Random Classics: Nigel Benn vs Anthony Logan

If you're not a British fight fan, you probably only know Nigel Benn's for his nasty Super Middleweight war with Gerald McClellan in 1995.

That fight had the unfortunate distinction of being improperly handled in terms of training and officiating, and resulting in the serious injury of McClellan. In terms of in-ring action, it was a fairly sloppy affair, but memorable all the same for its shifts in momentum and drama. The fight, its history and aftermath were made even more famous by fighters like Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones, Jr. referencing it often and attempting to help McClellan, who now is severely handicapped and must be cared for by his family.

That fight isn't the focus here, but it seems like Benn will be forever tied to it, right or wrong.

If you are indeed a British fight fan, and especially if you're old enough to remember the local UK scene in the late 1980's, then you probably remember the "Dark Destroyer" Benn for his tenacity, punching power and downright ferocity early on in his career. You may even remember him a bit for that if you're simply an educated or curious boxing fanatic, but only in hindsight.

The young prospect Logan, hailing from Jamaica, came into the bout at 15-1-1 (11), not having been tested much. The already popular Benn stepped into the ring at 18-0 (18), following a 5-month hiatus due to a promotional/managerial dispute with Frank Warren. Prior to the holiday, Benn had fought 17 times in 15 months.

What ensued once the initial bell rang surprised many fans, but also seemed to endear Benn to the UK boxing public and launch his reputation into orbit overseas. Not only could Benn demolish, but dust himself off and roar back from adversity.

This is one of my favorite short brawls.

Enjoy.

Boxing/MMA Clutter 8/24/10

Another "edition" of Clutter. More bad tidings, more complaints. Maybe I'll figure out a way to work in some good news and optimism one of these days.

JuanMa Lopez vs Rafa Marquez OFF

According to multiple sources, the highly anticipated scrap between WBO Featherweight titlist Juan Manuel Lopez and former Bantamweight king (and little bro to Juan Manuel Marquez) Rafa Marquez is officially postponed. The September 18th bout, set for Las Vegas, was called off after Marquez' doctor claimed his patient could not even fit his fist into a glove. Apparently Marquez snagged his hand on the door of a vehicle (unspecified, but I'm guessing it wasn't a moped) and sliced open his thumb, worsening the injury by continuing to train.

Bummer for fans, and both fighters. Rafa is coming off a big win in a fourth fight against Israel Vazquez, a series that produced three "Fight of the Year" contenders - the rubbermatch a serious "Fight of the Decade" claimant - and riding what might have been a nice wave of momentum. Lopez, on the other hand, has been criticized for feasting on smaller and/or less-dangerous guys on his way to a title. This fight was seen as a stern test for the bankable, Top Rank-promoted Lopez, despite the fact that, in terms of weight, Marquez would have been scraping into new territory and facing a naturally bigger opponent.

Even though Marquez claims the bout will only be pushed back a few weeks, a number of fighters have stepped forward willing to take his place, as 2010 TV dates have been quickly filling up. Comebacking Jhonny Gonzales has been doing his best to rile up a response from Top Rank, and the talkative (to put it nicely) Celestino Caballero has tried to fill his seemingly always-empty schedule by calling out Lopez on multiple occasions before and since the postponement.

Personally I hope both Lopez and Marquez can find a way to tangle. In Marquez, Lopez finally has a marquee name and worthy opponent, even if Rafa seems to be at the end of his career, and with a win he may be able to finagle his way into the hearts of the Puerto Rican people the same way Trinidad and Cotto have in recent years. As for Rafa, any time a hard-working, hard-hitting classy pro like him can recapture greatness and bring attention to lower weight classes, it tends to be good for the sport.

Bradley-Alexander Falling Apart?

A Junior Welterweight unification match between Timothy Bradley and Devon Alexander may be falling apart due to lack of funds, perhaps the #1 reason larger fights fall through in today's sport. Even though the fight is seen as one of the biggest (at least in terms of relevance) in the sport, Alexander's outspoken trainer Kevin Cunningham claims HBO isn't offering enough money overall, and insists that a 50-50 split of the "meager" purse is the only way the fight gets made.

Cunningham is probably just forgetting that his guy seemed lucky to be presented a decision win over contender Andriy Kotelnik a few weeks ago. Alexander is a very talented guy, but he doesn't have much of a fanbase to speak of outside of his hometown of St. Louis. And lest I remind you, that's the same town that showed up to support Cory Spinks' weird ringwalks and crappy style more than once.

And Bradley? In talking to BoxingScene.com, he seemed confident that the fight would happen, even if not right now. Bradley agreed that HBO should've ponied up more dough for the two to fight, but still conceded to a 50-50 purse split to get the fight done.

It's a scrap that brings a clear-cut ruler to 140 lbs. Let's make it happen, guys.

James Toney Will Eat His Words

The ones he hasn't already eaten, anyways.

Make no mistake. James "Lights Out" Toney is a very talented fighter. Unfortunately, he's generally seen as a sort of comic relief for most boxing fans these days.

That he had notable wins at heavyweight after beginning his career at Middleweight is a testament to his overall talent and fighting mentality. But many forget that his career took a serious downturn following his loss to Roy Jones, Jr. in 1994, mostly a result of his inability to stay in shape and train properly.

Since his comeback at Cruiserweight in the early- and mid-90's, Toney has enjoyed moderate success and convinced a number of boxing fans that he was still pretty important to the sport, despite getting popped for banned substances on more than one occasion.

This time Toney badgered his way into Dana White's heart, convincing him to let Toney try his hand at the "big time" in MMA.

This coming Saturday, Toney will get taken down and submitted quite easily by Randy "The Natural" Couture. Randy isn't exactly a spring chicken himself, but Toney has clearly worn out his welcome and become near-unimportant in boxing over the last few years, even at heavyweight, widely regarded as the sport's worst division. On top of that, the UFC has chosen to use a heavily-photoshopped picture of James Toney, looking much more svelt than in reality, for their promo shots for a few months now. Dude is as blubbery as Moby Dick these days.

Not sure if I should be sad that Toney might be sent to the hospital and retired this weekend, or happy that he talked his way into a well-deserved ass-kicking.

Either way, I don't think he has much of a shot. Randy may be chinny as of late, but there are other ways for the MMA legend to win, while Toney only has one.

