip on Mayweather's right arm. Pazienza hits Mayweather on the body after the bell and Mayweather claps him on the back in turn - prompting Lou Duva to climb in the ring and charge Mayweather only to suffer his own counter uppercut knockdown. Goddamn hotheaded Italians..

10-9 Mayweather

119-108 Mayweather


Official cards:

Lou Filippo 117-110
Vince Delgado 117-110
Dalby Shirley 118-108

UD for Mayweather

 

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A shame that Rog was 6¼ years removed from making lightweight, because "Stuff" Griffith at this point held the USBA championship. This was the same belt, remember, that held so much sentimental value to Mayweather. It was his first taste of gold, that earliest tangible reward for his skills in the pro ranks. Besides the Mamba himself, its respectable lineage had already included Sean O'Grady and some familiar past rivals in Whitaker, Halley, and Pendleton (and more recently worn by Devin Haney, and currently Teófimo López). Alas, by '93 it was a chore to even make 140lbs anymore (indeed, over his last twenty bouts, starting with Griffith, he would only succeed in coming in under the light welter limit four more times).

Round 1

Mayweather is the aggressor, popping jabs into Griffith's mush and breadbasket. Griffith is caught by a couple of sharp 1-2s as he spirals in close and entices Mayweather to swap hooks. Griffith cut by a right hand. Mayweather is spreading his legs wide but firmly digging his toes into the sand, easing himself down into an easel pose and sending those speedy jabs up on an incline to snap Griffith's head back. Mayweather is holding out the left arm like a push-pole to keep Griffith from leaping in with a hook.

10-9 Mayweather


Round 2

Mayweather is jabbing high, skirting the nape as Griffith drops his face into his far shoulder. Griffith tries pressing in behind Trömner mallet jabs, but Mayweather at 32 still has the legs and innate mastery of distancing and ring sense to gracefully (if no longer with serpentine velocity) outmaneuver a come-forth opponent at this B range caliber. Mayweather is jabbing into Griffith's bangs just below his little curl of forelock. Griffith is hurt by an overhand right jumping in recklessly, and put down by a subsequent double left hook to his liver, which Mayweather emphasized by sinking into his left knee. Griffith beats the count at seven and seems to have shaken it off, but Mayweather quickly overwhelms him with rapid hooks, intent on finishing. Griffith is able to fight him off with jabs and rights from a high guard. Lunging in with a left hook that grazes Mayweather's armpit, Griffith is almost caught with another plunging right, just narrowly missing the back of his skull.

10-8 Mayweather

20-17 Mayweather


Round 3

Mayweather gets the jab working from the bell. Griffith's cut is reopened as he wanders in listlessly, flinging underhanded rights at the body as Mayweather neutralizes him with a clinch, pushes free, and jabs at long range. Griffith is jabbing in persistently but not reaching the chin as Mayweather tilts his entire portraiture back, upper spine offset 30° from his lumbar. Mayweather cruising at medium effort & speed, dominating with the jab and footwork.

10-9 Mayweather

30-26 Mayweather


Round 4

Mayweather is hooking off the jab and petrifying Griffith whenever he steps within two feet. Griffith switching tacks, getting desperate to find angles now, leaning below the waist and ski-lifting up blind jabs. The Black Mamba stays icy-veined even as somebody at ringside talks inordinate trash, yelling "Mayweather's a punk!", continuing to eschew distraction and feed Griffith jabs while avoiding return fire - but moments later, Griffith does clip him. With just 25 seconds on the clock, after hopscotching from a right on the body and swaying back above the waist to make Griffith lunge & miss with a 1-1-2, the counter-puncher gets a little greedy and loads up lazily on a right uppercut - just as Griffith follows up with a left hook. Pay-dirt. Mayweather's circuits are scrambled. Griffith lands several overhands while Mayweather flops against the ropes, barely conscious, ultimately able to clinch and be saved by the bell.

10-9 Griffith ...although I'm usually loathe to see 2 minutes and change worth of quality work undone by a few moments of the superior boxer getting hurt... Griffith started taking over just barely in time IMO. Mayweather was simply too devastated in that last half-minute to not have the round stolen from his grasp.

