the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Rocky Graziano v Gene Burton

I saw this fight out there and thought I would check it out. I've really never seen a lot on Graziano other than the 3rd Zale fight and the Sugar Ray fight, so this was something I needed to see. The clarity of the fight was really good as well. To begin, Burton, who was a nice, fluid fighter, was actually a welterweight, so he was behind the 8-ball to begin with. I questioned his tactics of going to the ropes. Rocky wasn't a pressure fighter, he just sort of chugged forward. So there was no solace on these ropes other than the hopes of countering Rocky, which he did, but with modest results. Although some of his counters were sharp, Rocky wasn't bothered by them at all. Rocky had one aim, get the right in. He had a tremendous right but I really believe he had an under-developed left hook. I saw him use it sparingly in rounds 4, 5, 6 and 7, but more as a setup for the right. I think it could have been a real part of his arsenal had they worked on that. Of course, maybe they did and it just didn't take. Maybe this was the best of him. Anyways, no sense running a card here, I only gave Burton a share of the 2nd round. Rocky dropped him in the 7th with a left hook to the body and then finished him off. Burton kept it entertaining and I really enjoyed the fight.

 

Salvador Sanchez vs Ruben Castillo

1 Castillo
2 Castillo
3 Castillo
4 Sanchez
5 Sanchez
6 Sanchez
7 Sanchez
8 Sanchez
9 Castillo
10 Sanchez
11 Sanchez
12 Sanchez
13 Castillo
14 Sanchez
15 Sanchez

145-140 Sanchez

I remembered Castillo winning alot more rounds in the 1st half of the fight, but watching this fight again Sanchez to me had him pretty measured after the 3rd round. The first few rounds Sanchez looked a bit surprised by Castillo's handspeed, as Castillo was beating Sanchez to the punch and boxing nicely on the outside. But Sanchez after a rough start seemed to work out Castillo's rhythm and time his flurries better.

Sanchez for me was the effective aggressor, and also showed nice defence later on Castillo actually missed alot of punches. And despite Castillo nicking a few rounds here and there, Sanchez pretty much controlled the 2nd part of the fight, and was able to time Castillo's flurries and counter punch.

Overall a very good technical bout with alot of skills on display with some exciting moments, but this is very overrated as a controversial decision. For me it was a competitive fight but a very clear win for Sanchez.

Finally what makes me laugh is in post fight interview after Castillo said "He won he's worthy champion" yet years later he claimed he was robbed and he kicked Sanchez's ass and that he was overrated. That's absolute nonsense and just makes him look like hypocrite

He also claims Arguello would beat Sanchez, but there's a few things i want to say about that, 1 Castillo moved up in weight to fight Arguello at Super Featherweight. Castillo mostly campaigned at Featherweight that was his best weightclass, 2 Castillo actually won alot more of the early rounds vs Arguello. I thought Castillo won atleast 6 or 7 of the first 10 vs Arguello, yes Arguello did finish Castillo off more impressively than Sanchez. But Arguello still had more trouble overall finding Castillo, plus as i said it was at Super Featherweight. I don't think this fight tells us how a mythical match up, between Sanchez vs Arguello would go.

 

Castillo's later claims about Sanchez are the bleatings of a failure. This happened to be the one title shot where he wasn't fully beaten up, so he clings to this effort as "the one that got away." It makes him look bad, and makes me respect him less.

 

I agree it does him look bad especially since Sanchez is dead, just makes him come across as bitter and jealous IMO.

 

I scored Sal's fight with Patrick Ford 144-143 for SS and the fight with Ruben Castillo 146-142 for SS. Two tough fights.

 

I'll be finishing scoring Sanchez fights today with Gomez, Nelson, LaPorte, looking forward to watching Nelson fight again. As I see you had Nelson infront prior to stoppage.

 

I've seen the Nelson fight twice but never scored it, oddly. I should do that.

