30.5.09

Berto vs. Urango: Round by Round

HBO discusses the fight for a bit before the fighters make their way to the ring. Urango comes out first.  Berto of course follows.  

Urango gets introduced first.  He is 21-1-1 with 16 KOs.  Berto is 24-0 with 19 KOs.

This fight is for Berto's WBC welterweight title. And here we go!

Round 1
Berto throws the jab first and shows his hand speed with a flurry. Berto sticks the right hand and gets out of the way. Urango is fighting very hunched over. Berto lands a hook to the body. Berto keeps the jab coming. He tries to catch Urango coming in but misses with the right hand. They clash heads while coming in. Berto paws at his face. He's using some great movement.  

Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto

Round 2
Berto lands the left-right combo, followed by a right uppercut. He tries it again but it gets blocked this time. Berto throws two wide right hooks - one lands. Berto is headhunting. Urango tries to land but Berto's speed is giving him problems. Berto lands a couple of great hooks.  

Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto

Round 3
Urango tries to turn up the aggression, but he's not landing much. Berto paws the jab. Berto throws the right hand but it's off target. Berto sticks the jab and they tie up. There has been an awful lot of clinching tonight. They clinch again... and again. Berto lands a great punch and Urango goes down. The ref calls it a slip. Berto smells blood and starts swinging. Urango makes it out of the round.

Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto

Round 4
The replay shows that it was indeed a slip. Berto lands two punches and ties up. It's hard to tell who's doing the holding. Berto lands a great right hand. Urango starts throwing wildly. Now the two start fighting. Berto lands a right hand but ties up. Berto gets hit and knocked off balance. Urango lands a body shot and Berto ties up. Berto lands a right-left combo. Urango lands a body shot.  

Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto

Round 5
Berto lands a great flurry. Urango goes to the body. Berto lands a huge left hand. Berto is putting everything he has behind these punches. Berto lands another left-right combo and ducks out of the way of Urango's counter. Urango lands a left. Berto lands a right hand now. They go back to holding again. Berto throws a right uppercut that lands. Urango tries to throw the overhand right but misses.  

Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto

Round 6
Berto throws the jab. Berto is dodging all of Urango's power shots. Urango lands a body hook. Berto gets Urango against the ropes and throws some big shots. Berto lands a straight right hand. Now Berto unleashes a vicious combo that hurts Urango. Berto is punishing Urango, though he lands his own right hand before the bell. Good round for Berto.

Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto

Round 7
Berto lands a left hook that twists Urango. Berto gets backed into the corner and he clinches to get out of trouble. Berto lands a right uppercut. Berto catches Urango coming in with a big right hand. Berto lands another lightning-fast combo. Berto throws a right hook that lands upstairs. Urango is barely touching Berto.  

Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto

Round 8
Berto punches and slips as usual. Urango still can't find Berto. Berto gets backed in the corner but ties up to get out of trouble. Urango lands a left hook and Berto beats his chest. The ref tells Berto to stop holding. Berto lands a left hand and Urango swings and misses.  

Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto

Round 9
Berto is on his way to winning a perfect fight. Uatu states that this fight is quite boring. I would agree. Berto circles Urango now. Urango can't find him, but Berto isn't doing much himself. The crowd starts to boo. Berto continues to circle. Berto sticks and moves. The crowd really starts to boo now. I want to give Urango this round just because Berto is barely doing anything, but Urango hasn't done much of value either.

Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto

Round 10
Berto gets backed into the corner, but Urango doesn't do anything. Berto throws one punch and clinches. Berto hasn't thrown a punch for about 15 seconds now. Berto lands a right hand upstairs now. He lands a shot to the body and clinches again. Now Berto lands the most meaningful punches of the round: two right hands that didn't hurt Urango. Berto is wasting his talent right now. Berto lands another right hand. Urango swings and misses with two right hands.

Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto

Round 11
They touch gloves in the center of the ring. Now Berto starts to let his hands go. He throws a couple great combos. Berto lands a right hand. Berto keeps talking to Urango but I have no idea what he's saying. Commentator Bob Papa says that he's talking to Max Kellerman. Berto lands a couple of left hands.  

Spartan117: 10-9  Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto

Round 12
Hopefully these dudes bring some action to the last round. Berto throws his typical fast left-right combo. Urango lands a few body shots and lands one to the head. Urango goes to the body again. Berto lands a left hand. Berto throws a right hand that sends him off-balance. Urango goes to the body again with a series of shots.  

Spartan117: 10-9 Berto
Uatu: 10-9 Berto

Spartan117: 120-108 Berto
Uatu: 120-108 Berto

The judges score the bout 117-111, 118-110 and 118-110, all for the winner by unanimous decision... and still WBC welterweight titleholder... Andre Berto.


Posted by spartan117

Angulo vs. Cintron: Round by Round

The fight between Alfredo Angulo and Kermit Cintron is at 154 pounds.  The HBO broadcast started with a feature on the life of Angulo.  

Cintron is in the ring first, Angulo follows.  Cintron is 30-2-1 with 27 KOs while Angulo is 15-0 with 12 KOs.  

Round 1
Cintron starts the attack first.  He sticks Angulo with a good jab.  The fighters feel each other out and as they try to establish the jab.  Cintron lands a hook to the body.  Cintron looks good.  Angulo lands a straight to the body and Cintron comes back with a left hook upstairs.  Cintron lands a great hook to the body and straight to the head and Angulo counters with a right hook.  Angulo picks up the pace.  Angulo lands a right hook that backs up Cintron.  

Spartan117: 10-9 Cintron
Uatu: 10-9 Cintron

Round 2
Cintron starts with the jab.  Cintron lands a left-right to the body.  Cintron sticks the jab again.  Cintron throws a hard right hook that gets blocked well by Angulo.  Angulo misses with the wide right hand.  Angulo lands a jab.  Cintron uses some good body movement to dodge Angulo's power shots.  Angulo now lands a big right hand.  

Spartan117: 10-9 Angulo
Uatu: 10-9 Cintron

Round 3
Cintron lands a big right hand in the first 30 seconds.  He follows with another left hook.  Cintron gets warned for pushing with his elbow.  Cintron lands a fast flurry.  Cintron lands a great right hand.  Cintron lands a right uppercut followed by a straight left.  Cintron lands a great combo with a huge left hand that knocks Angulo off balance.  This has been a great round for Cintron.  Cintron lands a big left hand to end the round.

Spartan117: 10-9 Cintron
Uatu: 10-9 Cintron

Round 4
Cintron lands a jab.  Cintron shows his accuracy again with a left-right combo.  Cintron gets warned for a low blow.  It was definitely accidental.  Cintron is landing at will.  Cintron lands a right hand to the ear and Angulo is hurt.  Cintron tried to load up the right hand but Angulo makes it out.  Cintron is rocking Angulo with power punches.  Cintron gets backed against the ropes and ties up.  Cintron lands another huge right hand.  Cintron looks amazing.  

Spartan117: 10-9 Cintron
Uatu: 10-9 Cintron

Round 5
Angulo lands a left to the chest of Cintron.  Angulo lands a left hand.  Cintron lands a right to the body.  Angulo lands a right hook.  Cintron counters with a brilliant right hand.  Cintron is using great movement which is giving Angulo problems.  Angulo is carying his left hand below his waist.  Cintron lands a left uppercut.  Cintron looks to be trying to land a counter right.  

Spartan117: 10-9 Angulo
Uatu: 10-9 Angulo

Round 6
Angulo lands a right hand but Cintron comes back with a counter right.  Angulo lands a right hand.  Cintron goes to the body.  Commentator Lennox Lewis says that Angulo looks tired.  Cintron lands a right-left combo that rocks Angulo.  Cintron lands a right hand and a great left hand.  Angulo counters with a left.  Good round for Cintron

Spartan117: 10-9 Cintron
Uatu: 10-9 Cintron

Round 7
Cintron lands a right to the body and a left upstairs.  The ref tells him to keep his punches up but I didn't see any foul play.  Cintron lands a stiff jab.  Cintron lands a great combo.  Now he lands a shot below the belt.  The ref warns him again.  Cintron lands 2 more great right hands.  Angulo switches to southpaw.  Cintron uses more movement to slip Angulo's punches.  Cintron now gets tagged with some right hands from Angulo while he is backed against the ropes.

Spartan117: 10-9 Cintron
Uatu: 10-9 Cintron

Round 8
Cintron starts off with a big right hand.  Angulo stays with being the aggressor but Cintron has been countering well.  Now Angulo backs Cintron up and lands a left hook.  Angulo seems to feel the pressure of being down on the cards and turns up the offense.  Angulo lands a right hand on the chin of Cintron.  Cintron comes back and lands 2 punches on the inside.  Cintron lands a left hand.  The ref stops the action to fix some loose tape on the glove of Angulo.  Tough round to score.

Spartan117: 10-9 Angulo
Uatu: 10-9 Angulo

Round 9
Angulo lands a left upstairs.  Cintron lands a great right hand.  Cintron throws an overhand right but misses.  Cintron throws 2 uppercuts to the body.  Angulo tries to throw some punches to the body.  Cintron sticks the jab and dodges a hook from Angulo.  Cintron loads up the right hand that lands.  Angulo keeps coming forward.  Cintron lands a hard left hook.  Cintron really looks great.

Spartan117: 10-9 Cintron
Uatu: 10-9 Cintron

Round 10
Angulo goes back to the jab.  Cintron lands a right hook.  It looks like Cintron may have been fading but he throws a great flurry that lands.  Cintron keeps the jabs coming.  Cintron lands a right hand.  Angulo's corner told him that he needs a knockout to win.  Cintron lands a wide left hook.  Cintron grazes a right hand.  Cintron lands a right uppercut now.  Angulo switches back to southpaw.  Angulo turns up the punch output and throws some strong combos to the head. 

