the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Buddy McGirt vs. Simon Brown.

Absolutely perfect boxing by McGirt, downright brilliant at times. Great control of distance, lateral movement, nice combinations, just perfect.

Didn't score officially but I'm guessing it's a shutout, at least that's how it registered

 

Ali-Lyle

6-2-2 for lyle before the stoppage

 

Watched Ballas-Pedroza the next day but didnt do a write up on it.

Unfortunately I had to watch it in bits, which is not the best way to watch a fight but I dont think it would have affected my card to much as it really looked like Ballas got jobbed in this one.

I also stopped scoring after the 3rd time I tried to pick up the action again, which was around the 10 or 11th.
Up until that point I had Ballas winning all but two rounds, with one of those being even...I also gave him a 10-8 round where he gave Pedroza a pretty sound hiding and might have even forced a stoppage if he was at home with a more sympathetic ref.

I did however have a few asterisk rounds...they were rounds where I thought "he might not get those in Panama"....Mostly because the camera angles gave the viewer at home a better view of what was happening up close but ringside at least one judge would have only been able to see the back of Pedroza and his shots winging in from the side.
These were rounds were Pedroza was able to muscle Ballas into the ropes and corners, and precede to give the appearance of working him over with mostly ineffective blows.
In reality Ballas was even dominating these exchanges as he ducked, weaved and blocked most of Pedroza's shots..then came back with clean scoring ones of his one.

In the centre of the ring Ballas masterfully controlled the action scoring repeatedly to the head and body, and making Pedroza miss time and time again...though there were times that added to justification of the use of the asterisk when Gustavo would pull right back in a straight line after ducking under a punch, then would cop the end of a shot from Pedroza..to the trained eye a nothing punch that has long since lost its power but the crowd would have saw that as Ballas getting staggered back by a Pedroza blow. When really it was more Gustavo's own momentum.

Pedroza to his credit fought gamely and showed very good conditioning to come home pretty strong...He isnt a hell of a lot like his cousin who was ringside, more just a generic stand up bomber though he did have a little bit of that Pedroza smoothness I saw at times.
He actually seem to inadvertently make Ballas miss because of the way he placed his head when throwing a shot , he also seem to almost accidentally parry a hell of a lot of stuff from Ballas because he was throwing his own punch at that same time.

I think he hurt Gustavo in the 2nd with a short left hook, that I dont think Ballas was ready for. This sent Ballas on the defensive for a while and I gave Pedroza that round.

After that though I thought it was a one sided schooling, and a pretty impressive display from Ballas.
But I guess I can see why he was robbed, his tendency to retreat to the ropes, his habit of pulling straight back from exchanges, almost complementing Pedroza's shots by looking like they were effecting him more then they were and his lack of power could see several rounds have that asterisk next to it...Sad you have to be so ridiculously decisive in someones hometown to get a points verdict but thats boxing I suppose.

 

George Benton vs Rubin Carter

Nice little fight this. It is usually billed as 'Brains vs Brawn' but it dosent really play out like that IMO.

Benton is by far the more skilled guy with his superb defence and lovely punch delivery, I particulary liked the way he would throw the right hand come back with the left hook off it. Every area of the fight seemed to be controlled by Benton, effective aggression - Benton, defence - Benton, clean punching - Benton. Carter just plodded forward and at times outworked Benton but that was just in spurts. Benton just at times fazed out of the fight, although his defence was always in play.

Despite being the 'Brain' in the fight, Benton was consistently backing up Carter by getting inside and throwing some nice little insie shots. And when he wanted to, Benton would step back and create room for his punches. He really had full controll of the fight IMO.

Carter: 4,8,9,10
Benton: 1,2,3,5,6,7
Total: 96-94 Benton (6-4)

And I felt I was being kind to Carter.

 

Thought Carter beat Benton quite clearly, but it's been a few years since i've watched it.Maybe time to rewatch it.Rumours that Benton had the cuffs on for it actually.

 

I do favour skill, defence and generalship in my scoring. Afew of the rounds I could see Carter getting it but I thought Benton won them. I did not think it was an outright robbery it was just a close fight IMO.