39-36 Mayweather


Round 5

Mayweather makes it clear he's a dangerous animal off the bat, lest Griffith have ideas of picking up where he left off. Mayweather scoring hooks and looping rights stepping in. Griffith is having a hard time getting past the Mayweather jab, which is scoring particularly well on the navel, serving to effectively halt Griffith's momentum. For his part, Griffith's jabs fall well short. Mayweather's height and reach becoming factors, along with his smoother movement and more gifted & seasoned brain for boxing. Griffith spearing rights at the body, not reaching. Mayweather jabbing, moving, tying up when he needs to. Griffith lands a right hand inside the last ten seconds, too little too late.

10-9 Mayweather

49-45 Mayweather


Round 6

Mayweather is jabbing on the backfoot and twining his arms out sinuously around Griffith's when he can, but Griffith is showing his physical strength (and the advantage of being eight years Mayweather's junior, with more in his tank), powering through and finding a way to plant that long lead left hook on Mayweather's chin repeatedly, even if only glancing blows as Mayweather pulls back. Mayweather increases the distance and works behind the jab late.

10-9 Griffith, close

58-55 Mayweather


Round 7

Mayweather keeps Griffith at bay with the jab, and wraps his left elbow around Griffith's noggin to vaudeville-cane him in close, and hit the body with his right. Mayweather is turning over his left arm while backing up to shield against the Griffith jab. Effort is present but nothing from Griffith is doing aught but clatter off Mayweather's radius & ulna. No creativity in opening up shots for himself. Griffith busily doubling up jabs and launching in rights, but Mayweather is ducking away, making him only get a vanishing piece, then springing up to clinch.

10-9 Mayweather

68-64 Mayweather


Round 8

Mayweather now turning Griffith in the middle of the ring, shooting out the long jab and then picking up his feet immediately upon impact (or point of return in the case of a miss). Griffith is throwing away jabs to merely put himself on the same continent as Mayweather, and then putting everything into deep outfield-to-home-plate rights. Mayweather is utilizing that shoulder roll and making Griffith swish the air with every kind of shot. Clever use of clinching by Mayweather to nullify most any chances for infighting (though he can't resist a few Newton's-cradle digs with his right).

10-9 Mayweather

78-73 Mayweather


Round 9

Griffith has Mayweather on the defensive with a couple of hard rights. Mayweather is fencing with him, toeing a line in the knot of the bow-tie on the Budweiser logo and refusing to budge, using only head pumps to dodge and giving his legs a break. Mayweather is roping out jabs and knocking Griffith's head off its axle. Griffith is shuffling directly onto jabs, and then just as he's allowed passage stepping through a wide Mayweather hook, the cage door is shut upon him as Mayweather clinches again. Griffith is mugging him on the inside, roughing Mayweather up but not landing a ton cleanly. Body shots and chopping rights behind the head piling up for Griffith as Mayweather's output drops to null.

10-9 Griffith, close - his success at the beginning and end book-ending some decent work by Mayweather.

87-83 Mayweather


Stats through nine, per Bernstein:

Mayweather 236 of 439, 54%
Griffith 187 of 571, 33%


Round 10

Mayweather is pawing experimentally with the jab until Griffith dives in with a right on the body. Mayweather bears down on the back of Griffith's head with his left arm, while pumping several right uppercuts into his face. The ref doesn't like it and gives Mayweather a final warning for roughhouse tactics. Griffith is struggling to get past the jab. Mayweather now standing his ground and hooking, rocking Griffith but the younger man responds with a heavy right landing flush on Mayweather's nose. They brawl for a good twenty seconds before Mayweather clinches again. Griffith with some hooks on the body, countered by hooks upstairs from Mayweather. Griffith can't pin the proverbial tail on the donkey even as Mayweather drops his arms by his sides and buoys himself against the ropes idly chatting with someone at ringside. Counter uppercut by Mayweather as Griffith charges once more into a clinch.

10-9 Mayweather

97-92 Mayweather


Official cards:

Bill Graham 95-93
Patricia Morse Jarman 97-93
Davey Pearl 98-93

UD for Mayweather


Master class, if but Pyrrhic. It was his last meaningful victory - and the only thing it netted him was a place in the USBA rankings at super lightweight (rather confusingly, as this was for all intents and purposes a welterweight contest - and Roger had not actually made 140 in almost two years since the Pineda loss, tipping the scales as a welter for the sixth time against Griffith) - only to get subsequently screwed of what should have tied a neat bow on his last redemptive arc with a title grabbed from Darryl Tyson.

