The 'what fights did you watch today?' thread

Seeing the countless uppercuts and hard combos Soto was landing flush on a tired, cut Antillon, and Urbano not even taking a step backwards, really made a statement. Knocking Antillon out is a superb achievement.

 

Antillion looks a fighter who can survive sustained punishment, that's for sure. He was taken clean out vs Acosta with one shot, and I can't see him being KO'ed from accumulation. It'll be interesting to see how Acosta-Soto/Antillion II turns out once Miguel deals with Rios.:yep

 

Felix Trinidad vs David Reid.

Another really good fight. Absolutely bizzare in terms of scoring though. I had it 111-109 at the end in favour of Trinidad. This fight had one of the oddest changes of momentum in a fight I have ever seen. After 6 rounds I had it 60-52 in favour of Reid, thanks to the knockdown he scored in round 3 and Trinidad being deducted a point for a low blow in round 6. I scored the next 6 rounds 59-49 in favour of Trinidad, courtesy of the knockdown he scored in round 7, the additional 3 knockdowns he scored in round 11, and the point deducted from Reid in round 9. Absolutely hectic. To go from winning comfortably after 6, to losing massively in the following 6 is downright bizzare. I have never seen the momentum of a fight change so drastically before.

We all know the story that ensued in the aftermath of this fight. How Reid was 'ruined' as a fighter, and how he never recovered from the hellacious beating he endured in the latter rounds of the fight. Reid was a very good fighter IMO. Some described him as green, but I just thought he was an early bloomer. He was talented, that's for sure. Blessed with excellent reflexes, terrific hand-speed and footspeed, a good, accurate jab, and great head movement. He just couldn't deal with the pressure a top fighter like Trinidad offered. His legs got weak and his work rate dipped slightly in the later rounds, and this, aswell as Trinidad's typical late surges spelled the end of Reid's competitiveness in this fight. It really makes you appreciate Tito's style. What an excellent fighter to watch.

On a side note, does anyone know what was up with Reid's eye? I know it was slightly droopy before the fight. What was wrong with it? How did it affect his career?

 

He suffered a detatched retina(as a consequence of the KD in the 7th I think) which, subsequently, led to his eventual retirement after the comeback. I think the eye almost caused him as much trouble in fights after the Trinidad one as much as the psychological problems he encountered in the aftermath. In fact, he eventually lost his eyesight.


This bout reminds me somewhat of Duran vs Davey Moore in a way. A young, talented and inexperienced fighter thrown in with a much, much more experienced and excellent fighter, which in all likelihood restricted their future chances of acheiveing something their talent warrented.

 

Really? That's pretty sad. He was a talented fighter, and he proved that by winning a world title in a tough division so early on in his career, and also by giving Trinidad absolute hell for 6 rounds. I noticed his eye was droopy before though. Was that because of muscle problems or something? It's a pity what happened to him.

Yeah, that's the fight that relates most to Reid - Tito for me aswell.

Euro-level minds think alike :hey:yep

 

His pro career started with much fanfare. He was similar to De La Hoya in a way, what with being anoited ''The American Dream'' as a result of his Olympic success.

I'm afraid my previous post is as far as my limited knowledge on this subject goes.

 

As always, you have been helpful. Thankyou :good

 

I think I just keep on getting lucky with you asking questions on topics I actually know something about, the number is vastly dwindling though, I'm going to be found out soon!:?

 

:yep

 

Laid my hands on a dvd of SRR. Just watched JRR vs La Motta V for the middleweight championship (La Motta is one tough SOB). Now watching vs Randy Turpin I got II to watch as well. Happy days.

Randy Turpin vs SRR II was a good fight. The version I got had commentary by Rocky Marciano - was awsome, like the fight was being called by Tony Soprano.

 

Benn-McClellan

all that talk about the documentary made go back for the umpteenth time to watch it.

every time you watch it you learn more, McClellan complained of a headbutt also that barely did any damage.

 

Marco Antonio Barrera vs Jose Arias

MAB started off the first 25 seconds or so using the jab patiently, slowly advancing. Then, the first time he steps back, he avoids a Arias hook, and lunges in with his own left hook-right hand to drop him with what was essentially his first real shots thrown. He didn't rush things after, and even allowed Arias to advance. He looked for the same left-right too much, and as a result only had moderate success. He did have success, however, when he threw off of the jab or started combinations with body shots, evidence of this being when he appeared to hurt Arias due to a straight right he landed off of the jab in the final ten seconds of the round.

Arias started off the second bouncing around an awful lot and was too over-eager to impose himself on Barrera. 30 seconds gone in the round, Marco lands a right that looks behind the head, knocks Arias off balance and knocks his down again, with a flurries of shots where none of which seemed to land, barring a left hook that landed when Arias was already going down. He rose quickly, but unsteadily and hurt, smiling in order to convince the referee otherwise. Barrera stayed patient again, and with just over a minute left landed three clean, hard jabs. Arias was soon holding on after a follow up of power punches but soon recovered, swinging so wildly he made MAB look like a prime Whitaker. Then came the finish, a little over half a minute of the round remaining, Barrera unleashes an excellent right hand that sends Arias sprawling into the ropes, in his attempts to grab on he's clipped by decent shots, and the referee steps in to save the outclassed Dominican from further punishment.

It doesn't look like the 43 year-old Arias has anywhere to go from here. He looked poor in this fight and although he might be a young 43(his career started in 1989, but after 8 fights he took an eight year hiatus, and following 2 fights in 1999 he returned in 2010 after 11 years out) but clearly doesn't even have enough to take a 37 year-old light-welterweight Barrera past a few rounds.

From watching this fight and the De Jesus one, I've come to the conclusion that if a 4th fight were to be made, Barrera would beat Morales. I'm aware of how poor the opponent was, and while his legs may be gone, MAB's still quite sharp, he's a B-class fighter. Which, granted, is a significant drop from what he once was but Morales shouldn't even be sanctioned to fight anymore, never mind being thrown in with Maidana. Barrera is still a capable boxer, Morales, in my opinion, isn't.

 

Arturo gatti vs Oscar De La Hoya
A very entertaining fight becuase both were willing to let their hands go and take risks, but very one sided all the same. Oscar was just too big, too fat, too strong for Arturo. But Gatti was actually doing very well for most of the first round, slipping and ducking De La Hoyas jab and landing some decent jabs and left hooks. But with only 20 seconds left in the round Oscar caught Gatti with a combination which ended in a left hook that put gatti down. The left hook also gave gatti a bad cut on his eye and from then on it was all one way traffic. Gatti came out for the second round, and looked like he was going for broke whinging some wild punches at De La Hoya. But while Gatti some decent left hooks every now and then his success was sporadic, as De La Hoya painted him with combinations to the head and body throughout the next four rounds. At the end of the fourth round Gatti was nailed by a huge left to the body, he sagged backwards and if there was anymore time was left in the round he would probably have went down. In the middle of the fifth round Oscar nailed Gatti with a huge combination that had gatti hurt and holding on. At this point Arturo's cornermen threw in the towel. I had every round for oscar till the towel was thrown in including an extra point for the knock down in the first round.

Overall a an excellent performance by Oscar, who was on the comeback trail after a loss to Shane Mosley. Arturo proved to be the perfect comeback opponent for De La Hoya as a come forward fighter with a very leaky defence. Gatti showed as usual showed a lot of heart and was none too happy when the fight was stopped. Its been a long time since i last seen this fight and i forgot how good Oscar looked in it.

 

Chris Eubank vs Michael Watson 1

 

mathew saad muhammad vs marvin johnson I