It all depends on how frisky the fighting gods are feeling on Saturday.

Lost in the Hype

While the matchup between Randy Couture and James Toney seems to be getting most of the press for UFC 118 this coming weekend, a few other fights deserve attention.

The main event should produce what should be at least an interesting rematch between MMA PFP guy BJ Penn and his most recent conqueror, Frankie Edgar. Edgar edged his way to a decision win over Penn last April, seeming to outwork the former champion and stifling him in unexpected fashion. If history has taught us nothing at all, it's proven than Penn is a born competitor that trains like a madman when challenged, and all reports point to the Hawaiian readying himself for destruction one way or the other come Saturday.

Recent Penn challenger Kenny Florian also takes on undefeated Ultimate Fighter semi-finalist Gray Maynard, who will no doubt look to use his accomplished wrestling background to smother the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tactician Florian. It's a nice contrast in styles. Even though Maynard has improved his standup significantly since appearing on The Ultimate Fighter: Season 5, he's still a takedown artists at heart, and he should find a solid challenge in Florian, whose Muay Thai skills may nullify what improvements Maynard has made standing up. On the mat, it's all a matter of who can catch who with what first.

A nice sleeper on the card could be the fight between exciting striker Marcus Davis and the always outspoken Nate Diaz. Neither tend to be in boring fights, and Diaz' willingness to stand up with guys he probably shouldn't stand up with should bring the action. Add in that Davis can never really be counted out in scraps where he's seemingly outmatched.

Should be a solid one. But don't come crying to me if it's not!

Adamek Unimpressive Scooting by Grant

Tomasz Adamek defeated lumbering contender from heavyweight yesteryear Michael Grant this past Saturday, looking not-that-impressive in doing so.

Former Light Heavyweight belt-holder Adamek generally outmaneuvered and out-sped Michael Grant, earning a unanimous decision over a the huge guy HBO unsuccessfully attempted to anoint as the "Great American Hope" about a decade ago.

Since being stripped of his self-confidence by Teddy Atlas sometime in 2002 or 2003, Grant has essentially proven his inadequacies in-ring, slapping his way to decision and stoppage wins over nobodies, with a stoppage loss to heavyweight FAIL Dominick Guinn thrown in there somewhere. Not too mad at Adamek though. He was coming off a big win over Chris Arreola in an attempt to prove his mettle above cruiserweight, and looking to stay busy.

The problem for Adamek is the win did absolutely nothing to help his case that he's ready for a Klitschko. In fact, it may have actually did the opposite, as Grant seemed to have Adamek slightly wobbled (if not exhausted) late in the fight. Against a Klitschko brother, that spells decapitation.

I'd mention the rest of the card, but there was quitting, mismatches, hilariously bad commentating. It just wasn't a good card at all.

No Drug Testing for Strikeforce: Houston?

It's not exactly as if the state of Texas has a great reputation for enforcing rules, or even having fair rules in place, when it comes to combat sports.

But this past Saturday, no fight-night drug testing was conducted for the Strikeforce Houston card which featured former WWE star Bobby Lashley, "Jacare" Souza, "King Mo" Lawal and Rafael Feijao.

I'm not entirely certain what the status is in terms of banned substance suspicion for any of the more famous fighters on the card, but anytime a former pro wrestler is involved, a lot of folks in the industry seem to start pointing fingers in that direction.

It probably doesn't help that it looks like Lashley has more juice than Minute Maid.

If we're talking about worthy MMA cards, the WEC card from last Wednesday delivered some highly entertaining bouts. If you're downloading fights, skip the Strikeforce crap and go straight for the Cruz-Benavidez rematch card from 8/18. Good stuff.

Boxing Clutter 8/19/10

Thanks "Gallito"

Team Espinoza, who has handled the later portion of Martin "Gallito" Castillo's career, seems to be encouraging the former WBA Super Flyweight champion to retire following a first round stoppage loss to Jorge "Travieso" Arce.

The former Mexican Olympian and excellent amateur Castillo has gone 3-2 in his last five fights, with both losses being tough stoppages. However, in his prime, Castillo was a classy boxer with impressive footwork and a great ring IQ.

Ultimately a second retirement (Castillo announced his retirement after a 2008 knockout loss to Fernando Montiel) would be Martin's decision and I would respect the choice of a man who was extremely nice to me the only time I met and spoke with him. Whichever he chooses, it may help him to know he still has at least one fan left that appreciates his career and cheered for him at every turn. Either way, thanks for all the fun times, champ. And good luck.

More Empty Haye Talk

Yesterday BoxingScene.com reported that British promoter Barry Hearn said negotiations for an all-UK fight between David Haye and Audley Harrison are going well.

What is there to negotiate?

After defeating Russian giant Nikolai Valuev in a fairly boring and non-confrontational bout, Haye proclaimed he would never fight Harrison, insisting the former Olympian didn't deserve a shot at the big time. It seems Haye has had a change of heart, as Harrison's trash-talking and recent one-punch knockout of faded Brit Michael Sprott have earned him what almost assuredly will be a brutal ass-kicking.

Under different circumstances, the matchup would probably be viewed as a nice "stay busy" type of fight, bringing Haye a nice payday in the meantime. The problem is Haye has directed his own stinging trashtalk towards both Klitschko brothers since contemplating his move to heavyweight, but has managed only 5 fights in the last 3 years, turning down a 50/50 split offered by Wladimir Klitschko, a last ditch effort to make just about the only heavyweight bout boxing fans are actually anticipating.

Harrison's underwhelming career has been interesting enough for UK boxing fans to make him a popular fighter overseas, even if only to laugh as he fails. The fight should bring a lucrative mainstream paycheck to both guys, but it simply does nothing for most fans.

Time's ticking, David. And you may have blown your only opportunity at even money with a Klitschko.

Cuba, Represent

The latest group defection of Cuban fighters has given US airwaves some nice talent, per usual. Erislandy Lara, Yordanis Despaigne and Yordenis Ugas found their way onto a special Wednesday night boxing broadcast on ESPN2 last night, generally looking impressive.

Despite all three guys showing the talent and clear skill that tends to come with a lifetime of being immersed in the sport, it's tough to gauge just exactly how far these Cubans will be able to travel in boxing. As many of us know, there have been more Juan Carlos Gomez-type of disappointments than there have been lasting world class contenders like Joel Casamayor, and a big reason why is that their new found "freedom" is overwhelming.

