Your recollections of the fight are spot on, D. It wasn’t a hard one to score because each fighter won their rounds clearly. Two of the three judges had identical totals (114-113) and RBRs and I scored it the exact same way as them. But, yes, Provodnikov hurt Bradley whenever he threw but didn’t throw enough and followed him around the ring without any consistent output. It was only when Bradley elected to (unwisely) trade that Provodnikov had success. I think if they’d fought again, I’m sure Bradley would have boxed more and probably won by wider. I do think Bradley should have been called for a KD in the first, though. The ref waved it away as a slip but Bradley did not have his legs under him from a punch and the ref should have realised that. Had he called it, the fight would have likely been a majority draw.
Liston vs Besmanoff This is a slow beat down. Besmanoff has pockets of success but ultimately is unable to stop Liston marching forward behind that big long jab. Ultimately the fight gets waved off between rounds and Willi looks an absolute mess by the end of it.
Liston vs Williams 2 Lisron dominated the rematch. He establishes his jab early doors to command the ring in the first. Second round he just let's loose and cuts right through Williams. And its destructions like this that build the story of Liston being a wrecking machine. When he let's his hands go, it would take something special to stand up to the attack.
Evender Holyfield v James 'Quick' Tillis Saw this one out there and needed to check it out again, since I haven't seen it since its original date. Holyfield's maiden voyage at heavyweight. No need to run a card here. Either Tillis himself or his corner retired him in the corner after 5 completed rounds. My score and 2 of the judges was 50-45 for EH (the 3rd official had it 49-46 for Holyfield). Tillis - to me anyway - always fought like he was half asleep. When he was somewhat awake, he had one of the best one-two's in the business and dropped or hurt some of the top fighters of the day with that speedy, sharp combo. But then it was usually back to la-la land. Holyfield was nice and trim at 202 and one wonders when was his introduction to the world of PEDs. But Holyfield did a nice job here and hurt Tillis a number of times. IMO, he just took the heart out of Tillis. One of the most entertaining parts of the bout was when the bell rang ending the 2nd round. They didn't really hear the bell and went at it (or maybe it was just Holyfield who didn't and Tillis retaliated) but Tillis, who was backed into Holyfield's corner, suddenly had his arms pinned back by Lou Duva who had jumped onto the ring apron. Tillis' manager Beau Williford, seeing it as Duva holding Tillis so Evander can strike, jumps into the ring and charges Duva. A minor scuffle that could have been better if not for all parties controlling the two. Still, it was fun.
Liston vs Harris This is Liston at his snarling best. Driving his opponents back behind that pole vault of a jab and just running them out of the ring. At one point Harris backs up with his chin in the air and Liston throws a Frazier like leaping left hook that drops him hard. He then ends the fight with the follow up. This pissed off version of Liston is brilliant. Everyone hates him and everyone is scared of him, with good reason.
Andre Ward vs Sergei Kovalev 1 I accidentally closed my comment before posting and lost my card, but I had Kovalev winning by 2 points. I also scored 3 rounds even, which must be a new record for me and if I were a real judge I'd probably get fired for it. I didn't score the fight when I first saw it, and people on here call it a robbery a lot, which I felt was hyperbolic. And indeed, if all my even rounds went to Ward on the judges cards, he there you have Ward by 1 point, which all the judges did. That said, this seems like a case of "close on the cards but not close in the eyes." the rounds Kovalev won he won much clearer than the ones Ward won imo. I'm not particularly a fan of either of these fighters tbh. Not really even sure why but that was my main takeaway from this fight.
My score: Sergey Kovalev v Andre Ward I Round 1: 10-9 Kovalev Round 2: 10-8 Kovalev (scores a knockdown) Round 3: 10-10 Even Round 4: 10-9 Kovalev Round 5: 10-9 Ward Round 6: 10-9 Kovalev Round 7: 10-9 Ward Round 8: 10-9 Ward Round 9: 10-10 Even Round 10: 10-9 Kovalev Round 11: 10-9 Ward Round 12: 10-9 Ward Total: 115-114 Kovalev (actual scores: 114-113 x 3 for Ward)
Arturo Gatti v Angel Manfredy Round 1: 10-10 Even Round 2: 10-9 Manfredy Round 3: 10-8 Manfredy (scores a knockdown) Round 4: 10-9 Gatti Round 5: 10-10 Even Round 6: 10-9 Manfredy Round 7: 10-9 Manfredy Round 8: Manfredy stops Gatti on cuts Total through 7 completed rounds: 69-65 Manfredy (actual scores: 68-65, 67-65 and 66-66 for Manfredy) I always thought of this as Manfredy's signature win. A beautiful, tough, hard-punching contest. Just loved this bout.
this is basically my card except I gave Kovalev the 12th and i scored one other round even can't remember which.
Zab Judah vs Micky Ward - USBA Jr. Welterweight Championship - June 7th 1998 Round 1: 10-9 Judah Round 2: 10-9 Judah. Micky hanging tough but the gap in speed and skill is evident. Round 3: 10-9 Judah Round 4: 10-9 Judah. Ward's best round so far but still outlanded and outboxed for most of the round. Round 5: 10-9 Judah Round 6: 10-9 Judah Round 7: 10-9 Judah. Ward came on late in the round but still not throwing enough and Judah is splitting his guard often. Round 8: 10-9 Ward. Ward hurt Zab with a body shot and had him running the whole round. Round 9: 10-10 Even Round 10: 10-9 Judah Round 11: 10-9 Judah Round 12: 10-9 Judah My score: 119-110 Judah. Judges Scores: 119-109 and 118-110x2 UD for Zab Judah I saw an article where Judah claimed this was his toughest fight. I think he was just throwing shade at Mayweather because this was completely one-sided for most of the rounds.
There's a relatively recent interview with Judah where he told his dad after the 9th round to stop the fight because he was that hurt. His Dad obviously didn't. Would of been interesting to see Judah vs Burton/Augustus sometime during that era.
My memory maybe hazy as it's been years since I've seen the fight. But I remember Gatti was starting to do better in the the last 2 rounds or so, especially the round Gatti got stopped in. I'm not saying Gatti would of won, but it would of been interesting to see what would of happened without the cut.
Paul Ingle v Billy Hardy (European and Commonwealth featherweight titles) Round 1: 10-9 Hardy Round 2: 10-9 Hardy Round 3: 10-9 Ingle Round 4: 10-9 Ingle Round 5: 10-9 Ingle Round 6: 10-9 Ingle Round 7: 10-9 Hardy Round 8: Ingle stops Hardy Total through 7 completed rounds: 67-66 Ingle (actual scores unknown) This was a terrific little domestic contest between a couple of guys who did not appear to be too fond of one another. There was just some brilliant boxing and clean punching in this bout that had me enjoying every minute of it. Not a barn-burner, but a good contest until Ingle lowered the boom with a clean right hand in the 8th. The only time I ever saw these two fight before were on the world stage. Hardy against Canizales and Ingle against Junior Jones, so it was a treat seeing these two evenly-matched foes going at it.
Paul Ingle had alot of good fights, check out his fight vs Colin McMillan, Manuel Medina, even the Naseem Hamed fight was a brave effort.
Thanks. I had already penciled in the Medina fight, which looks fun. He doesn't seem capable of being in a bad one.