"Boxing Bits" makes its semi-triumphant return to HD, covering the bouts (and bodies) that went down this past Saturday! This would have been posted earlier, but things have been a bit wonky for the last few days…
:Sat.11.06.10:
Glen Johnson TKO8 Allan Green
The "readjusted" Super Six tournament continued with newcomer Glen Johnson icing Allan Green in an entertaining fight. Green showed flashes of genuine competitiveness, but ultimately lived up to his surname as he couldn't overcome Johnson's style of offense. The latter has been a sparring partner of his and said to have gotten the upper-hand much of the times they have fought, so that surely did not help matters much for Green, nor did some of those inadvertent rabbit punches. The 41-year-old Johnson, despite moving down in weight on short notice, looked great and weathered some good shots to batter Green all over and steadily take him out of the fight, which ended with a sudden right hook to the side of his head that sent him down and out. Though Johnson moves on to the semifinals, Green once again lacked the experience and fortitude to hang with the top players and veterans, which at 31 is sort of surprising--but not, given the caliber of much of his opposition in his 32-fight career…
And yeah, the two judges that had Green ahead when he was stopped…please. It was a close fight, but Johnson was the one making headway for much of it, while Green was clinching with regularity as the fight progressed. Good thing he stopped him, or it would have been deja vu all over again in terms of screwball decisions.
Juan Manuel Lopez TKO8 (RTD) Rafael Marquez
In the main event, Juan Manuel Lopez and Rafael Marquez put together another strong fight for the night. Lopez looked to have the advantage over Marquez early, but former's impatience and over-commitment to hooks left him susceptible to the veteran's application of will power and experience, as he simply had to time his shots and pick him off while he was open. The antsy behavior and lack of composure was uncharacteristic of Lopez, who normally shows more poise and better skill than what was on display early in the fight. Perhaps getting lost in the big fight atmosphere, he was deducted a point at one point for rabbit punching and was nearly knocked down as well. After Marquez was beginning to get the best of him, Lopez settled down and began to mix up his shots mid-way into the bout, carefully landing them rather than potshotting. The tide shifted drastically as Marquez appeared to have no real answer for his onslaught, though he still soldiered on and tried to give as good as he got. However, Lopez's youth and strength ultimately took their toll on him and was increasingly unable to return fire up to Round 9, when he couldn't continue due to a shoulder injury. Juan Manuel Lopez got the victory and retained his WBO featherweight belt, but with Marquez making things competitive and the fight being as entertaining as it was, don't be surprised to see a rematch a year from now…if Lopez can get past Cuban phenom Yuriokis Gamboa before then…
Other Fights:
Robert Guerrero UD(10) Vicente Escobedo
-Didn't get to see this due to the great card that was on Showtime at the same time (oh, HBO…), but I did hear that Guerrero handled him pretty well, which heartening to hear after all that he has been through personally and with his wife fighting leukemia. On another bright note, Escobedo, despite the beating he took, still managed to successfully propose to his girlfriend after the bout. Perhaps the only time when taking a knee in the ring can be considered a good thing…
Zab Judah SD Lucas Matthysee
-Caught some of the final round of the bout, which ended in apparent controversial fashion as Judah won by narrow split decision (one point on two cards, against Matthysee's one point margin on the other). However, I was probably more surprised by the fact that Judah still looked relatively fresh and didn't mentally crash at the end despite getting knocked down in Rd. 10 (but I guess that happens against more "top-tiered" opposition)…
—One of a -very- few blogs that discusses about anime, boxing, and a little bit of randomness…
No comments:
Post a Comment