the what fights did you watch today\scorecard thread.

Mike Tyson v Andrew Golata
Round 1: Tyson dominant culminating in a late knock down of Golata 10 - 8 Tyson
Round 2: Tyson on top for most of the round but Golata rallies in the final minute 10 - 9 Tyson
Golota inexplicably quits and does not come out for the 3rd round resulting in a win for Tyson

 

Roberto Duran vs Wilfred Benitez I

Round 1- Benitez, duran landed a fair bunch of his shots, but benitez really got to him in the last 45 seconds or so, with a strong right that stunned duran immedietly followed by a few solid jabs

Round 2- Duran, duran did great holding benitez against the ropes for most of the round

Round 3- Benitez does great making duran miss and countering good

Round 4- Benitez took control comfortably, similarly to the last one, but duran did good wobbling his opponent in the last 30 seconds or so

Round 5- Just like last round, benitez was in control, he also did great with all those bodyshots

Round 6- Benitez, but duran finally landed some good shots towards the end of the round

Round 7- Duran, the first solid round by duran since the 2nd round, but benitez did great as well

Round 8- Benitez, duran was looking sluggish in this round, benitez landed more and landed better

Round 9- Benitez, every good shot duran lands benitez lands 2 or 3, he just can't seem to get any good combos in

Round 10- Benitez with amazing shots and counters this round

Round 11- Benitez clearly

Round 12- Benitez, with duran landing fairly good in the last few seconds

Round 13- Duran, not that great of a round for both men, just felt like giving this one to duran since he kept punching for the whole round

Round 14- Benitez, pretty clear, but duran is not giving in

Round 15- Benitez, even on the ropes he didn't allow that big shot to happen

Benitez, 12 rounds to 3

 

Lennox Lewis D12 Evander Holyfield (I)

I had never seen this fight. I held off watching it because I didn't want to be angered by what was very obviously corruption in the judging. No judge is that bad, to see the fight the way Eugenia Williams did. You can't be that bad a judge. She and perhaps the one scoring the bout a draw were very simply given life-changing money by Don King, causing them to **** all over the sport they represent and that provides them a living. Yeah, the decision was among the worst I've seen, but that's been covered to death.

Anyway, the fight wasn't a good one, but effective of course for Lewis. To the chagrin of Emanuel Steward, he wouldn't commit to the body or press his advantage and try to back up the smaller Holyfield. INstead, he waited for Evander to advance, and then potshot at him by simply extending his arms. Occasionally he would add some pop to his jab and snap Holyfield's head back, but was largely content to keep the American at bay and at the end of his impossibly long arms.

Of note too was Lewis' strength. Holyfield can usually get in the trenches and wrestle and at least make things uncomfortable for an opponent, and take him out of his game with rough-house tactics, but against Lewis, Evander was trying to charge a brick wall. Lennox's mass is such a factor, the guy is just so damn big.

As in the first Bowe fight, Evander neglected his straight right and when he did throw (which was painfully infrequent) it was chiefly left hooks. Rarely, however, were these thrown in combination, and Lewis was never in trouble.

Kind of a tedious fight, but dominated by Lewis and it's a true stain upon the sport that it was ruled a draw. In truth, none of them had the score right. Even the dissenting judge who had Lewis winning had it too close.

1. Lewis
2. Lewis
3. Holyfield
4. Lewis
5. Lewis
6. Even
7. Lewis
8. Lewis
9. Lewis
10. Holyfield
11. Lewis
12. Lewis

118-111 Lewis.

 

Albert Davila W10 Alberto Sandoval

What a cool little fight. It struck me, as an aside, how really similar Sandoval was in style to his little brother Richie; hands high and in front of his face, legs in a wide stance, bouncing lightly on his toes, shooting one-twos constantly, then regaining that stance. I'd seen him before against Zamora, but it struck me in this bout how cut from the same cloth he and his brother really were.
Davila, for his part, is just more multi-faceted. He's so good at fighting at multiple distances. He's short and has a lesser reach so he's not going to stand back and jab you to death from a distance, but he's in and out all the time, turning you, shooting the uppercut inside before spinning you and then taking the center of the ring back while you try to figure out where he's at. Sandoval was throwing lots of right hands, but just missing almost all of them. Tweedy makes it look easy, as if Sandoval was simply off target because his aim was bad, but it's the constant movement........Davila doesn't move his head all that much but he's still in motion almost all the time in terms of distance, and it's tough to gauge your fire that way. It's like artillery; if your enemy is moving back and forth in front of your big guns, you have to keep adjusting them for distance, and it's hard to do that in the heat of battle.

At any rate, this was a good, solid, representative thing you used to get out of the southern California hotbed in that era, the 60's through the early 80's. Both are well-schooled and tough and hungry, but Sandoval, with his more basic upright style is the perfect foil for a guy like Davila, who is maybe not the most powerful fighter in the world, and perhaps not the strongest, and he may not be a boxing savant, but he's just so well-rounded. He knows the science and art of boxing like the back of his hand and has every trick in the book down to such an extent that he just seems more fluid and more a natural fighter than Sandoval, and he's able to take advantage of his opponent's more predictable approach. He just ate him up.