 

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Round 1

They meet in the middle of the ring and trade jabs. Mayweather first to get off, scoring on the belt line of the recently up-jumped lightweight. Tyson raises and lowers his forearms in arrhythmic fashion to keep Mayweather guessing and jabbing back at him, bust mostly hitting the lowered front bicep. Mayweather almost catches him with a sneaky right down the pipe, but Tyson rolls back with it. Mayweather widens his base and jabs down into the stomach, then cuts a few long steps to avoid Tyson's burst of body jabs as he scoots forth. Tyson coming halfway in and doing lots of shaking and posing.

10-9 Mayweather


1st Rnd Jab Stats:
Tyson 15 of 45, 33%
Mayweather 21 of 41, 51% (brought dat smoke)


Round 2

Tyson jabbing the chest, missing or skimming, until they slam together in a clinch. Mayweather not making the same mistake he did in the Chávez rematch, burning fuel early with abundant movement. Against this lesser foe he is able to cement himself and play more catch & shoot. Mayweather allowing Tyson all the body jabs he wants, unconcerned about them, and slipping head shots with rudimentary hip-swings, barely even needing to incorporate head movement - and making use of timely clinches. The ref us unimpressed with the frequency of that holding and warns Mayweather. Tyson is engaging Mayweather in a wrestler's lock, fingers curled over each other's shoulders, and wrenching a hand free after they walk each other across the Budweiser logo to whack Mayweather on the body. A few digs into the left floating rib by Mayweather with his right, elbow pointing skyward, but he's mostly just holding in the final minute.

10-9 Tyson, close

19-19


Stats after 2:
Tyson 29 of 88, 33%
Mayweather 33 of 67, 49%


Round 3

Mayweather is still holding, either arm working constantly to either squeeze on Tyson and sap his lung power, or maneuver to keep Tyson's arms pinned down or elsewise impracticable. Tyson waiting until the ref orders a break and launching right hands up at the head, dinging Mayweather above his left temple. Mayweather is now snapping the jab into the face of Tyson and backing him up. Tyson pumps out a slew of jabs reaching up for the mouth, but Mayweather is able to yank himself clear, jutting out his lip tauntingly.

10-9 Mayweather, close and ugly, crowd booing; even the ref didn't like it, as he comes over to Mayweather's corner and threatens a point deduction for the next instance of showboating!

29-28 Mayweather



Punches in Rnd 3:
Tyson 21 of 54, 39%
Mayweather 18 of 36, 50%


Round 4

Mayweather annoying Tyson by leaning back, rolling the left shoulder, and countering with right uppercuts and sweeping hooks. Tyson is lunging in with the 1-2 and trying his own hook, but not minding the gap. Mayweather is posting up with his left elbow digging into Tyson's side and leveraging him off a few steps, into jabbing range. Tyson claps down on the nape of Mayweather's neck with a nearly flat-palmed right and then stuffs in a short left hook, best combo all night for him even though Mayweather's tight posture meant it didn't translate into much damage. Mayweather does some pretty effective countering off the ropes as Tyson bullies him. Tyson walks into a right hand on the widow's peak while thrusting a high errant jab.

10-9 Mayweather

39-37 Mayweather


Stats after 4:
Tyson 75 of 213, 35%
Mayweather 70 of 152, 46%


Al Bernstein has it 38 apiece through four.


Round 5

Mayweather doing a crazy amount of holding; sad to watch him reduced to such a state vs. someone a prime or even late eighties version of the Mamba probably decimates (and that in spite of Tyson as of '93 yet to ever be stopped, and considered a tough customer). Tyson is grinding in and working the body with single hooks where he can, but Mayweather is propelling himself with a two-fisted shove-off and landing double left hooks to jaw and flank. Right hand from outside by Mayweather before they clasp again in a ring-center waltz. Tyson hurling rights into the diaphragm and then glomming onto Mayweather, billygoating into his chest a bit, and working body shots whenever he can pull a hand free.

10-9 Mayweather, close

49-46 Mayweather


Punches in Rnd 5:
Tyson 23 of 53, 43%
Mayweather 20 of 35, 57%


Round 6

Mayweather is allowing himself to get backed into a corner and brushed along the sides with upward-swatting combos by Tyson, but countering very accurately with uppercuts on the flat bottom of the chin. Hard to score first minute, very much a question of work rate versus effectiveness. Mayweather is tying up after jabbing Tyson between his eyes a few times. Mayweather able to come forward now as Tyson seems to be the more worn out from having to fend off all those clinches. Mayweather crisply jabbing at various distances and then creeping in and tying up.