Regardless, it's unreasonable to expect every elite amateur to excel in the pro game. No matter the outcome, it appears that these guys should make their respective divisions more interesting in the near future. And with a variety of styles among them to enjoy, fans should look forward to it.

Margarito Denied CA License

More than 18 months after being caught attempting to "load" his handwraps prior to a fight with Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito was denied a license to box in the state of California.

I was a huge Margarito fan before the handwrap incident. Mosley-Margarito was supposed to be a treat for Southern California boxing fans in January 2009. Instead, it was a huge embarrassment. Especially for his fans, who defended him in the years leading up to his breakthrough win against Miguel Cotto.

Whether or not Margarito should be allowed to fight is a matter of personal opinion, with debate as to Margarito's knowledge (or lack thereof) of the hardened knuckle pad in his wraps beginning not long after "The Tijuana Tornado" was brutally stopped by Shane. But there shouldn't be any doubt that both Top Rank and Team Margarito handled the situation poorly with regards to getting his license back.

Even if Margarito didn't know his trainer Javier Capetillo placed the illegal pad in his wrap, he hasn't appeared to fully "own" any responsibility for knowing who on his team does what. Hanging out with Capetillo not long after the loss doesn't exactly jive with the story he told during a hearing yesterday, saying he severed ties with Capetillo quickly after the fight. Additionally, Top Rank attempting to get him licensed in Nevada before going first to the California State Athletic Commission (as would be the "normal" course of action) came off nothing less than shady, even though the CSAC dropped the ball in a major way by not being the ones to catch the cheating attempt.

Personally, I'm still bitter enough about being made to look like an idiot, as a big fan of his, that I'm actually kinda happy he won't be rewarded for trying to cheat with huge Pay-per-view exposure and a multi-million dollar payday after only one mediocre fight in 18 months. I concede bias on the issue.

If nothing else, I would say that a stricter reaction to such attempts is a much better idea than the leniency shown Mike Tyson after chomping on Evander Holyfield's ear.

Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao UPDATE

Floyd Mayweather's trainer and uncle Roger Mayweather recently told FightHype.com that his nephew would likely still fight in 2010. In other words, Floyd's a jerk.

ESPN Boxing Special Recap 8/18/10

Wednesday Night Fights was the 2006 successor to what wound up being ESPN2's seasonal mid-week boxing program, Tuesday Night Fights. Unfortunately for fans, ESPN2 cut back their boxing programming to Friday Night Fights, thus any televised pre-Friday boxing has come to be a nice surprise.

ESPN2 aired what they called their "ESPN Boxing Special" earlier this evening, featuring Cuban standouts Erislandy Lara and Yordanis Despaigne.

After a brief introduction to Lara and Despaigne, Brian Kenny took the subject directly to Antonio Margarito's denial of a license by the California State Athletic Commission, which took place at a hearing earlier today.

ESPN.com columnist Dan Rafael argued via phone call that while Margarito had not been cleared to fight in California for at least one more year, he had served out his suspension and done everything asked of him by the CSAC, and deserves to be able to fight. Conversely, Teddy Atlas felt the punishment probably wasn't enough based on how fighters caught cheating in the past were dealt with.

Both Teddy and Dan alluded to the fact that Margarito would likely fight the one of the sport's most popular fighters, Manny Pacquiao, regardless of the CSAC's decision.

Yordanis Despaigne opened the telecast by cruising to a win against the formerly undefeated prospect Frank Paines. The former 2004 Olympian Despaigne, now 7-0 (4), knocked Paines down in round 2 and outclassed him over the 10 round distance, taking away his 0 and forcing him to 11-1 (9).

The first round began with Paines attempting to establish a jab and move his feet, and the visibly bigger Despaigne looked to walk down Paines and land harder punches behind a stiff jab. Paines found himself on the end of Despaigne's shots at a mid-range throughout the round, playing defense while stationary.

Paines went on the attack early in round two, landing hard to Despaigne's body. Perhaps standing and trading too long, Paines caught a nasty left hook that knocked him onto his seat just under a minute into the round. With Paines not seeming very hurt, Despaigne settled back into his jab and timed hard right hands and hooks to the body that appeared to rock Paines.

Apparently learning from his mistakes in the second round, Frank Paines went back to his jab in round three, attempting to time Despaigne between shots with a left hook. Despaigne landed a crushing right uppercut about a minute into the round, but Paines quickly gathered himself and jabbed his way out. Paines found some success by jumping in with a few combinations towards the end of the round before being spun around and hit twice behind the head by Despaigne, who was warned for the infraction.

Paines got the worst of a few exchanges early in the fourth, before again going back to trying to skate away and use his feet. Despaigne pot-shotted a bit before luring Paines into more exchanges and finished strong, seeming to move Paines even with shots to his gloves.

Both fighters landed chopping shots in exchanges in round five, maybe coming in a tad sloppy, as an accidental clash of heads opened a cut over the right eye of Despaigne. A ringside physician checked the cut and ruled the Cuban could continue. Paines moved forward as blood freely flowed down the cheek of Despaigne, catching him with a few hard left hands. Despaigne used his legs to move away between hard single shots at the end of the round, his blood tinting the white trim on his trunks a bright pink.

Round six brought a role reversal, with Paines trying to apply pressure as Despaigne tried to keep him at bay with occasional flurries from the outside. Paines generally got hit with the cleaner punches in the round, though Despaigne's tactical adjustment was apparent.

Despaigne easily timed Paines with punches from the outside throughout round seven. Paines ate flush shots through his guard, shrugging after being hit with big shots rather than punching back.

Punch stats in round eight showed Despaigne landing more that three times as many shots to that point in the fight. The punch stats backed up the reality of the fight, as Despaigne clowned Paines by landing at will and dancing away. Despaigne's antics drew boos from the crowd and criticism from Teddy Atlas, who complained that fans weren't interested in showboating.

More of the same in round nine, with Despaigne landing the more effective shots from the outside and the occasional sneaky right hand in close. Paines largely followed, looking visibly discouraged walking back to his corner at the end of the round.

Despaigne banged home left hooks in round ten, with Paines doing his best to make a fight of it, albeit unsuccessfully.

Officials scored the bout 100-89, 96-93 and 99-90 for the undefeated Cuban.

