ESPN2 Friday Night Fights 7/30

The broadcast began with a lead-in to Marquez-Diaz II, the rematch of a splendid scrap from February of last year. I'll have more on that later on.

First fight of the night saw highly-regarded prospect/contender Don George getting beaten down by an "opponent," Francisco Sierra, who improved to 22-3 (20).

Despite essentially being brought in to lose, Sierra reminded me of one of the many lanky, technique-deprived South American fighters that have scored upsets against the guys expected to win, like Breidis Prescott. Not so much in look, but record, stature and a dash of obscurity.

First round George, who fell to 20-1-1 (17), seemed to start well, but Sierra opened up and exposed George's lack of a solid guard. Both fighters are slow of hand and foot, and predictable, but George's defense is simply not very good. George seemed wobbled, but the replay showed it was actually a forearm that hurt him. The second round saw Sierra continue to land hard, looping shots from the outside, as a busted nose seemed to bother George. George also began holding more and more, drawing a warning from the ref for holding and hitting, as Sierra's confidence grew in the second.

George keeps blowing his nose - bad idea if it's broken.

George seemed to settle down a bit and land in the fifth round, but Sierra's punches were still harder and having more effect. Sierra just used more angles and a better variety of punches when George came forward, especially in the sixth. George fell from a combination of punches and exhaustion halfway through the round, and Sierra continued to bleed George slowly with thudding shots. Both men were covered in blood, literally. Teddy and Brian talking about the fight being stopped, and rightfully so. George fell once again at the end of the round, half punches, half no energy.

Interesting exchange in Don George's corner before the seventh round. George's trainer and father, Peter George, told his son "You need to start pressing this guy." Don replied "START pressing him? I've been!" True enough. He was just getting picked off by Sierra when he did come forward.

George was hurt early in the seventh once again, but clinched to stay upright. George's nose began gushing blood again less than a minute into the round, and he drew a second warning for hitting behind the head. Even Sierra's jab seemed to shake George at this point. George finally went down awkwardly with about 30 seconds left, and seemed to be hurt, off-balance and just plain done.

Just at or after the bell, Sierra landed a nasty one-two that literally collapsed George, which the referee Gary Ritter ruled as landing after the bell, thus giving George 5 minutes to continue. George couldn't continue, of course, so referee Ritter elected to have the round scored while taking 2 points from Sierra, reasoning that the final combination wasn't what actually ended the fight. Needless to say, Sierra won a technical decision with the scores 68-63, 69-62 and 69-62.

While the punches were indeed after the bell, it would have been unfortunate to see a guy with no clear way to win the fight actually get the nod due to a foul that didn't seem intentional. Gary Ritter made the right call, in my opinion, even though I don't agree that the combination in question didn't end the fight. Regardless, Sierra pounded through George for seven solid rounds and deserved something for his efforts.

The main event had Delvin Rodriguez losing a questionable majority decision to Ashley Theophane. Rodriguez' record dove to 25-5-2 (14) and 2-3 in his last 5, while Theophane's ledger improved to 27-4-1 (7).

The opening stanza began with Rodriguez landing a few chopping overhand rights, with some snappy jabs mixed in. Theophane's tricky movement had Rodriguez following a bit, but controlling the pace overall. Theophane challenged Rodriguez more in the second, jumping in and out with a jab, right hand, and holding and hitting the body inside. Rodriguez landed hard to the body in spots, but also missed a lot of hard throws upstairs.

Rodriguez opened up with a hard jab, a straighter right hand and sweeping hooks to the body and head in the third, adding an uppercut or two for good measure. Theophane again landed well to the body inside, but didn't get rolling until late in the round. In the fourth round, Rodriguez slowed the pace down a bit and relied on his jab to control distance, which seemed to give Theophane a chance to work and maneuver his way inside. Rodriguez received a warning for shots to the cup, before trading with Theophane late in the round.