10-9 Mayweather

59-55 Mayweather


Stats after 6:
Tyson 109 of 298, 36%
Mayweather 111 of 230, 48%


Al Bernstein and Barry Tompkins both have it 57 apiece halfway through.


Round 7

Mayweather is landing some big rights even with his back against the ropes and Tyson swarming in with over-the-top bombs while pitched up on the ball of each foot. Mayweather is doubling his jab on the leftward step, increasing the distance between them a little more with each shift. Tyson is jabbing into the left arm, curled around Mayweather's body protectively, and diving in with the right aimed slightly higher, falling short or tickling Mayweather's throat. Waving in with his fist to beckon Tyson while laying on the ropes, Mayweather sneers. Tyson refuses to be his stooge. Mayweather steps out to jab at him in open waters.

10-9 Mayweather

69-64 Mayweather


Punches in Rnd 7:
Tyson 10 of 41, 24%
Mayweather 30 of 45, 66%


Round 8

Mayweather is cornered by Tyson and whacked behind the head with several rights. Mayweather is prizing Tyson loose with a flap of his left arm, then uppercutting his way free. Tyson keeps pushing ahead, full steam, doubling jabs into the nose and then ramming Mayweather until he strikes some solid surface or another. Mayweather holding too much, and gargantuan referee Joe O'Neil lifts him with a hamhock on the chest and shoves him roughly into a corner, bringing Mayweather up off his feet! Time in. Mayweather looks shook. Tyson grinds in and tackles Mayweather across the ring into the ropes, and slaps at him with short hooks.

10-9 Tyson

78-74 Mayweather


In the wild tumult of round eight, the broadcast team forgets to compile stats - opting instead to show multiple replays of The Push (along with shots of Joe O'Neil's boss, a fuming commissioner Larry Hazzard, Sr., at ringside). Al Bernstein has Mayweather up 77-75 with a third of the contest remaining.


Round 9

Mayweather is jabbing, uppercutting, ducking and then clinching as Tyson attempts to bulldoze him out each side of the square. Every rush by Tyson is met with some recipe of those ingredients in varying orders and dosages. Tyson is getting held and hit on the inside, taking long breathers. Chopping rights up top by Tyson, mostly just bouncing off the left clavicle. Mayweather twisting and leaning in the pocket, landing short combos, and takes one Tyson right hand against 7-8 blows of his own.

10-9 Mayweather

88-83 Mayweather


Stats after 9:
Tyson 149 of 419, 36%
Mayweather 176 of 337, 52%


Round 10

Mayweather is holding almost nonstop, cinching up Tyson's arms, dragging him across the ring moving backwards and pushing down on the back of Tyson's head with his left underarm, while popping right uppercuts into his face. O'Neil having to separate them often. Tyson unable to extricate himself to gain any kind of momentum offensively. Warnings from O'Neil about headbutts to both men. Tyson with some weak taps on the body, just towel-snapping his right arm's trapped wrist. Mayweather is smoothly dodging jabs gliding backwards and countering as Tyson barges in behind them.

10-9 Mayweather

98-92 Mayweather


Stats after 10:
Tyson 159 of 461, 35%
Mayweather 195 of 379, 52%


Round 11

Mayweather is jabbing into the brow of Tyson, easily controlling him on the outside. Tyson ducking low and taking some buzzing jabs against his neck. Tyson keeps diving in with single loaded-up punches, often stifled with Mayweather bringing the guard down, and invariably resulting in a weary Tyson clinging onto Mayweather until O'Neil barks at them for a break. Mayweather scoring flush uppercuts inside. Tyson is caught with a 1-2 and bends over past the waist, clocked with a rabbit punch. Tyson in absolute tatters, can barely stay upright. Wild punches, slipped. Body hooks by Mayweather. Drilling right behind the head by Mayweather.