My score does not really tell the true tale of this bout. The numbers are kind of lopsided, but most rounds were hotly contested, and the fourth round in particular was outstanding, bringing the crowd to their feet with prolonged exchanges inside. Tweedy was just sharper and more fluid and controlled the tempo and feel of the fight.

1. Davila
2. Davila
3. Even
4. Davila
5. Davila
6. Davila
7. Sandoval
8. Davila
9. Davila
10. Davila

99-92 Davila.

 

Sal, I love it that you checked this fight out. I found it about a year ago after wanting to see it for years. And you're right, the west coast was a hotbed of talent back in the day. Here is how I saw it.

Albert Davila v Alberto 'Superfly' Sandoval

Never knew this fight was out there. Two of my favorites from that era. Here we go, California adopted the 10 point system at this time.

Round 1: 10-10 Even
Round 2: 10-9 Sandoval
Round 3: 10-10 Even
Round 4: 10-9 Davila
Round 5: 10-9 Sandoval
Round 6: 10-9 Davila
Round 7: 10-9 Davila
Round 8: 10-9 Davila
Round 9: 10-9 Davila
Round 10: 10-9 Davila

Total: 98-94 Davila

I have no idea what the actual scores were. There is nothing on boxrec and Jimmy Lennon is imperceptible on the video when announcing the victor. This wasn't a great fight, but an interesting one. Wanted to see it for years. Sandoval could have done with a few more fights under his belt before tackling Davila. He had been out for over 2 years with only a 10 round draw about 6 months earlier. And it showed. His timing wasn't the best and he got fatigued the last couple of rounds. He was lucky that there didn't appear to be great urgency in Davila's work. Perhaps because they grew up together, but then again, that didn't stop Davila from stunning Superfly a couple of times with right hands. Just great seeing these two in action again.

 

Luis Rodriguez v Jesse Smith

I settled in this morning with a cup of Joe to watch a Luis Rodriguez fight after finding his fight with Jesse Smith was in its entirety. And although this was not your typical kind of Rodriguez fight, I enjoyed it nonetheless. To be clear, against a welterweight he would use that remarkable jab, sharp-shoot with that overhand right and slather the body with those body-shots. In Smith, he was fighting a middleweight. Not that this was Luis' first venture up to middle, but probably the hardest punching one he had fought in the division so far. Smith had 33 KOs in 45 wins, held wins over Gomeo Brennan, Jimmy Beecham and a draw with Henry Hank to his credit, but always had trouble with the slicksters. And that was due to his one-punch output. He threw no combos all night. I think Dundee engineered a simple plan for Luis - who only weighed 151 - and that was to box Smith's ears off, which he adhered to. There were times when 'El Feo' would shine through. It looked like he was going to start engaging in the 4th round, but Dundee probably put a clamp on that between rounds. Not a great deal of excitement as Luis stuck to the plan for the most part, but Smith, probably seeing the fight frittering away, really went after Luis in the 9th and 10th, which were the 2 best rounds of the night, because Luis returned the favor and the crowd loved it. I scored both those rounds even and the rest to Luis for a 100-92 scorecard. The officials saw it as 100-89, 100-90 and 99-92 all for Luis.

 

Courtesy of @Thread Stealer and his suggestion in my request thread, I just watched Michael Gomez KO 5 Alex Arthur.

First, I love watching British fights held in Britain. The atmosphere is electric in soem of these, and so much more fun than the more sterile Vegas or Atlantic City cards. There's a communal feeling to them and the excitement is palpable. Great pick.

This wasn't all that competitive really, save for a few moments of success where Arthur was able to maintain a bit of distance and jab effectively. Ironically, Arthur's best successes came in the fateful fifth round, where he appeared to actually hurt the tough, resolute Gomez with a body shot, allowing Arthur to somehow turn the tide. It was momentary, however.

Gomez had great success in moving inside and raking the taller Arthur with short hooks to the head, which Arthur was wide open for and showed little ability to absorb. Arthur was hurt in the opening moments and while he bravely soldiered on and even took the second on my card, never really resolved the situation and looked like he was burning a tremendous amount of energy just trying to keep Gomez away. Gomez, for his part, stalked and threw, stalked and threw, always able to close the distance and eliminate the height and reach advantages of his opponent, making them more a liability than anything.

After perhaps losing the second, Gomez continued his attack, smothering and taking the third and fourth on my card before being met with a good body shot that had him frozen along the ropes in the fifth. To the delight of the partisan crowd, Arthur, brave as ever, raked his suddenly static oppoent with shots, and wisely went to the body again and again. Gomez exploded from his protective stance in mid-ring though, and a hard hook sent Arthur stumbling down along the ropes. He cheekily smiled at the camera he somehow had the presence to realize was behind him there in the corner and got up. Sadly for him, he was cooked. Another barrage had him crashing hard to the floor, and the venerable JOhn Coyle really should have waved it off at that point. He put the Scot in a bit of danger allowing him to continue then, and sure enough, another flurry sent Arthur down hard again for an automatic stoppage.