Theophane showed a nice left hook and a few long, looping right hands over the first half of the fifth round. Rodriguez failed to land much more than some jabs and a few right hands to the body, and Theophane may have taken the round with effective shots from weird angles. Aggression and a hard jab was once again key for Rodriguez early in the sixth, as Theophane waited and took punches to the body. Delvin once again went hard to the body and stopped Theophane in his tracks with a wide right hand. Rodriguez resumed his dedication to the body in the seventh, as Theophane once again waited and was outworked early on. Halfway through the round, Theophane picked up the pace and landed another looping right, but missed a lot of punches and took a big right himself.

Both fighters exchanged a bit in the early goings of the eighth, with Rodriguez seeming to get the better of it, until oddly turning his back after missing a punch. Theophane was well served to throw a tight hook, once again, but Rodriguez went back to the body with hard hooks and a right hand inside. Theophane came forward and forced some give and take late in the round, largely taking the harder shots.

Theophane tried leading and backing Rodriguez up to begin the ninth, though Rodriguez didn't seem to have a big problem countering going backwards. Delvin went back to being the aggressor before too long, once again going hard to the body. The pace slowed considerably in the last minute, with Theophane stepping up the output very late.

Both fighters had success in the tenth, Rodriguez on the outside, Theophane inside. Rodriguez looked tired and weak about halfway through the round, wobbling a bit from glancing shots. Rodriguez worked hard, but had terrible balance and probably lost the round while looking worn.

The judges believed Ashley Theophane deserved the nod with scores of 95-95, 96-94 and 96-94. Punch stats suggested Rodriguez deserved the decision, throwing and landing significantly more.

I personally had Rodriguez winning 6 of the first 7 rounds.

While a few rounds were fairly close and may deserve a second look, Rodriguez simply worked more, landed harder shots and generally controlled the pace. Theophane's slightly awkward style was difficult to look good against, and he clearly showed to have a good chin, but I would find it difficult to find 4 clear rounds to give Theophane.

In off-TV action, regional trialhorse James "Brian" Cook was unlucky enough to be knocked out by an Andy Lee body punch twice in the same fight, the first being ruled a low blow by referee Gerald Ritter after a nice sell by Cook. A second legal left hand to the body put Cook down for the count in the fifth round.

Marquez-Diaz, Undercard Breakdowns

A rematch of Ring Magazine's 2009 Fight of the Year carries with it a much anticipated HBO PPV undercard, even if the main event seems to have lost a bit of luster from both men losing at higher weights since the first go 'round.

Sure-footed young contender Danny Jacobs puts his 0 on the line against likewise undefeated contender, Russian Dmitry Pirog. While both fighters' records may seem impressive, neither man has a signature, eye-opening win. Jacobs, 20-0 (17), and Pirog, 16-0 (13), have also both had the luxury of being slightly bigger than their higher profile opponents

As Jacobs and Pirog prefer to counter-punch and set a slower pace, this matchup may wind up being one of the slower fights of the evening. Jacobs, who has fought at super middleweight a couple of times, should prove to be the larger and more talented fighter, and I expect him to outwork Pirog over the distance. Look for Jacobs to work an uppercut as Pirog leans his head in while trying to work.

VERDICT: Daniel Jacobs UD

Rocky Juarez finds himself in another crossroads battle against comebacking Venezuelan marksman Jorge Linares. These guys are in uncharted territory, both weighing in at 132 lbs. or above for the first time in their careers. Whether or not that will have much of an effect remains to be seen.

Juarez is 1-3-1 in his last 5 fights, 28-6-1 (20) overall. Rocky is reportedly training like a hungry fighter and sensing a cloud of urgency rolling over what could be the twilight of his career. Likewise, Linares, 28-1 (18), seems to understand that this is another step on his path to proving his first round KO loss to Juan Carlos Salgado last October in Japan, was just a fluke.