10-9 Mayweather, dominant

108-101 Mayweather


Punches in Rnd 11:
Tyson 12 of 38, 31%
Mayweather 31 of 42, 74%


Round 12

Mayweather is putting his arms partway out as Tyson dives in low with jabs and holds onto him. Mayweather glancing at O'Neil as if to say "this clinching isn't me, dig?" and waiting for release. Mayweather is shredding Tyson's middle with shallow uppercuts on the inside. Tyson pushes him against the ropes and pummels with rights, bouncing off Mayweather's back, getting countered with jabs & uppers. Mayweather is lying in wait against the ropes and catching Tyson on the way in with ambush hooks and combos. Tyson jumping in, flurrying, missing and getting parried a ton.

10-9 Mayweather

118-110 Mayweather


Final stats:
Tyson 171 of 499, 34%
Mayweather 226 of 421, 54%

(ESPN didn't provide 12th stats, but I watched a few times, counted punches & rechecked tallies; wound up w/: 13/45, 27% for Tyson and 27/47, 57% for Mayweather)


Official cards:

Lynne Carter 115-113 Mayweather
Joseph Pasquale 112-116 Tyson
John Stewart 115-113....

SD for Tyson

Bad robbery.

 

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Round 1

Mayweather, a 25/1 underdog at the books in his own home of Las Vegas, starts out meeting Tszyu head-on with a stiff jab but soon retreats under the Russian-Aussie's superior firepower. Tszyu is tucking his chin and shellacking Mayweather, running past the jab with climbing left hooks across the orbital bone and corkscrew rights into the opposite ribs. Tszyu doubles up a left hook on the liver as Mayweather tries nudging in with a chest jab to disguise a clinch attempt. Tszyu roughing Mayweather up during the periods of infighting, which the latter has been initiating as he is clearly awed by Tszyu's explosiveness farther out. Tszyu claps Mayweather with an overhand right and forces another clinch. Mayweather is backed up by a long reach-in left hook across the jaw even as he scoots back quickly. Body shots by Tszyu, another clinch by Mayweather.

10-9 Tszyu


Round 2

Mayweather is pushing his jab past Tszyu's neck while rotating his upper half at least 45 degrees away from him clockwise. Big lead right by Mayweather, hoping to clinch after landing but instead he is rocked by a Tszyu right followed by a left hook, knocking him backward into the ropes, momentarily flailing before recovering his wits and quickly forming up his shoulder roll defense. Mayweather clinches as Tszyu moves in on him. Stiff jab by Tszyu. Mayweather flinches away into the ropes, then ducks a combo and grabs Tszyu around the waist. Mayweather unrolls a long jab into the body and leaves it extended to push out as Tszyu rushes in with a 1-2. Mayweather tosses a right hand up top, ducked. Tszyu is stalking, throwing away jabs, then falling in with a clubbing right behind the head as Mayweather bends forward. Mayweather creeps into a corner, jabbing out at Tszyu.

10-9 Tszyu, closer

20-18 Tsyzu


Round 3

Tszyu is positioning himself inside the jab, inadvertently letting the lace around Mayweather's inner wrist snag on his rat-tail. Mayweather trying hard with big piston right hand leads as Tszyu is walking on, but cant lay one down clean while constantly being pushed back on his heels. Tszyu is getting held in the crook of Mayweather's left elbow as the right smashes into his face from below with unseen uppercuts. Mayweather doing some very dirty infighting, a few warnings from the ref but no aggressive action, doesn't seem on the verge of a deduction. The fouling seems to be getting to Tszyu, who lands a left hook just before the bell and then shoves and brawls a bit with Mayweather after it.

10-9 Mayweather, very close

29-28 Tszyu


Jeff "Brick Top" Fenech has it 30-27 for his adoptive countryman at the quarter-way point.


Round 4

Tszyu connects a couple of thudding left hooks on the chest before getting held. Tszyu carries Mayweather into the ropes with both arms locked between his. Ref orders a break. Mayweather is working a nice uppercut and careening back into the ropes when Tszyu lunges in at him with jabs and rights. Mayweather countering with his free left hand with hooker-cuts on the belt line as Tszyu wrenches on his right. Tszyu is throwing hook & right combos, stunning Mayweather and knocking him against the ropes, getting through despite all the shoulder-rolling, parry-jabbing and shimmying the 34 year old can muster. Another big right by Zoo. Mayweather is now eating stiff jabs as he holds both arms out frozen in place, posing in anticipation of riding a right hand. Lots of clinching by Mayweather, who started the round out well only to see it fall into complete ruin by the two minute mark. A few good counter rights by Mayweather, but he can't find that Roger Mayweather right hand. ™

10-9 Tszyu

39-37 Tszyu


Round 5

Tszyu is jabbing hard into Mayweather's nose and the side of his neck. Mayweather is waiting until the last second and shooting his right glove in the way, only barely deflecting Tszyu's lead hooks, sometimes failing to do so at all, taking their brunt across his frons. Mayweather doing more clinching than countering, but is effectively spoiling in the sense that Tszyu is lowering his output, looking as tired as he is frustrated. Tszyu doing all the clean effective scoring, such as it is, hooking and spearing into the chest between clinches.