 

Salvador Sanchez vs Azumah Nelson

1 Nelson
2 Nelson
3 Sanchez
4 Nelson
5 Nelson
6 Sanchez
7 Sanchez 10-8 knockdown
8 Sanchez
9 Sanchez
10 Nelson
11 Nelson
12 Nelson
13 Nelson
14 Nelson
15 Sanchez wins by TKO

134-131 Nelson

Only my 2nd time watching this fight and i knew Nelson did good in this fight, but i didn't remember him doing this good. This fight had 3 different momentum swings, the first 5 rounds Nelson bullied Sanchez with effective aggression, and anytime Sanchez threw a punch Nelson jumped on him immediately.

Rounds 6-10 were all Sanchez he seemed to find something with the left hook, and anytime he landed it he seemed to hurt Nelson and also dropped him with it in the 7th round.

Going into the 10th round it seemed to me Sanchez was taking over, as he'd had a really good 9th round and hurt Nelson. But amazingly the fight then shifted momentum once again, as Nelson was able to do what he did in the first 5 rounds, and that's be the effective aggressor jumping on Sanchez and bullying him in close.

I could see though that Nelson was getting really tired in 14th round, and even though he won it IMO. You could see the sand was running out of his hourglass. Going into 15th round Sanchez went out there with a purpose, Sanchez hurt Nelson again with the left hook and dropped Nelson with a series of punches. Nelson got up bravely but was badly hurt and exhausted, and after another barrage from Sanchez the referee makes a good call and stops the fight.

Overall great fight and a better fight than i remember, and also a better performance from Nelson than i remember. A few things i want to say is that Sanchez is known for his right hand, but it was his left hook that was his best weapon here, showing that Sanchez can hit with either hand. Nelson was green but i always say to these people that say Nelson was green, how many of the top 10 Featherweights then would you have picked over the Nelson that fought Sanchez ? Sanchez still deserves credit for beating a green but very strong/determined fighter and future great fighter, and staying cool/calm/collected under the amount pressure Nelson brought to him.

 

Salvador Sanchez vs Juan LaPorte

1 Sanchez
2 Sanchez
3 LaPorte
4 LaPorte
5 Sanchez
6 Sanchez
7 Sanchez
8 Sanchez
9 Sanchez
10 LaPorte
11 Sanchez
12 Sanchez
13 Sanchez
14 Sanchez
15 Sanchez

147-138 Sanchez

Not much to say about this fight personally it wasn't a bad fight per se, but it didn't really have much drama Sanchez was workmanlike and just went about his work.

What i will say is i remembered this fight being a bit more competitive, and when i see a scorecard on this thread having Sanchez only ahead by 2 points. I was expecting to see a much more competitive fight but it really wasn't in all honesty, and no disrespect but i don't know how you could have a scorecard as close as that.

LaPorte was effective in the early going countering Sanchez with right hands, i was impressed how Sanchez took the right hands. Considering them same right hands had Pedroza badly hurt and wobbled more than once. But Sanchez shrugged them off with ease TBH, after the 4th round Sanchez pretty much controlled the fight in centre ring jabbing and landing occasional right hand, aswell as forcing LaPorte towards the ropes and proceeding to give him a sustained beating with body and head shots.

And that's pretty much how the fight continued until 15th round, i will say in 10th round LaPorte landed the most flush uppercut you could ever land, and Sanchez didn't even blink another example of his great chin. The problem was and it's often been the problem of LaPorte in his career, is that he becomes too passive and doesn't throw enough punches. And here again he was mostly just throwing one punch at a time, and allowed Sanchez to outbox him and beat him up along the ropes.

Overall not as good as some of the other well known Sanchez fights, but a good solid convincing win for Sanchez over a tough respected fighter.

 

@Dynamicpuncher , great detail on all of the Sanchez fights.

 

Love these career retrospectives.

 

Salvador Sanchez vs Wilfredo Gomez

1 10-7 Sanchez scores 1 knockdown, but i thought Sanchez was so dominant that it was 10-7.
2 Sanchez
3 Gomez
4 Gomez
5 Sanchez
6 Sanchez
7 Gomez
8 Sanchez wins by TKO

67-64 Sanchez

So this is the last of my Sanchez marathon so don't worry guys no more spamming in this thread.

