the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

2002-02-05 Willie Jorrin D12 Osamu Sato (Super Bantamweight)
Round 1: 10:9
Round 2: 10:9
Round 3: 10:7 (Sato down twice)
Round 4: 9:10
Round 5: 10:9
Round 6: 10:9
Round 7: 9:10
Round 8: 10:9*
Round 9: 9:10
Round 10: 9:10*
Round 11: 9:10*
Round 12: 9:10
Final Score: 114:112 Jorrin

Pretty typical Jorrin performance here. Early on, his speed, ring IQ and precision allowed him to outscore more limited opponent.
Jorrin really had an excellent right hand by the way. He was relying on it heavily, was rarely setting it up - but He was able to get this punch to the target almost at will, particulary early while He was still fresh.
Sato was 5 points down after 3 rounds, but did brilliantly to come back into the fight. He showed top-notch conditioning and was all over Jorrin from middle to late rounds.
Jorrin wasn't able to handle the pace consistantly - so was forced to take some rounds off and pick his spots, but I thought He did so effectively enough.
One thing about Jorrin - and I think many people were not very fond of him, I read opinions that He He was lucky in every one of this title wins - is He was very smart tactically, had good sense of where the fight "was at" in terms of scoring and clever at managing the fight, so able to trick some stronger and better conditioned fighters.

I only see the first Larios fight as contoversial. Brodie I thought He beat clearly - in what was the best fight of the lot as well - and here, draw was not unfair but if anyone deserved a win it was Jorrin.

 

Oh yeah, Patrick Ford! I thought his fight with Sanchez was so close until the last three rounds!

 

2002-02-21 Yoddamrong Sithyodthong UD12 Yober Ortega (WBA Super Bantamweight Title)
Round 1: 10:9
Round 2: 10:9
Round 3: 10:9
Round 4: 9:10
Round 5: 10:9
Round 6: 9:10*
Round 7: 9:10*
Round 8: 9:10
Round 9: 9:10
Round 10: 10:9
Round 11: 10:9*
Round 12: 10:9
Final Score: 115:113 Yoddamrong

I was expecting something different after reading comments on boxrec, where it was suggested that heat killed Ortega.
It's hard to judge from the tape and weather conditions are always a factor in Thailand outside fights - but Yober came with the same kind of pressure that brought him success in previous fights and the real difference, I thought, was the discipline of Thai challanger.
Yoddamrong came with very good game-plan, moving away from his opponent's power hand and was able to execute it for most of 12 rounds. He started great, but Yober was notorious slow starter. As usual, Ortega seemed to be coming strong and by round 9, looked like the boss in there.
It was impressive to see the Thai gather himself and get his second wind in final 3 rounds, again making his opponent miss and picking him off.

If result of this fight would be different in other location, I think it would be moreso because Yoddamrong would struggle to put on this kind of performance on the road, rather than Yober not being affected by the heat.
Not an action fight - but still very interesting tactically. Also interesting for historical perspective. Yober was probably one fight away from big money fight in United States, but slipped up and had to wait couple years for another title opportunity.

 

Tony Ayala Jr vs. Carlos Herrera, scheduled for 12 rounds at junior middleweight (sorta) in eliminator for a shot at WBA champion Davey Moore in Atlantic City, NJ on Nov. 20, 1982.

Ayala, 153, is 21-0 and a rising star. Herrera is 47-6, ranked No. 1 by the WBC. (I’m sure Tony is ranked but I didn’t catch exactly what the ranking was if it was mentioned on the NBC broadcast.)

Herrera previously went the 15-round distance in a losing shot at then-champ Maurice Hope. He weighs 154 1/2 (hence the ‘sorta’ above).

The bout is on the undercard of Dwight Muhammad Qawi’s light heavyweight title defense vs. Eddie Davis.

1 — Herrera 10-9: Tony comes out aggressively and is ahead early, but the southpaw Carlos finds a home for his left hand later in the round and lands some very good, clean pot-shots on Ayala.

2 — Ayala 10-9: This is a pretty close round. Ayala early and late, when he pours it on a bit, but Herrera had the upper hand with his counters in the middle of the round. Lots of good action.

3 — Ayala stops Herrera at the 2:34 mark, stunning his man with a big left hook and landing a right and another hook to put Carlos down. He gets back up but stumbles back down for the KO win for Ayala.

Ayala looked like he was on his way to the top — there was already talk of a fight with Roberto Duran once Tony won the title (which most expected) and maybe rising to superstar level for fights with Thomas Hearns and Ray Leonard.

