the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Roy Jones UD12 Bernard Hopkins

"Both guys are trying to get out of the way of punches - before they land punches." - Gil Clancy.

About right.

"These are combinations I've never seen before." - Clancy on Jones opening up in the fourth.

Hostilities broke out in round six, kind of undermines the notion that Hopkins needed to open up and be more aggressive as the key, although what else you gonna do? Anyway, Hopkins tries to land punches and Roy just uses that supernatural ability to out-hit Hopkins to the body with clipping, stinging shots upstairs.

These aren't punches most fighters could land against Hopkins. Even now.


JONES:1,3,4,5,6,7,9,10,12
HOPKINS:2,8,11,

So 9-3 Jones, I had 2 and 12 arguable, one each.

I quite enjoyed the fight after the eighth when Hopkins landed a few rights and introduced some tension to proceedings, but really, it wasn't a good fight, it wasn't a close fight and Hopkins was just never going to beat Jones. There's a sense of "by default" to these rounds. Maybe Hopkins could have plugged the gaps a bit better a few years down the line? But he's naturally too reticent I guess.

Here's a question (presuming anyone else still comes into this thread aside from frank...): is the sequel worth a look? I've never seen it for obvious reasons but now I'm a little curious. Is it watchable?

 

You should check out the Lebedev fight, it's fascinating and tragic.

 

That's that then. It can stay in the great unwatched.

 

DERRICK HARMON UD12 GLEN JOHNSON

Johnson takes the early rounds with a lovely straight right-hand to the body, thrown often when Harmon is trying to back up. I like it when a fighter times the opponent's move directly back.

Harmon takes the fourth pretty inarguably, the first time such a thing happens since the first with 2 and 3 both debatable, although I like Johnson's body attack and aggression a little more in those rounds.

Freakishly, Fox interviews Harmon between rounds in the ring, and they ask him what it is he' s trying to do and Harmon says "I want to go home!"

Johnson takes the fifth with pressure and clubbing punches, one of which seemed to hurt Harmon I thought...It's Volumatic Thuganomics and it really works for him. Hard to see a lead for Harmon at the half way point, althought I thought he nicked the sixth after falling behind with some accurate, crisp punching.

Johnson gets the better of a fascinating eighth, I have Harmon needing the ninth and tenth to tie it up on the cards - when Johnson potshots to a weary ninth, I have him needing a knockout. He doesn't manage that, but he does manage the tenth, so I have it 6-4 Johnson.

JOHNSON:1,2,3,5,8,9
HARMON:4,6,7,10.

Close rounds in bold, so all the close rounds to Harmon would have seen him win. I have to admit though that the commentary team have it narrowly to Harmon, but seem kind of convinced. So a robbery? I'm not so sure. I think it's a close fight that could have gone either way. Some boos from the crowd, but it's a close fight.

Johnson was unlucky not to get the decision, maybe.

 

Julio Cesar Gonzalez MD10 Glen Johnson.

This is some wild ****. If Glen had a jab he would be very dangerous. As it is he's going crazy with the work rate and aggression but already shows a dangerous fade in round two. Gonzalez just lets him in and uses his much longer reach and height to hook to the body. It's an odd sight, but it works. Johnson looks reticent inside and does a lot of holding. He doesn't win another round until the fifth, which he takes from the outside, narrowly - even though Gonzalez shows no jab and no objection to Johnson getting inside Johnson declines.

The rest of the fight is like sparring. Very, very disappointing from both men. Johnson wants to spar from the outside, using footwork to circle and get away, Gonzalez co-operates throwing nothing punches despite a serious advantage in reach. Inside, Johnson does loads of holding and has a moderate workrate, Gonzalez does even less but lands what looks like the harder stuff. Given how close the fight clearly was, the last round was pathetic. Johnson probably landed harder punches before holding than Gonzalez did.


JOHNSON:1,5,7,8,10
GONZALEZ:2,3,4,6,9,

So I have it 5-5 a draw. Certainly no robbery here, though one of the official cards is 98-92 which is drunken. The best you can say is that neither man deserved to win this fight, nobody performed. A draw probably would have been the right result, but Johnson can't bleat about this one.

 

GLEN JOHNSON D10 DANIEL JUDAH

This is supposedly a winner takes all purse, and guess what, it ends up being a draw.

Johnson's lead is almost unassailable after five. The fourth is debatable, but there's not really any way you can score the other rounds to Judah. Johnson clearly outworks and outlands him and clearly lands the better punches.

This pattern doesn't really change. I think Judah won literally no round clear, Johnson landed and threw more, out-jabbed Judah, out-worked him, out-thugged him. 8-2 Johnson. That a judge found for Judah can only be explained by crack addiction.

JOHNSON:1,2,3,5,6,7,9,10
JUDAH:4,8,

Johnson was p1ssing himself laughing in the ring, then the crowd errupted into a "bull****! bull****" chant.

Robbery.

 

GLEN JOHNSON D12 CLINTON WOODS

This is the Johnson I know, right hand held across his torso, hyper aggressive throwing lots of punches with bad intentions. I'm unsure as to what turned him into a legitimate volume puncher aged 33, 34, but i's on film for everyone to see. If he had power, he would have been one of the best fighters of his generation I reckon.

I also remember this fight, it having been on BBC1. Strangely, I remember Woods doing less well than he did. He held onto a lot of the Johnson punches with gloves and shoulder, and he fought back well in some rounds. The third was a great round of boxing and that was mostly down to Woods - I gave him the fourth, too, though it was extremely close.

All this adds up to 4-4 at the eight round mark, but after losing a crucial and narrow ninth, and then a wider tenth, Woods had it all to do in the final two rounds. Johnson is better at being tired though, and I thought by virtue of the fact that he threw more leather in the eleventh he nicked the fight.

Woods took the twelfth though, showed a LOT of heart, and generally impressed me. Not any easy thing to do that, pull out a twelfth round after a fight this tough.

JOHNSON:1,2,5,6,9,10,11
WOODS:3,4,7,8,12

7-5 Johnson.

A robbery? I think maybe not. You could give the eleventh to Woods legitimately and another referee might have ruled his twelfth round slip a KD. And there would have been nothing wrong with either one of those decisions.

Johnson felt like the winner, looked like the winner but the fight was close enough that a draw is not absurd. Johnson go the **** end of the stick again, and he probably should have got the decision, but not an outright robbery.