The ESPN Friday Night Fights Thread.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EewgeU448iw[/ame]



[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht5BLWN3sWo[/ame]

 

I probably won't do stuff as long as the last one, frankly it takes a lot of time and when a fight is that underwhelming it doesn't matter how good the next fight promises to be, it leaves you not so eager to keep it up. So apologies in advance for my half-arsed effort, despite what will probably end up being pretty long-winded.

 

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Age/Height/Reach​

25/5'5/72''​

Notable Fights​

Thomas Snow(W KO 2), Jose Angel Beranza(Common Opponent/W PTS 12), Jorge Diaz(W PTS 12), Alejandro Lopez(L PTS 12)​

The line often dropped - depending on who you talk to - is that boxing is somewhere ranging between 70-90% mental, if that is the case then Teon Kennedy must be horrifically lacking in the remaining 20% or so to make one a complete fighter, because he has shown mental fortitude in abundance. As well as always showing a willingness to go to war every bout, he's also come back strong from what has made many a fighter unravel, having to endure the tragedy of Francisco Rodriguez - his opponent in November of 2009 - passing away two days after their fight due to brain injuries. It's that ballsy mentality that's hampered his progression thus far, often being far too prone to standing in the pocket and shipping as much punishment as he attempts to dish out. He'd be better advised utilising a wingspan that is superior to most at 122 pounds, rather than sacrificing patience for entertainment and pacing forward with his hands down hoping to exchange bombs. It's not a case where he has no other option to throw caution to the wind, ''The Technician'' genuinely has displayed some impressive skills in his four year career(albeit, not ''highest level'' skills that suggest he'd become a top level competitor, but ability all the same that certainly didn't belie his moniker).​

He started his career rapido-quick, winning his first 13 fights relatively stress-free(one or two scary moment in close encounters aside) before suffering his first set-back, a draw against Lante Addy, a man who's record contradicts his ability. Here showcased Kennedy's lack of focus when it came to implementing his gameplan, his attempts to counter an aggressive Addy on the move being undermined by him rushing right back at his opponent and getting caught at will in the process. He returned only two months later in Philadelphia, where the harrowing Rodriguez incident occured, leading him to take an understandable 6 month sabatical, the longest of his career to that point.​

Returning against teak-tough respected veteran Jose Beranza, he showed that his previous outing hadn't had any obvious adverse effect mentally, as he once again went to war when it was wise to do the opposite, often exclusively leading with hooks from either hand and totally neglecting his jab, carrying his hands by his waist at close range and getting voluntarily clobbered. After just about shading that one he came back with a confidence-boosting battering of the much less durable trailhorse in Alex Becarra. He followed that with a contender for 2010's FOTY against a fellow undefeated fighter in Jorge Diaz. Teon had been in many a battle of attrition, but never against a guy who could hurt him the way Diaz could, nor against a man he would struggle to keep off of him the way in which he was faced with early. He had always been able to summon the effort required to fight back before, but he was in unknown territory early, when Diaz shook him worse than ever. He responded accordingly, dropping Diaz in both the 3rd and 6th rounds, while being bettered for most of the other rounds. It threw up an extremely close fight, one where you had Diaz winning the majority of the rounds, with Kennedy scoring that 4 point advantage. Despite many disputing it, Kennedy took a unanimous decision that was considered abundantly too wide.​

Months after he found himself faced with a series a possible charges including attempted murder. It was this dilemma hanging over his head - which have since been dropped - that he attributes to his first loss, against Alejandro Lopez in August. Lopez was slicked, he out-moved and out-boxed a ''distracted'' Kennedy effectively for most of the fight, with Teon chasing him blindly, showing zero attempt to close the ring down with anything aside from wide, winged, and telegraphed lunges. While he has a seemingly valid excuse, it was still a showing that demonstrated the flaws that were indicitive of his whole career to that point, so perhaps it's just convenient that he has something that can mask what was inevitable.​

From going to an apparent nailed-on Juanma Lopez opponent to a Alejandro Lopez victim, Kennedy's between the proverbial rock and a hard place and he has a lot to prove against someone with a similar method of boxing to Lopez.​

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*Once again, I'm aware he's Mexi-American but the need for an alternative colour scheme wears out.​

Record​

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Age/Height/Reach​

25/5'6/No Idea​

Notable Fights​

Jose Angel Beranza(L PTS 10), Chris Avalos(W PTS 10), Charles Huerta(W PTS 10)​

Called the 'San Diego Kid', Chris Martin is one of those guys who absorbed the hype of the well thought of prospect he defeated only for him to eventually cause himself a setback in a fight he would have expected to win even if he lost in his underdog performance. As a result he's found himself in a similar position to his adversary on Friday, and hence this is why they're meeting.​

He had a quiet start to his career, fighting mainly out of California and beating a string of no-hoper's fairly handily, with the odd exception to a respected journeyman or two(Beltran, Landeros) that realistically anyone with high aspirations should be defeating comfortably anyways. He received no great backing either, lacking the kind of all-action style to make great fights, he was a boxer-type just hoping for a chance to establish himself to some degree.​

And that he got, against a guy who had been hyped to the hilt on ShoBox thanks to his entertaining style which often resulted in him blitzing fairly underwhelming opponents. Still, winning fights and offering brutality in the process merited the high praise of Steve Farhood, who labelled him as one who defined the next generation on ShoBox. He was very much the breakout fighter in this battle of undefeateds. Egg on Steve's face, as the unfavoured Chris dished out a display that all barring one incompetant judge belived to be sufficient to award a crystal clear win. After falling behind early when trying to box with Martin, Avalos stepped up ''the heat'' and tried his dandiest to force the fight back in his favour with his raw aggression. His attacks were predictable however, and the bigger Martin was able to counter him effectively for the duration, with Avalos - in the eyes of most people - only taking 3 rounds at best as he continually walked into punches which followed ones he had widely missed. It was viewed as a potentially detrimental risk before hand and it proved as such, as well as being bigger Martin was all wrong stylistically, with his preference being to stick to the outside, bouncing on his toes popping out sporadic jabs, before leading with swift and calculated single right hands and left hooks.​

His performance was an encouraging one and he took Avalos' fanfare and ran with it, going on a run of good wins and impressive performances against fair to midling challenges that ranged from verterans like Yogli Herrera to a man once held in high regard by Golden Boy until he suffered a couple of losses in Charles Huerta. Martin looked good in the process, he never brings mind-numbing power but there's always something classy to his work. He's had a reputation for being a slow starter, and while his swiftness and ability to counter is undeniable judges often aren't willing to give you the proper credit for the quicker hands and more discreet and clever. ​

That was the case in his one and only loss, to the aforementioned Beranza, a boxer who leading up to their fight had lost six of his last seven and had only won three times in his last 15 fights. Martin's usual slow beginning continued into the middle and end of the fight, looking worrying sluggish. He perpetually mistimed counters, allowing Beranza to clock him consistently on the way inside before letting him time to work in as many shots as he wanted. There's different interpretations as to how this could have transpired, with the prevailing one seeming to be that Martin overlooked his man. It's not like he hasn't got the talent and our outlooks were skewed due to poor competition, he had made far more adept offensive fighters look inept before this upset and was considered one of, if not the brightest prospect in the division.​

Either way, albeit in a different motion to Kennedy, he share something in common with him and that is that they both looked poorly prepared for fights they probably anticipated they would breeze through and paid the consequence. And both are looking to ensure that they do not get put on the scrapheap after putting another foot wrong.​