But it all came crashing down soon after. There’s mention of Ayala being treated for alcoholism sometimes previous to this fight (he was back in the ring after an absence of more than 3 1/2 months, uncharacteristic for him to take even that much time off) and there had already been a previous incident of sexual assault.

In the early hours of Jan. 1, 1983, Ayala (high on drugs and alcohol) broke into a dwelling and raped a neighbor. He was convinced of **** and spent 16 years in prison before being released. He returned to the ring in 1999, had several fights (including a loss to Yori Boy Campus in a war) and was returned to prison over parole violations in 2004 after suffering a second comeback loss the previous year.

Ayala will always be a ‘what might have been’ fighter. He was a savage fighter and had both skill and power, but his demons and penchant for sexually assaulting women made his potential vanish into thin air.

He was released a second time in 2014 and died just over a year later of an apparent overdose.

 

Yuri Arbachakov v Chatchai Sasakul II (flyweight title)

Round 1: 10-9 CS
Round 2: 10-9 CS
Round 3: 10-9 CS
Round 4: 10-9 CS
Round 5: 10-10 Even
Round 6: 10-9 CS
Round 7: 10-9 CS
Round 8: 10-9 CS
Round 9: 10-10 Even
Round 10: 10-10 Even
Round 11: 10-10 Even
Round 12: 10-9 Yuri

Total: 119-113 Sasakul (actual scores: 119-111, 117-111 and 116-113 all for Sasakul)

Can't say much more about this fight than I did regarding their first encounter other than to say Chatchai Sasakul is one of the best pure boxers I have seen come out of the Orient. I felt Yuri, who was the harder puncher, should have worked harder with that hard jab of his. But then again, Sasakul let him get away with nothing. For every punch from Yuri, he followed with a clean counter-punch. It was just a remarkable performance and I can't say enough about Sasakul.

 

Floyd Mayweather vs Carlos Baldomir

120-108 Mayweather

The fight was a little better than I remember with the first 7 or 8 rounds being entertaining. The fight was not competitive but Floyd stood his ground for the first 8 rounds or so and there were some decent exchanges. Floyd won the first 3 rounds very easily with a very patient Baldomir who looked like he was trying to box carefully. Baldomir was cut in two places at the end of the first round and his corner said he was ahead after 3 rounds. Most YouTubers seemed to criticize Larry Merchant for being too negative but there was some very biting criticism from Emmanuel Steward during the fight. The high point for the fight was a heated exchange at the close of round 6 that got the crowd roaring but that was basically it.

Floyd stood in with Baldomir and would counter with single shots or doubles but hardly opened up. Baldomir did a lot of the things that Oscar tried like just trying to body punch what he could hit with these half arm punches. He landed his best punches in between Mayweather's during exchanges but just had no power. At around the 9th round the fight changed in tempo as Mayweather began to dance around the ring and play it safe. In the 9th was when Merchant went on his diatribe and said while Floyd is a talented fighter and can make a tough champion look ordinary its not exciting and there is no drama. Steward said a fighter who carries himself as highly as Floyd does that he should be putting it on Baldomir and take a greater advantage of his speed, accuracy and power and put together shots and try and force a stoppage.

I guess this sort of gets to the question of who is more responsible for a boring fight. The out classed guy way behind on the scorecards and made totally ineffective, or is it the boxers with all the advantages who is completely in control and should be able to just put the guy out of his misery. I guess in hindsight Steward and Merchant did not know about the hand injury that Floyd said occurred in round 6.

I don't like the fans who call Merchant saying anything negative regarding Floyd as "hating" and dismiss his insight. Merchant really began his commentary with a compliment by stating Floyd is just that good and so good that no one in the division is remotely competitive. But he was right that the fight was not exciting and as a commentator has every right to point that out. Steward I thought raised the more pointed commentary when saying that Hearns or Leonard or Robinson, the guys Floyd said he was greater then would have ended the fight and put on a show and not played it safe against a guy so far out of his depth like Baldomir.

In summary this fight was decent and somewhat entertaining for 8 rounds and not a snooze fest until 9 on

 

I also watched bits and pieces of Klitschko vs Ibragimov I guess I am on a kick of watching "boring fights" to see if maybe now that the expectations are gone and the dust has settled is the fight actually decent? This fight stunk, Wlad just hung behind his jab and Ibragimov just was unable to get past it and was unwilling to sell out.

I remember live being annoyed at the front hand slapping and found it weird just how overly worried Wlad seemed about the lead hand.

