the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Michael Spinks UD15 Dwight Muhammad Qawi.

Exquisite first round. You can almost forgive Ray Leonard for claiming "a perfect first round for both fighters." Braxton stays low, looks for the one two, scores with several; Spinks finds Braxton from bell with punches, absolutely on point, throwing accurate punches at a difficult target and scoring. I was leaning to Qawi until he had that stumble and Spinks pounced on him - horrible to watch Qawi smile as Spinks leathers him in the corner, he's a sick ****.

I have him leading after three, but the sense is that Spinks is in control, he is using his height and reach well to distance himself and it is very difficult for Qawi to reach him - Qawi is having to work hard to do so, although he is doing so. Qawi is winning rounds fighting Michael's fight, which is impressive, but not sustainable. Still, when Qawi corners him, Spinks seems equal to the task, slipping, sliding, countering when possible.

Sure enough, Spinks takes firm control of the fourth with his jab and with clubbing right hands from the elevated position. Just noticed he's wearing Beetlejuice coloured socks. He probably just about loses a razor-close fifth in which Qawi starts to get his own piston-like jab going maybe opening Michael up just a little more, but Spinks responds with kind and with a really nice guard-splitting uppercut. Left hooks are the equalising punch for Qawi, and he lands a couple. Still fast-paced but has slowed down a bit now Qawi is jabbing rather than bowling. Spinks is dominant in the sixth though. He has rounds like this where he just does everything right and like all good generals, they come when they are needed. Spinks initiates one clinch, but it's at exactly the moment in which Qawi is building steam; he lands jabs accurately and hurtfully; he takes a chance on a left uppercut straight right and both land near-flush - anyone else would be cowed, but Qawi comes snarling back, but Spinks is having a good defensive round too. Outstanding boxing from Spinks. Not many fighters of this experience have such an intrinsic understanding of the pacing of a fight.

Spinks opens the seventh dominantly, jabbing mercilessly and hitting to the bodyspitefully with a brutal right hand. He finds Braxton, who looks frustrated and off Spinks's pace, with a snaking, hard upppercut, too. Big round.

Spinks slips early in the eighth though, and when Qawi finds him with a digging right hand to the body moments later he gets in a tangle and goes down again; the referee rightly rules this a KD and Qawi/Braxton banks a 10-8 round...to go a point ahead! This seems bizarre to me, after all Spinks has been far and away the more dominant, is controlling the fight, but this is what a knockdown can do. They get a bit wild and Spinks goes down for the third time, a second slip...Braxton is getting inside for the first time...

...he's getting inside more easily and readily now. Spinks is trying to keep him off with mobility rather than punches now and that's how Qawi thrives. I thought they split the ninth and tenth but the tenth was something of a smash-and-grab for Spinks - i can't see him sustaining that type of strategy to the end of the fight without running into trouble. Aggressive rallies are well and good until you get caught, it's not a reliable way to win a round.

Sure enough, Spinks is winning the fire-fight in the eleventh, but Braxton comes winging back with punches to take the round via the hurt route. Spinks re-introduced some lovely straight shooting and seemed to be on his way to an important round when Braxton came storming back; important round this one and Qawi nicks it.

The Spinks style is so malleable. He looks like a technician but then he comes off the ropes square and throws a right hook. He's stooping back and away then he lunges in with a straight to the body. He does unexpected things at unexpected times and you think you know where his gloves are going to be and then they're really not there any more. The whole thing is weird. He doesn't leave a lot of clues as to when he is going to punch. But it's the more traditional stuff that brings him the twelfth, solid jabs, crackling right hands occasional brought over the top behind them. After twelve I have it 6-6, 114-113 Braxton, most people would have Spinks winning here I think. I have Spinks needing the championship rounds to win this fight. Ominous given that Qawi finished the twelfth stalking the knockout aggressively against a rattled Spinks. I think he steals a desperately close thirteenth, but these are almost on the spin of the wheel now - Spinks lands a beautiful counter hook as Qawi charges him (you'd almost say a check-hook...) and that's the punch that settles the round IMO. Qawi has his successes also. It's 123-123.

Spinks opens the fourteenth with a hook right hook combination, it's lovely to see at this stage of the fight, presence of mind, superb conditioning. Braxton evens this up with dual-lefts at the 1:30 mark, and a right hand around 1:00, but Spinks, despite his disorganised fighting retreat, wins the battle of the lefts in the rest of the round to take it.