Spartan117: 10-9 Angulo
Uatu: 10-9 Angulo

Round 11
Cintron keeps throwing the jab, keeping Angulo back.  Angulo lands a left but Cintron counters with the stronger shot.  Cintron lands a left-right combo.  Cintron looks a bit winded now.  Angulo lands a left hand.  Angulo lands a left.  Angulo is looking better now but I think it may be too late.  Cintron still moving well to get out of the way of Angulo's power shots.  Angulo is visibly bothered.

Spartan117: 10-9 Cintron
Uatu: 10-9 Angulo

Round 12
Angulo's corner stresses the importance of a knockout.  Cintron lands a great left hook.  Cintron lands a left but Angulo lands a stronger right.  Angulo swings for the fences.  Angulo throws a few to the body.  Cintron throws the jab.  Angulo lands a great right hand.  This has been a good round for Angulo.  Cintron gets warned for holding.  Cintron is really tired.  Angulo lands a big combo.  Cintron needs to hold on.  Cintron comes back with a right hand.  Now a left.  Angulo swings away.  

Spartan117: 10-9 Angulo
Uatu: 10-9 Angulo

Spartan117: 116-112 Cintron
Uatu: 115-113 Cintron

All 3 Judges score the bout 116-112 all in favor of Kermit Cintron

Cintron says you have to believe in yourself and he proved that he can box tonight.  He says he needs to work on some things but he'll be better in his next fight.  Cintron calls himself the future.

Live Andre Berto-Juan Urango and Alfredo Angulo-Kermit Cintron Round By Round Updates Tonight

There's some drama here at BoxingWatchers.com as we get ready for another night of boxing on HBO at 9:45 Eastern time tonight.

Will Spartan117 get his cable and internets hooked up at his new place in time to chronicle the action? Or will one of the other BoxingWatchers have to step up in the clutch?

Since Andre Berto is the headliner and is one of Spartan's favorite boxers, we hope it works out for him. If not, someone else will be doing live round by round updates here for all of the unfortunate souls who aren't able to watch Berto face Juan Urango and Alfredo Angulo collide with Kermit Cintron tonight.

Look for new posts with running recaps out on the main page as the fights happen.

Posted by The Franchise

29.5.09

Predictions: Berto vs. Urango, Angulo vs. Cintron

The Franchise says...

Whatever you think of Andre Berto, whether you think he's one of the top welterweights in the world or you feel he still has a long way to go, this much is undeniable: if he keeps winning, he'll eventually work his way into the big fights.

To me, the important thing to remember is that he's only 25. All he can do is keep honing his defense, maybe add a few wrinkles to an already-impressive offense, and the rest will fall into place.

That's if he keeps winning, of course, and he'll have to work to make sure he does that Saturday against Juan Urango. The Colombian is no pushover, and he's a southpaw like Luis Collazo, who gave Berto all he could handle earlier this year.

He's also coming up in weight, and that's where I think Berto may have a distinct edge. Andre has already shown he has the chin to stand up to some big shots at 147, but can Juan say the same?

Both men can be hit, so this should have its share of action. Urango has never been knocked out - his only loss is by decision to Ricky Hatton - but I'm going to show some faith and say Berto wins by late stoppage.

On the undercard and one division further up is another young fighter who may be even closer to becoming a breakout star, Alfredo Angulo. The explosive Mexican is also undefeated and has never had a fight scheduled for eight or more rounds that didn't end with him winning by knockout.

He's got an interesting foe in the form of Kermit Cintron, who has power and athleticism but seems to be stuck at a level just short of the top talents he's faced. The Killer hasn't looked too impressive since his second KO loss to Antonio Margarito in April 2008, and he was extremely fortunate to escape with a draw against Sergio martinez last time out.

We may learn something about Angulo if he gets caught by anything clean, because Cintron can crack. But of course Perro can do that too, and he's faster and more relentless.

I hate picking against Cintron since he's from a town not far from where the BoxingWatchers grew up, but I can't see him derailing Angulo's train to stardom. I like Angulo to win by mid to late-round TKO.

Bonus pick: What if they held a heavyweight title fight and no one cared? Well, not no one, I suppose someone in Helsinki will be watching as Ruslan Chagaev and Nikolai Valuev scrap for the WBA heavyweight belt.

I'm not spending too much time thinking about this one either, so my pick is Valuev to retain by decision. Yawn.

Uatu says...

Well, he starts off by saying that he isn't terribly excited for this main event. No need to go out on any limbs today. I like Berto by comfortable decision, a win by a large margin - maybe 10 rounds to two. He may not be able to knock down Urango, and I don't like Urango's chances to land a big punch of any kind throughout.

I would like to see Cintron thrive as well. He still only has two losses, and they are both to a guy suspended for cheating. Not saying Margarito cheated in his fights, but you would be crazy not to think that it is at least possible. On the other hand, maybe Margarito would have steamrolled Cintron either way with superior punching, conditioning and experience. We will never know. A huge "what if" for boxing fans, and imagine how Kermit must feel. Have to pick against him based on his last fight, but hoping for the best for him. Angulo by KO.

Posted by The Franchise

26.5.09

More on Dawson-Johnson II and a Possible Title Fight for Tavoris Cloud

Courtesy of the Tallahassee Democrat comes another report that HBO has approved Glen Johnson as an opponent for Chad Dawson, setting up a rematch between the two men as the likely next fight for both.

Where does that leave Tallahassee's own Tavoris Cloud, who's been the number one contender for Dawson's IBF light heavyweight belt since knocking out Julio Gonzalez nine months ago? Possibly in better shape for a title shot, as the Democrat speculates that the IBF may strip Dawson of his gold. That would leave Cloud and former titleholder Clinton Woods to fight for the belt.

If you haven't seen Cloud in action, he's a treat to watch. He uses a very aggressive pressure style and swings for the fences on darn near every punch. I haven't seen enough of him to formulate an opinion on his overall skill set, but he's definitely exciting.

Woods owns two wins of his own over Gonzalez, though both were decisions and the second was relatively close. He has a big edge in experience against top flight competition (including Roy Jones Jr, Antonio Tarver and three fights with Johnson), but he's 37 and is likely to have his hands full with the younger Cloud.

Posted by The Franchise

20-20 Hindsight Holiday Edition: Thoughts on Upcoming Fights and the Riddle of Andre Berto

Hopefully all American BW readers are finishing up a pleasant Memorial Day weekend. I personally find it to be one of the more meaningful U.S. holidays, as it commemorates the sacrifices made by the men and women who died defending our country - and though neither died in action, both of my grandfathers served, and I think of them both on this day.

With no big fight to look back on, I'm looking ahead to several fights either recently announced or in the works, most of which come courtesy of ESPN's Dan Rafael and the holiday edition of his notebook:

Zab Judah vs. Matthew Hatton - July 18 (on Floyd Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez PPV undercard) - Though Zab (or whoever masquerades as Zab) Twittered not that long ago that he'd be facing Randall Bailey, he's ended up instead with Matthew Hatton, younger brother of Ricky Hatton.

Though no one will confuse Matt with his older sibling, he's fought more times in the U.S. than the Hitman had at a similar career point and has acquitted himself fairly well. He doesn't have a ton of power (just 14 KOs in 37 career wins), and one suspects he'll come up short in the hand speed department against Judah too.

The question with Zab, as always, is which version of him we'll get. If he's in good shape and his head is screwed on straight, he should win. Those are no guarantees, so this is a semi-intriguing undercard scrap.

Timothy Bradley vs. Joan Guzman - August or September - Bradley puts his 140-pound WBO belt on the line against Guzman, who's fought mostly at 130 pounds but has had trouble making weight even at 135 (as Nate Campbell can attest) and has been talking about continuing to move up.

Though Bradley keeps finding ways to win, this may be a tough defense as Guzman has a lot of skills. I'll even go out on a slight limb and say he may prove to have more power as he moves up a la JMM, as both guys now seem like they just killed themselves a little too long trying to make lower weights.

An interesting sidenote is that Rafael mentions that Bradley didn't want to face Devon Alexander, which is unfortunate as that had the makings of a good fight. The WBC title is now vacant as a result, and Alexander will take on Junior Witter for that one on July 11 as part of the Vic Darchinyan-Joseph Agbeko undercard.

Chad Dawson vs. Glen Johnson II - Fall - For the record, I scored the first fight between these two gentlemen one point closer than the official cards. But I still thought Dawson won, and I don't agree with Johnson or some fans I heard from who felt like he was robbed.

Close fight? Absolutely. Miscarriage of justice? Uh, no.

That being said, it's ironic that Dawson and his team weren't interested in a rematch until his two unexciting victories over Antonio Tarver suddenly made this into his most lucrative option. Boxing is funny that way sometimes.

There are easier ways to earn a living than going 12 rounds with Johnson, that's for sure.

Tomasz Adamek vs. Bernard Hopkins - Early 2010? - B-Hop continues to amaze, and Adamek is limited though definitely powerful and tough as nails. So perhaps this is right in Bernard's wheelhouse.

It's worth noting, though, that Hopkins will be 45 by the time this fight rolls around if it really is headed for the first part of 2010, and he'll have been off for over a year at that point (Adamek will fight someone this July 10). Not even the Executioner can fight off Father Time forever.

Ultimately, this quote from Rafael sums up the reason for this fight perfectly:

"Adamek and Hopkins seem to need each other at this point to produce their biggest payday."



Switching gears to someone who is definitely fighting this coming Saturday, I wanted to recommend Eric Raskin's recent examination of Andre Berto on The Ring Blog. His main theme is that there are people who feel Berto is overrated and others who think he is underrated, and Raskin decides he leans toward the latter camp.

Andre certainly has become a polarizing figure among boxing fans, and his critics seem to have gathered renewed strength after he went life-and-death with Luis Collazo in January - as if that was something that should shame him somehow.

Berto tells Raskin that he is anxious to get back to knocking people out. And it is nice to hear boxers express a desire to entertain as well as win.

