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