the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

I have to admire Chi's durability. And how deep Morales' own offensive tool kit was.

 

I’m thinking of diving into some 1970s light heavyweight action.

So many good fights:

Matthew Saad Muhammad-Yaqui Lopez II

Matthew Saad Muhammad-Marvin Johnson I and II

Matthew Saad Muhammad-John Conteh

James Scott-Yaqui Lopez

James Scott-Eddie Mustafa Muhammad (Gregory at the time)

Marvin Johnson-Victor Galindez

Michael Spinks-Marvin Johnson (I think I’ve actually done that one)

Michael Spinks-Eddie Mustafa Muhammad

Michael Spinks-Dwight Qawi

That doesn’t even scratch the surface, really.

 

Mike Rossman vs. Victor Galindez I on Sept. 15, 1978, at the Superdome in New Orleans on the undercard of Muhammad Ali-Leon Spinks II, for Galindez’s WBA light heavyweight championship.

Rossman, No. 6 in the WBA rankings, is 34-4-3 (21) and weighs 173. Galindez is 53-6-4 (32) and made 175 even on his second attempt at the weigh-in after shedding a little over half a pound. He is undefeated since late 1971 and is making his 11th defense.

Rossman is 22 years old. Galindez is 30. They fight in 8-ounce gloves.

A crowd estimated at 60,000 is on hand for the Ali rematch. Danny “Little Red” Lopez defended his featherweight crown on the undercard, as did bantam Jorge Lujan (vs. Alberto Davila). Marvin Johnson also won over local guy Jerry Celestine.

Round 1: Rossman 10-9 — They start slow, with Rossman’s jab making the difference in a close round.

Round 2: Rossman 10-9 — Rossman’s jab and some good body work takes it, although Victor gets off some good clubbing counters.

Round 3: Galindez 10-9 — The champ clubs Rossman around a bit to take it.

Round 4: Rossman 10-9 — Close, but again it’s the jab and body work by Rossman that stands out.

Round 5: Galindez 10-9 — Victor reminds us why he’s champ, working Rossman over on the ropes and in the corner.

Round 6: Galindez 10-9 — More of the same, but closer. Galindez is cut over the right eye, and it will continue to pour blood throughout the rest of the fight.

Round 7: Rossman 10-9 — Mike lasers his jab in on that cut and again does some really good body work.

Round 8: Rossman 10-9 — Rossman keeps it at range with his jab and holds his own when Victor manages to force some in-fighting.

Round 9: Rossman 10-8 — I used decisive scoring here to give Rossman a 2-point round; he dominated the entire 3 minutes with his jab and body work, landing nice combos then hurt Victor late and had him wobbling all over with some bombs in the follow-up.

Round 10: Rossman 10-9 — All Rossman, and he even has a big advantage when they do some more phone-booth warfare. He’s in complete command.

Round 11: Rossman 10-9 — Mike works him over for 3 minutes and also continues to pound away at the body.

Round 12: Rossman 10-9 — Galindez has a couple of nice last-stand moments as he tries to turn it around but cannot sustain it and Rossman again gets the better of the action. Victor gets cut over the left eye in this round and his face is a bloody mask.

Round 13: Referee Carlos Berrocal stops it 55 seconds into the round as Rossman is pounding Galindez along the ropes. He does not object and quickly goes over to congratulate the new champ.

Rossman fought a disciplined, measured and at-times brilliant fight to win it. He worked Galindez’s scar tissue to bust him open and never got away from his jab or body attack for long. Off this performance, Rossman looks like he will be a force for years to come in the 175-pound ranks, but it didn’t turn out that way.

Oh, and I need to recognize the call (OK, he misses a few technical points like wanting the ref to break when they’re punching away inside) by the late Chris Schenkel, my favorite boxing announcer. His voice, his delivery and his subdued excitement always made me feel like I was watching with a favorite uncle. Howard Cosell, of course, called the Ali-Spinks II fight on this ABC broadcast but this one was all Chris, who is the anti-Howard in his lack of bombastic approach. It was wonderful to spend another evening with you, Chris. RIP pal.

 

Don't miss Galindez-Kates 1 - it's brilliant.
Also Matt Franklin/Saad v Kates as well.

Like you say, there are more good ones.

 

McGrain, I was looking for a decent fight with Lucas Matthysse and I was struggling to find a decent version of his bout with Danny Garcia - which I didn't find - but found this bout with Judah. Here we go.

Round 1: 10-9 Zab
Round 2: 10-10 Even
Round 3: 10-9 LM
Round 4: 10-9 LM
Round 5: 10-9 Zab
Round 6: 10-9 LM
Round 7: 10-10 Even
Round 8: 10-9 Zab
Round 9: 10-9 LM
Round 10: 10-8 LM (scores a knockdown)
Round 11: 10-9 LM
Round 12: 10-9 LM

Total: 117-112 Matthysse (actual scores: 114-113 x 2 for Judah and 114-113 for Matthysse)

I'm obviously in the minority of having it a bit wider for Matthysse. I was far more impressed with his pressing and workrate than Zab's sporadic punching. Not slam-bang, but still a decent enough fight on a rainy Thursday evening.