But I find myself agreeing most with the author when he asks exactly what Berto's detractors are expecting. Yes he hasn't fought tons of tough opponents, but he's young and has been a pro for less than five years.

His defense has holes, though as Manny Pacquiao has shown, those can be patched up even later in one's career. He might not be ready for the Shane Mosleys and the Miguel Cottos of the world right this second, but it's not hard to see him at that level by, say, 2011.

As a frame of reference, BoxRec.com has Berto ranked fourth among welterweights, behind Mosley, Antonio Margarito and Cotto but ahead of the likes of Joshua Clottey, Sebastian Lujuan, Alfonso Gomez, Isaac Hlatshwayo and Judah. With the exception of maybe Clottey, that seems about right to me.

Posted by The Franchise

21.5.09

Franchise Thoughts: Floyd Mayweather Jr. and His Many Contradictions, Plus More

Last March, as Floyd Mayweather Jr. was getting set for his starring role in the WWE's WrestleMania 24, the wrestling site I write for wanted someone to do a piece explaining to non-boxing fans why having Money participate was a big deal.

To give my article more credibility, I sought out some help from two respected boxing journalists: Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports and Dougie Fischer, then of MaxBoxing and now with ringtv.com. I appreciated their perspective on what made Floyd a great fighter, but I was even more interested in their insights into his character.

Their opinions couldn't have been more different. Iole felt Mayweather was basically a good guy who played the villain to help hype his fights. Fischer said just the opposite, calling Floyd an egomaniac (among other things) who could only hide it for brief periods before his true nature came to the forefront.

In the 14 months since, we've seen Mayweather retire and announce his return to the sport. And we're no closer to really figuring him out than we were before.

Is he a stand-up guy who says things to get a rise out of people because it's good for business? Or is he a jerk who occasionally can play nice with others for the same reason?

It might be easier to decipher the truth if Mayweather ever stuck to his guns for more than a few days at a time, but he's been busy churning out contradictory statements since he's returned to the sport.

As soon as he announced he was back, Floyd said all the right things about wanting to fight the best opponents he could face. BoxingScene.com even reported that he gave a hit list of targets to Golden Boy that included the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley and Victor Ortiz. An impressive list, to be sure.

Yet Mayweather has already made comments that suggest he has little intention of following such an ambitious schedule. He scoffed at the idea of facing Mosley in his recent interview with ESPN's Brian Kenny, stating that Sugar Shane already had five losses and wasn't a pay-per-view draw.

He left himself a little wiggle room to avoid facing Pacquiao down the road by bringing up his differences with Bob Arum. Oh yeah, Cotto is promoted by Arum too, so if that fight never gets made, Money doesn't even need to think up a new excuse.

Unlike many observers, I actually believe that Floyd wants to fight "all the top guys." It's just that he has his own personal definition of who those guys are, and that that definition, like most things Mayweather, is subject to change.

And on and on it goes. Mayweather wants full credit for defeating Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton but sees nothing impressive about Pac-Man doing the same thing. He praises Larry Merchant after finally winning over boxing's most famous curmudgeon but chides Kenny for not knowing anything because he "never laced up the gloves."

Floyd flaunts his dough but is rumored to be coming out of retirement due to tax problems. His self-centered image doesn't jibe with stories of him quietly giving back to his community.

Here's what I know: Mayweather is an awesome boxer, someone I count (along with Pacquiao and Bernard Hopkins) as no worse than top three pound-for-pound over the last decade or so.

He's also grown increasingly savvy about how to sell himself. Once he figured out that his talent wasn't always going to speak for itself, he went all-in to become a star.

Thanks to his constant stream of contrary statements, anything else I think I know about Floyd is just guesswork. I'm pretty sure that's by design.

Thinking back, maybe Mayweather's seemingly odd dalliance with the WWE made perfect sense. In pro wrestling, after all, it's sometimes difficult to determine where the character ends and the real person begins.

Until he demonstrates some consistency, that is and will remain a perfect description of Floyd Mayweather Jr.

LAST TEN SECONDS

Quick reactions to some non-Mayweather news...

Roy Jones will take on Jeff Lacy on August 4. This seems like a great case of two guys who really are perfect for each other, as Roy needs semi-credible opponents to keep fighting and Lacy could use the name recognition of a victory to get one more shot at the big time.

As an added bonus, we can stop hearing "Roy vs. MMA fighter" stories for a while. Unless he decides to fight Kimbo Slice, that is...

Also from Dan Rafael of ESPN.com comes word that Vernon Forrest has been stripped of his WBC title, which now goes to Sergio Martinez. I do feel bad for The Viper, but this spares us from having to watch Forrest and Martinez fight each other, which I think would have been dreadful.

The more interesting nugget in that story is that HBO is trying to pair Martinez with Paul Williams, as I'd definitely enjoy watching The Punisher pound the silly smirk off of Sergio's face.

Posted by The Franchise

20.5.09

Pretty Boy Floyd Money Mayweather Makes the ESPN Rounds

Yesterday, I caught Floyd Mayweather Jr. on ESPNEWS where he spent the entire segment in his "bad guy" mode being combative and argumentative with the ESPNEWS anchor, whose name I did not catch.

I must admit, I found the entire segment extremely entertaining. There are many, many people who might have been turned off by Floyd's extreme confidence, but it didn't really bother me.

Floyd came on to hype up his fight with Juan Manuel Marquez, and in his defense, the anchor spent most of the time cutting Floyd off and trying to get him to answer questions about Manny Pacquiao instead of JMM. Not surprisingly, Floyd was having none of it, and answered however he wanted regardless of the question.

Today, it looks like Floyd was on ESPN again, of course to hype the fight with JMM, but this time being questioned by the always reliable Brian Kenny. A report will follow.

Mayweather Interview with Brian Kenny - Pt. I

BK started by saying that they missed Floyd, the former pound-for-pound No.1.

Floyd said he is not the former No. 1 P4P, but is still the current since he has never been beat. Floyd insulted BK by saying he never laced up gloves and he doesn't know anything about boxing. Then he said it again, that BK knows nothing about boxing.

Why come back?

PBF said why not? He's the cash cow, and everyone knows what he brings.

Has Floyd drawn as much as Oscar De La Hoya? Isn't Oscar the cash cow?

PBF said Oscar was on pay-per-view a million times. PBF then said BK was a man of many traits and a master of nothing.

PBF or Manny more impressive against Oscar and Hatton?

PBF goes with himself, of course. Oscar was at his true weight and 10 oz. gloves against Floyd. Mayweather knocked Hatton out with 10 oz. gloves. And he is focused on JMM, and would focus on Manny if he was in front of him.

BK says that was only part I, and part II gets even nastier. A report will follow.

The teaser during commercials from BK said that Floyd didn't want to hear about Manny, and he really didn't want to hear about Sugar Shane Mosley.

PART II

JMM is excellent but he's a lightweight. Why pick a non-welter?

PBF gets agitated. Here we go again, he says, I was waiting for you to ask this. BK says he got full credit for both Hatton and the Oscar fight. PBF says BK is not giving him his chance to speak. Why is he too big for JMM but not Manny?

PBF asks, hasn't Manny been KO'd twice. BK says like a decade ago at lower weights. Who has beaten Floyd, Floyd asks? No one, BK concedes.

Why not Mosley, who is a champ in his weight class right now?

PBF says he doesn't fight for bragging rights. He adds that Mosley has five losses already. And nobody beats Floyd. He also says that Mosley is not a PPV attraction.

BK asks if Mosley isn't a bigger PPV attraction than JMM?

Floyd says JMM has a whole country behind him. PBF says Manny could get it, but he does have a problem with Arum.

Floyd asks where was Manny back in '95? BK says he is a whole new fighter. Floyd says JMM beat Manny both times and BK knows it.

The whole interview unedited is 13 minutes and is on ESPN SportsCenter and BK's radio show website.

Posted by uatu

18.5.09

20-20 Hindsight: After Beating Miranda, How Does Ward Measure Up Against the Best at 168?

Consider it a first test passed.

If you were waiting for Andre Ward to start to fulfill some of his promise - and if you were, you weren't alone - you had to like what you saw Saturday. Ward won a convincing decision against a pretty rough customer in Edison Miranda and even overcame a little adversity (an early cut) to pull it off.

True, I think we can safely say that Miranda isn't a world-beater by now, and may actually be morphing into a gatekeeper of sorts. But at the very least, his power posed a threat to a young fighter thought to have a questionable chin.

Ward was able to stand and trade effectively and a lot more often than I would have figured going in. He also switched stances numerous times, and while we often debate amongst ourselves here at BW how much that helps, it really seemed to befuddle Miranda.

It may not have been a star-making performance on its own, but the win answered some questions. Most importantly, it quelled my fears that he'd be a slightly lighter Chad Dawson - skilled but somewhat boring.

Saturday's victory also kept Ward moving up in what is suddenly a very interesting super middleweight division. How does S.O.G. stack up against the top guys at 168? Glad you asked.

Might as well start with the alphabet champs...

Carl Froch: It appears Ward may get a shot at The Cobra before anyone else. There's little doubt in my mind that Andre has the edge in athleticism and talent, but Froch probably has more power. And as we saw when he beat Jermain Taylor, you have to put him away when you have a chance, and Ward wasn't able to do that against Miranda.

Lucian Bute: Despite Bute's undefeated record, I like Ward if this fight is ever made. I'm not sure there's anything that Bute does that Ward doesn't do a little better. He is a southpaw and has a lot of KOs on his record, but his power doesn't seem like the type that would worry Andre.

Mikkel Kessler: Now here's someone Ward might not be ready to face just yet. Kessler hasn't been heard from on American TV since his relatively close loss to Joe Calzaghe, and it's doubtful he'd be matching up with Ward any time soon. But that's just as well, because Mikkel can really box and has some pop too.

