That ended late in the sixth round when Davis smashed a left hand that sent Romero sailing to the floor and ended the fight as Romero beat the count but was judged unable to continue by referee David Fields.
Romero was leading on one card 58-57, as did I, with the other two judges giving Davis the nod by the same score entering what would be the final round but Davis had his best round of the fight in the fifth and appeared to be taking control of the fight.
Romero didn't charge from the gate throwing the wild power punches that he had been known for in his fights against lesser opponents but he did throw enough that Davis was surprisingly reserved in his offense in return, waiting to set Romero up for exactly the counter that would win "Tank" the fight.
For Davis, we now wait to see if he re-signs with Floyd Mayweather promotions, takes the side step to Al Haymon's PBC where he could stay with his longtime broadcaster Showtime or take his wares to the open market in an attempt to land a big fight that his resume' lacks.
Davis is certainly a live and pay-per-view attraction but the question still remains what happens when better fighters are able to handle Davis's power and can answer back.
Ryan Garcia was in attendance for the card and both fighters called the other out but I'm not sure that fight takes place in the event that Davis would stay with PBC and/or Mayweather Promotions as PBC and Golden Boy almost never do business together.
Physically, Garcia's build, punching power, and style seem to give him an edge against Davis but Davis is more experienced and I might give Davis a small edge in power.
I'd like to see the match and I think it would do heavy purchases on PPV and at the arena but color me skeptical on getting this one off the drawing board and into the ring.
While Davis vs Romero didn't prove to be the mismatch that most predicted, that couldn't be said for the co-feature which was the exact lopsided fight that almost all expected as Erislandy Lara knocked out Spike O'Sullivan in the eighth round.
The less said about this the better with Lara winning every round, knocking O'Sullivan down in the fourth and out in the eighth and both fighters simply repeating their history with Lara dominating in these types of showcase fights and O'Sullivan getting knocked out in now his fourth attempt to defeat a world-class boxer.
Lara's win over O'Sullivan was his fourth in a row over an overmatched opponent (Ramon Alvarez, Greg Vendetti, Thomas "Cornflake" LaManna, and now O'Sullivan) to retain his worthless WBA trinket against fighters that aren't even top twenty material.
Lara hasn't fought anyone of note since his 2018 split decision loss to Jarrett Hurd and his 2019 draw with Brian Castano, so Lara has not notched a noticeable victory since his October 2017 decision win over Terrell Gausha, who is solid but not a divisional elite.
At thirty-nine, Lara either is happy to rack up "title defenses" against opponents that no one wants to see or is hoping to wait out the WBA and hope they eventually get around to addressing the middleweight division as they reduce their belt situation.
I have no need to see any more of these B.S. squash matches presented as world title fights from Lara and PBC but I have a feeling that we will see one next year when Lara makes his yearly "defense" against the latest no-hoper.
Boxing Challenge
Ramon Malpica: 77 (3)
No comments:
Post a Comment