 

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Saw this mentioned on a thread of underrated fights, and I lap up anything to do with King Corn.

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9 : 10
10 : 9
10 : 8
10 : 9*
9 : 10 (48/46)
9 : 10
10 : 9
9 : 10
10 : 9
10 : 9* (

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Wow! This is another ten round classic from Boza. Both men hurt, lots of clean punching, super fast pace with blood and guts. Everything you could ask for! Rounds 7, 8 and 10 were insane.

Dickson and his team were real serious about this one. Blaine was in excellent shape, and had a very good game plan. He saw that Boza fell in with jab, so he countered with a left hook from the outside, while getting underneath Boza's awesome offence to come back up with a straight right. The little creeping steps and slight weight shifts he used to get his feet in the right position were textbook. Boza was a little too strong, active and heavy-handed for him IMO.

I remember talking with Jel and Scar whether of not Boza was the most exciting fighter of the 80s, and I have no choice but to agree. Tyson and Duran would be the most common answers in a poll, I'd imagine, but I don't think either has a list of fights as good as Boza's. This, Arguello, Chacon I & II, Limon, Lockridge, Elizondo, Villegas, Verdosa, Navarrete &c. and I'm sure there's others I've not yet seen.

Beast.

 

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Knowing that B-Hop in his younger days was a very high-output fighter, I figured a fight where he was in with a big puncher who dropped him twice would be real fun. Plus it's pretty controversial.

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10 : 9
10 : 9
10 : 8
9 : 10 (39/36)
8 : 10
10 : 9
8 : 10
10 : 9 (75/74)
10 : 9
10 : 9
10 : 9
10 : 9 (

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I always assumed that this was fight on the level, and just an indication that Hop wasn't prime for it. I was wrong, IMO. (does that make sense lol)

Hopkins conditioning is unquestionable. The guy was throwing 100 punches a round in 100° heat at 9000ft altitudes. WTF. Mercado was used to these conditions, Hopkins wasn't. I really don't like this decision, Hop was robbed of a KD IMO in the third, and arguably scored a two-point round in the twelfth. The two KDs Mercado scored were both definite KDs for sure, but neither had any real affect on B-Hop, who seemed to shrug those shots off afterward. Aside from a round where Bernard was rocked and didn't throw much in the fourth, I can't see any other rounds you could genuinely give to Mercado.

Great fight though. Both guys gave it their all and put on a fast paced, highly dramatic, elite level fight and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I think this was the start of Hopkins' prime.

 

George, thanks for bringing this to my attention. Back in the day I saw all of Boza-Edwards' fights, but for some reason this one slipped through the net.

Round 1: 10-9 Dickson
Round 2: 10-9 Dickson
Round 3: 10-8 Boza (scores a knockdown)
Round 4: 10-9 Boza
Round 5: 10-9 Boza
Round 6: 10-10 Even
Round 7: 10-9 Boza (best round of the fight)
Round 8: 10-9 Boza
Round 9: 10-9 Boza
Round 10: 10-9 Boza

Total: 98-92 Boza-Edwards (actual scores: 98-92, 98-91 and 96-93 all for Boza-Edwards)

First, don't let the scoreline fool you. Every round was won by a thread. The only simple round was the 3rd. Wouldn't doubt a different score by anyone who sees it. Two great warriors and a terrific fight.

 

Here's how I had it, George:

Bernard Hopkins v Segundo Mercado 1

1 10-9 (wicked start. Hopkins looks like he wants to take Mercado out quick)
2 10-9
3 10-9 (closer. Better round from Mercado but still gave it to B-Hop)
4 9-10 (good round for Mercado. Nice straight right.)
5 8-10 (KD was a bit of Hopkins being off balance from a push and a punch that connected)
6 10-9 (clear Hopkins round as he comes back hard)
7 8-10 (another debatable KD call against Hopkins)
8 9-10 (Mercado had strong showing in second half of the round to take it)
9 10-9 (good pressure fighting from Hopkins)
10 9-10 (tricky round to score. Hopkins mauled Mercado but the cleaner punches came from the Ecuadorian)
11 10-9 (clear Hopkins round)
12 10-9 (another clear one from B-Hop)

113-113

Hopkins won on rounds 7-5 but the two KD calls cost him an outright win.

I think both KDs against Hopkins were somewhat debatable and had the referee ruled either of those slips Hopkins would have won a decision I think he deserved overall.

 

I wanted to check out any other Frankie Randall fights out there and I zeroed in on his first fight with Juan Martin Coggi. I didn't check to see how the fight broke down as I like using my own judgement without influence of knowing the outcome - other than the fact that I did know Frankie won. But as it turned out, a bit one-sided along with a few explosions.

