the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

I know some people have scored this a draw and I believe some have even scored it for Leonard but I've only ever scored it for Duran and I think the judges got this one absolutely right (in terms of picking the right winner). It was close, it was (highly) competitive but it was clear for Duran. Great performance, great fight and a great moment in boxing history.

 

Erik Morales vs Marco Antonio Barrera 1


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

112-115

This is such a great fight. I only disagreed with Harold on round 10 I think. I had that a clear Morales round.

What a great fight. Morales really should be sticking behind those long rapier straight shots and counter punching, but he just can't help a tear up, and getting a tear up with an iron chinned short armed offensive genius like Barrera is not a good idea.

I love this Barrera, so much better than the Morales impersonation he became at FW and upwards.

Don't get me wrong, the boxer Barrera became was a great boxer. Just not as good to watch.

Seeing him constantly force Morales into a brawl is amazing.

With that 10-8 round I really struggle to see how Morales gets the nod.

 

I recently scored this. Here is how I had it. We disagreed on rounds 1, 4 and 5 and I had the 3rd even. The rest we were on the same page.

Erik Morales v MAB I

Round 1: 10-9 Morales
Round 2: 10-9 MAB
Round 3: 10-10 Even
Round 4: 10-9 MAB
Round 5: 10-9 Morales
Round 6: 10-9 Morales
Round 7: 10-9 Morales
Round 8: 10-9 MAB
Round 9: 10-9 MAB
Round 10: 10-9 Morales
Round 11: 10-9 MAB
Round 12: 10-8 MAB (the knockdown was clearly bogus, but it counts)

Total: 115-113 MAB

 

Mashing those two cards together you can bet a Morales victory I suppose, I'm not just it's the right call.

 

Completing my Frank Fletcher fixation today with his 12 round bout for the USBA title against Tony Braxton. It wasn't Fletcher-Clint Jackson type of war, but it was still amazing watching the pure heart of Fletcher. NJ rules on a rounds basis.

Round 1: Fletcher
Round 2: Fletcher
Round 3: Fletcher
Round 4: Fletcher
Round 5: Fletcher
Round 6: Braxton
Round 7: Fletcher
Round 8: Fletcher
Round 9: Braxton
Round 10: Even
Round 11: Fletcher
Round 12: Fletcher

Total: 9-2-1 Fletcher (actual scores: 8-4, 6-5-1 and 9-3 all for Fletcher)

Braxton simply didn't have the kind of firepower to hold off Fletcher. He seemed to have some success when laying in wait with a lead right on the southpaw Fletcher, but not enough to turn the tide.

 

Marco Antonio Barrera vs Erik Morales 2

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

114-114

The first 5 rounds Barrera tries to outjab Morales on the back foot. But given that's not his style and he's up against a tall rangy fighter with a great jab, it isn't the best of ideas.

The second half of the fight Barrera goes back to the Barrera of old, pressuring, hooking, bullying and throwing those big big combinations, until round 10 which he inexplicably takes off.

Some rounds are very close here so I can't actually see either man taking it.

These two are so evenly matched. First fight I would have had a draw but for a bogus knockdown. This fight I have a draw. I'll score the third shortly.

Junio Jones aside, no one beat these two in their primes apart from each other and Pacquaio. And they fought at such a high level.

Amazing stuff.

 

Marco Antonio Barrera vs Erik Morales 3

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

115-113

Arguably the best fight in the trilogy and an all out war. The only negative is the refusal of respect by Erik Morales.

Some very close rounds here but I feel Barrera finally won a clean victory over Morales and established himself the superior boxer.

 

I had two guys left on my watch list.

Manuel Ortiz and Panama Al Brown.

Both great bantamweight fighters, almost opposite styles as well with Ortiz being a compact in fighter, with surprisingly good head movement and Brown being an upright rangy slickster.

The netx watch list is going through the FOTY awards starting in 1922

 

FOTY 1922

Gene Tunney vs Harry Greb 15 rounds.

