Three different fights of equal significance on this Saturday from Texas, California, and Manchester England with all of them with different results.Let's start in San Antonio, Texas at the Alamodome for a World Boxing Super Series quarterfinal in their cruiserweight tournament with minor titleholder Yunier Dorticos defending his belt with a vicious second-round knockout of Dmitry Kudryashov, that saw the Russian native on the floor with his eyes rolling in his head after eating a booming right hand.
This bout looked to be the most interesting first-round cruiserweight final and for the round and a half that it lasted-it was as both fighters landed their fair share of crunching punches.
In the end, it was the more versatile Dorticos that was able to close the show.
Dorticos moves in the tournament to the semi-finals against the winner of IBF champion Murat Gassiev against Krzysztof Wlodarczyk in Newark, New Jersey next month.
Two questions that I'm going to answer-one has been asked to me and one that I'm asking rhetorically.
The first is why don't I recognize Dorticos as the WBA champion?
It's because, despite Denis Lebedev's loss to the aforementioned Gassiev last year, the WBA still recognizes Lebedev as their "super" champion and in divisions that the WBA has 2 or even 3 champions, I only recognize that champion as the WBA champion.
The better question is why did the WBSS put a fight between a Cuban and a Russian without a local hook in San Antonio, Texas, and expect it to draw?
I don't know what the attendance numbers, but I wonder why this match was selected for this location?
Another issue is the WBSS stream on their website, which so many have complained about as being so fuzzy.
I believe I have the solution-the pomp and circumstance that the WBSS attempts to add to their events includes a dazzling light show that uses a ring of lights that surrounds the ring in a form that resembles the Roman Colosseum.
It adds attractiveness to the show and I like it-Until the fight begins.
They don't turn off those lights and it just plays havoc with the picture (and pixels) and you get a less than desirable picture on your PC.
In Inglewood, California, WBA lightweight champion Jorge Linares retained his championship with a split decision win over Britain's former Olympic gold medalist Luke Campbell.
Linares scored a knockdown in the second round that also cut Campbell and that knockdown allowed Linares the win as had he not scored that knockdown the fight would have been a draw on a card that Linares won on by one point.
Linares looked so impressive in the first three rounds that I was talking to Fred and said I expected Linares to finish Campbell in the middle rounds.
However, I was wrong as Campbell began to battle back by not allowing Linares to move inside on the rangy Briton and beginning to trouble Linares on the scorecards as well.
Linares put things back together in winning the final two rounds to win on my card 115-112 (7-5 in rounds minus a point for Campbell on the knockdown).
I thought I'd see better work from Linares, but it could have been the style of Campbell that made Linares more hesitant than usual.
I'll wait until his next start before proclaiming Linares in decline, but that fight will be one that might help determine just that.
In the first fight of the day, New Zealand's Joseph Parker kept his WBO heavyweight belt with a tedious majority decision over a less than combative Hughie Fury of England.
Parker, who has put together three less than impressive albeit victorious efforts in winning his title and defending it twice, did at least come forward and try to engage, which is more than I could say for Fury, who did little except move, grab and jab with an occasional right hand in a less than meritorious performance.
The fight was awkward and hard to judge as neither fighter did much offensively, but Parker did enough to win a contest that won't be fondly remembered by almost anyone.
I scored Parker a 117-111 winner (9-3).
I'm not sure what Parker has next as Fury was his mandatory defense, so he now has time for an optional defense or pursues Anthony Joshua or the Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz winner.
The WBO ratings are a real mess. Fury at number one has been disposed of, number two contender Christian Hammer has one notable victory in the last four years (a KO over soft jawed former Olympic bronze medalist David Price),third-rated Kubrat Pulev is fighting Joshua, fourth-ranked Tom Schwartz is undefeated, but against a resume' that makes Hammer's look like the opponents of Larry Holmes and number five contender Dominic Breazeale is fighting Bermane Stiverne in a WBC eliminator.
What a mess indeed...
In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and I each scored four points on day-two from the KO win by Yunier Dorticos and one each from the wins by Jorge Linares and Joseph Parker.
I lead the challenge 134-122.
For more on these and other boxing talk-Listen to me and Ramon on Fightheads Monday at 8 EST at
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/fightheads or call in to talk to us at 646-787-1746
No comments:
Post a Comment