Braxton looks menacing; but he doesn't really do anything. I have Spinks jabbing his way to the fifteenth. I'm betting I have this closer than most folks.

SPINKS:1,4,6,7,10,12,13,14,15.
QAWI:2,3,5,8*,9,11.

143-141 Spinks

*Spinks down from a right to the body/footstomp combo.

 

That's only one round's difference; I'd presume round two.

 

ARCHIE MOORE UD15 JOEY MAXIM

This is Moore's title winning effort from late 1952. Dude was thirty-six years old, and what a handful he is in the opening round. He's elected to close with Maxim to negate that jab, and he works wonders finding the punch inside. Maxim has a kind of turgid certitude, easy to hit but hard to hit clean, good on offence but far from deadly. Moore finds the gaps that make him easy to hit and gets clean punches home, most especially a sneak left-hook he introduces half way through the round, a sort of elevator punch that joins with the step he uses to close the distance. Maxim isn't really disputing the distance, so Moore adds a punch every time he comes close. Maxim finds him to the body, but inevitably Moore lands a really hurtful punch towards the end of the round, stunning Maxim with a right. Moore is so good at finding short punches, they look faster than they are because they have toruqe but aren't travelling. Great round of boxing from Ancient Archie.

2: Much more competitive. Maxim is out to control Moore with volume and also has the courtesy to make space for himself and jab at Moore occasionally. Still, it's Archie's round. He introduces a right hand to the body, landing it hard at all opportunities, most notably in a clinch where it finds the most damaging square inch behind Maxim's elbow consistently. The body attack in general is making me shudder and that sneak left hook is still doing Joey no good whatsoever. Moore is aggressive and determined.

3: I sometimes think all that BS about Moore's shell gets overstated a it, but his virtual shell, which is an even more irritating concept, is fact. Moore has uncanny ability to recognise when he or his opponent has moved into his sphere of operations. This is key to his not wasting much. It's rare to see him come up short with a punch because he knows where he and his opponent are relative to one another at all times. That's way more significant than the literal defensive shell people are always trying to hang on him. I'll own up, I think people flat-out confuse the two. Either way, Moore is outjabbing Maxim now and ditching his left hand pretty frequently. Inside though, Maxim is showing spritely, crackling decent punches at Moore who seems more reticent this round. The resurgence of the Moore body-attack won him the round though, in the final minute.

4: Moore doesn't show much head-movement. He throws his arms up like Hasim Rahman but again, he understands exactly the parameters of where his defensive lines are. Parries, slips. Maxim gets off to a great start: Moore headbutts him and hits him low Maxim continues to work well though, and looked to be on his way to his first round only for Moore to land a cracking overhand right with a minute left then hustle to the bell - however, the low blow leaves the round with Maxim according to the referee.

5: Moore's right is getting longer. He's dialled in now and dominating. No longer is he limiting himself to the two-piece but rather he is hitting with three punches at a time, occasionally.

6: Moore's withering body attack continues - Moore recieves a warning for hitting low but does not have the round taken from him.

7: Moore is head-hunting now, resting and wrestling inside. Maxim is game, but Moore is landing very heavy punches now, jabbing firmly, leading with an undersold left hook, steaming a right over the top, that distance again, punches with a huge amount of wing on them. It's leaving Moore more open and Maxim is so tough that he is taking advantage of those openings, but Maxim seems content just not to get brutalised - what is his long-term plan? Is he hoping Moore will weaken?

8 & 9 Missing from this film.

10: Moore is swarming very aggressively now, digging with the left, booming the right hand in - it even looks like he might get Maxim out of there after landing a particularly destructive right with a minute remaining. Inside,Moore is snapping in horrible little upercuts, not great punches nor prestigious punches but naughty ones. Maxim does well to get out of this round. Only one fighter is in it really.

11: Maxim now has nowhere to hide. Inside he gets chopped up by uppercuts; outside he is available for that lightning right. It's a hideous situation for a fighter to be in really, a case of chose your poison. Maxim seems to prefer to take his chances outside, but whenever Moore catches him he is forced to hold. Moore looks the same as he did in the first, moving his head, dipping in, that elevator left-hook. Maxim now needs a KO for me even if he won the missing eighth and ninth...which he didn't.