Newly crowned light heavyweight king Jean Pascal cited his gameplan, speed and movement as keys to his win against Chad Dawson this past weekend on HBO, during a between-fights interview with Brian Kenny. When asked who he would like to fight next, Pascal said he'd prefer to fight semi-retired future hall-of-famer Bernard Hopkins, being a bigger name than anyone else at 175 lbs. and having defeated Roy Jones Jr.

In the main event, likewise undefeated contender Erislandy Lara blitzed trialhorse Willie Lee in the first round of a junior middleweight mismatch.

Lee, now 17-7 (11), took the fight to Lara in round one, loading up on left hands behind a jab and trying to walk Lara down. Lara floored Lee with a hard right, left, right combination a little over a minute into the round. Lee arose from the knockdown seemingly unhurt and attempted to walk Lara down again, but Lara stepped forward with a series of left hands that wobbled Lee back to the ropes, then swarmed him with quick shots until referee Lawrence Cole stopped the bout at 1:48 of the opening stanza.

Willie Lee calmly protested the quick stoppage by giving Cole an odd stare for a few minutes, but seemed resigned to his fate while leaving the ring and walking back to his dressing room.

The highly skilled Lara improved to 13-0 (8) with the win.

In pertinent a sort of "walk out bout" for the broadcast, lightweight bronze medalist of the 2008 Olympics Yordenis Ugas scored his second stoppage win in a row and moved to 3-0 (2), TKO'ing Marqus Jackson, now 2-2 (2), in the second round of a welterweight contest.

Ugas walked down the colorful character Jackson in round one, not getting started until well into the round, but shaking up Jackson with the flush shots he landed. Ugas seemed aware of Jackson's shortcomings and planted his feet towards the end of the round, catching Jackson in a corner and forcing him to hold.

Jackson's awkward timing and jab kept Ugas away early in the second round, but not for long. Ugas attacked and hurt Jackson with a right hand about a minute into the round, sending him to the canvas with a half throw, half punch. After rising from an ugly knockdown, Jackson was again attacked by Ugas, who floored him once again and earned a stoppage that seemed similar to the Lara bout with its early "mercy stoppage."

Boxing Clutter 8/16/10

This might be a consistent thing on my blog here - my random thoughts and opinions on things going on in boxing, probably some MMA here and there.

A news blurb on BoxingScene.com mentioned that junior middleweight/welterweight contender (and not to mention drama queen) Kermit Cintron had said "That punk [Andre] Berto hasn't fought anyone yet at 147. He should fight me."

After the stunt Kermit pulled against Paul Williams in May, who the hell is Kermit Cintron to call anyone a "punk?" And I mean literally...that shit was a stunt. Like, Kermit should be a stunt man. The guy dramatically flew out of the ring, grabbed his head like he hit his head, then grabbed his back, then acted like he was unconscious, then punched the ambulance door as he was being whisked away to a magical and distant hospital trauma center.

And that's not even mentioning the numerous waterworks incidents before, during and after fights of his, win or lose.

I wasn't kidding about his recent antics though. Here:



See?

Kermit's right about one thing though: Andre Berto really hasn't beaten anyone relevant at 147 lbs. Luis Collazo was arguably relevant when they fought, but many fans seemed to think Berto didn't exactly deserve that decision. At this rate, Berto may be one of the best junior welterweights in the world without ever having fought in the division. The kid sure can tweet his ass off though, eh?

This past Saturday night HBO, boxing gave us what was, if nothing else, a very interesting stylistic fight between Jean Pascal and Chad Dawson. Dawson really screwed himself by letting Pascal get away with so many unanswered shots and flurries, even though he probably landed the more flush and quality punches overall. Pascal just seemed to stun him or rock him back often enough to 1. sway the crowd and judges, and 2. keep Dawson from getting into any kind of offensive groove.

I didn't see the decision as very controversial. Many rounds didn't have a clear winner, and Dawson didn't do much to clearly set himself apart from Pascal.

It seems now that Pascal's options are a rematch with Dawson and a Montreal rumble with Lucien Bute. I like Dawson to do better in a rematch and maybe win a decision, but a lot of the problem the other night might have been a combination of style and psychology. Chad doesn't throw a ton of shots and he doesn't like to either lead or really attack. And I think that rules out Chad coming into a rematch looking for blood...for now.

As for a potential Bute fight, Lucien can be hurt and doesn't seem to like getting hit much. Pascal's awkward timing and good handspeed may mess with Bute a bit too. But at the end of the day, Bute's more apt to being active and taking chances, and I think he'd exploit those openings Pascal was leaving for Dawson.

The past two weekends may have been a much-needed shot in the arm for the light heavyweight division. Not sure the medicine works long, but it now seems a lot more fun with Chad Dawson not hogging all the headlines.

Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao UPDATE: This Shit is Not Happening

They've brought in Don King, they've brought in The Wolf, they've brought in everyone short of Rev. Jesse Jackson to convince these two fairy little brats to fight. And it's still not happening. Floyd says he's not fighting again this year for some ridiculous reason, Manny's still afraid of needles and blood and unicorns, and Buboy's kneepad endorsement contract in the Philippines is lucrative as ever. Fuck all of em.

Jean Pascal dethrones Chad Dawson in Montreal

The same city to host the great light heavyweight classic between Yvon Durelle and Archie Moore over 50 years ago again held a surprising matchup at 175 lbs. - only this time, Canada came out on top.

Recent light heavyweight kingpin "Bad" Chad Dawson snoozed his way to losing his undefeated record and Ring Magazine title to former super middleweight contender Jean Pascal on Saturday night. The 3-1 underdog Pascal stole the show en route to an 11th round unanimous technical decision win, with the fight being stopped due to a cut over Dawson's right eye that was caused by an accidental headbutt.

Pascal, now 26-1 (16), just happened to also be defending the WBC belt that Dawson dropped in 2008 to face former champ Antonio Tarver, though Dawson was widely regarded as the best light heavyweight in the world until tonight.

Dawson, an amateur standout and Pound-for-Pound list entrant as a pro, fell to 29-1 (17), with 1 No Contest.

A lively crowd at the Bell Center roared in support of Pascal from the moment he did his ringwalk.