A problem for Linares could be his chin if Juarez can connect, but Juarez seems to have trouble with fighters able to move and use angles on him, which is exactly what Linares prefers. The Venezuelan may have more punching power than his record indicates, but he's a stylist first and foremost. Past that, Rocky has lost momentum and looks to be on a quick downslide. I expect Rocky to bleed a bit before the late rounds.

VERDICT: Linares UD

In another interesting matchup, Robert "The Ghost" Guerrero takes on Cuban veteran Joel Casamayor. In another "weighty" first, Guerrero scaled in at 138.5 lbs., a good 3 lbs. heavier than he's ever come in. Both guys are a solid division or two removed of where they should be, though that may be impossible for Casamayor at 39-years old.

At 26-1-1 (18) and 2 No Decisions, Guerrero has had a few underwhelming performances lately, and Casamayor's guile has proven to be difficult for better fighters than Guerrero to deal with. Still, Joel Casamayor, 37-4-1 (22), has been fighting at the world class level since the 1980's, and while Guerrero may not be all that good, Casamayor has had 4 fights in the last 3 years, and has struggled in all of them. That should prove to be more important than the gap in experience and class, but the fight will get dirty sooner or later.

VERDICT: Guerrero UD

Watching the replay of the first fight multiple times in the last few days, the pace Diaz set in the first fight was somehow surprising. More surprising was that Marquez eventually dealt with it and overcame it with sharp, hard punches in the exchanges.

There have been suggestions that Juan Diaz, 35-3 (17), will slow the pace down and work more with his jab. However that's a pace that Marquez, 50-5-1 (37), would probably prefer, since over a year has passed between the first fight and now. Diaz may have his best chance if he once again forces a dogfight and a busy pace, as that was what troubled Marquez over the first 2/3 of the initial meeting, which had Marquez stunned in the first round, and wobbled in the second.

The problem with Diaz swarming once more is that it backfired before, as Marquez eventually zero'd in and got the better of exchanges in the last 2 or 3 rounds, landing at a higher percentage.

Intangibles coming into play are Marquez' age and the fights both men have lost since the first fight. Both Marquez and Diaz lost to bigger men, Marquez to a much better fighter in Floyd Mayweather Jr.; Diaz' 1-1 split with Paul Malignaggi could easily be 0-2. None of these fights seemed particularly damaging to either guy, and they don't factor in much in terms of style. But at 36, Marquez is bound to hit the age wall sooner rather than later.

At the end of the day, a KO win in the first fight is a great mental edge in what should be another close, difficult fight. They say class shows over time, and Marquez is simply the better fighter.

VERDICT: Marquez TKO8

ESPN2 Friday Night Fights 7/23

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.

Club Nokia 7/22

Surprisingly fun card on Fox Sports, despite having to listen to Oscar de la Hoya repeat "Yeah, uhh...so these guys are hungry. It's like, one guy can win, or he could lose, and then the other guy's tough too" while waiting for medical personnel to arrive at the venue.

What's sad is that Oscar actually had a point, apparently buried somewhere under all the convoluted bulljive he was forced to spew forth while wearing an extremely loud button-up shirt that would make Joe Goossen blush. These Club Nokia shows really have matched fighters ambitiously, if not dangerously.

The first scrap between Ramon Valadez and Oscar Andrade was highly entertaining. Even as Valadez looked to be out-gunned and out-sized early on, his pride wouldn't let him be taken out of the fight. There were a few spots of sustained trading, both guys dispensing with the defense and chucking away. Dougie Fischer kept referencing Erik Morales' style and overall look when talking about Andrade. Not sure if I see it much, but both guys should make for some fun bouts in the future, and both earned at least one more TV opportunity, in my opinion.

Nestor Rocha's blowout of Benji Garcia was forgettable. Rocha looked like he was at least a division bigger than Garcia by fight time, and Garcia's scrappy nature couldn't overcome that disparity, though it should be noted that there was also a significant class and skill gap.