 

Eusebio Pedroza vs Ernesto Herrera

Absolute fantastic display by Pedroza here, really shows his full offensive and defensive arsenal to its full extent.

Herrera was a typical sort of Mexican style pressure-fighter, who was always applying plodding pressure but kept a high workrate and fairly solid fundamentals. This sort of style is cannon fodder to Pedroza, really. Nevertheless, Pedroza really was outstanding, it was the type of fight that shows you the full extent of his ability and what he is capable of, but you do not see how he can use these skills in a fight where he is challenged.

From the outset Pedroza is in command, generally he is taking the offence with his long right hands and left hooks in an Ernesto Marcel sort of style but occasionally backs Herrera into the ropes with non-stop streams of punches, lashing in left hooks, right uppercuts and any other whipping punch you can think of. The way he adjusted his angle slightly whilst mid-stream was very effective and allowed him to completely open up Herrera for more punches. Herrera was tough as old boots and was always firing back, albeit in effectively.

When not on the offence Pedroza occasionally allowed himself to be pushed back to the ropes or corner and showed some superb defence whilst fighting off of them. With 'Jack-in-the-box' style head movement and solid counterpunches, Pedroza was showcasing moves that Zapata or Whittaker would have been proud of. Herrera would try to open up but was hitting fresh air and got a barrage of punches for his efforts.

Another thing that really impressed me is the adjustment of range that Pedroza utilises, at times he will be at mid-range trading then slide back and open up with long range punches then step in and shorten up the punches, he was effective at every range and used every different range to its full potential, although Herrera was not very adept at controlling the range and basically gave Pedroza free roam in this department.

All in all, a superb performance by Pedroza who is increasingly growing on me as a fighter I very much admire.

Out of interest, I did not give Herrera a round in that bout.

 

Yeah, much as I like Benton, I thought Carter did the better work. Although, if the rumors are true, that's as much to do with Benton as anything.

 

Do you think Benton had the cuffs on?

He looked pretty good in the fight.

 

Carlos Zarate vs Alberto Davila

Probably my favourite Zarate fight. Just such a good show of skill, will, heart, bravery and chin.

The early rounds are very close with Davila moving around looking to pop Zarate with a jab, Zarate's jab looks to carry more snap than Davila's although Davila is probably landing slightly more.

The first real breakthrough round is the fourth when Davila starts to use his faster hands to beat Zarate to the punch in exchanges. The sharp combinations by Davila are superb to watch and his right hand stuns Zarate occasionally. It is a classic example of how handspeed should be used to win in exchanges. Davila also looks to have the better defence as he picks off Zarate's returning shots with his gloves and subtle head movement before launching counter combo's back at Zarate.

In the fifth Zarate decides to keep things at longer range and time's his punches well to land as Davila steps forward, stifling Davila's incoming assault and also doing some damage. It's still quite a close round and Davila really rocks Zarate with a right hand towards the end of the round.

Davila again uses his handspeed and finds angles to nick the close sixth round although Zarate is starting to pressure Davila now. In the seventh Zarate decides to go for it and starts to get inside and make the fight ugly, it is smothering the clean punching of Davila and Zarate is controlling the distance and his own positioning well enough to still get leverage in his punches and does damage particularly with the left hook to body and head.

With his strategy now working Zarate does more of the same in the eighth and is really in control, a quick slashing combination drops Davila who gets up but his eye is split open from the combo and the bout is stopped.

Felt a wee bit sorry for Davila as he had put up a great effort and perhaps should have been allowed to continue, but I think Zarate had found the way to beat Davila in seventh and the writing was on the wall.

Very very impressive stuff by both men though, Zarate was not at his absolute best, but he was still very formidable and his greatness, and intelligence, shone through as he found a way to win.

Zarate: 2,3,5,7
Davila: 1,4,6
Total: 67-66 Zarate (4-3)


Carlos Zarate vs Lupe Pintor

First time I have watched this controversial fight, and it is quite absorbing. Some good boxing by both men and shifts in tides and fortunes.

I'll just put up my RBR notes and scorecard.