Now obviously there is no footage of this fight readily available. So instead I've read as many sources as possible to paint a picture in my minds eye.

The very closest I can come up with is Calzaghe vs Jeff Lacy.

Now here me out.

All descriptions of Greb being a volume fighter, forever shifting his feet, unorthodox angles, swarming up close and from range, slapping his punches to protect his hands, iron chin, all those descriptions match Calzaghe also. I've no doubt on my mind if we saw Greb fighting, we'd be able to draw comparison to Calzaghe.

As for the Tunney - Lacy comparison, under usual situations this does not bear thinking about, however when you read about the fight, in the first round, Greb immediately took away the jab of Tunney and engaged him close up, Tunney in the pocket tries hooking with Greb and working his body. But he does a poor job of it as he's completely out slugged. If you wanna see someone abandon a jab and futile attempt working the body whilst being swarmed, look no further than Lacy. Notice in round one of Calzaghe vs Lacy, Calzaghe is able to outland at ease from range and get the better of every inside battle.

As you read the description of Greb vs Tunney it's apparent that this becomes a pattern. Tunney is unable to box and move as he usually does. He is forced into exchange after exchange and he is consistently out landed and is taking so cumulative damage. Greb smiles and snarls at Tunney through the fight when he realises he has no answer for him. He pushes for the stoppage down the stretch as well.

In my mind the fight actually closely mirrors the Calzaghe performance against Lacy. As Greb is able to force Tunney into a brawl,and completely out match him in it.

So it's not ideal not being able to watch the fight. But through a combination of reports and Calzaghe highlights my minds eye can paint a good enough picture.

 

Interesting thoughts. I guess the one thing that differentiates Greb and Calzaghe stylistically (from what I've read of Greb) is that he was short, whereas Calzaghe picked and chose his spots from a more standup stance. Greb fought many, many much bigger men, and was therefore always having to jump in from underneath those taller guys with his windmill attacks.

 

I see him as a hybrid between Loi and Calzaghe to be totally honest, but I think he's close to Calzaghe than Loi.

 

Yeah, never bought the Greb/Calzhage comparison. I always thought Joe was more akin to Slapsie Maxie. Greb sounds a bit more a like a crossover of Ketchel and Armstrong, or at least style wise. He sounds very very unique.

I picture Greb as a swinging madman, but with little power, Armstrong-esc head-movement, Pryor-esc workrate and Roy Jones-esc speed.

 

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Gonna have a fun HW brawl kinda day, today. Especially ones I've not seen before (in this post anyway).

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10 : 9
9 : 10

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Fun faced pace affair which really highlighted Briggs' weaknesses. Briggs was really heavy handed and had some pretty fast combinations, but he gassed out trying to put Wilson away, the third round was slow until Wilson got the KO.

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Heard this one is good, and with two punches with shakey chin, I'm hardly surprised.

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10 : 9
8 : 10
10 : 9*
9 : 10*
10 : 9

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Lyle was extremely lucky that there wasn't another 30 seconds in the 2nd round. Rounds 3&4 were really good (especially 3) but were tough to score. 5 was competitive, but Shavers' lapse of judgement when he went to the wrong corner gave Lyle the green light to go out guns blazing. So that's exactly what he did.

Awesome style clash here, Shavers was like a little bull and always out everything into all of his shots, and that left hook in the second was spectacular. He might be known for his overhand right, but he was actually pretty well-rounded when it came to his punch selection. Lyle was a composite boxer-puncher with good skills with his back to the ropes.

 

Problem is Maxie himself has no footage so you need to compare him to someone else with available footage and for me the closest we'll ever get to seeing him is a Loi Calzaghe hybrid.

 

Not for Maxie, he's a bit more complex than anyone I've ever read about. Think Joe Calzhage if he wasn't primarily a swarmer but he was a hybrid out-boxer who used the peek-a-boo on both the front and back-foot. He's probably a bit more like a passive Patterson than Loi, with a granite chin (unlike Patterson) and a Calzhage-esc tendancy to slap rather than punch.