What can i say about this fight this is pretty much the boxing fans dream, the boxer against the puncher these two meshed really well to make for an excellent fight. Again this fight surprised me after rewatching it, Gomez did better than i remember. After a torrid 1st round which i actually scored 10-7 for how dominant Sanchez was. Gomez actually comeback quite well and managed to have some good moments when Sanchez was on the ropes.

Now who am i to question a master boxer like Sanchez, but i thought personally Sanchez did stay on the ropes a bit too much. And allowed Gomez to tee off a few times, even though Sanchez had good moments himself with counter punching, now whether or not Sanchez was confident that he could take Gomez's power. And was comfortable counter punching off the ropes, or it was just down to Gomez forcing him to fight on the ropes i don't know, but i thought despite Gomez getting marked up and wobbled a few times. I felt he kept it competitive and won a few rounds here and there based on his aggression.

The stoppage in the 8th was a good one, Gomez took a hammering on the ropes and did well to get up. He was clearly badly hurt and wobbling and the referee did the right thing.

Overall a great fight the boxer vs the puncher, and it was a good one to end the Salvador Sanchez marathon on.

 

I’ve never scored it but glad to see your observations somewhat mirror my recollection: all anyone mentions/remembers about this fight is the first and last round. In between, I think Gomez got his bearings and did some good work and made it very competitive. There’s even a point or two where it looks like he’s turned the tide.

But Sanchez at 126 was just too much for him. Gomez to me is still the GOAT at 122 but feather took just that much edge away — his power didn’t travel up (at least not at full force) and he was more vulnerable. But you can see in this fight his spirit and heart are there along with the skill.

 

Strangely enough, I can't find one card from anyone on this fight.

Chris Eubank v Michael Watson II (supermiddleweight title)

Round 1: 10-9 Watson
Round 2: 10-10 Even
Round 3: 10-9 Eubank
Round 4: 10-9 Watson
Round 5: 10-9 Watson
Round 6: 10-9 Watson
Round 7: 10-9 Watson
Round 8: 10-10 Even
Round 9: 10-9 Watson
Round 10: 10-9 Watson
Round 11: 10-10 Even (both fighters score a knockdown)
Round 12: Eubank stops Watson

Total through 11 completed rounds: 109-103 Watson (actual scores: 108-102, 106-103 and 105-104 all for Watson)

First of all, let's look at that 11th round. They both got in some good licks that round but the tide seemed to be turning towards Watson when he dropped an exhausted Eubank. But here's the thing. I'm not sure if the ref counted it as a knockdown. Even if the ref missed the final punch, the body language by Eubank should tell you that it was a knockdown. I know one judge scored it a 10-10 like me but the other 2 scored it 10-9 for Eubank. I'm not changing my score because I know what I saw.

In their first fight, a lot of guys raved about the Watson jab. But to tell you the truth, I wasn't so impressed. It appeared he kept too much distance between he and Eubank and the jab was just coming up short. To clarify, he was touching Eubank, but only just. Whether it was tentativeness or what, I don't know. However, there was no such thing as that in this fight. Watson was fully committed and did a terrific job. His work rate was fantastic and this is why I had him out in front. Eubank made a claim in the post fight interview in the ring that he wanted Watson tested after the fight because no one could be that strong. When Watson collapsed there did not appear to be any urgency on the part of commentators Jim Watt and Jim Rosenthal. They surmised it was exhaustion and carried on wrapping up the show. Near tragic. Does anyone know to what extent Watson recovered?

 

Hi Scar, given the circumstances, Michael Watson made a pretty remarkable recovery. He was wheelchair-bound after the fight for some years, I believe, but he rehabilitated to the point that he could walk (with a walking stick) and he actually completed the London Marathon. He has been on TV shows and while it is clear that he suffered brain damage and it affected both his mobility and speech, he regained both to a decent degree and seems to have made a recovery enough to where he can live a relatively normal life, albeit with care support.

In terms of the action on the night following the stoppage and Watson’s collapse, there was no medical support in attendance and Watson would eventually sue the British Boxing Board of Control for £1 million for its negligence. Even though he won the case, he didn’t receive all that money simply because the BBBofC didn’t have that much (it sold its headquarters to cover much of the compensation).