Gary Russel Jr. overwhelmed Mauricio Pastrana and walked through him. Not much more is needed in terms of description. I wasn't even aware Pastrana was still fighting until I'd heard about this fight. The guy has been around a long time - he upset Michael Carbajal at flyweight in 1997. This loss makes it 5 in a row for Pastrana.

The last two swing bouts that made their way onto the broadcast were interesting, if nothing else. A young prospect named David Morales had his way with a funny character named John Willoughby. Morales smothered Willoughby a bit, knocked him down in the first as he was squared up, and overcame a bit of an awkward style disruption in the third round to take a unanimous decision.

The second swing bout featured San Diego's Angel Estrada displaying a very professional and mature style, especially for a prospect with only 5 fights in as many years, in generally outdoing scrappy journeyman Raul Tovar. Estrada showed good head movement, versatility and a cerebral approach during the short bout. The 23-year old with a degree in psychology could be a kid to look out for.

The Weight

Sports that are divided into weight classes tend to have two things in common: fewer massive athletes at the head of the class, and weight cutting - often to the point of physiological detriment.

The effects of drastic weight loss on fighters in particular have been pondered at least since the 1960’s, when Emile Griffith and Nino Benvenuti saw their rematch at Shea Stadium delayed by one day because of rain. Old school pundits questioned whether or not both fighters would be able to make weight a second time, as both fighters were to be re-weighed, sticking to the “same day weigh-in” procedure of old.

In an anti-climactic turn for the purposes of this article, both fighters made weight, delivered an entertaining rematch [and rubbermatch] and sailed into the proverbial sunset with a Ring Magazine Fight of the Year honor for their first meeting.

But the occasional chatter became a full fledged conversation, and took on a decidedly darker tone in the early 1980’s.

What should have been a showcase for a young, good-looking kid from Youngstown, Ohio in 1982, became the stone dropped into the pond, sending ripples through the sport with such force that its effects are still felt today.


It didn’t take long for sanctioning organizations to begin shortening title fights following Duk Koo Kim’s death, blaming the frightful beating handed to him by Ray Mancini on the then-current championship round system. Subtracting 3 rounds from the established maximum of 15 likely seemed a logical fix in the wake of such tragedy. Fewer rounds meant fewer punches for a fighter to take, right?

What is rumored to have been the final straw is a canceled light heavyweight title bout between Michael Spinks and Eddie Mustafa Muhammad in July of 1983, less than a year after Kim’s passing. Muhammad seemed unrepentant when speaking to media after failing to make weight for the bout, and the folks who lost money on the heavily-promoted match weren’t happy.

As a result, sanctioning organizations drifted away from same-day weigh-ins and began having fighters step on the scale the day before fights, presumably to allow more time to re-hydrate, within a matter of a few years.

Instead of encouraging fighters to remain at their more “natural” weights and stay hydrated, the extra day seems to have cleared the way for guys more willing and able to cut serious weight, to gain a significant competitive edge.

In perhaps the most famous recent “weight” incident, Joey Gamache filed a suit in 2006 against Arturo Gatti, alleging Gatti breached their fight contract by falsely representing his fight night weight and gaining almost 20 lbs. overnight. Gamache reportedly suffers severe migraines stemming from the 2000 bout, which sent him to the hospital for two days.

Not to be outdone, from Floyd Mayweather to Diego Corrales, or Jose Luis Castillo to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., several smaller incidents have stung the sport over the last handful of years. The weight drama trifecta of Nate Campbell, Ali Funeka and Joan Guzman could write a grocery store pamphlet on how not to make the contracted limit.

According to a study conducted by a team of researchers from the UK working on the International Journal of Sports Medicine, dehydration directly affects the way the human brain is able to absorb a blow to the head. The brain of a dehydrated boxer, for example, “will travel further within the cranium before it meets the skull,” and “accelerate to higher velocities” within the skull, say researchers, making the brain more susceptible to contusions and other injuries.