From the opening moments of the bout, Chad Dawson seemed to have trouble with Pascal's decision to lay back and wait for opportunities, then jumping in with looping rights upstairs and to the body. If Pascal's surprising handspeed and erratic movement weren't difficult enough for Dawson to deal with, the pro-Pascal crowd got louder every time Pascal surged forward and threw, whether he landed or not.

Through the first few rounds, Pascal hadn't done much damage to Dawson, but the former champion appeared content to offer up only the occasional straight left or right hook, generally not in combination, from his southpaw stance. While Pascal's work wasn't devastating, he did manage to stun Dawson from time to time and control the pace, likely winning most early rounds.

Dawson's trainer Eddie Mustafa Muhammad implored his fighter to punch more, and warned him in the corner that he wasn't doing enough to win rounds in front of his opponent's fans.

Mustafa's advice was followed in a few middle rounds as Pascal looked tired and slowed down noticeably. Dawson was able to pick up his pace and find Pascal on the ropes, showing off impressive accuracy and a solid defense.

Pascal buckled Dawson in the seventh and eighth rounds, both times with right hands. Dawson's defensive clinching in close drew a warning from referee Michael Griffin, though he mounted an attack of his own in each round.

The tenth round began differently as Pascal grew fatigued and Dawson unleashed hard combinations, continuing his onslaught into the eleventh round. Pascal looked ready to take a knee in the eleventh round as Dawson eagerly swarmed and overwhelmed him on the ropes. Dawson's tenacity may have wound up hurting him, however, as the fighters' heads collided and produced a nasty cut over the right eye of Dawson towards the end of the round.

The fight was ultimately stopped by the ringside physician, who ruled Dawson would not be able to continue as a result of the accidental headbutt.

Rules of the fight stated judges were to score the incomplete eleventh round in addition to the first ten. Despite Dawson's plea for a few minutes more, judges awarded Pascal the decision by scores of 108-101, 106-103 and 106-103.

While the majority of the boxing world ate crow immediately following the fight, Dawson preferred sour grapes, as he complained about the quick stoppage while being interviewed by HBO's Larry Merchant. "Bad" Chad also offered up a variety of excuses following phrases like "I'm not gonna make any excuses, but..." and avoided questions regarding his lack of activity in most rounds. When asked what his immediate plans were, Dawson referenced the rematch clause in the fight contract.

Pascal expressed interest in a potential mega-fight in Montreal with popular super middleweight Lucien Bute after the fight, as well as a showdown with fellow light heavyweight titlist Tavoris Cloud, while seeming to bask in the glory of his upset win.

With Romanian-born Lucien Bute, Haitian Jean Pascal and UFC star Georges St. Pierre calling Montreal home, the city seems to have cornered the market on the 168-175 lb. portion of combat sports for the time being. And a Pascal-Bute scrap would mean fight fans of "La Belle Ville" would get to have their poutine, and eat it too.

HBO: Boxing After Dark 8/7/10 Recap

HBO delivered the goods from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Saturday evening, even if one half of the goods wasn't they guy they were expecting.

Two hard luck grinders lost decisions on the televised portion of the card, both by identical scores in fights that seemed to be closer than the cards indicated.

Opening the broadcast was a fun scrap between IBF light heavyweight titlist Tavoris Cloud and challenger Glen "The Road Warrior" Johnson. Coming into the bout, pundits had agreed that Johnson's best days were behind him and that Cloud's youth and activity would prove a hurdle for the veteran, but there lurked a suspicion that Johnson's will alone would offer a stern test to the young belt holder.

The undefeated Cloud greeted Johnson with a loud growl during the pre-fight instructions in the middle of the ring, at which Johnson would only smile.

Both fighters began the first round with busy jabs and a high pace. A busy pace turned into a bit of a skirmish by the middle of the round, with both guys trading, but not without skill. Cloud appeared to win most of the round on activity and clean body punching.

Johnson's trainer Orlando Cuellar called for jabs and body work from his fighter, perhaps to give Cloud a dose of his own medicine.

Both stuck to mostly 1-2's in the opening minute of the second round, before Cloud again began digging to the body and breaking through Johnson's high guard with thudding shots. Johnson wouldn't be outdone though, landing a variety of punches that made Cloud clinch. A hard right hand from Johnson sent Cloud to the ropes in the last minute, then a sharp right hand from Cloud seemed to stun Johnson at the end of the round.

Harold Lederman started out the third round by exclaiming "What a goddamned fight this is!" The fighters took turns leading and playing defense for about half of the round, followed by a brief attack by Johnson, who also closed the round out strong.

Johnson settled into a jabbing rhythm in the fourth round, smothering Cloud on the inside when the fight managed to get there. Cloud pounded his chest, but failed to get much work done in the first half of the round. Cloud came back to probably win the round with a number of hard counter right hands in the last minute, one of which rocked Johnson back on his heels.

Tavoris Cloud's corner went to work on a mouse under his left eye, the result of what was ruled an accidental headbutt.

The ebb and flow continued in the fifth, Cloud jabbing and winning the range battle, then Johnson stepping forward behind combinations and grinding away inside. Cloud landed the left hook well in the second minute of the round, then clearly wobbled Johnson with another hook, attacking and sending Johnson back to his corner on unsteady legs.

Cloud found a home for his looping right hand around Johnson's high guard in the sixth, banging away with hooks up and downstairs. Johnson answered back with a 30-second salvo, pushing Cloud back with hard shots. Johnson controlled the later part of the round with a hard jab, seeming to even out the score 3-3 in rounds halfway through the fight.

HBO's "Punch Zone" punch stats showed Glen Johnson doing well to Cloud's body, while much of Cloud's work was focused on Johnson's head.

Cloud elected to jab from a distance and land occasional straight rights to the body in the first minute of round seven, and Johnson jabbed back through the second. Johnson closed the distance a bit in the last minute, but let Cloud return fire at the end of the round.

Johnson seemed intent on outworking Cloud early in the eighth, until he walked into a big right hand from Cloud, who seized the opportunity to tee off on the older fighter. Johnson again refused to relent and battled back, moving the fight inside. Cloud landed more big shots at the end of the round, with Johnson looked tired after the bell.

The champion appeared to resume control early in the ninth, but shut down his offense and let Johnson go to work with shots that didn't seem to have much power on them, but counted as work.

Johnson went right back to work in the tenth, but Cloud picked up his pace and began landing heavy shots, backing Johnson up. The lack of steam on Johnson's punches may have lost him the round, though he managed to open up a cut over the already-swelled left eye of Cloud.