Karoly Balzsay: He's... okay, I have to admit I don't know anything about this guy. It hardly matters, as Balzsay rarely ventures out of Germany and has an August bout already lined up. Let's move on.

And since the guys with the gold aren't the only interesting names in the division...

Librado Andrade: If Ward isn't ready for a title shot, here's a possible opponent to consider. His straightforward style would make for some action, though I think Ward would handle him barring getting caught with something big. You'd think this fight would sell in the Golden State, as Andrade lives in California.

Andre Dirrell: To me it just feels right that two young American fighters with the same first name in the same division would end up as rivals someday. The Matrix is still looking for the kind of affirming fight that Ward just had with Miranda. Down the road, though, who knows?

Jermain Taylor: I haven't read that he's retiring, so I have to assume Taylor is sticking around for now. It's worth remembering that he was on his way to beating Froch on the cards before his late fade. His name value (for now anyway) could make him an attractive opponent for Ward, and he'd be a different kind of test.

Posted by The Franchise

16.5.09

Ward v. Miranda: Round by Round

Miranda, the challenger, comes to the ring first.  Ward, the hometown favorite, now comes to the ring.  The crowd is really cheering him on.  It doesn't sound like there is one Edison Miranda fan in attendance tonight.

Round 1
Ward starts off first and throws his jab.  Miranda is looking cautious and he looks to be on the defensive.  The ref separates the fighters.  There is a cut on the forehead of Ward from an accidental headbutt.  Miranda lands a right hand.  Ward goes to the body.  The cut on Ward's face looks bad.  It has to be pouring into his eye.  Ward keeps coming forward and has landed some great power-left hands.  

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 2
Ward's corner man says that the cut is small and it can be stopped easily.  Miranda goes on the offensive now and throws combos to the head.  Miranda lands 2 right hands.  Neither fighter is showing great defense.  The cut opens up again over the eye of Ward.  Miranda lands a low blow but it goes unnoticed to the ref.  Miranda loads up the right hand.  Both fighters are trading power shots.  Miranda is landing the better shots.  Very entertaining round.

Spartan117: 10-9 Miranda

Round 3
Ward goes back to work with his jab.  Miranda throws his jab too and also lands a left hook.  There's not much upper body movement from Miranda.  Miranda gets warned for using his head.  Miranda is throwing nothing but power punches after a single jab.  Ward switches back to southpaw after standing in orthodox momentarily.  Ward has been dodging Miranda's punches well.  Ward lands a combo to the head and body.  Miranda waves him in.  Ward lands a great left hand right before the bell.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 4
Miranda comes forward with his jab.  Ward backpedals.  Miranda goes to work to the body.  Miranda lands a big right hand.  Ward gets caught in the corner and Miranda closes in.  Ward lands 2 punches to the body.  Ward throws a great combo upstairs and Miranda answers with nothing.  Ward's left hand is being kept well below his waist.  Ward lands a huge left hand to the body.  He takes it well.  Now Ward keeps both of hands low, taunting Miranda.  Another good round for Ward.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 5
Ward starts out with a hard left hand.  Miranda is taking a good bit of punishment but he is taking it well.  Miranda is throwing nothing but jabs and straights, looking very 1-dimensional.  Ward's work rate is great and is winning him this rounds.  Miranda is getting rocked now.  The crowd is on their feet.  Miranda stumbles.  His legs don't look like they are under him yet.  Ward lets him off the hook by not throwing much.  Ward's hands are at his sides again.  Miranda takes more punishment against the ropes but beats his chest at the bell.  

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 6
Miranda comes forward and throws a few lunging jabs.  He's clearly looking to land a big shot.  Miranda is throwing more in this round.  Ward is dodging his punches quite well.  Miranda lands a nice counterpunch to the head.  Ward takes it well.  They trade punches in close quarters.  Ward is landing the better shots.  Miranda wiffs with a wild right hand.  Ward counters well with a left.  Miranda lands 2 great right hands in the last minute.  There's some swelling on the left eye of Ward.  A better round for Miranda but I still give it to Ward.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 7
Miranda lands another big right hand to start the round.  Ward lands a wide left hand.  Miranda comes forward, throwing his right hand but Ward is able to dodge well.  Ward misses another wide hand.  Miranda lowers his work rate again and Ward lets him have it.  He lands 2 beautiful left hooks.  Miranda is stalking Ward around the ring with his right hand cocked but never throws.  Ward wins another one.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 8
Miranda measures with the right hand again.  They trade punches on the inside again.  Neither fighter is landing any meaningful shots.  Ward lands a big left hook.  Again, they trade punches on the inside with Miranda in the corner.  They haven't moved in the last minute.  They just keep swinging away while on the inside.  It's hard to tell who's landing the better punches.  Miranda goes back to looking for the knockout punch.  Ward can see it coming and dodges every time.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 9
Miranda stalks Ward again with his right hand.  Ward unleashes a combo to the head of Miranda.  Ward is bullying Miranda on the inside.  Miranda finally gets a right hand in.  Miranda lands a right uppercut.  Ward drills him with another left hand.  Ward lands the best combo of the night.  Miranda looks beaten and tired.  Ward lands another great combo.  Miranda tries to land another power punch before the bell but misses.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 10
Ward smells blood and comes out swinging.  Miranda gets desperate and comes out doing the same thing.  Wards lands a fantastic left hand but Miranda walks through it.  Ward lands a left-right combo.  Miranda throws a big overhand right and misses as usual.  Ward lands another power punch with ease.  Ward gets a straight left hand through the gloves of Miranda.  Miranda keeps coming forward.  Ward goes down but it's clearly from a slip.  Miranda can't handle Ward's lateral movement.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 11
Ward comes out in the southpaw stance which he has had great success.  Ward gets a combo through the gloves of Miranda.  Ward lands another left hand.  And now another left hand.  Miranda looks horrible and is getting embarrassed tonight.  Ward can see Miranda's right hand coming from a mile away.  Ward lands a couple of jabs.  Ward wins yet another round.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

Round 12
Miranda sees the urgency and comes out swinging.  Ward is dodging and countering very well.  Ward swings away and lands 2 great combos to Miranda's head.  Miranda comes forward hard but Ward is using great movement and defense.  Ward winds up his left hand.  Miranda gets embarrassed and becomes the new Ricardo Mayorga.

Spartan117: 10-9 Ward

The judges score the bout 119-109, 119-109 and 116-112 all for the winner by unanimous decision Andre Ward.

Spartan117: 119-109 Ward

Ward says that he wasn't too pleased with his performance and he would have liked to stop Miranda and he needs to go back to watch the tape.  He says he's ready to be the mandatory for Carl Froch.  

Miranda v. Ward: Undercard LiveBlog

Tonight's fight between Edison Miranda and Andre Ward has a one-fight undercard.  John Molina takes on Frankie Archuleta in the Junior Lightweight division.  Molina is 16-0 with 12 KOs while Archuletta is 25-6-1 with 14 KOs.  

Archuleta comes out throwing to begin the fight.  Molina is the clear favorite.  Many think that this fight won't go past 5.  Molina comes back and is doing a great job landing to the body.  Archuleta is swinging wide hooks to the head with little success.  Molina has a good jab.  

Molina came out strong in the second round and landed bombs to the head of Archuleta.  Archuleta goes down.  He makes it up but the ref says that he's had enough.  Not a bad stoppage.  Archuleta couldn't have done anything else.

Live Andre Ward-Edison Miranda Round By Round Updates Tonight

Former Olympic gold medalist Andre Ward could take his biggest step yet toward stardom tonight on Showtime. Or he could get KTFO by trash-talking slugger Edison Miranda.

The beauty of boxing is that we won't know until they actually start trading punches. If you aren't able to watch them do that, you can follow along with our Spartan117 as he provides round by round updates on our main page.

The action begins with John Molina in an undercard fight at 9 pm Eastern.

Posted by The Franchise

15.5.09

Friday Night Fights: Kevin Johnson vs. Devin Vargas

ESPN2 brings us a very interesting heavyweight fight between two undefeated gentlemen.

This fight is coming live from Harrah's in the marina of Atlantic City. This is an interesting location, at least to me, because for those who have not been to AC, the marina is not on the boardwalk, but is in the aforementioned marina. The marina is actually a short drive from the boardwalk, but much too far to walk.

The boardwalk is where the Hall is, as well as the Taj Mahal and Caesar's, where big fights of the past and present have been. The marina has only three casinos to the boardwalk's approximately 10-12, but it is where the "cool" people go. The most luxurious and popular casino is the Borgata, which is in the marina, and there have been some small cards from there, but to the best of my knowledge, this is the first televised fight from Harrah's recently.

This is a long-winded digression about the changing face of AC. Perhaps more televised or prevalent bouts will go to the marina, as opposed to the boardwalk.

Anyway, round by round scores of the main event will follow.

The fight is scheduled for 10 rounds.

Teddy Atlas's Fight Game pre-fight segment is amazing. I wish HBO did more of this: actually breaking down fight strategies and styles. Showtime does this with Al Bernstein.

Round 1
Uatu: Vargas 10-9
Vargas was aggressive in the beginning. He came forward. Both men kept a tight, high guard and blocked many of the shots. Vargas stayed a lot busier. no major punches landed.

Round 2
Uatu: Johnson 10-9
The fighters traded punches in the first minute. Both men were throwing hard and going for it. Kevin got a nice short hook in with the left. Most of Vargas' punches are getting blocked. Johnson does a good job of playing the ropes and staying out of trouble. Vargas tries quick lead hooks and uppercuts but they always get blocked.

Round 3
Uatu: Johnson 10-8
Vargas came out firing. Atlas mentioned the way Johnson uses the ropes to take steam off of the punches. I bet the the aggression looked good to the judges. Vargas stayed in Johnson's face up against the ropes. Decent counter right from Johnson. Four hooks from Johnson. Big right from Johnson - he may have stolen the round. Down goes Vargas at the bell!