Good fight, good suggestion. More to come!

1. Gomez
2. Arthur
3. Gomez
4. Gomez
5. Arthur is floored three times and stopped.

39-37 at the times of the stoppage, using the ten-point must.

 

To begin, I am starting with a disclaimer that I am NOT recommending this fight. This is a fight I was curious of since it took place because I was stymied by the result and never really read any kind of write-up on it. So here we go.

Elio Cotena v Vernon Sollas (European featherweight title)

Round 1: 10-9 Sollas
Round 2: 10-10 Even
Round 3: 10-9 Sollas
Round 4: 10-9 Sollas
Round 5: 10-10 Even
Round 6: 10-9 Sollas
Round 7: 10-9 Sollas
Round 8: 10-9 Cotena
Round 9: 10-9 Sollas
Round 10: 10-9 Cotena
Round 11: 10-9 Sollas
Round 12: 10-9 Cotena
Round 13: 10-8 Cotena (battering)
Round 14: Cotena drops Sollas twice and the fight is stopped

Total through 13 completed rounds: 125-123 Sollas (scores not known)

Man, where do I start? Cotena is awful to watch. He has no punch, non-effective jab and just jumps into a clinch in a very Benvenuti-ish manner where he simply throws pesky taps at all angles. And he does this over and over. What he does bring to the table is a bottomless tank of energy. Sollas, on the other hand, throws substantial punches but not at the volume of Cotena. A very difficult fight to score. I went with substance over volume for much of the fight until Cotena's rate started overtaking what Sollas could produce. Unbelievably, with only 8 KOs to his credit, Cotena got through with a right hand in the 13th and Sollas was battered the rest of the round. The bell was rung but the ref didn't hear it, while Cotena was pummeling Sollas in a corner. It was actually Cotena's corner that told the ref the round was over. And let me tell you that the British corner was pissed. The ref was pushed from behind, which I'm certain caused some kind of fine. But Sollas never recovered and was dropped twice in the 14th before the fight was stopped. Seeing a light tapper like Cotena win by stoppage was akin to seeing Gianfranco Rosi KO Duane Thomas. I couldn't believe that one either.

 

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Good scrap considering they were both newbies...

 

Based on what you said, I only watched rounds 13 and 14. To me, it seemed that Sollas was mostly spent and Cotera rightfully went for it then.

 

Definitely the only 2 rounds worth watching

 

2007-08-04 Celestino Caballero UD12 Jorge Lacierva (Super Bantamweight)
Round 1: 9:10
Round 2: 9:10
Round 3: 9:10*
Round 4: 10:9
Round 5: 9:10
Round 6: 10:8 (Lacierva lost a point for head-butting)
Round 7: 9:10
Round 8: 10:9
Round 9: 9:10
Round 10: 10:9
Round 11: 10:9
Round 12: 10:9
Final Score: 114:113 Caballero

It was big opportunity for Caballero to showcase himself, fighting on the undercard of Israel Vazquez vs Rafael Marquez II undercard - but Lacierva proved very difficult for him.
Lacierva was not typical Mexican fighter, more of a quickster. He came with good game-plan, fighting more like defensive swarmer, moving and making taller opponent come to him, picking his spots to jump in with dynamic power punches.
Caballero was lazy early, wasn't able to avoid getting hit with big power punches - but He came on late, using his strength rather than his height. I thought He deserved a win at the end, but scorecards were harsh on Mexican.

 

M, was it a good fight?

 

Scrappy, hard fought, tactically interesting - but also a bit sloppy. I enjoyed it, but it's not something that will blow You away.
Caballero's fight against De Leon was very good - if You're looking for something quality to watch involving Pelenchin.

 

Joe Bugner v Jack Bodell (British, European and Commonwealth titles - British scoring of 5 - 4 3/4 in effect)

Round 1: Bodell
Round 2: Bugner
Round 3: Bodell
Round 4: Bodell
Round 5: Bodell
Round 6: Bodell
Round 7: Bodell
Round 8: Bodell
Round 9: Bodell
Round 10: Bodell
Round 11: Bodell
Round 12: Bugner
Round 13: Even
Round 14: Bodell (scores a knockdown)
Round 15: Even

Total: 74 1/2 - 72 Bodell (actual score by sole official: 74 3/4 - 71 1/2 Bodell)

I gotta tell you, Joe Bugner performed one of the greatest demonstrations of Michelangelo's David that I have ever seen. He captured his inertness beautifully. A performance reminiscent of his title fight with Ali. Seriously, I never could understand what gets into him. There were times he could look like a world-beater and then times like these where he stands there and is a sucker for every punch coming his way with nothing in return. And Bodell took advantage of that with his straight rights and lefts throughout. Bug had to have left a lot of people in Wembley shaking their heads that night.