It seemed Ibragimov's strategy was to just bank on landing a big counter left like Corrie Sanders and leaping Wlad. Ibragimov had the left cocked and was in a lower stance baiting Wlad to come lower to his level so he could shoot his shot. Wlad didn't take the bait and just jabbed his way to a very boring fight. I watched about 4 rounds before turning it off. There were no exchanges, no action, no one got rocked, this was an awful fight and the beginning of Wlad's boring steak in big fights

I was a huge Klitschko fan when I was younger and I remember being disappointed in the Brock performance. Wlad did have the two upset losses but he came back and was exciting vs Peter though he held in that fight but it was a war. He was exciting vs Byrd, he destroyed Austin and the Brock fight was the first fight where he seemed reluctant. Steward had to get on his case and then he did his job. What seemed like an off night back then turned out to be a premonition for Wlad's caution. He had a totally outclassed Lamon Brewster who was not the same guy that beat him in 2004 and fought a very cautious fight. Rahman was over the hill and ready for the taking and Wlad cautiously carried him 7 rounds. Chagaev was totally outclassed, he made it 9 rounds

HBO gave Wlad two big opportunities to wow audiences in career defining wins with Haye and Povetkin and while the fights being boring are not totally on him alone; he did disappoint big time by not closing the show or forcing the issue more

 

What I remember most about this fight is Emmanuel Stewart saying that Baldomir will be Floyd's toughest opponent, before the fight started. Happens to best of us!
As for Larry Merchant, I didn't enjoy his grumpiness during some not particulary action-packed fights. I think job of the commentator is to make a fight more enjoyable to watch. It doesn't mean He should've been hyping up the fights into something that They were not, but when He wasn't in mood He seemed to focus on the negativity, just moaning.
I remember him saying during Morales vs Barrera II "We waited all this time for nothing", or something along those lines. I understand it wasn't what the first fight was, but come on - it was still excellent fight.
George Foreman's response was pretty accurate "You can fault/blame them because They have a brain" ).

 

I like that Merchant is willing to buck the trend and will say things negative to the house fighter unlike some of the other cheerleaders you see on all networks. I also don't feel like he ruined this broadcast because I felt he held his tongue for most of the fight until much later in the bout.

I do agree with the grumpiness point but he was also quick to point out a great fight when he saw one

 

Yes, that's true. I felt He was great to listen to when fight delivered, but on the other hand He'd make less action packed sound worse than They really well, particulary later on in his career.
I still remember old HBO crew fondly, in any case.

 

Listening to Merchant It was like listening to your uncle watching a fight, a knowledgeable boxing fan who is also cantankerous and drunk, but at times has good insight. He wasn't everyone's thing, but I appreciated his insight, as off as it could be. But it was something different than the cookie cutter "don't say anything bad about the brand" commentators we have today

 

Hah, yes that's good way of putting it ).

 

Larry’s that uncle that sends you a birthday card with no money in it.

Also the uncle that asks if you’re in eighth or ninth grade when you’re about to graduate high school.

But I liked what he brought to the HBO announce dynamic. Sometimes he made inane observations but sometimes he made you think about a fight or fighter a little differently. In all he was a plus to the broadcast way more often than not.

 

Muhammad Ali v Leon Spinks I (heavyweight title)

Round 1: 10-9 Spinks
Round 2: 10-9 Spinks
Round 3: 10-9 Spinks
Round 4: 10-9 Ali
Round 5: 10-9 Ali
Round 6: 10-9 Spinks
Round 7: 10-10 Even
Round 8: 10-9 Ali
Round 9: 10-9 Spinks
Round 10: 10-9 Ali
Round 11: 10-9 Spinks
Round 12: 10-9 Ali
Round 13: 10-9 Spinks
Round 14: 10-9 Spinks
Round 15: 10-10 Even (best round)

Total: 145-142 Spinks (actual scores: 145-140 and 144-141 both for Spinks and a 143-142 for Ali with Spinks a split winner)

Can't believe this was 45 years ago. Being that as it may, it was a terrific show these two put on. I recall back then that there was a bit of a rumble of studies on Biorhythms and how they effect performance. So World or International Boxing did a piece on this new fad with an expert commenting on it and used Ali-Spinks as an example. Basically they said that Ali's biorhythms were high for the fight but his shape was so poor one offset the other. Man, they would have had a field day with Jack Sharkey's biorhythms. Anyways, I enjoyed the fight again after so many years. The 15th was the best with these two tagging each other for all they were worth even though both were half dead at this point.

 

Truly a terrific fight even though Ali was a shell of his former self.