Round 4
Uatu: Johnson 10-9
Punches exchanged. Johnson throwing his right more often and harder than I have ever seen from him. He has more snap than Vargas. Vargas keeps trying but Johnson knows how to cover up and dodge. Joe Tessitore announced that Vargas had been complaining of ear problems. Vargas stayed aggressive, but somewhat ineffectively. Some good and bad both ways, but I will go with Johnson again in this round.

Round 5
Uatu: Johnson 10-8
Nice lead hook from kevin. Atlas has it 2-2 with the 10-8 round giving Johnson the lead. Johnson did more of the stalking this round. Vargas has thrown a bunch of uppercuts but I swear not one has landed. Johnson pounded Vargas up against the ropes with a few hooks, and down he goes again! He spit out the mouthpiece and bought a few seconds. These knockdowns aren't from one-punch thunder shots like Manny-Hatton, Vargas just doesn't seem to know what to do after taking a few hard ones in succession.

Round 6
Uatu:
Vargas said between rounds that he can't hear out of his right ear. This round Johnson stayed in Vargas' face up against the ropes. Vargas lost the mouthpiece again, never a good sign. Vargas then pressed Johnson to the ropes, but Johnson looked to get the better of it. Then they switched positions again. With 44 seconds to go, Johnson wobbled Vargas nicely and he stumbled across the ring to the ropes. He managed to stay on his feet, took a couple more punches and the towel was thrown in by Vargas' corner!

Your winner by stoppage TKO in Round 6... Kevin "The Kingpin" Johnson!

Johnson looked much more like a sturdy pro fighter. Vargas moved and threw more in the amateur style, and Johnson took the fight over. Vargas looked very disappointed after the fight.

No post-fight interview in the ring, so that's it from me.

Posted by uatu

14.5.09

Andre Ward vs. Edison Miranda: Predictions

The Franchise says...

Other than two superstars facing off against each other, Saturday's super middleweight fight between Andre Ward and Edison Miranda is the kind I like best: a young fighter trying to make the jump from prospect to contender gets a stiff test from a dangerous veteran.

And make no mistake, Miranda is dangerous. The powerful but somewhat wild Colombian was thought of as a potential middleweight champion until two years ago when he was knocked out by Kelly Pavlik.

He still has only three career losses (that one to Pavlik and two to Arthur Abraham), and even though it seem like he's been around for a while, he's only 28. If Miranda lands a solid one on the relatively untested chin of his foe, it could be lights out.

It also feels like Ward should have progressed further since his 2004 Olympic gold medal, but he's been handled cautiously and had to take a few months off several times due to nagging injuries. There's no question that he has a lot of tools, but he hasn't fought anyone yet who's made him put them all into use.

Andre went the distance his last time out, so we know he can go 12 rounds if necessary. That's important because I think his boxing skills favor him in a longer fight, and despite his edge in experience, Miranda has only fought 12 rounds twice in his career.

It does worry me a bit when I see Ward quoted saying he wants to win in spectacular fashion, because getting into a firefight with Miranda may not be such a wise idea. Certainly you'd expect that Ward will have to weather a storm at some point, probably in the early rounds.

This pick is being made largely on faith, and I wouldn't bet the house on it, but I like Ward to emerge with a hard-earned but unanimous decision.

Uatu says...

The skills will pay the bills. I believe Ward will win on points, and I also have the sad feeling that he may bore us in doing so. I hope not, but with his somewhat shaky chin in the past and his recovery from injuries, I see Ward trying his best to stay out of the fray.

Ward by decision.

Spartan117 says...

Call me crazy but I like Miranda's chances in this fight.  His 3 major losses are from 2 of the top fighters in their respective classes.  Ward's chin will be tested tonight.  If he can take the punishment then he'll be able to out-point Miranda but I think Miranda's strength will take him to a late stoppage victory.

Miranda by late stoppage.

Posted by The Franchise

12.5.09

Paulie Malignaggi as Little Mac?

Short post.

I was watching ESPN today when the new "Punch Out" commercial for the updated version of the old Nintendo boxing game came on, and I am almost 100% sure that in the fake mockumentary style commercial that the Magic Man Paulie Malignaggi is playing the part of Little Mac. Paulie does a great job and it's a funny commercial.

Check it out at www.punchoutcomeback.com.

Posted by uatu

11.5.09

20-20 Hindsight: Will the Real Chad Dawson Please Stand Up? And Please Roy, Knock It Off

Saturday's rematch between Chad Dawson and Antonio Tarver was better than the first one, even if that's not saying too much. It was also a perfect example of why I call these Monday posts 20-20 Hindsight, because people seem to be jumping off the Chad Dawson bandwagon in a hurry.

You may recall that after the first Dawson-Tarver bout, just about everyone was breathless in their praise for Bad Chad. Floyd Mayweather Jr. gushed that he was the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, and HBO decided they had to have him on their network.

Now? Well, let's just say the enthusiasm has been dampened a bit.

Failing to excite tends to do that. Dawson obviously has some physical gifts and definitely looks the part. That only makes what we just saw so puzzling.

He clearly had much faster hands and seemed to have more pop on his punches, especially with jabs, than Tarver. He mixed up his body and head work well and showed his usual defensive savvy most of the time.

But even though he looks like he could fight all night, Dawson took some rounds off when he seemed tired. He also didn't show much sense for when to go for the kill on occasions when he stunned Tarver, and on the rare times he came out of his defensive shell, he got tagged by some pretty good shots by an older, slower foe.

The HBO crew (and Emanuel Steward in particular) did a nice job framing Dawson's performance in the context of a more determined effort by Tarver. And admittedly, no one except the Magic Man and his crew had any doubts that Chad won the fight.

Still, the questions are valid. Is Dawson really the next big thing, as observers were claiming after the first fight? Or is he, as one of the announcers (I believe Max Kellerman) put it this time, "a B-plus fighter in a C division?"

My brother Uatu text messaged me after the fight with these negatives: fights scared, lacks some power, lacks chin and stamina. It's hard to argue with those, though Dawson is only 26 and has time to improve.

The lack of KO power and a killer instinct are what worry me the most. Add in that Dawson is soft-spoken, isn't a self-promoter and doesn't have an especially compelling personal story and there's a lot of work left to be done to turn him into a big star.

ELSEWHERE...

I almost feel bad for talking about Roy Jones Jr. and his desire to fight MMA champ Anderson Silva, because now Roy's quest to cross-pollinate the sports has become the story that wouldn't die.

First he tried to get Silva, then Nick Diaz in the boxing ring. Since that hasn't worked, he's now trying - apparently with a straight face - to take one of them on in a cage.

Dana White said no, probably with an f-bomb added for emphasis, and Strikeforce, perhaps remembering what happened to EliteXC when it went the circus route (ahem, Kimbo Slice), also seems uninterested.

Given how he's pressed the issue so far, though, we probably haven't heard the last of this. And people are still writing about Jones, debating the merits of seeing him in an MMA-style bout.

Roy is a grown man and it's not for me to tell him how to make money. If he wants to continue to try to lure someone into a boxing match, I can understand it. Depending on who it is, I may even pay to watch it.

Doing it the other way is just a bad idea, plain and simple. Either the rules will have to be changed to make it a kickboxing match - which strikes me as somewhat pointless - or Jones will be done as soon as he gets taken to the ground.

There's a good chance both boxing and MMA could come out looking foolish, and that's not something I'd care to see happen.

Posted by The Franchise

9.5.09

Chad Dawson vs. Antonio Tarver II: Round By Round

Tonight's HBO broadcast features the rematch between Chad Dawson and Antonio Tarver live from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. First up is a replay of the Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton fight - all two rounds of it - from last Saturday.

The 26-year old Dawson won the first fight easily, claiming the IBF and IBO light heavyweight belts. His record now stands at 27-0 with 17 KOs.

Tarver is now 40 years old but has a well deserved reputation for performing better in rematches, having avenged losses to Roy Jones Jr., Glen Johnson and Eric Harding over the course of his career. He is 27-5 with 19 KOs.

Jim Lampley, Emanuel Steward and Max Kellerman are the announce team tonight, and they discuss Manny's win, the Floyd Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez fight and the possibility of Manny and Floyd facing off. Kellerman says if they meet, it will be the most historically significant fight since Pernell Whitaker and Julio Cesar Chavez met in 1993.

As for tonight's business at hand, Steward says Dawson will have to be better tonight than he was the first time because Tarver will be better prepared. Kellerman thinks Dawson will want to impress fans and observers as well as win the fight.

A nice video package shows Dawson with his family, including his wife and three kids.

The tale of the tape shows the two fighters are almost identical in height, reach and weight. The 14-year age difference is the only thing that stands out.

Tarver comes out first in what is for him a fairly subdued walk to the ring. Dawson enters second, and not surprisingly - the first fight was said to have sold under 1,000 tickets - it sounds pretty dead in the arena.

Michael Buffer handles the introductions and we're all set to go.

Round 1

Both fighters come out testing their jabs. Dawson doubles up on his. Nice three-punch combo by Dawson. He connects with a right hook. Dawson tries body shots with both hands. Now Tarver comes forward and misses some clubbing left hands. Dawson's hand speed is giving Tarver some pause early on. Chad evades a combination from Tarver. Antonio tries a four-punch combo that mostly misses.

Franchise: 10-9 Dawson
Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round 2

Tarver backs away from a big left hand. Jabs fly both ways. Both of these guys are just good enough defensively to make things a little boring. Dawson backs Tarver into the ropes and peppers some body shots. Dawson's jab has some snap to it. More body work by Chad. Quick left upstairs by Tarver; Dawson answers with his own. Tarver is blocking a lot of punches with his arms. Dawson gets a warning for hitting after the bell.

