At the beginning of the broadcast, it was kinda awkward to hear Brian Kenny and Dan Rafael talk about Povetkin's pullout against Wlad Klitschko, thinking Teddy Atlas was likely listening in on headphones and salivating at his chance to speak up. He did, of course. And it sounded like Teddy doesn't think Povetkin is quite ready for Wlad Klitschko, rather than being sick or having other traveling issues, as has been reported.
Didn't Teddy say that Povetkin would be ready for Wlad ASAP not long ago, before the purse bid? Who else could Povetkin fight that would prepare him for Wlad, Teddy? Your guy is an Olympic gold medalist with an extensive international amateur career, and the line between "decent" and "champion" is very blurry in the heavyweight division.
The fights?
Cuauhtemoc Vargas, a semi-hot prospect circa 2003-2004, dropped a lackluster unanimous decision to up and coming Rico Ramos. The fight began with Vargas looking sloppy and awkward in the first, and easily out-maneuvered by the talented Ramos. Vargas showed better footwork and range in the second round, but Ramos countered and began really moving his feet well. The left hook was Ramos' weapon of choice in the third, with Vargas visibly slowing down toward the end of the round. The fourth round through the seventh round had Vargas literally following Ramos around without cutting the ring off, without mounting much offense himself. Ramos stuck to the advice of his corner before the final round and moved for a solid three minutes as Vargas took the round by default.
In more exciting action, ESPN kept cutting to the venue cameras too early from commercial breaks and the fans were treated to Joe Tessitore clearing his throat loudly, and possibly expelling some phlegm.
The main event saw WBA Light Heavyweight title holder Beibut Shumenov outwork and apparently stymie highly-touted Ukrainian Vyacheslav Uzelkov over twelve rounds. Just when it seemed as though Shumenov may be bringing more heat than Uzelkov expected in the first round, Shumenov got dropped by a nice lead left hook. Beibut came right back to apply pressure, but Uzelkov weathered the pressure and landed a few more clean shots. Shumenov went back to work in round 2, trying to push Uzelkov back and score. Although Uzelkov was landing cleaner and maybe harder through two rounds, he waited to throw a bit too much and Shumenov worked well to the body. Uzelkov started quicker in the third round, but went back to waiting around and tying up on the inside, until he was dumped to the canvas with the last punch of the third round, seemingly a bit more hurt than Shumenov was in the first. Predictably, Shumenov went back to work in the fifth round, as Uzelkov's offensive blitzes became fewer and far between as rounds went on, and he essentially allowed Shumenov to easily roll over him to a 9-3 type of victory.
And no, you didn't miss much in those five or six rounds that I didn't elaborate on.
Slightly disappointing Friday Night Fights from ESPN.
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