the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

No, both of them were.

 

Ok just read it was a broken orbital. He said it happened in the 7th... I'm tempted to go back and watch that round...

 

Yes.

 

He also broke his other side in the fight before, and it never healed properly.

 

I believe one side was broken vs Spence and the other vs Golovkin.

 

Tough way to make a living. Get your face literally broken two times in a row... Oof

 

Crawford vs Brook

Round 1 was a draw, not much going on. Feeling out.
Round 2 is Brooks, both land sharp counters, Brook busier, gets more off, Crawford looks like he's timing things in his mind, then switches to southpaw.
Round 3 is Crawfords, he stays southpaw, both land good shots, Crawford lands better.
Round 4 Crawford times a perfect right jab and wobbles Brook, then jumps him, prompting a standing 8 (I think). When they resume, Crawford finishes him with sharp punches, ref saves him.

Final thoughts: Brook is game and is good technically, he just isn't very durable. Crawford is sharp, his counterpunches and timing are impressive. His finishing ability is also notable.

 

Been enjoying some Rafael Ruelas fights this weekend thanks to @William Walker. I always liked Ruelas - he was a bit like a poor man’s Felix Trinidad in that he came forward in a straight line, relied on pressure and work rate to overwhelm his opponents and enjoyed throwing a left hook. He also had a leaky defense, not particularly good balance and a shaky chin. All of which made him an exciting fighter.

All of those qualities were on display in his IBF Lightweight title-winning effort against Freddie Pendleton. The champion started well, dropping Ruelas twice in the opening round and controlled the early going with more precise punching that kept Ruelas off balance. But the challenger started to outwork Pendleton over the next few rounds and kept the pressure up, using his youthful energy against the more sporadic attacks from Fearless Freddie.

The 9th was a strange one in that Ruelas was clearly winning it but at the end a big right hand caught him off guard and sent his careering into the ropes. The ref didn’t call a KD even though his knee touched down. Had that gone Pendleton’s way, I’d have had him retaining his title.

Rafael Ruelas v Freddie Pendleton

1 7-10 (Ruelas down twice)
2 10-10 (good action)
3 9-10 (close, Pendleton seems to be in control. Nice stare out at the end)
4 10-9 (better from Ruelas)
5 9-10 (close)
6 10-9
7 10-9 (Ruelas working his way back in to the fight)
8 10-9 (Ruelas outworking Pendleton)
9 10-9 (weird one. Ruelas winning the round comfortably and then gets caught with a big overhand right and is stopped from going down only by the ropes, although a knee touches down. The ref doesn’t give him a count - not sure why)
10 10-9
11 10-9 (terrific onslaught from Ruelas. Pendleton wobbled badly at the end)
12 10-9 (Ruelas down again but it was a slip this time)

Ruelas 115-113 Pendleton

 

Orlando Salido v Yuri Gamboa (featherweight title-partial unification)

Round 1: 10-9 Gamboa
Round 2: 10-9 Gamboa
Round 3: 10-9 Gamboa
Round 4: 10-9 Gamboa
Round 5: 10-9 Gamboa
Round 6: 10-9 Gamboa
Round 7: 10-9 Gamboa
Round 8: 10-8 Salido (scores a knockdown)
Round 9: 10-10 Even
Round 10: 10-9 Gamboa
Round 11: 10-9 Gamboa
Round 12: 8-8 Even (Gamboa scores 2 knockdowns but is deducted 2 points for hitting Salido when down)

Total: 116-109 Gamboa (actual scores: 116-109, 114-109 and 115-109 all for Gamboa)

Needed to check this out as I like both fighters. Some crazy stuff in that last round and they connected with some decent shots throughout. However, nothing scintillating about the fight. It was okay.

 

Chris Eubank v Sugar Boy Malinga (super middleweight title)

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

Total: 116-113 Eubank (actual scores: 115-112 Malinga, 115-113 Eubank and 116-112 for Eubank for a split win for Eubank)

Not a must-see fight but closely contested. Eubank, the harder puncher, fought his usual fight in spurts. But Malinga would keep things honest with a very rangy jab and nice combos. If he possessed more of a dig he could have gone a lot further in his career. I felt Eubank, however, was the deserving winner.

 

Watched Carl Thompson W12 Chris Eubank, the first fight. Read so many good things here about that pairing I had to give it a look.

First, amazing that Eubank could retain so much with that drastic a weight jump. He did, however, look like and fight like the smaller man.

He opened up as a man in his position should, by moving, jabbing, and pot-shotting while the bigger, slower, somewhat more basic Thompson plodded forward ineffectively. The tenor of the bout changed immediately though, when Thompson started lumbering in behind his jab in the third. It made all the difference. With that tool he began to open Eubank up and force him back against the ropes. Eubank protected himself fairly well behind a peekaboo defense, but he would forever be on the defensive now.

In the fourth, Eubank shocked the bigger man by dumping him hard with a right and follow-up uppercut. He didn't pursue aggressively enough though, and the opportunity was lost. Big lead on points for him by now, however.