Franchise: 10-9 Dawson
Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round 3

Antonio tries a little more aggression to start this frame. Dawson scores with a right-left combo in the center of the ring. Chad tries a body-head attack. Tarver flurries but Dawson blocks most of it. Chad goes into a shell as Tarver switches to an orthodox stance. Tarver's punches don't have much steam behind them, but he is outworking Dawson for the time being. Chad seemed to take the second half of that round off.

Franchise: 10-9 Tarver
Uatu: 10-9 Tarver

Round 4

Dawson comes out swinging for the fences. He throws a nice four-punch combo and gets one or two through. Tarver tries some weak jabs. He lands a decent left hand to the head while following up. Dawson shrugs off a left hook and comes forward. They stand and trade and Chad gets the best of it. Dawson lands a sharp left over the top. Now Chad goes downstairs in the corner. Tarver lands a few good punches of his own before the bell.

Franchise: 10-9 Dawson
Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round 5

Chad storms out of the gate again, but Tarver weathers it and comes forward. Dawson eats a pretty strong left during an exchange. Antonio clubs a right hand from in close. They tie up a couple times and Tarver scores coming out. Dawson covers up as Antonio flurries. Nice uppercut inside by Dawson. Right hook by Dawson as he has Tarver backed against the ropes. That was better than any round from their first fight.

Franchise: 10-9 Dawson
Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round 6

Tarver misses with a big left. Dawson digs in and unleashes along the ropes. Tarver appears he may be trying to draw him in. Chad goes left to the head and right to the body. Tarver covers up so Dawson goes to the body multiple times. Right hook by Tarver is answered immediately. Dawson ducks his way out of trouble in the corner.

Franchise: 10-9 Dawson
Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round 7

Dawson's corner tells him not to forget his jab. He delivers a series of sharp jabs. Both men may be a little bloody around the mouth. More jabs from Dawson and a left to the body. Body shots crash home from Dawson, and Tarver can't find any openings in this round. Chad smothers Antonio along the ropes. Tarver lands a couple of nice left hands as they trade in the center of the ring.

Franchise: 10-9 Dawson
Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round 8

Tarver has a little more pep in his step, but Dawson stands his ground and throws combinations right back. They lean on each other until the ref intervenes. Jabs again from both fighters. More wrestling slows down the pace. Dawson backs away and avoids some left hands, then goes to the body. Tarver shoots a left hand up top off his jab. Not too much of real importance landed in that round.

Franchise: 10-9 Dawson
Uatu: 10-9 Tarver

Round 9

Dawson immediately goes to work with body and head shots. Chad scores with a right hook in the corner, but Tarver tries to come back with left hands. Kellerman doesn't think Dawson is doing anything to entice Joe Calzaghe or Bernard Hopkins into a future fight. Right hook from Dawson. Chad fires uppercuts and one may have found the mark.

Franchise: 10-9 Dawson
Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round 10

Good footwork is on display as Dawson evades for the first 30 seconds. Tarver tries to walk him down but can't find the mark. Dawson strikes with triple jabs. Dawson eats a left and walks away. Tarver throws a bunch of jabs but can't follow with anything. Dawson throws a right hook and flurries to the body. Both men score in the closing seconds but nothing huge.

Franchise: 10-9 Tarver
Uatu: 10-9 Dawson

Round 11

Dawson shows more fire to start this round. Tarver backs him off and he runs in a circle. Tarver stalks and has trouble scoring. Dawson is warned for a low shot as he flurries. Nice quick right by Chad. Tarver lands a series of jabs and a left uppercut. Chad misses a big right and Tarver is right back on him. They stand and trade for a bit in the center.

Franchise: 10-9 Tarver
Uatu: 10-9 Tarver

Round 12

We'll see if either boxer really lays it all on the line in the final round. Dawson is going for broke early on. Tarver holds on and starts throwing back. Kellerman thinks a knockdown by Antonio could make the scores interesting. Chad throws two shots and covers up. Tarver tries to flurry but Dawson charges through it. There's 45 seconds to go and Dawson ties up. Tarver flurries and tries to work his left hand free. Antonio tries to steal the round in the last 10 seconds. We'll go to the scorecards.

Franchise: 10-9 Tarver
Uatu: 10-9 Tarver

Franchise and Uatu score it 116-112 for Dawson.

The judges score it 116-112 and 117-111 twice, all for the winner... and still IBF light heavyweight champion... "Bad" Chad Dawson.

Dawson says he felt a little out of his element and gives Tarver credit for throwing him off his game a bit. He sounds like he wasn't expecting Tarver to push the fight to him as much.

Chad ducks the Glen Johnson question from Kellerman just a bit. Asked about fading in the second half of fights, Dawson says he needs to watch the tapes to find out what's happening.

Live Dawson-Tarver II Round By Round Updates Tonight

Here at BoxingWatchers.com, our name describes what we like to do. Sometimes that means watching the sweet science even when it looks like it may get a little sour.

Tonight's rematch between Chad Dawson and Antonio Tarver doesn't look particularly promising given the way Dawson dominated the first time and the fact that Tarver isn't getting any younger.

Still, Tarver has proven crafty in rematches. And it's boxing. So you never know.

If you can't or don't want to watch the fight on HBO tonight, we'll be hoping for a good bout and doing live round by round updates out on the front page. Also I have a hunch there will be a spectacular early KO in the Pacquiao-Hatton fight HBO is showing first. Oh, that already happened? Then never mind!

Joking aside, check out the round by round post starting at roughly 10 pm Eastern tonight and refresh at your convenience for the latest.

Posted by The Franchise

8.5.09

Friday Night Fights Report - May 8, 2009

I have some things to do tonight, but I will keep my eye on FNF in case anything interesting goes down.

Tonight's FNF brings us Brian Vera against Craig McEwen in the main event from Fort Worth, Texas.

Teddy Atlas made some opening remarks about the similarities between McEwen and Andy Lee.

Vera beat the at-the-time undefeated prospect Andy Lee on FNF, and Lee has not been very visible since. Lee actually knocked Vera down in Round 1 of that fight. Lee is 2-0 since that fight, but both fights have been back in Ireland, and as far as I know, not televised here. Lee is more than just your usual prospect, and is a very talented fighter. Vera will try to defeat McEwen as he did Lee.

Back in the studio, Brian Kenny reports that the Kelly Pavlik-Sergio Mora fight has been postponed due to staph infections.

Bernard Hopkins is in the studio. B-Hop was in the Ricky Hatton locker room following his fight with Manny Pacquiao. Ricky did not know a half-hour after the fight what he had been hit with and was asking Bernard about it.

On a side note, ESPN2 showed a Tecate commerical that was completely in Spanish. I thought that was interesting.

Adrian Broner vs. Fernando Quintero

An interesting fight between the 8-0 Broner and the 7-0 Quintero. The fight went the full eight rounds.

Teddy has it a draw.

Judges:
76-76
77-75
78-74

Adrian "The Problem" Broner wins by majority decision.

Back to the studio...

Bernard said Hatton never had a chance to change tactics. Manny was coming from all over the place. Hatton didn't know what to do.

Bernard said that hatton was overwhelmed after Round 1 and he never recovered. Bernard said he should have ducked, or put his hands up, or bought himself some time like a veteran.

Teddy said that Hatton shouldn't have gone straight into the propeller, he should have made Manny come to him.

They showed a number of photos of Ricky at the pool posing for pictures and hanging out with party-goers in Vegas, but interestingly the ESPN crew made zero reference to them. I thought maybe they were going to say that Hatton was unfocused or something, but they literally showed the pictures and never mentioned them.

Bernard said that JMM is no tune-up for Money Mayweather. Floyd has been off for a long time, and Bernard says the gym is not the same as fighting for real. He does think that Floyd will win at the end of the day.

Neither Teddy nor Bernard believes that the weight will be too much of an issue. But Teddy does think it is important that JMM's managers do not give up too much in negotiations as far as weight, ring size, gloves, etc.

Atlas believes it will be a tough fight but Mayweather will win. Teddy wonders if Money May is taking the fight for the wrong reason due to the IRS lien. Hopkins thinks that the money could actually be a motivation because of how much is on the line financially. Floyd may have the extra motivation that he needs.

Manny-Floyd? Bernard goes with Floyd. He has a lot to bring that Manny has never seen before.

Atlas is going with the Pac-Man.

Vera vs. McEwen - 10 Rounds

Round 1
Uatu: Vera 10-9
Vera landed some hard shots, McEwen stayed moving and worked in and out. A good first round and both men had their moments.

Round 2
Uatu: McEwen 10-9
Another good round. McEwen fights lefty, and he's looking like a slower poor man's version of Bute, who was a close version of Calzaghe. I liked the work that McEwen did, but he did catch a big right in the early goings.

Round 3
Uatu: McEwen 10-9
Both fighters have had moments that made me a little nervous. At times I thought either man could fall or get roughed up, but maybe they are just off-balance.

Round 4
Uatu: McEwen 10-9
In my opinion McEwen controlled the majority of this round.

Round 5
Uatu: McEwen 10-9
Teddy has it 4-0 McEwen. McEwen hasn't been hit with that Vera right in a few rounds.

Round 6
Uatu: McEwen 10-9
Marco Antonio Barrera is in some of those Tecate ads. Bernard has sparred with McEwen to prepare for Winky and JoeCal. A lot of grabbing, a lot of McEwen landing.

Round 7
Uatu: McEwen 10-9
Round 7 was a slugfest. Both men threw some serious haymakers. Vera managed to land the right again.

Round 8
Uatu: McEwen 10-9

Round 9
Uatu: McEwen 10-9

Round 10
Uatu: McEwen 10-9

I enjoyed this fight. Good spirited effort by both men.

Teddy:
99-91 McEwen

Judges:
97-93
97-93
97-93

Craig McEwen wins by unanimous decision.

Freddie Roach manages and trains McEwen so I imagine we will see him again. Tarver-Dawson II up next.

Signing off...

Posted by uatu

7.5.09

Predictions: Dawson-Tarver II

The Franchise says...