12, 13, 14, 15: Maxim got heart, boy.

MOORE:1,2,3,5,6,7,10,11, 12, 13, 14, 15

MAXIM:4*,
NOT SEEN: 8,9

* Awarded to Maxim on a low-blow.

An astonishing performance against a borderline great. One of the better title-winning performances that can be seen which is decided on points.

 

Francisco Rodriguez Jnr. UD10 Jomar Fajardo

This is the second fight. Typical Rodriguez to give Fajardo a rematch. Most media people who bothered had their first fight, over in the Philippines, a to Rodriguez and regarded the draw as home cooking. I thought it was really really close, but Rodriguez had enough to just ignore Fajardo and move on. Instead he had him back to Mexico for the rematch. Fair play to him.

Their first fight was insane, defined by huge exchanges and aggression pressure boxing. The first round of this fight makes it look like Rodriguez has something different on his mind. Fajado is still hands low, looking like he can be hit but also looking like he wants to wing in bombs. Rodriguez slips an ducks very well given that it is not his nature and wins the round on two punches: an uncorked right hand over the top, a left hook behind the elbow.

The second was more like their first fight. Which means barnstorming. Fajado looks to uncork the punch with which he was most successful in the first, a lovely sneak right uppercut to the body. Rodriguez takes two, but counters the first with a lovely right left to the body, wide. He then takes over, landing that booming right hand over the top, left hooks to the body, left hook up and down, his signature move I think. Fajado is in bad trouble at rounds end and on rubbery legs when the two get into a tangle and both wind up on the canvas. It's ruled a KD, questionably, and Fajado was able to clear his head.

Gorgeous touch from Rodriguez in the third, he bows to Fajado and points with both gloves to the canvas in front of him, inviting him in, as Fajado seeks to move, clear his head further. He's all but abandoned the jab as a lead at this moment, cracking the right hand over the top as his sojourn. Clear round for Rodriguez, though Fajado manages to keep him reasonably honest with that sneak uppercut.

Fajardo finds himself again in the fourth, but he's still boxing quite nervously, only that right uppercut is keeping Rodriguez from steam-rolling him I think. That said, Rodriguez banks another. The first 90 seconds of the fifth are really close, but Rodriguez takes over with the left in the second half of the round. It's a great left hand, he snaps it in off his bob and weave, a hook can look very like a jab and his left to the body when he hooks almost always finds home. On occasion, when he goes upstairs, he gets a bit wild with it but mostly he's landing that punch too. Sneaky, and technically excellent.Rodriguez is out of sight now.

Sixth is much closer, and messier. They've both been warned for hitting low or pushing or hitting round the back of the head but it's untidy rather than dirty now. This is what Fajado wants and should have been demanding since go. It's too late now, but he shows how to make a fight with a superior fighter close: make it messy, remove all artistry. Rodriguez nicks it with a couple of lefts again, to the body this time, I would say.

In seven, Rodriguez re-introduces his jab, which is really nice, using it to reclaim distance after the mess of the sixth. Fajado eventually finds his way in though, and makes the round excruciatingly close as Rodriguez tries to get room with his feet, retreating as Fajado bores in. I think the Mexican nicks it - barely - with clean punching in the final twenty seconds. Good round, but messy, and the referee warns them to clean it up at the beginning of the eighth.

The eighth was Fajado's best round of the fight and I thought he barely nicked it. Rodriguez looks knackered and less than keen on trading leather so he's shoe-shining a bit, trying to get Fajado off balance. For his part, the Filipino is still winging in 100% of what he's got 90% of the time. It's beautiful to see him try so hard, he's made of stern stuff. Rodriguez may arguably have shaded what for him was a passive round with some heavy bodypunching in the final thirty seconds, but Fajado came back strong and I don't have the heart to take it away from him anyway.

Rodriguez tries to hold his way through the ninth and also gets warned for a low blow. Fajado gets warned for a borderline blow to the back of the head. Fajado must train like a Trojan on crack. He's winning these rounds on fitness. Last round might be great.

Fajado makes a face like "Jesus Christ why the **** didn't I take up basketball" at the start of the tenth. He gets a paycheck. He's earned it. Nothing doing though. They are all in.

