Fights You Watched Today

I think Laguna is more herky-jerky, and a bit more spiteful with his 1-2s.

Marcel was a better fighter though. He was more fluid, and more talented. I do think he was more complete than both, but Pedroza had a better jab, engine and was more experienced when it came to the 'dark arts'. Although Marcel was no slouch in any of those areas, and neither was Laguna.

 

Tell you what, X.

I'd definitely check out this Zamora vs Logan. It's damn good!

 

Ahhhh man, I don't wanna see a shot Zamora.

Maybe one of these nights, not tonight though.

 

Honestly, he doesn't really look shot at all. I mean, he's lost his punch resistance, and his power has waned but he's still in there with fast hands, high workrate, massive heart. It's not like it's a shell of his former self and it's sad to watch.

It's just two scrappy guys brawling it out; cultivating into a fight where both men are down, a high output from the pair of 'em and it's an intriguing clash of styles.

I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

 

So, I just watched Zamora vs Logan. Very fun little slugfest. Definitely worth checking out, but it's absolutely proof that both power and chin can go. Prime Zamora would've destroyed this scrub

I also watched Khaosai vs Orono and Monserrat.

I thought that vs Edger, his power was monstrous but his performance was dire. He was all over the place, going backward, getting hit clean and looked untidy as apposed to what I'd seen from him before. Monserrat was an awkward fighter, but nothing to cause someone like Galaxy to spaz out. Then EM makes a fatal mistake, and moves in with a predictable feint, to which Galaxy just uncorks this destructive overhand left and completely takes out Monserrat.

Yeah, I think his defence is quite poor all things considered. He was getting tagged quite often vs a very worn Orono. He looked much more composed in this one, though. And he actually has a few Tito-isms IMO. He liked to take his time, and go off the back-foot for a little bit. Moving, gathering data and using some of those underrated skills, before barreling in all-guns-blazing and taking the other guy the fuck out. More or less what happened here.

Definitely gonna watch more.

 

I'm rewatching Zarate vs Paul Ferreri right now.

Zarate was such an underrated technician.

Bigger man or not, it speaks to how unbelievably good Gomez was that he could blow this man away, because Zarate was incredible.

 

And Gomez wasn't that much bigger. Certainly not enough for anything to discredit the win. Zarate was a massive BW, and a hugely talented fighter.

 

Agreed.

 

One of the best wins and performances ever below 126 IMO.

 

Maybe THE premier performance below 126.

I can't think of one better.

 

I rewatched Morales-Maidana again and posted a round-by-round breakdown in the scorecard thread: The Official Scorecard Thread

I consider this one of the very best fights in recent memory. In fact, I'd even go out on a limb and say it's the best fight of the 21st century so far. Like a WW version of Holyfield-Bowe, it featured constant and drastic shifts in momentum from round to round and even minute to minute. Both fighters showed MASSIVE heart as they repeatedly rallied from seemingly the brink of defeat and turned the tables on their opponent. In a similar vein as Duran against Hagler and Eubank against Thompson, Morales also earned respect and enhanced his legacy with a gallant losing effort against a much naturally larger opponent.

I think the fight was roughly even after 10 rounds, and Maidana secured victory with an all-out effort in the last 2 rounds.

 

I should rematch that 1. Morales fought well as I recall watching live. Just solely on guile, craft and toughness. Also thought he was beating Danny garcia the first fight prior to getting dropped

 

Best in terms of talent? Not greatness surely?

 

Not trying to discredit the win as I'm a big Gomez fan and it was an incredible performance by him but Zarate didn't look right from the start in that one - he looked awful and not the cool customer he usually was. Now, there could be plenty of reasons for that - he could have been intimidated by the hostile atmosphere (and man was it hostile), he could have just been off his game that night or there could be some credence to his claims that he was unwell (food poisoning, was it? Can't remember) but he didn't look like his usual self in there.

Take nothing away from Gomez though - he was awesome. I remember reading an interview with him and he said his dad died on the night of the fight (Gomez didn't find out till after) so missed his greatest moment - it was his biggest regret that his dad missed the greatest night of his career.

 

Watched Froch-Kessler 2 last night. Haven't had a chance to write anything up yet scorecard-wise but thought Froch fought a good, disciplined fight, worked his jab well and controlled the early going. Kessler took a while to get going and improved as the fight went on but he was always behind on my card. Froch sealed the win in the final round bludgeoning Kessler. Good fight - not quite as good as their first one imo but good stuff nonetheless.

 

Just in terms of how good they were in the ring.

 

You think 4 fights is enough to draw that conclusion? He was beaten by a teenager in one of those, after all.