Round 1: 10-8 Randall (scores a knockdown)
Round 2: 10-8 Coggi (scores a knockdown)
Round 3: 10-9 Randall
Round 4: 10-9 Randall
Round 5: 10-8 Randall (scores a knockdown)
Round 6: 10-8 Randall (scores a knockdown)
Round 7: 10-9 Randall
Round 8: 10-9 Randall
Round 9: 10-9 Randall
Round 10: 10-9 Randall
Round 11: 10-9 Randall
Round 12: 10-9 Coggi

Total: 117-107 Randall (actual scores: 115-109, 116-108 and another 116-108 all for Randall)

Came close to scoring the 7th even, but when Randall came back into a round he came back hard. Coggi was always a very strong fighter with those whipping/clubbing punches as Frankie found out in the 2nd round. But Frankie was really something back then and one wonders how long his prime could have been if not for his drug problems earlier in his career.

 

Doug DeWitt D10 Don Lee

I remember reading a full-length story about this fight in KO Magazine back when it happened, and how the story treated Dewitt as the deserving winner and how this bout might mean bigger things down the road for him. In a way it did, though perhaps in a more indirect way than was anticipated. For Lee, it was a last hurrah.

Excellent, action-packed fight. Lee is a bit of a mess stylistically, winging really long, wound-up left crosses from the southpaw stance. He's 6'2" and uses every inch of that reach to deliver his telegraphed shots. When he did land though, most guys fell. His power was legit. Ask Tony Sibson. Dewitt however has a chin from hell, nullifying that advantage.

Lee starts confidently, posing and preening some as he struts around the ring. Dewitt doesn't throw a lot the first few rounds but soon begins throwing little chopping shots on the inside and landing long left hands. The fight isn't the most artistic, both fighting with hands down and chins up, but it's very good fun.

Dewitt is slightly behind going into the 9th on my card and turns up the heat, having an exhausted Lee in a bad way in the 10th, but he doesn't have a lot of firepower. Lee sees the final bell a b d gets a draw that is generally thought of as a bit of a gift around boxing at the time.

Very fun fight. A somewhat difficult fight to score, I'd be interested to see what Scartissue, George and Jel think. Here's my scorecard

Dewitt: 5,6,7,9,10
Lee: 1,2,4,8
Even: 3

96-95 Dewitt

 

Sal, no fights on tonight so I thought I'd check this out. Good fight. And like you said, there was some tissue-paper thin rounds here. Scoring on the NY rounds basis.

Round 1: Lee
Round 2: DeWitt
Round 3: Lee
Round 4: Lee
Round 5: DeWitt
Round 6: Lee
Round 7: DeWitt
Round 8: DeWitt
Round 9: DeWitt
Round 10: DeWitt

Total: 6-4 DeWitt (actual scores: 5-5 by all 3 judges for a Draw)

When Dangerous Don had elbow room he was very dangerous and DeWitt had to run a gauntlet to get near him. But he got his timing down as the fight went on and - even though Lee was throwing more punches - DeWitt was dodging most of them. When Doug got close he negated those big shots from Lee and worked nicely infighting. I believe DeWitt should have really gone to the body more than he did, but it is what it is. Good fight and so many of these rounds were close. Nothing wrong with a draw. Thanks, Sal.

 

Cornelius Boza-Edwards v Blaine Dickson

Another good recommendation, George! It was Boza so I couldn't resist and wanted to see how my card stacked up with yours and Scar's.

Round 3 aside, every round was competitive but the better quality came from Boza. Dickson showed a lot of heart in there, though.

I scored round 6 even at first - as Scar did - but changed my mind on a bit more reflection. I think Dickson landed the slightly more telling blows in that one. In most of the other rounds, it was Boza who was doing that.

Terrific fight, of course. Enjoyment slightly impeded by the video editing which chopped off ends of rounds and shortened a couple of them substantially.

1 10-9 (close - every Boza opening round feels like a mini Hagler-Hearns)
2 9-10 (close - Dickson started vey well with his straight right particularly effective. Boza worked his way into the round in the second half but Dickson did enough to take it)
3 10-8 (big round from Boza and some classic Carlos Padilla officiating)
4 10-9
5 10-9 (better round from Dickson although Boza still took it from what I could see - only 90 seconds long on the video)
6 9-10 (awesome action - Dickson deserved at least a share of the round and I actually think he just about edged it but it was very close)
7 10-9
8 10-9
9 10-9
10 10-9

Boza 98-91 Dickson

 

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After stumbling over an awesome little shoot-out between Williams and Weaver, and talking to RulesMakeThingsInteresting the other day about the 80s being superior to the 90s, I figured why not brush up on my knowledge of some of the 80s HW.

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10 : 9
10 : 9
9 : 10
10 : 9
10 : 8 (49/45)
9 : 10
10 : 9
10 : 9
10 : 9 (

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Damn, fun fight. I wasn't expecting anything less, but this one was real good. Coetzee reminded me a bit of Carl Froch. Very caveman-esque, but very effective and unorthodox. Dokes was a bit too upright for my liking, it's what caused the first KD, being stood upright with his chin high. Very fast, though. Excellent performance from Coetzee, and a damn good fight too.