In other words, fighters killing themselves on stationary bikes in the sauna, while wearing rubber weight loss suits, flirt with the idea of their grey matter adopting more pinball-like qualities than those not struggling to make weight.

In addition to the apparent effects of rapid weight loss on fighters inside the ring, many argue that the day-before weigh-in process has literally changed the way fights are negotiated and made.

According to the executive director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Keith Kizer, “It’s actually becoming part of the matchmaking process, with some people not wanting to fight a certain fighter because he’s known to put on extra weight before the weigh-in. Or sometimes they’ll agree to a fight because they know the opponent will come in depleted.”

While catchweights and odd weight limits weren’t exactly introduced yesterday, the sport has recently seen a number of fighters targeting opponents known to have issues making weight.

In a highly criticized move, Manny Pacquiao demanded Miguel Cotto fight him under the 147 lb. limit in 2009, and subsequently demanded Cotto’s
WBO belt be put on the line, despite promises to the media that they would only ask for the catchweight without the title up for grabs. Additionally, Cotto moved up yet another weight division immediately after losing to Pacquiao.

Unfortunately, as boxing fans have learned the hard way time and again, real change in the sport generally will not come unless someone’s pocketbook takes a serious hit, or when tragedy bores its way into the consciousness of the sport.

While the WBC organization had already begun conducting an investigation into the neurological effects of rounds 13, 14 and 15 by the time Mancini vs. Kim took place in 1982, it wasn’t until shortly after Spinks and Muhammad’s botched rematch in 1983 that the WBC shortened the length of their title fights from 15 rounds to 12. The canceled bout lost the organization a good deal of money.

Further, just as television networks seem to stand behind many decisions made in the sport today, rumors swirled about the sport, suggesting that networks such as CBS, NBC and ABC were pressuring sanctioning organizations to shorten fights because 15 rounds of action exceeded the 1-hour time slots networks allotted. Cutting a full 17 minutes off a broadcast meant more time for other programming, thus more money.

To be fair, the investigation the WBC conducted eventually led to fighters competing for their belts receiving mandatory electroencephalograms (EEG’s), as well as mandatory standing eight counts for fighters who have been knocked down, neither of which seem harmful.

Whether change stems from greed or concern, weight fluctuation of 15 lbs. in less than a day being common among world class fighter is not a healthy system. It’s not safe for average, healthy folks who don’t have to take punishment for 12 rounds, and much less so for fighters who do.

As TV networks seemingly control the sport and are capable of effectively changing its direction, a move back to 15 rounds, right or wrong, is not likely. But the same-day weigh-in system may serve to prevent fighters from attempting to dry out as much as they currently do.

An inevitable byproduct of same-day weigh-in’s would be a short period of adjustment, which would likely see a few fights scrapped last minute because one guy couldn’t make weight. But we also get that already.

A welcome side effect could potentially be that we get to see world class fighters competing at their absolute best, rather than a zombie’d doppelganger struggling to balance weight desperately lost, and weight frantically gained.

It’s time to show more interest in fighters’ health than simply watching as it’s beaten from their bodies.






***Notes:

- Duk Koo Kim was not a stranger to weight issues, and supposedly lost a great deal of poundage prior to the Mancini bout. According to a number of stories, Kim also left a prophetic note in his hotel room which read “Kill or be killed.”

- Eddie Mustafa Muhammad also had a history of trouble making weight before the proposed Spinks rematch, and admitted himself in interviews years later that he fought Renaldo Snipes at heavyweight in 1981for that specific reason.

- The Head of the Washington D.C. Boxing and Wrestling Commission at the time of the canceled Muhammad-Spinks bout in 1983, Cora Wilds (later Cora Masters Barry), would be convicted of defrauding the city in 1987, and was accused by the Muhammad camp of tampering with the weigh-in scales that Wilds herself provided. In addition, there were reports that the one and only Bert Sugar attempted to weigh a 3 lb. bag of flour on the scales, only for the arrows to read “5 lbs.”