the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Fight 18: Fuji v Locche

1: 9-10
2: 9-10
3: 9-10
4: 9-10
5: 9-10
6: 9-10
7: 9-10
8: 9-10
9: 9-10
10: tko

Well this is a very different version of Locche than the one I saw last time out.

His defence was so on point, but more than that his hand speed was there. He could essentially land at will and avoid everything coming his way.

He was the epitome of slick here, but not even subtle dodges, he was moving his entire upper body the whole time.

This version of Locche is one of the best ever. His attack was still limited but how do you land solid punches on someone that good?

What a performance. Totally toying with the reigning champ.

 

You know, one really remarkable thing about that fight is that a fairly reputable boxing magazine at the time used to have a monthly feature where they would dissect an upcoming matchup and based on their analysis of everything under the sun, pick a winner. This magazine, World Boxing, picked Haugen to win that fight by decision. Crazy.

 

Just watched Harry Arroyo vs, Robin Blake, a fight I watched when it aired live in 1984. I have memories of this as one of the first few fights I watched upon first becoming interested in boxing once upon a time, and I had been waiting for this one to be posted to Youtube for some time so I could actually score it.

Arroyo was just beginning his run at the top, and on paper at least, Blake was made for him; an aggressive banger who would showcase Arroyo's counterpunching skills. For the first half-plus of the contest, it panned out more or less that way, with Arroyo dodging and slipping Blake's punches impressively in the early going, while countering largely with straight rights and pawing with the left to keep Blake at range. Given Blake's lack of head movement, it's easy going for Arroyo for the first few rounds. He even rocks Blake in the first and fourth, opening up a sizable lead. It's funny, Blake seems to want to be able to fight at range a bit better but for all his height, he kind of has alligator arms. They're disproportionally short, forcing him to come forward and bang the way a shorter pressure fighter would, in order to get into punching range. With his tall profile however, it puts him at a disadvantage because it just offers that much bigger a target when he dives inside to trade shots.

Blake has pluck though, and by the seventh his conditioning is starting to pay dividends, as he surges forward and begins to land on a tiring Arroyo. Shots that Harry had been slipping with ease earlier and countering sharply are now bouncing off his head and forcing him backward. He's landing shots in return, but Blake now has a head of steam.

Blake closes strong, but it's a matter of too little, too late. I've read that to this day Blake thinks he won the fight, which I can understand; many rounds are hotly contested and close. A case could be made for the decision going his way, but I have Arroyo just hanging on for the verdict......

Arroyo: 1,2,3,4,5,6
Blake: 7,8,9,10

 

So many good lightweights around then, all ranked in or near the top ten.....Rosario, Mancini, Bramble, Crawley, Ramirez, Arroyo, Camacho, Blake, Baltazar, Boza-Edwards.......

 

...Terrance Alli, Jimmy Paul, Darryl Tyson, etc. It was a pretty deep field, yeah.

 

Fight 19: Pryor vs Arguellp

1: 10-9
2: 10-9
3: 10-9
4: 10-9
5: 9-10
6: 10-9
7: 10-9
8: 9-10
9: 9-10
10: 9-10
11: 10-9
12: 9-10
13: 9-10
14: tko

This was a very close fight. The first half saw Pryor out work a very slow starting Arguello.

About half way through Alexis started seeing dividends for his body work as it slowed Aaron down and enabled him to time him, to perfection.

I mean, how the **** did Pryor not get sparked out in rounds 8-13 almost every round he ate a ko blow flush and walked through it.

The last round showed a very good, second wind, which enabled Pryor to come out firing and ultimately overwhelm Alexis.

What a great fight against a great opponent.

 

Fight 20: Frazier v Foreman

1: 6-10
2: tko

What can really be said about this? The first 30 seconds were quite even. Foreman was respectful of Joe and went for the body shots to avoid that famous left hook.

About 30 seconds in Frazier tags George with a left hook and tries pushing him back. This was the beginning of the end as Foreman realised the hook didn't hurt him and that Joe couldn't move him.

From then it was push, jab, hook/uppercut in almost spam like fashion until finally the fight was called off.

I always wonder how the second half of a fight between these two would go, but then I remind myself this and realise it would never get that far.

Awesome detruction, one of the best in history.

 

"The first 30 seconds were quite even."

 

didn't know what else to start with haha

 

Bowe bombing Dokes

The crowd chanted Bull **** bull **** bull **** but Dokes was done. I did not find it that controversial but the ref was in his first title bout and I dont recall ever seeing him in a significant fight after that.

Bowe seemed a little flabby but very relaxed

 

Fight 21: Charles v Walcott

1: 9-10
3: 9-10
6: 9-10
7: tko

Rounds 2, 4 and 5 were missing from the footage I saw.

This, for me, is the best Walcott. He really put it all together this night. He boxed beautifully on the back foot forcing Charles (who'd schooled him not that long previous) to be the aggressor and this enabled him to pick him off quite easily. He also mixed it up with well times ambush attacks preventing Charles getting any rhythm.

That being said the rounds I saw were all close. The usual cocky Walcott wasn't on show and he fought at a much more conservative pace than he has previously imo.

He knockout was a thing of beauty. As he stepped forward Charles throws out a left hand which he brilliantly slips to deliver his own left hook/uppercut.

I troll on Walcott, quite a lot. Many because I don't like the way a lot of people say he deserved to beat Louis when they haven't watched the fight. But the truth is, he is clearly one of the most talented boxers in history.

I wouldn't say he's one of the best HW in history because of his size and style there's too many I favour over him but as a p4p boxer there aren't many better.

The first half of his career was poor. The aberration against Layne was poor. But overall, from his comeback to the Simon loss until his capitulation in the Rocky rematch, he more than proved his greatness to me. Culminating with this beautiful punch against Charles.

This is one of the very best one punch finishes of a true ATG.