Again Cloud seemed to land the quality to Johnson's quantity in the eleventh round, forcing Johnson to fall forward and clinch. Cuellar and the rest of Johnson's corner implored him to dig deep and do more work towards the end of the round, but the man who knocked Roy Jones cold in 2004 simply couldn't muster up the punching power to affect Cloud.

Johnson came forward behind a good jab in the final round, looking to land a big right hand. Cloud's activity again dipped, though he was able to once more land harder and crisper shots, and seemed to buzz Johnson enough to make him hold at the end of the round.

All three judges scored the back-and-forth contest 116-112 for Tavoris Cloud, who retained his IBF belt, and may have earned the right to face the winner of next week's bout between light heavyweight emperor "Bad" Chad Dawson and talented former super middleweight Jean Pascal.

Cloud, who moved to 21-0 (18) with the win, praised his opponent in what wound up being a kind of two-way interview with HBO's Max Kellerman. Johnson, falling to 50-14-2 (34), argued that he won more rounds and deserved the decision, despite admittedly being hurt by Cloud early in the fight.

St. Louis-native, and unified light welterweight champion, Devon Alexander faced off against the seemingly average and solid Ukrainian contender Andriy Kotelnik.

The popular up-and-comer Alexander had found his name in boxing news a lot recently, namely for his calling out of fellow 140-lb. champ Timothy Bradley. Coming off a year-long layoff following a loss to WBA title-holder Amir Khan, Kotelnik was not expected to be able to deal with Alexander's talent in this matchup.

The 2000 Olympic silver medalist Kotelnik found success with a stiff jab early in the first round, even though Alexander was far busier. Kotelnik was able to pick off the majority of Alexander's pawing jabs and quick straight lefts throughout the round, landing a counter jab consistently. Alexander broke through with a few long lefts to the body later in the round, but had trouble landing flush punches.

Alexander stuck with a high output in the second round, but still found it difficult to land clean. Kotelnik landed a hard counter right hand over Alexander's lazy jab not long into the round, Alexander responded with more punches that were mostly blocked. Kotelnik landed a good left hook to Alexander's ear shortly thereafter, and Alexander responded by splitting Andriy's guard with a straight left. Kotelnik was able to block and jab effectively in the last minute, while Alexander's pace remained high.

Kotelnik showed impeccable timing early in the third, dodging most of Alexander's shots and interrupting his rhythm with a stiff lead right hand. Alexander again found it difficult to break through the guard of Kotelnik, but outworked him until later in the round when Kotelnik again found a home for his right hand as Alexander would stand still with a lazy guard.

Punch stats through 3 rounds saw punches landed as being almost even, while Alexander was throwing significantly more shots. HBO unofficial scorer Harold Lederman felt Alexander was winning the fight clearly, scoring the first 3 rounds for the young champion.

Round four was a "rinse and repeat" round, with Devon Alexander being clearly busier, but Kotelnik landing more consistently with what appeared to be the harder punches. Alexander also was cut over the right eye by what was later ruled as an accidental clash of heads.

Kotelnik followed a bit much in the early goings of round five, as Alexander was able to land decently to the body from a safe distance. Kotelnik still got work done with about a minute left in the round, using a good right hook and sweeping left to catch Alexander on his way out.

Round six began much more aggressively for Kotelnik, as he strafed Alexander with right hands to the body and cheek, following up with some hooks for good measure. Alexander did his best to slide away and keep Kotelnik off with shoeshine-like combinations, but took the harder shots throughout the round.

HBO's Punch Zone stats showed Alexander landing with more variety on Kotelnik, and Kotelnik outlanding Alexander to the head by a wide margin halfway through the fight.

Harold Lederman apparently disagreed that Kotelnik was landing consistently harder and at a more accurate rate, as he had scored the bout 5-1 for Alexander.

History kept on repeating itself in the seventh round. Devon Alexander continued to throw a lot of punches while landing few, and Kotelnik continued to time Alexander with jabs and right hands that rocked back the head of the undefeated young man. A;exander's handspeed and overall athleticism was clear, but he simply was not finding a consistent range to land clean punches.

Alexander was able to find sustained success in the middle of the eighth round, landing through Kotelnik's guard. Kotelnik responded in kind moments later with a hard right hand and left hook, and Alexander then answered with another flurry. Kotelnik finished the round strong with a right hand that appeared to buzz Alexander and caused him to hold at the end of the round.

Deja vu in round nine, with Kotelnik landing hard counter rights and left hooks that stopped Alexander in his tracks more than once in the round. Alexander's workrate is impressive, but his range is totally off and Kotelnik's defense is very effective against a guy not looking to land quality punches.

Alexander's trainer Kevin Cunningham showed concern for his fighter following the round, asking him not to engage much. On the contrary, Harold Lederman had only given Kotelnik one round in nine.

Kotelnik again snapped back Alexander's head with cleaner shots in between Alexander's many shots, mostly missed. Punch stats backed up claims of Kotelnik's dominance in the tenth round, outlanding his opponent by almost 2 to 1.

The champ Alexander dug deep to really let his hands go in the eleventh round, but got slammed with a number of right hands as he pulled back and left hooks inside. Alexander closed strong however, and managed to sink a few long left hands before the bell.

Despite fighting a spirited round, Alexander got beaten back by Kotelnik's punishing right hands through most of round twelve. He never stopped trying though, and finished the fight with hands raised.

In a bizarre occurrence, as mentioned before, all three judges scored the bout 116-112 for Devon Alexander, who climbed to 21-0 (13). Kotelnik, losing another questionable decision, fell to 31-4-1 (13) in a fight where he outlanded Alexander, and at a significantly higher percentage.

HBO judge Harold Lederman scored the bout even wider, giving Kotelnik only three rounds and very little credit.

In pertinent off-TV action, Cornelius "K9" Bundrage stopped St. Louis native Cory "The Next Generation" Spinks at 1:28 of the fifth round to claim the IBF light middleweight title.

ESPN2 Friday Night Fights Recap 8/6/10

Tonight from the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, ESPN2 attempted to showcase Colombian banger Breidis Prescott and young prospect Prenice Brewer. Things didn't go exactly as planned.