1. Zarate is ring general with good jab
2. Pintor some sharp left hand work - counters and leads
3. Close round - Pintor forcing Zarate to adapt - sharp work by both
4. Pintor aggressor - jab disrupting Zarate - Zarate looking to counter-punch and scores KD
5. Zarate controlled range - long hard shots
6. Both hard leads - Zarate more in control
7. Pintor sharp jab - very close - Zarate nice movement
8. Zarate sharper harder shots - combos - Pintor some good jabs
9. Pintor pressuring with good left hand work
10. Zarate boxed well - good movement and control - Zarate hurt late by left hand
11. Good inside work by both - Zarate more fluid in defence
12. Zarate a bit ragged - inaccurate - good exchanges - Pintor nice counters
13. Zarate ring general with good jab, movement and feints
14. Pintor hard counters - stunned Zarate
15. Zarate good aggression - nice combo's

Zarate: 1,4*,5,6,8,11,13,15
Pintor: 2,3,7,9,10,12,14 KD'd 4
Total: 143-142 Zarate (8-7)

* = 10-9 round despite KD, I felt Pintor was winning round when he was dropped and did not deserve a 2 point round going against him.


Overall, I would not say this fight is a stark robbery. Zarate may have deserved it but it was very close. Out of the two I was more impressed by Pintor's jab than anything Zarate produced.

 

Yeah Greg, by no means a robbery. I scored this for Zarate a long time ago, but more recently have scored it for Pintor. Close fight and just depends on what you prefer. People were surely expecting fireworks and got technicality instead and don't seem to take it well.

 

I actually quite enjoyed it, both guys showcase the technical side of their game and don't look shoddy in doing so. In the few exchanges that do happen, they are very exciting.

Although I think you could score it wider to Zarate than you could to Pintor.

 

I enjoyed it also. I think the first impression of Zarate is a stone cold KO artist and the first impression of Pintor is of a swarmer (maybe from the Gomez fiight). But they both delivered great technical fighting here. I knew Pintor could fight a tight, technical fight but I was impressed he was able to do this against the height, reach, power and ability of Zarate. I'm not saying it's fair or unbiased but I think that's what's swayed me toward Pintor in more recent viewings.

 

Alberto Davila vs Frankie Duarte II

Now this is a classic. Both men are past prime and had fought 10 years ago with Davila brushing aside the inexperienced and at the time unfocused Duarte with relative ease. This time however, both men had just been on good runs with Davila winning the title and Duarte getting a good streak going and fighting for the title.

Davila started fast with his brilliant jab and lateral movement as he glided inside with those lovely crisp combinations he throws. The fight starts really in the second as both men go for it and getting stunned in the process as they abandon caution and launch in with combos. Davila is slightly crisper and busier. Duarte is the harder puncher though and really rakes the body hard with solid hooks and uppercuts. This pattern continues to the fourth and Davila scores a flash KD with a lovely left hook at the start of the fourth and the two men go for it again.

Duarte gets his sucess in the fifth as Davila slowed down near the end of the round and Duarte outworks Davila with solid punches. This continues till the seventh when Davila get shis sharp punches going again and wins the trades but gets cut very very badly for his efforts.

Davila because of the cut begins to protect his cut in the eight and gives Duarte the iniative in the trades and begins to be outworked and outpunched. But in the ninth Davila takes th iniative with fast hard combos.

In the tenth Duarte is like a man possesed as he just launches non-stop barrage's of KO punches at the very badly cut Davila. The referee has to stop it due to davila's cuts and although Davila might have won, Duarte looked like he wa spoised to take over with his non-stop attack, which is a shame we missed a natural conclusion.

Great fight.

Davila: 1,2,3,4,7,9
Duarte:5,6,8 KD'd 4
Total: 87-83 Davila (6-3)

 

Just watched Pedroza-Olivares. Ruben was clearly past his best but put on a spirited showing and never stopped trying. His timing just wasn't there and he was reduced to swinging at times, though he did to take the fight to Pedroza throughout. Pedroza was always in control and had the last word in nearly every exchange specially up close where he punished Ruben with uppercuts from both hands. At range he counterpunched and landed numerous bolo punches.
the fight was stopped at the right time with Ruben beginning to take heavy shots flush.