 

Just watched Trinidad-Blocker again as a Christmas present to myself. Trinidad put Blocker so far into dreamland in round 2 that Blocker probably thought it was still Christmas when he woke up.

 

I think roughly 55 rounds is enough to gauge his abilities. Especially considering who they were against. I don't hold the loss to Duran against him. Both were young, the stoppage was contentious at best, and it was quite an even fight up until it.

If you can't beat Arguello, out-box Shibata, and completely mug Antonio Gomez, while looking as good as that, I think you're worthy of all the praise in the world.

 

Arguello was just as young and green against Marcel. Yet, that’s by far his biggest win. I think most would favor a more seasoned Arguello to take him out down the stretch. He was coming on very strong late as it was, and this was his first ever 15 rounder.

I typically wouldn’t hold the Duran fight against him, either. But when you’re calling him the second best Featherweight in history based on 4 fights (that being one of them) you kind of have to.

 

As far as I recall, I had Marcel fading somewhat in the middle rounds but taking the initiative with his second wind. And if Arguello was coming on at the end of a 15 rounder, he's left it a bit late. I think watching that fight, and watching Arguello's other fights at 126, Arguello was extremely good. If he wasn't 'prime', he was still a great, great fighter. The difference between the fighter who beat Kobayashi and lost to Marcel, is quite small IMO. Certainly not enough to reverse a 11-4ish decision.

While sure, you can say similar of the Duran fight. But I thought that was much closer than Marcel-Arguello, and the ending was inconclusive. I certainly don't hold an even fight, with one of the very best ever, which was stopped because of 'inactivity' as a negative.

But look man, it's not a hill I'm willing to die on. There's tons of great FWs out there, some of whom which could beat him.

 

All good, man. He was a great fighter, that’s for sure.

 

And Tito was only 20 years old in that fight.

 

Froch was still the same guy from their first fight, but Kessler was a shell in the rematch.

 

Yeah, he was much better in the first fight.

 

Kessler was already faded the first time they fought in 2010.

Kessler peaked around 05-06 and that version of him I think would have beaten Froch by a clear margin.

 

Family is leaving, Christmas is winding down. Thought I'd stick on some Chucho Castillo. First I watched his jab masterclass vs Bernardo Caraballo.

Absolutely insane showing. The L-steps, pivots, the offensive timing, the form on the jab. It had all the great technical variations and applications you'd want to see, as well having that Holmes-esque stamp when putting full force into it. He also shows that steady, educated pressure. I love how he cuts off the ring, and his subtle defence when moving forward. Caraballo was a good fighter, too. He was completely out-classed in all senses of the word.

I also rewatched some Castillo's back-foot performance against Cruz, and again, I'm absolutely astounded. In the first three, he puts Cruz on the back-foot, stalking him and dropping that straight right over Cruz's left. He also uses that jab again, variegating it, forcing Cruz back, and using it to draw the 1-2 so he could slip it and shift forward with the left.

After the third, Cruz decided he wasn't getting bosses around by the littler man, so he put Castillo on the back-foot. Castillo circled and jabbed, before retreating to the ropes and inviting Cruz into trade. He turned with the shots, and used the momentum to get even more snap on his counters. He also looked like a right menace when he threw combinations at Cruz. I actually think the strategy he used here, would work toward beating Manuel Ortiz. Which is a result I'd pick.

Next few fights I've got from him is Olivares II, Ross & Ernie Cruz. Looking forward to it, for sure.

Don't you know? He'd fight a bull with a fork.

 

You have the complete Chucho vs Caraballo fight? All I've seen is truncated version on Flea's page.

And Merry Christmas to you - all of Fightbeat!

Mine is winding down, as well. Soon as I get the kid to sleep tonight, I'll watch a few fights. Not sure which yet.

 

Nah, just the flea version.

And Merry Christmas to everyone here as well!

 

Also, I just watched Khaosai vs Cobra Blanca, and I think that's Khaosai's most destructive performance so far.

He came out, stalking. Blanca threw a hailmary which seemed to stun Galaxy, who took a few steps back. Cobra ran after him, throwing caution to the wind and bulled Galaxy to ropes. He threw a wild overhand, which missed, and rammed Galaxy over.

Khaosai did not like that.

The next four rounds was a methodical, brutal beatdown. He threw uppercuts, hooks, rights, lefts and everything else. After that first round, he was completely in control and ploughed through Cobra. He just beat him till the end was close, then let him off the hook. He clearly wanted to punish him. And he did. And when the end finally came, it was horrific.

The only critique I have of him here, is that he was still quite hittable despite cruely prolonging the suffering of the poor little guy. Blanca landed way too many of the reckless haymakers for my liking.