Back in June 2004, the three brothers who would one day become the BoxingWatchers made their first trip to Canastota for the International Boxing Hall of Fame induction weekend. One of the current boxers we were most excited to see was Antonio Tarver, who was riding high off his stunning second-round KO of Roy Jones Jr.

We waited in line for the Magic Man's autograph for quite a while and were closing in when he was told he needed to get ready for the Banquet of Champions, and they literally cut off the line right in front of Spartan117, who was a young lad of just 18 years of age at the time. Fortunately, the experience didn't scar Spartan for very long, as he remained a fan of boxing and, as far as I know, of Tarver as well.

What does that story have to do with Tarver's rematch on Saturday with Chad Dawson? Absolutely nothing, but if I left out that anecdote this post would be pretty short.

Tarver has had success in rematches, defeating Jones (twice), Glen Johnson and Eric Harding after losing to those men the first time. But that's about all he has going for him, and truthfully he hasn't looked like his old self since getting pummeled by Bernard Hopkins about three years ago.

Dawson is younger, stronger and faster and had few problems in the first fight. No reason to think differently this time, so expect Dawson to win by lopsided unanimous decision, with a real chance that he may hand Tarver his first KO loss instead.

Uatu says...

The prediction and analysis is spot on. However, let me say a few things about Tarver. I do not believe that Tarver is "done" or "shot" necessarily. So he lost to Bernard. There's a chance that in both of their primes he would have lost to B-Hop anyway.

And also, he may very well have lost to Chad in both of their primes as well. He may have lost in a one-sided fashion, but if Chad is as great as everyone seems to think he is, and he may very well be, then possibly Tarver would never be as fast as Chad, today or five years ago. So let's cut Antonio some slack, and give him credit for still being a top notch fighter, and give Chad credit if he totally works Tarver over. That's it.

Dawson by unanimous decision or late stoppage.

Spartan117 says...

That story from the Boxing Hall of Fame sure brings a wave of nostalgia. Tarver was really on top of the boxing world. The fans gathered around to watch his training sessions and the line for his autograph table dwarfed the other fighters. He was even on the Tonight Show.

Unfortunately for the Magic Man, those days have passed, as has his prime. I agree with Uatu that his defeats were given by elite fighters, but he has no business being in this rematch. He's lucky he had that rematch clause in his contract.  

"Bad" Chad is too young, too fast and too strong for Tarver. He's only getting better at this point in his career and I think he'll be even better than his last bout with Tarver.

Dawson by mid-round KO.

Posted by The Franchise

6.5.09

BoxingWatchers.com Boxer Power Rankings - May 2009

Hi all. Let me assure you that after Saturday's scintillating destruction of Ricky Hatton, Manny Pacquiao would be atop this list with no questions asked.

Alas, it's a mathematical measure of how a boxer has performed over the last three years, adding points for activity and decisive wins (and subtracting for losses) and multiplying by the recent winning percentages of his opponents - that last one's important, or Juan Manuel Lopez would be setting record scores.

As it is, JuanMa is part of the new blood on the list this month, and Pac-Man is upwardly mobile. On with the scores:

1. Arthur Abraham - 23.73
- I've beaten the Kelly Pavlik drum for King Arthur enough that I'm tired of doing it. Now I've decided that fighting Paul Williams would really test his mettle, but I'm pretty sure he won't consider that.

2. Celestino Caballero - 20.38 - He can thank his high spot on this list to some home cooking, because by all accounts he was fortunate to escape Panama with his super bantamweight title intact April 30 against Jeffrey Mathebula. Still, his numbers don't lie over the last three years.

3. Manny Pacquiao - 19.27 - The world's best boxer may not be wanted back home right now because of swine flu worries, but we want him at the top of this list. If he were to fight and knock out Floyd Mayweather later this year, that would probably do it.

4. Juan Manuel Lopez - 19.03
- JuanMa finally has enough quality wins to crack this list, and he does it in style at No. 4. If he can keep his KO streak going against strong competition, he'll keep climbing.

5. Kelly Pavlik - 18.13 - I'm not exactly sure what Sergio Mora did to deserve a shot at The Ghost's middleweight belts, but whatever. Props to Top Rank for getting people to keep paying to watch Pavlik fight whoever they come up with, I guess.

6. Wladimir Klitschko - 17.02 - Hilariously said he's looking forward to giving David Haye the pizza face when they meet in June. Their war of words has me anticipating a Steelhammer fight for the first time in... well, ever maybe.

7. David Haye - 17.00 - Idiot or genius? I'm not sure if Haye is making a mistake getting Wlad mad or helping his upset chances by getting in his foe's head. We'll know in a few weeks.

8. Paul Williams - 16.33 - Actually didn't improve his score in these rankings too much last month, as Winky Wright was only 1-1-1 over the last three years. Regardless, it was another impressive performance for The Punisher.

9. Nonito Donaire - 16.00
- The Filipino Flash returns to the top 10 with a KO of previously undefeated Raul Martinez. I'd like to see him fight Vic Darchinyan again but there is bad promotional blood preventing that from happening.

10. Juan Manuel Marquez - 15.46 - Obviously, JMM can make a huge leap up this list if he can upset Floyd Mayweather this summer. More importantly, a win would likely get him the rematch with Pac-Man he so desperately craves.

The next 7: Vic Darchinyan, Miguel Cotto, Andre Berto, Carl Froch, Chris John, Chad Dawson, Tomasz Adamek

Posted by The Franchise

4.5.09

20-20 Hindsight: Pac-Mania Sweeps Boxing World, Will Hatton Call It Quits?

There was a fairly big upset in the sports world on Saturday. Unfortunately for Ricky Hatton's legions of loyal fans, it happened in Louisville and not Las Vegas.

With a thunderous left hand that looked like something out of the Fight Night series of video games instead of a punch delivered by an actual human being, Manny Pacquiao silenced Hatton's boisterous fans, his outspoken trainer and, one suspects, any remaining critics he may have had.

While Pacquiao was the betting favorite and just about every boxing pundit picked him to win, even he was surprised that the end came so quickly. Hatton was out so cold that no count was necessary, and he wasn't available for a post-fight interview because doctors were still checking him out.

Now that the dust has settled from his explosive victory, it's hard to find anyone who doubts whether Pac-Man is one of the best boxers alive at any weight. Even BoxRec.com, which hasn't been as kind to him in its pound-for-pound rankings, has moved him up to No. 2 behind Bernard Hopkins.

It's hard to imagine a better boost to one's career than to win in spectacular fashion on a huge stage. Manny is truly in the driver's seat of the sport right now, it's biggest star and top practitioner rolled into one, at least for the time being.

And yet there's no guarantee that we, the boxing fans, will get to enjoy him for too much longer. Trainer Freddie Roach has spoken more than once about his wish to see Manny retire soon, and Pacquiao's desire to help his Filipino people may lead him into politics or other ventures.

As for his immediate in-ring future, here are some quick thoughts on some possible opponents being tossed around in the media:

Floyd Mayweather Jr. - Now that Money has officially unretired, this is the fight that the boxing world is clamoring for the loudest. Many are suggesting that it's not a matter of if the bout will happen, but when.

Though it would undoubtedly be a huge event and I'd like to see it as much as anyone, I don't think it's the slam dunk others are making it out to be. Floyd has been known to be slightly, shall we say, risk-averse in the past, and there are weight questions too, with Roach hinting that Manny won't go back above 140.

Mayweather also has to get past Juan Manuel Marquez first. He should, but JMM is talented enough that it's not guaranteed.

Miguel Cotto - I can't find the quote, but I believe Bob Arum has already suggested this as a possibility. It would be easy to do with Top Rank promoting both fighters, and it could be a chance to bring the Pac-Man show to the East Coast at a venue like Madison Square Garden.

Cotto has fought exclusively at 147 since June 2006, so who knows whether he could reasonably come down to 140? He also has an opponent who's no slouch coming up in June in Joshua Clottey, and if he loses, I think he can kiss a Pacquiao fight goodbye.

Shane Mosley - Sugar Shane is definitely in the "make as much money as possible before retiring" phase of his career, and he'd jump at the chance to face Pac-Man. His stock is high after he took apart Antonio Margarito and his dance card is currently clear.

Weight would be the biggest issue here, as Mosley has been fighting at 147 or higher for a decade. At age 37, even asking him to cut to a catch-weight between junior welterweight and welterweight may be a stretch.

Juan Manuel Marquez - JMM has made no bones about the fact that he wants a third shot at Pacquiao. He clearly feels the two of them have unfinished business and has even insinuated that Manny is ducking him.

But Marquez's case for a third fight may not be as strong as he thinks. Despite fighting Pacquiao closely enough the observers thought he may have won either or both of their first two fights, the fact remains that Pacquiao emerged 1-0-1. He's also the smallest draw on this list - HBO would need to do a 24/7 series just to tell casual fans who JMM was.

In any case, he'd need to upset Mayweather to have a serious shot at getting his wish.

As bright as the near future looks for Pacquiao, it appears equally grim for Hatton. There's talk of Amir Khan, which would no doubt electrify the U.K.

That's a minority opinion though, as you can find writers and editors and fans saying Hatton should retire. (But really, Carl Froch, who asked you?) People close to him have said he doesn't need to keep fighting for the money, so we'll see if he listens to his head or his heart.

If Saturday was the last time we see the Hitman in the ring, he'll be remembered as an A-level attraction and a really good fighter who just didn't have the natural ability to match up with the very best boxers of his era.

Posted by The Franchise

2.5.09

Hatton v. Pacquiao: Round by Round

The undercard fights are finished and the build-up for the main event has begun. Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton should be in the ring in about 10-15 minutes.

There are a lot of stars in the crowd: Jay-Z, Jack Nicholson, P. Diddy, Jeremy Piven, Mariah Carey and Denzel Washington.

Michael Buffer starts the pre-fight pageantry. There are three national anthems: American, British and Filipino.