Following a 15-minute delay for the ever-important Legg Mason Tennis Classic, fans were treated to the last few words of what sounded like an interesting studio lead-in from Brian Kenny. But the world will never know.

At least we got to see David Nalbandian preach truth, his tennis racket a bullhorn of mullet-sporting excellence. Right? Gilles Simon didn't stand a chance in those colors.

The broadcast opened with a matchup between junior welterweights Patrick "El Elegante" Lopez and Prenice Brewer. The undefeated Brewer looked to take a step and try his confidence by fighting the tougher and more experienced Lopez.

The former Venezuelan Olympian Lopez attempted to inch close behind a hard jab and land long left hands from the southpaw stance early in round one, eventually finding Brewer in the corner with a barrage of body shots. The lankier Brewer went back to the center of the ring and began controlling the fight with quick jabs and straight rights, despite taking some hard right hooks and left hands to his ribs.

Brewer went back to his jab quickly in round two, Lopez following not far behind and really letting his hands go downstairs about a minute in. Lopez swarmed and landed thudding shots through Brewer's guard, visibly rattling him. Lopez couldn't miss in the last minute, gladly teeing off as Brewer stood in front of him with a high guard.

Lopez continued his assault in the third round, marching after Brewer as he tried to slide away. Lopez opened up with a sustained flurry as Brewer backed up to the ropes and played defense, which prompted referee John O'Brien to advise Brewer to fight back. Brewed pivoted away and threw a desperate right hand, only to be greeted by another of Lopez' frenzies, clearly giving up about halfway through, and seeming to sigh in disappointment after being stopped and falling to 15-1-1 (6).

The fight was officially stopped at 2:38 of the third round.

Patrick Lopez celebrated his move to 20-2 (12) with a sloppy but entertaining backflip.

Ring Magazine #10 heavyweight Chris "Nightmare" Arreola, not exactly known for holding back in interviews, had a candid (and expletive-free) video chat with Brian Kenny in between fights. According to Arreola, his lack of dedication to the sport hurt him in his losses to Vitali Klitschko and Tomasz Adamek, and he hasn't skimped on training for his upcoming fight on next week's Friday Night Fights broadcast against Manuel Quezada.

A four round lightweight swing bout between two former Chicago Golden Gloves champions, Russell Fiore and Mexico native Antonio Avila, kept the telecast rolling.

The courting period didn't lest long, with both guys trading right hands in the first minute of the round. Fiore forced the action, but wound up catching a big right hand that dropped him hard as he came forward. Looking clear and unhurt, Fiore was up almost immediately and went right back to pressing the fight. Avila seemed conscious of Fiore's punching power and backed up behind a jab, with Fiore never being far out of range.

Avila's jab worked well in the second round, leading him to catch Fiore with another right hand. Fiore inched closer behind his own stiff jab and began landing more consistently, occasionally finding Avila on the ropes before being smothered. The first minute of the third round had Avila landing hard left hooks and changing tactics a bit by upping his aggression. The change served him well as he rocked Fiore with another right hand and had him backing up with a mouse developing under his left eye. By round's end, Fiore's punching power had clearly diminished.

Fiore's corner called for a knockout prior to the fourth round, but watched as Fiore threw only a handful of shots in the first minute. Avila backed up and found himself in the middle of a mauling session from Fiore, before backing up and seeming to go defensive once more. Fiore caught Avila with a right hand as he pulled back behind a lazy jab with about 10 seconds left in the final round, but too little, too late for the win.

The crowd booed as scores of 38-36 for Avila and two cards of 37-37 were read. Chicago local Fiore's record went to 4-0-1 (4), while Avila's was 3-1-1 (1) after the bout.

Colombian slugger Breidis "Khanqueror" Prescott showed patience, if not a slightly boring outlook, in outpointing Dominican Harrison Cuello in the main event.

Prescott started banging away early as Cuello looked off-balance and squared up more often than not. A few looping right hands broke through Cuello's guard, but Prescott settled down and jabbed for much of the round. Cuello offered little in terms of offense outside of a pawing jab that didn't land much, and seemed shaken by a right hand near the end of the round to boot.

Cuello used his legs in the second round, again refusing to open up much. Prescott added a left hook that looked to be more of a push than a punch to his arsenal, but founds more success with his jab and hooks to the body. Cuello tried to clown and shimmy at Prescott's missed punches at the end of the round, apparently forgetting to throw punches somewhere in there.

Despite picking up his pace in the third round, Cuello had difficulty landing more than one shot at a time and found himself on the wrong end of some rough body shots. Cuello's jab temporarily kept Prescott at bay, but his luck seemed to run out intermittently through the round.

Cuello elected to go on the attack in the fourth round, having limited success with his jab and straight left, though Prescott would anticipate it and counter from time to time. Again showboating, Cuello shook off two hard rights to the body and caught Prescott off-balance with a left hand about halfway through the round. Prescott slithered away from the follow up and boxed his way to the end of the round.

Prescott slowed down and tried to turn it into a chess match in the fifth, with Cuello egging him on and goading him into a brawl. Prescott obliged, landing a series of body shots, and went back to outboxing Cuello before complaining of a hard headbutt. Cuello used it to his advantage, again teasing Prescott and closing the round strong.

With blood flowing from his mouth as a result of the headbutt, Prescott kept up his jab, also gave in to Cuello's request for more shots to the body, dodging most counters that came his way throughout round six. The smirk left Cuello's face as Prescott kept up his body attack, walking to his corner looking discouraged.

Little changed in the seventh, with Prescott keeping his distance and stepping in to land hard combinations when fairly safe. Both fighters stepped on the other's lead foot multiple times in the round, and Prescott added in an uppercut, snapping Cuello's head back twice. Action stayed slow and calculated in the eighth, Prescott again landing harder and more often.

After more deliberate caution early in the ninth, Prescott seemed to again rock Cuello with a few shots about a minute in, but stopped short of going for the kill when he realized Cuello wasn't very hurt. Just as Teddy Atlas alluded to a possible right hand injury for Prescott, he dropped Cuello with a hard 1-2, partially an issue with the fighters' lead feet. Prescott recognized that Cuello again all that wobbled and slowed back down, much to the annoyance of fans in attendance.

Prescott disengaged and was content with taking the tenth round off, well aware he was far ahead on the cards. Cuello tried in vain to force a fight in which he could land the one hard shot he needed, but had no success. Cuello raised his hands after the bout emphatically regardless.