10-9 Tszyu

49-46 Tszyu


Round 6

Mayweather answers the bell with a big right hand and left hook, then resumes clinching. Mayweather is knocked into the ropes by a cracking right above his temple and then strapped across the jaw with a left hook. Tszyu is overpowering Mayweather in the clinch, placing him on the ropes and grappling a hand free to hit the body. Tszyu's dash-in left hook landing at will on the outside. Mayweather all but rolling out the red carpet for the punch, conceding it as he focuses his defense against straight rights and staying in clinching range. Mayweather gets a stern warning about holding, point threatened. Hard body jabs by Tszyu. Mayweather fighting back, jabbing hard between clinches, but looking every bit his chronological (at times) &, less flatteringly, ring age.

10-9 Tszyu

59-55 Tszyu


Jeff "Brick Top" Fenech still has it a shutout for Tszyu at the halfway point, 60-54.


Round 7

Tszyu crowds Mayweather into the ropes with a jab and then lashes down with a hard right on the back of the neck and punctuates the charge with a flush left hook. Mayweather is hurt and holds. Tszyu muscles him into the ropes. Billy Males calls a timeout for Mayweather's glove to be re-taped. No quarter given as Tszyu practically vaults over Males to get at Mayweather. Tszyu is rattling him with jabs and teardrop rights. All that's left to Mayweather is clinching on the inside and taking a pasting without. Counters few and far between, but heavily loaded. Tszyu thrusting his jab up past Mayweather's and ripping uppercuts, mauling, shaking Mayweather like a puppy with a chew toy.

10-9 Tszyu

69-64 Tszyu


Round 8

Mayweather is grabbing Tszyu by his throat with both gloves and pushing him away, or gathering him in close for a clinch. Occasional big counter rights by Mayweather, but having no real effect. Tszyu whipping in those left hooks, tapping on Mayweather's head like a woodpecker. Mayweather holding every few seconds, ref getting peeved. Tszyu working the body, with not much leverage as Mayweather hangs onto at least one arm. Tidy countering with the right by Mayweather but too few. Tszyu missing loads but still landing more.

10-9 Tszyu

79-73


Round 9

Males gives Mayweather another second to re-tape his glove. Tszyu is landing the left hook and poleaxing with the right, forcing Mayweather to flop against the ropes and then fall in to clinch. Tszyu is cricking his neck to his right and putting his left arm out in the way to jam up Mayweather's right arm, the one danger posed to him as he cautiously pressures with hooking flurries. Tszyu cut, unclear if from a butt or punch. Mayweather still managing to scrub that right hand (and that loose glove lacing on the follow-through) against Tszyu's face when he comes in.

10-9 Tszyu

89-82 Tszyu


Round 10

Tszyu is jabbing in and eats a big counter right. Mayweather shooting his shot now that his young opponent is cut (ruled from a legal punch btw) and in deep waters. Mayweather will happily take a facial damage TKO if he can get it. Tszyu now clinching as Mayweather slams down on his eye with right hands. Mayweather is ducking Tszyu's hooks after they separate and snatching him by the waist, pulling him into a messy tango by the ropes. Tszyu very frustrated, sloppy inside combos pinging off Mayweather's hips and outer arms.

10-9 Mayweather

98-92 Tszyu


Fenech still hasn't given the American veteran pugilist a round.


Round 11

Tszyu is lunging in with renewed purpose, jabbing and crossing at the head as he sallies in, but each arm gets ensnared in turn. Billy Males losing his patience, yelling "COME ON". Mayweather has a point to prove, however. This is about survival, about emasculating the undefeated, hyped-up, physically larger, hard-hitting phenom in his prime and making the critics eat their predictions of his old legs and chin getting him KTFO early (or whatsoever). Mayweather is actually giving as well as he's getting, pulling down on Tszyu's arms, then roughly shoving him away to set up a 1-2. Mayweather scoring lots of incidental headbutts, several warnings from Males. Tszyu dipping side to side and then jumps in with an uppercut, bouncing off Mayweather's guard. Mayweather is exhausted, practically staggering into a corner under fire, but he makes it until the bell without letting Tszyu connect on a clean bomb.