The British fans are in full force now. The band is deafening.

Hatton comes out first. He usually comes out to "Blue Moon;" we'll see if he does again. Not this time. He comes out to his Ricky Fatton theme song. The crowd is not nearly pumped as they used to get for "Blue Moon." Now "Blue Moon" comes on. I thought the crowd would be louder. That's very strange.

Pacquiao comes out second. He comes out to a Filipino tune.

The fight is for the IBO junior welterweight title. The crowd goes wild for Hatton's intro as expected. They then boo Manny.

The fighters receive their instructions and we are finally ready to go!

Round 1
Hatton's band starts up quickly. They come to the center of the ring. Hatton throws the first punch and it's a jab. Manny's using good footwork to get out of the way. Hatton keeps throwing the jab. Manny counters with a good right hand. Manny comes forward with his own jab. Manny has been tagging Hatton when he comes in. Hatton gets tagged again on the way in. Manny dodges a right hand and makes Hatton eat one of his own. Hatton gets rocked again and has to clinch to stay up. Pacquiao connects again and Hatton goes down! Hatton beats the count, but he is in trouble. Hatton eats more right hands. The Hitman clinches to stay alive. He goes down again! Hatton makes it up by the count of eight. What a fantastic round for Pac-Man.

Spartan117: 10-7 Pacquiao
Uatu: 10-7 Pacquiao

Round 2
Hatton looks to have his legs back under him, but he just can't find Manny. Pacquiao is dodging Hatton's right hand every time. Hatton turns on the aggression. Hatton lands a right hand. Manny now lands a left-right combo. Manny blocks a right hand from Hatton. Manny hits Hatton again with a right hand when he comes in. Manny dodges a right hand and lands another of his own. Manny is making all of the right moves right now. Hatton is trying to overpower Manny now. Manny lands a big right hand and sends Hatton backwards. Hatton is trying to land a big knockout punch. Pac-Man lands an absolutely ridiculous left hand and Hatton goes down hard! Hatton is unconscious. It's all over.

The winner by KO at 2:59 of Round 2... and new IBO light welterweight champion... Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao.

In the post-fight interview, Manny says that he knew the fight would be tough and that Hatton has a strong left hand. He says that Hatton would fear his left hand but the right hand is his new weapon. They show him the first knockdowns and Manny says that it's exactly how they trained and you could see that in the episodes of 24/7. Larry Merchant hints at Floyd Mayweather.

Freddie Roach gets the mic now. He says that Hatton hasn't changed at all despite his training with Floyd Sr. He said he's watched the tapes and nothing has changed.

No post-fight interview for Hatton as he is being observed by the ring doctors.

Posted by spartan117

Soto vs. Goudet: Round by Round

The last undercard fight of the night is between Humberto Soto and Benoit Goudet at 130 pounds. It's for the WBC super featherweight title. Goudet is 20-1 with 7 KOs while Soto is 47-7-2 with 30 KOs.

Round 1
It sounds like Hatton's band has arrived. They are already singing and singing loudly. Soto goes to work first. He throws great combos and shows fast hand speed. Soto throws a wide left hook and drops Goudet in the first minute. Soto is chasing Goudet around the ring. Goudet looks to try to counter. Soto throws a jab followed with an overhand right, but it just misses. Soto goes to the body and finishes upstairs and scores. Goudet lands a left. Good first round for Soto.

Spartan117: 10-8 Soto
Uatu: 10-8 Soto

Round 2
Goudet throws the jab. Both are throwing fast combos which is to be expected at 130 pounds. Not much happening in Round 2. Soto is showing good defense as he blocks most of Goudet's flurries. Soto scores while he has Goudet against the ropes with a combo to the body. Goudet lands a good left hook but Soto comes back harder with a right hook. Soto's combos look fantastic.

Spartan117: 10-9 Soto
Uatu: 10-9 Soto

Round 3
Soto has been doing his best work while Goudet is against the ropes, and Goudet has been spending most of his time around the perimeter of the ring. Soto loads up on the right hand but Goudet blocks. Goudet goes to the body. Soto's punches that he throws after the jab look fast and strong. Goudet takes a more aggressive approach in this round, but with little success.

Spartan117: 10-9 Soto
Uatu: 10-9 Soto

Round 4
Soto jabs and follows with an uppercut, but Goudet gets out of the way. Goudet lands a right hand between the gloves of Soto. Goudet gets caught by a left hook and bounces off the ropes. Soto chases him down to try to land a power shot but Goudet dodges. Goudet lands another good right hand. Soto's offense is looking too good for Goudet to win these rounds. He needs to do more in order to steal them. Soto lands a left hook before bell.

Spartan117: 10-9 Soto
Uatu: 10-9 Soto

Round 5
Soto knocks Goudet's head back with two stiff jabs. Soto lands a serious right hand and Goudet stumbles. Soto is looking for the KO now. Soto leads with a right hand. Goudet throws and lands another right hand. Soto has slowed a bit and Goudet turns up the pressure. Soto now lands a great right hand. Goudet comes back with a flurry. Soto chases Goudet, who backpedals across the ring. That was a better round for Goudet.

Spartan117: 10-9 Soto
Uatu: 10-9 Soto

Round 6
Goudet has been throwing more punches in these rounds, but Soto has been landing stronger and more meaningful punches upstairs. Goudet lands a jab. Soto comes in and Goudet makes him eat a right hand. Goudet lands a left-right hook combo and dodges a counter. Soto gets Goudet against the ropes again and unloads a good combo to the head and body. They trade punches on the inside before the bell.

Spartan117: 10-9 Goudet
Uatu: 10-9 Goudet

Round 7
Soto lands a great right hand to start the round. They clash heads in the corner and get a few seconds to recover. They trade bombs while Goudet gets caught in the ropes. Not many punches of value land for either fighter. Soto throws a reaching right hand but Goudet backs away. Goudet lands a big low blow and Soto goes down. The ref gives Soto some time to let Soto recover. The low blow looked accidental. Soto goes back to work now. The two trade very fast and hard combos. and the crowd shows signs of life after that exchange.

Spartan117: 10-9 Goudet
Uatu: 10-9 Goudet

Round 8
Goudet has been turning up the heat on Soto, dodging well and throwing good, effective punches. Soto goes to work to the body and lands a couple of hooks. Soto gets Goudet against the ropes and throws to the body. Goudet lands two shots to the body and a right hand to the head. Soto lands a left jab, then another that snaps the head of Goudet. Soto is focusing on the head now. The crowd is almost silent. Soto lands a big right hand and Goudet clinches.

Spartan117: 10-9 Soto
Uatu: 10-9 Soto

Round 9
Goudet lands the first meaningful punch of the round, an overhand right. Goudet throws a left hook. I hear some boos now coming from the crowd. Goudet gets Soto against the ropes and loads up a right hand. Soto lands a huge right uppercut and Goudet goes down hard. He looks to be in trouble. Goudet tries to clinch to stay alive. Soto goes for the KO. He lands a huge right hand and Goudet grabs the ropes to stay on his feet before going down again. The ref, Jay Nady, stops the fight. It's over!

The winner by TKO at 2:25 of Round 9... and still WBC super featherweight champion... Humberto Soto.

Posted by spartan117

Hatton vs. Pacquiao: Undercard Liveblog

We bring the undercard to you after some technical difficulty.  The first two undercard fights were four-rounders.

The third undercard is between Daniel Jacobs and Michael Walker.  Walker is 19-1-2 and Jacobs is 15-0 with 14 KOs.

The first of eight rounds has just begun.  Jacobs is looking good.  The HBO crew informs us that Daniel Jacobs fought just a week ago.  This is his sixth fight in 18 months.  Jacobs gets busy and is throwing great combos.  Jacobs has been getting caught in the ropes and Walker has been doing well.  Jacobs' hand speed and accuracy gets a showcase in Round 1.  At one point Jacobs threw about a 15-punch combo to end the round.

Jacobs gets caught against the ropes a few more times.  Walker has had some success when Jacobs is in that position.  Walker is swinging wildly and missing big.  Jacobs movement looks great.  He's blocking well and getting out of the way of Walker's unpredictable style.  Round 3 has actually been a better round for Walker.  He's been getting Jacobs against the ropes and throwing combos.  Walker literally lifts and tackles Jacobs.  Jacobs gets time to adjust after the tackle.  Walker should be penalized a point for sure.

Walker is the aggressor but Jacobs is using great ring generalship and blocking and countering well.  The action gets stopped in the fifth round because of an accidental headbutt.  It looked like it hurt Walker, who used time to recover.

HBO shows a view from the MGM Grand concourse and it looks ridiculous.  There are fans for both fighters there but certainly more for Hatton.

Neither fighter is getting tired down the stretch.  Harold Lederman has given Jacobs every round, but I think Walker has stolen some.  There isn't much damage for either fighter either.  Both of their faces look fine despite the bombs they have been throwing.  The eighth round is starting now and it looks like this is going to go the distance.

The judges score it 80-72 twice and 79-73, all for the winner by unanimous decision, Daniel "The Golden Child" Jacobs.

Posted by spartan117

Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton: Live Round By Round Updates Tonight

Well, Floyd Mayweather Jr. may be trying to steal the spotlight with his official announcement that he's returning to the ring, but in the meantime there's a pretty bright glare coming from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton finally get down to business tonight.

If you're a boxing fan or even just a curious casual sports fan, you've probably already made plans to get somewhere to watch the fight. And that's good.

But the BoxingWatchers know that life gets in the way sometimes, and there will be some unfortunate souls out there who, for whatever reason, won't be able to watch. That's why even though every sports-related site known to man is doing the same, we're doing our part to help out right here.

Watch for a live blog for the undercard starting shortly after 9 pm Eastern out on our main page, with a new thread for live round by round updates of the Pacquiao-Hatton showdown itself, expected to get underway at approximately 11:30 Eastern.

Posted by The Franchise