Welcome Ncita v Jesus Salud (IBF super bantamweight title) I thought I would check out another Jesus Salud fight and since I've always liked Welcome Ncita, this just seemed right. Round 1: 10-10 Even Round 2: 10-9 Salud Round 3: 10-9 Ncita Round 4: 10-9 Ncita Round 5: 10-9 Ncita Round 6: 10-9 Ncita Round 7: 10-9 Ncita Round 8: 10-9 Ncita Round 9: 10-9 Ncita Round 10: 10-9 Salud Round 11: 10-10 Even Round 12: 10-9 Salud Total: 117-113 Ncita (actual scores: 116-112, 116-112 and 115-113 all for Ncita) Salud has a real pattern about him. He follows, he follows and he follows and when he does land its usually one punch here and there. He follows the Juan Laporte/Joe Bugner type where you have to set a fire under his stool to get him to come alive. When he does come around - like he did in the last three rounds - he's competitive. I did enjoy, however, seeing Ncita attack the body in the last half of the fight. But the fight as a whole I would regard as decent and that's about all.
Rough, I settled in to watch this today and was totally enjoying it, but then came along the 8th round only to find it was the 11th round. No rounds 8, 9 or 10 in any of the versions I tried to find. So disappointing. I just aborted it. I cannot stand a partial fight when scoring. Of what I saw of the fight, Saijo was keeping Rojas on the end of his straight sharp jab and combos. And with the height and reach deficit that Rojas was looking at, this didn't bode well for him. I kept mumbling, "Go to the body! Go to the body!" I think Rojas' normally good body work on that thin frame would have paid dividends down the stretch. Only in the 7th did I see the beginnings of some body work on the part of Rojas. One side note that was hidden at the time was that Rojas and his party animal buddy Mando Ramos had heard for some reason the fight got postponed a bit before this card (It was a double-header with Ramos challenging Teo Cruz for the lightweight title) and they broke camp and went on a bar-hopping spree. By the time it was clear the card was back on, they were found in some watering hole both well-lit. Naturally, both lost their respective matches. I will say, however, Rojas would always have found Saijo a difficult prospect - considering their physical disparities - without a better battle plan than this.
I scored this on the FOTW thread, but it belongs here. First of all, the scoring. I always stick to scoring with the system used. Whether it be the NY system of a rounds basis, the California 1 point a round, 0 for even, etc., the Australian system of the 50s, 5 point, British, 5 point or 10 point. It is the system in place which can reflect how the judges see a fight. However, I will be honest that I just don't have a handle on the Illinois system. I also have seen this system used in a number of Charley Riley fights that I viewed that took place in Missouri. So maybe this was a Midwest thing, I just don't know and it could be a case of being wildly liberal with points. So rather than score it wrong, I will simply go with a rounds basis and a 10 point and 5 point system. Here we go. Johnny Bratton v Charley Fusari (vacant welterweight title) Round 1: Fusari Round 2: Fusari Round 3: Bratton Round 4: Bratton (scores a knockdown) Round 5: Even Round 6: Bratton Round 7: Fusari Round 8: Fusari Round 9: Bratton Round 10: Bratton (scores a knockdown) Round 11: Fusari Round 12: Fusari Round 13: Fusari Round 14: Fusari Round 15: Even Total: 8-5-2 Fusari in rounds, 143-142 Fusari on 10 point must, or 68-67 Fusari on 5 point must - all which are inaccurate with the scoring method used. (Actual scores: 77-73 and 78-72 both for Bratton and a 76-74 for Fusari) To begin, for some reason - going into this fight - I thought Fusari was more boxer and Bratton was a busy type fighter. Neither was correct. Bratton was a type of lazy fighter who seemed to fight only in spurts. On my card he let this fight get away from him. When he did fight, he was sharp as hell. Fusari on the other hand, was constantly plugging away with clubbing - not hard - shots and never let up. I made notes about round 4 & 5 that I would have given the 4th to Fusari if not for the knockdown and in the 5th he caught Fusari twice with a couple of zingers then went into La-La land and Fusari carried the freight most of the round. I also made notes that rounds 11-14 that Fusari was unspectacular, yet was the only one doing the fighting. It was there after 10 rounds for Bratton to take and I felt he did little. Bratton came alive a bit in the 15th to make it a good round, but again, only in spurts and I again felt Fusari's dogged effort evened that round. A very close fight and a different scoring system might change my card, but it is what it is. An excellent fight, guys.
Orlando Canizales v Junior Jones George, I checked this fight out today and then saw that you and @roughdiamond both checked it out yourselves several months back. Here is how I had it. Round 1: 10-9 Jones Round 2: 10-9 Jones Round 3: 10-9 Canizales Round 4: 10-10 Even Round 5: 10-9 Canizales Round 6: 10-10 Even Round 7: 10-9 Jones Round 8: 10-9 Jones Round 9: 10-9 Jones Round 10: 10-9 Jones Round 11: 10-9 Jones Round 12: 10-9 Jones Total: 118-112 Jones (actual scores: 117-111 and 118-111 both for Jones and a very strange 119-110 for Canizales for a split win for Junior Jones) As you guys have already mentioned, Canizales' poor effort on cutting off the ring. But I will also mention that I don't believe Orlando ever was a good pressure fighter to begin with. As a bantamweight he could box, punch and counter-punch with anyone on an even keel and never really had to go looking or overtly pressing another fighter (much). His brother Gaby was an unrelenting pressure fighter and he and Jones would have been something. I recall Gaby ripping in those shots to Jeff Chandler's ribs and that was what was needed here. You simply cannot give someone like Junior Jones two feet of distance. He will rip you apart with those jabs and straight rights, which he did. Orlando needed to be breathing down his neck and banging the body. But again, he was not that kind of a fighter. A good fight and probably a career best for Jones. BTW, where is everybodddddddyyyyyyy?!
Been taking a break from scoring. Slowly working my way through Pinkon Thomas v Trevor Berbick at the moment - managing a round a night at the moment before I fall asleep. I'm tired but I don't think it's just that that's sending me to sleep.
Richard, have you ever seen the Ezra Sellers v Carl Thompson fight? Sounds like this is right up your alley.
Yes Richard! Watch it and post on it! It's only four rounds and is one of the most knockdown-riddled fights ever!
Do you mean the first three movies, or the first three opponents? As I have it he went 1-2 in KDs against Creed, 3-1 in KDs against Lang, and I don't recall just how many, but Drago floored him many times before being KO'd himself.