All three judges scored the bout for Prescott, with scores of 98-91, 99-90 and 99-90. With the win Prescott climbs to 23-2 (19). The trialhorse Cuello fell to 19-13-3 (14).

UFC Fight Night on Versus Recap

"America's Finest City" played host to the UFC Fight Night on Versus 2 this evening, headlined by rising light heavyweight star Jon "Bones" Jones squaring off against veteran Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko.

Fans in attendance at the San Diego Sports Arena were treated to a fun night of knockouts, grotesque stoppages, and a sweet submission.

Starting out the telecast was a fight between former Pride Fighting Championships lightweight kingpin Takanori Gomi and five-time UFC "Fight of the Night" winner Tyson Griffin.

Gomi seemed the larger man from the outset, landing a few long bombs that literally moved Griffin. Griffin never had a chance to get rolling as just over a minute into the contest, Gomi landed a hard hook to the body followed by a glancing left and heavy right hook to the jaw that flattened Griffin. Gomi immediately jumped to Griffin's back to finish the fight when referee Jason Herzog stepped in to stop it at 1:04 of the first round.

A disappointed Tyson Griffin, who dropped to 14-4, protested the stoppage, but looked wobbled as he was helped up by his corner.

Gomi, dubbed "The Fireball Kid," promised bigger UFC wins in the future. The Japan native moved to 39-12 with the win.

Next up on the broadcast was a welterweight matchup between Jake Ellenberger and John "Doomsday" Howard.

The former NCAA Division II wrestler Ellenberger managed to pin Howard against the fence about :30 into the first round, where the two exchanged knees to the body and did some hand-fighting for position. Howard managed to worm his way out of a takedown before being reset in the middle of the octagon by ref Herb Dean. After a few missed shots, Ellenberger used a nice feint to scoop Howard to the mat, and used his top position to move Howard against the fence. Herb Dean called for both men to work, then stood the fighters up as some boos came from the crows with about a minute left. Ellenberger again used Howard's missed strikes to finagle a takedown and finished the round on top, despite not doing much damage.

Howard woke up and got started early in round two, landing a right head kick and a sweeping right hand that seemed to rock Ellenberger, who immediately put Howard on his back once more. Guillotine and triangle choke attempts were smothered by Ellenberger, and Howard ate some hard elbows before attempting more submissions. Howard's left eye swelled up badly, presumably from one of Ellenberger's elbows. Howard was able to exact revenge for a moment with a few punches that again had Ellenberger rocked, before being taken down again. Howard's eye was swollen almost completely shut at the end of the round.

Facing a stoppage loss, Howard tried to force his own by landing a big flying knee and furious combinations in the third. However Ellenberger took the fight back to his territory with another takedown and stepped up his ground 'n pound until Howard's eye swelled shut. Herb Dean stood both guys up and consulted the ringside physician, who advised Dean to stop the bout in the basis that Howard could no longer see. The former mixed martial artist Dean stopped the bout at 2:21 of the third round.

Ellenberger praised Howard's effort in his post-fight interview, admitting that one of Howard's shots did indeed hurt and surprise him, as he rose to 23-5. Howard's gutsy effort earned him his first loss in almost 3 years, his record becoming 14-5.

In a between-fights interview, Chael Sonnen dispensed with the niceties in promising to beat Anderson Silva at UFC 117 next weekend, effectively ending his career, as Sonnen claimed Dana White will fire Silva, and thus "The Spider" would be forced to retire.

Middleweights Mark Muñoz and Yushin Okami, both coming off of impressive wins in the UFC, delivered an entertaining tussle that had both men hitting the deck.

After out-striking Muñoz and controlling the distance in the early feeling out process, Okami stuffed a takedown attempt and let "The Philippine Wrecking Machine" Muñoz up and go back to work with his hands. Former NCAA wrestler Muñoz finally managed to take Okami down but was unable to keep the fight there, as Okami used submission attempts and good balance to get back to his feet. Muñoz bulled Okami to the fence and landed a series of hard knees to the body. A final takedown attempt at the end of the round by Muñoz fell victim to Okami's quick sprawl.

Okami showed off hand skills and a nice sprawl in the first 2 minutes of the second round. A big right hand sat Okami down, but Muñoz' follow up resulted in getting stuck in Okami's awkward scramble. Getting back to his feet and sensing urgency to finish the fight, Muñoz tried to force the issue but found mostly air with his loaded up shots and seemed to tire. A sluggish takedown led to Okami landing a number of hammerfists and wrap-around shots from his sprawl. Another takedown at the bell for Muñoz didn't quite get a chance to do much.

In attempting to trade in the third, Muñoz was caught by a big uppercut that appeared to stagger him. Another slow takedown was easily avoided by Okami, who tried to crack Muñoz on the way to his feet. Okami landed a few hard shots to the ribs of a clearly tiring Muñoz, who clinched immediately. After fending off a weak takedown attempt by Muñoz once more, Okami wobbled him with a whipping right hand. Another failed takedown later, Muñoz tried to make it a war by slugging it out and got the worse of it. Okami landed more shots from the sprawl for the last minute-plus, completely controlling the younger man.

Okami improved to 25-5 with a split decision win with two judges giving him a 29-28 score, while the third saw the bout for Muñoz, who fell to 8-2, by the same score.

In the main event, the lanky Jon Jones made quick work of the Belarusian Matyushenko, suggesting the young fighter's recent surge in popularity is well-deserved.

Jones, now 11-1, dominated the stand up before taking Matyushenko down with a trip. Jones managed to push off the beginning of an armbar attempt before working his way to a mounted crucific and slamming Matyushenko's temple with elbows, in a move slightly reminiscent of Gary Goodridge's famous demolition of Paul Herrera at UFC 8. Matyushenko didn't seem very hurt, however, but was unable to defend against Jones' lethal elbows. Referee Herb Dean stepped in to halt the bludgeoning at 1:52 of the first stanza.

The former IFL light heavyweight champion Matyushenko falls to 24-5 with the loss.

In televised swing bout action, Brazilian lightweight Charles Oliveira turned a big slam from opponent Darren Elkins into a nasty triangle attempt, and eventually an armbar submission victory moments later at :41 of the first round. Oliveira's record improved to 13-0 in his UFC debut, while Elkins went to 11-2.