Thompson continued plodding forward strongly if not artfully and took all the rest of the rounds though I did give Eubank the final stanza, perhaps half out of sympathy and appreciation for his raw courage. By the third, Eubank's left eye began to swell and by the late rounds it was just a slit. That, coupled with the battering the larger man was putting on him, had to have been nightmarish for him but he showed immense moxie and guile.

Oddly, when Eubank DID open up, he rocked Thompson to the core, even once having him seemingly so out of it the champion simply staggered away from Eubank and fell drunkenly against the ropes. Unbelievably, Eubank didn't budge. He refused to follow up on an obvious opportunity to end it. I was shocked. I couldn't tell if he thought Thompson was playing possum or if he wanted to exert some weird display of showmanship, as if to say, "I'm not chasing you anywhere. We'll do this on my terms." Very odd, never seen anything quite like it. Here was my score.....

1. Eubank
2. Eubank
3. Thompson
4. Eubank, 10-8
5. Thompson
6. Thompson
7. Thompson
8. Thompson
9. Thompson
10. Thompson
11. Thompson
12. Eubank

115-112 Thompson

 

Holyfield vs Qawi

Rd 1: 10-9 Holyfield
Holyfield controls the majority of the round with fast jabs and solid combinations. Quawi using good head movement, blocking, and parrying to avoid most of the damage. Qawi gets some sneaky hooks in and a solid combination in the second half.

Rd 2: 10-9 Holyfield
Quawi starts out well with some solid hooks to the head and body of the midsection. Holyfield flashes combos at him but is struggling to find accuracy because of Qawi’s tight defense and head movement. Holyfield comfortably out landing him throughout the round but still eats a number of hooks and the occasional overhand right from Qawi.

Rd 3: 10-9 Holyfield
Holyfield landing a heavy flurry early on but is forced back by body shots and a big right hand from Qawi. Fast paste exchanges throughout the round with Qawi slightly getting the better of the two due to accuracy. Almost a Qawi round but Holyfield ends it with a big combination.

Rd 4: 10-9 Qawi
Qawi starts out with good jabs and combinations temporarily stunning Holy. Looks like Holyfield wanted to take the round off but was forced to throw in failed attempts of keeping Qawi off of him. Great body work by Qawi this round.

Rd 5: 10-9 Qawi
Some infighting early with Qawi getting in much better body work. Qawi spends the rest of the round stalking and landing big shots on Holyfield. Holyfield struggles to find accuracy but lands some clean left hooks and right hands late.

Rd 6: 10-9 Qawi
Close round, Holyfield more active but missed most of his punches. Qawi landed the heavier shots.

Rd 7: 10-9 Holyfield
Holyfield throwing much more mainly targeting the head and shoulder of Qawi. Not much weight behind Holyfield’s shots but doing more than enough to score. Qawi again throwing heavier punches but not enough to win the round.

Rd 8: 10-9 Holyfield
Holyfield found a home for that uppercut-left hook combination almost landing it at will. Qawi landed hard shots towards the middle mark and clean right hands towards the end.

Rd 9: 10-9 Holyfield
Holyfield reverted back to his jab but missed most of them. Qawi got some hard jabs and hooks in but slightly gets out landed by Holyfield.

Rd 10: 10-9 Holyfield
Holyfield starts out throwing hard jabs and combinations. Another slugfest ensues with Qawi again getting in good body work and hooks but struggled with Holyfield’s movement at times and again fell short to compete with Holyfield’s volume.

Rd 11: 10-9 Qawi
Good action from both but better defense and stronger shots from Qawi.

Rd 12: 10-9 Qawi
Holyfield not throwing with much pop and is either slightly missing or hitting elbow. For every clean combo that does land Qawi comes back with a heavier one. Qawi lands a power jab sending Holyfield on the ropes to secure the round.

Rd 13: 10-9 Holyfield
Holyfield threw a number of very quick combinations but little landed flush. Qawi getting hard shots in that the commentators apparently can’t see but he still got out worked.

Rd 14: 10-9 Holyfield
Holyfield scoring heavily on a gassed Qawi

Rd 15: 10-9 Qawi
Both let it all out for the final round. Gave it to Qawi since his lunches had more of an affect on Holyfield

144-141 Holyfield

Commentators were very biased towards Holyfield and Qawi should’ve had a point deduction for the low blows

 

I was in college. My Pops called and said, ‘Let’s go to Atlanta this weekend for the Holyfield fight.’ It was a cheap, quick flight and he got us a hotel and off we went. Flew in morning of fight and out the next morning. Great seats.

Best fight I’ve ever seen live. Amazing back-and-forth and Holy was incredible being still a young pup and Qawi being the experienced and accomplished guy that he was and still with a ton left in his tank.

I thought Holy won by a couple points IIRC but man what a pace. Be surprised if I ever see on as good in person again.

 

Sal, @Jel and I had scored this fight and had it so similar to your score as well. We both commented on the same thing you did. It was the 7th round where Eubank clearly stunned Thompson and he just sat there looking at him. No followup. I said in my original post on this fight that that moment should haunt Eubank for the rest of his life and it still rings true.

 

Yeah, that was very strange. Gonna watch the rematch pretty soon. Given what happened the first time and the way it went down a rematch seems a no-brainer.