10-9 Mayweather, ultra close - better quality throughout, despite appearing half-dead by the final minute.

107-102 Tszyu


Round 12

Tszyu rushes face-first through a jab and is clinched. Mayweather lands a low blow and then a headbutt. Left hook from Tszyu. More fouling by Mayweather, and he is docked a point. Tszyu misses an overhand right and is held. Tszyu clapping his gloves together, amping himself up. Mayweather sticks the jab, bends low, and grabs. Mayweather looking vintage at moments, flashes of the sharp counter-puncher, but mostly just negative. Making this a hideous finish, as Tszyu is still the aggressor but totally unglued, heaving. BILLY MALES POKES ROGER IN HIS EYE WITH A FINGER while sending him to his corner for one more re-tape, WTF! Attempting to gift Kostya the late kayo, maybe? Nothing doing. Mayweather lands jabs and 1-2s, enough to survive.

10-8 Tszyu

117-110 Tszyu


Official cards:

Paul Weitzel 119-109
Pascual Ingusan 118-110
Charlie Lucas 118-110

UD for Tszyu

 

If you had played a drinking game while reading and watching through, wherein you took a shot every time Al Bernstein (or another commentator...but usually Al) referred to a "last hurrah" for Roger, the room would be spinning and you wouldn't be able to read this right now from your foetal pose on the floor.

Twas a long, strange trip. You can't really pinpoint a single moment and say "there, Mayweather got ruined". He got sort of (but not exactly, totally) ruined a bunch of times, and kept stubbornly trudging on, and picking up decent wins - only to fall even harder from grace the next time... or get robbed, and come back fuming with a renewed sense purpose for it.

You can't even promise an initiate that any given match of his will be exciting, not 100%. Many weren't. He also wasn't boring, however, despite the fact that he was booed regularly by crowds full of degenerate wastrels. In many ways he is a fighter that defies easy definition. He's even harder to compare to.

A surface parallel can be drawn with Pipino Cuevas, due to both men's awesome power as well as the shared indelible memories of their KO losses - but Mamba wasn't as powerful, and Pipino (who also probably had too good a chin to warrant labeling as "glass cannon") not half as clever, fast, or all-around skilled. Of more relatively recent stock, people have said that Randall Bailey has some attributes in common with the Mamba - but the KO King is too much a one trick pony. Sure, sometimes Mayweather fell in love with his right hand - but he had other tools and used them to great effect quite often. One that has baffled me, seen posited by multiple parties from unconnected venues, is Lamont Peterson. I guess the rationale there is "if you had to pick a modern fighter to demonstrate just the sort of 'good but not great' that Roger typified in his day, then..." - which ...sort of works, I guess? Havoc was too light a hitter to mention in the same breath as Mayweather, for me. Having given it some thought, Rated R is about right. That sort of "world class in your day, and could port well to different eras, but still absolutely nowhere close to elite ATG" wave. Kendall Holt had p4p power, like Roger - but if you look at the KO ratios they finished with, they come wide of mark and belie that fact with how curiously low those values are. They also both got stopped several times (twice more for Mayweather, but in just 8% of his bouts as opposed to 11% for Holt) but again, I wouldn't say either had a glass or even a bad chin. Average, both. All of their stoppages were really down to admixtures of lapses in defensive concentration, stylistic disadvantages, and/or poor stamina or at least unsound energy management. Put them in a time machine and make a fight at 140lbs, and you have yourself a FOTY, if not FOTD candidate for as long as it lasts (my money's on Rog).

It feels disingenuous to say he flirted with greatness, but at the same time 'good' seems considerably less than sufficient. In any event, he was an honest pro and earned his place as part of boxing lore a long time before he traded in his gloves for drill-mitts. I hope to have done right by his legacy here, and can only hope that he would find it worthy of that highest praise (that it had definitely been a dream of mine to hear from him in person, in the unlikely event that fate threw us together for a long fat-chewing & brain-picking session on the sweet science) one could receive... "unlike most people, you KSAB".