Rodriguez's stamina is proven. Against Takayama he should absolutely elite stamina. But that was at 105lbs. He's a growing boy, and he isn't going back down there but he's not staying at 112lbs, it's 108 he's headed for. You can see why. I think the 110lb Fajado wore on him a bit. I'll be very interested to see what happens next with Donnie Nietes. Cos Fajado he ain't.

RODRIGUEZ:1,2*,3,4,5,6,7,
FAJADO:8,9,10

7-3 Rodriguez.

*Fajado dropped.

 

Man, sorry for these essays, not sure what's going on.

 

Celebrate the fact that a bunch of slave-owning, aristocratic, white males didn't want to pay their taxes? No thanks.

 

I'm a Unionist.

 

Donnie Nietes MD12 Moises Fuentes

This is the first fight between the two. Fuentes looks a dunt bigger. This is going to be good, they look well matched, both moving well, Nientes trying to get low, bouncing a little on the move, trying to find Fuentes with right hands. He's succesful several times and looks to have Fuentes slighly hurt at least once, Fuentes keeps the round close with a nice bodypunch. Good response from Fuentes in the second, he is hitting two-handed for the belt line in closer and at distance he is looking to hit at Nietes' torso, good tactics because Nietes has that solid guard. Fuentes looks bigger and he should be the bully here. These guys want to fight in visitations to mid-range, both of them, so there's no distinct style advantage.

Nothing between them in the third - it should be even. But you never see even rounds, so i'm going to favour Fuentes's body attack - barely. The fourth is another close round but here i'd favour Nietes who hits well with a snaking left jab and counters well with a clipping hook when Fuentes comes looking for the body. He also defends well, making Fuentes miss often with his dipping defence. Good, absorbing fight this, recommended.

Fifth is great. Nietes starts off roaming. He gets set to throw his right from the outside though and Fuentes takes advantage to the body early and I think he dominates the first 90 seconds. Late though, Nietes finds several right hands - up close, his right is beautifully disguised and he brings it across and appears to half hurt Fuentes as he did in the first. He's great at keeping his man cornered when he has disturbed him, good footwork. Nietes re-takes the lead - is there a rush on on the cards?

The sixth is another desperately close round with Fuentes throwing more but Nietes taking the sting of many punches with his guard. Nietes himself is throwing less but landing the crisper, sharper sharper shots. With 25 seconds left in the round there's a bad clash of heads and Nietes comes away with a badly cut right eye, the corner. Right or wrong, I'm going to give the close round to Fuentes again, I think he maybe did a tiny bit more. 3-3 at half way.

Nietes runs his way through the seventh; he doesn't want to fight this round. It's a shame because he does good work, wins the only shootout of the round, but he just doesn't off-set Fuentes' aggression and work. Eighth is a big round. Nietes looks like he doesn't fancy it now though. He is bleeding from the both eyes and overpowered on the inside by a bigger fighter. He's also drifting on the cards and needs to make a move if he's going to win the fight. Fuentes continues to outsize and outthrow him in the ninth, however, and Fuentes is starting to move into uncatchable territory on my card.

Fuentes looks a bit knackered in the tenth although he is still coming forwards and I thought Nietes scavanged enough right hands and poked in enough jabs that he was able to get out with the round. Still, his habit of standing in front of an opponent who is firing and shelling up is disturbing and it means a puncher as rangy as Fuentebs will always get a chance to land a hit.

Nietes lands the best punch of the fight in the opening of the 11th, a guard bursting right uppercut from all the way outside with 2:10 on the clock. It's a punch you could only land on a tired fighter, and Fuentes is one, he looks at times like he can't even be ****d trying to catch the fleet-footed Nietes who scores with the occasional right hand while trying to stay ahead of Fuentes. He might just rescue this while on the move.

Ah, the twelfth has nothing in it. Nietes was excellent defensively, slipping under Funetes shots but isn't bringing a lot back when he does it. He wins the first 90 seconds but loses the second ninety seconds to a frustrated Fuentes who beckons him in to fight. Another one I would like to score even, but in keeping with the rules - i'll award it to Nietes using the catchall "generalship" as the excuse. He has taken Fuentes fight away from him and has him chasing, counterpunching. Plus he showed the better engine - while throwing less, curiously.

It is a weird rear guard action successful by virtue of the fact that Fuentes tired rather than Nietes adjusting or finding his second win. Still, a good contest.

NIETES:1,4,5,10,11,12
FUENTES:2,3,6,7,8,9,

6-6 Draw.