Jim Jeffries vs. Rocky Marciano. 15 at Heavy. Tommy Hearns vs. Mike McCallum. 12 at Jr. Middle. Jeff Fenech vs. Juan Manuel Marquez. 12 at Feather. Jeffries D15 Marciano McCallum TKO10 Hearns Marquez SD12 Fenech
Questions of note... Whose conditioning will prove stronger down the stretch? Jeffries', or Marciano's? Can McCallum withstand Hearns' power, & can Hearns deal with McCallum's consistency on the offensive? Will Marquez cope with Fenech's activity, & will Fenech be able to deal with Marquez's counters & timing?
Really? I think Fenech was tailor made for Marquez. I think some have forgotten how good Marquez was at 126. When he destroyed Medina, and Pedan, he was a baaadd man back then. Assuming Marquez isnt suffering from malaria, I dont see how Fenech beats him. Jeff would get countered to fuckin death.
Main Event... Jeffries vs. Marciano 1. 10-9 Marciano 2. 10-9 Jeffries 3. 10-9 Jeffries 4. 10-9 Marciano 5. 10-9 Marciano 6. 10-9 Marciano 7. 10-9 Jeffries 8. 10-9 Marciano 9. 10-9 Jeffries 10. 10-9 Marciano 11. 10-9 Jeffries 12. 10-9 Jeffries 13. 10-9 Marciano 14. 10-9 Jeffries 15. 10-10 Even Jeffries was sluggish from the outset, while Marciano, normally a slow starter himself, appeared eager to assert himself against the much bigger man, vaunted for his toughness. Short, heavy rights inside & hooks on the break at a high rate of activity on Marciano's part got the better of Jeffries, whose rhythm seemed off against his opponent's work-rate --- a work-rate which Compubox recorded, incredibly, increased with every round from the third through to the tenth. Jeffries got back into the game when he showed an ability to absorb Marciano's heaviest artillery, & his indifference to a battered jawline & heavily-swollen left eye from Marciano's rights impressed the crowd, who began to cheer for him during the second half of the bout. Jeffries' own conditioning came to the fore in the later rounds, as the big man made full use of his superior size & athleticism, observed to bull Marciano backward & into the ropes repeatedly. Marciano was knocked off-balance repeatedly as he tried to set himself in the last three stanzas, as Jeffries' punch volume shot up & began to dominate the action. A draw was a fair result in the end, with Marciano stronger early, & Jeffries pouring it on late. First Undercard... Fenech vs. Marquez 1. 10-9 Fenech 2. 10-9 Marquez 3. 10-9 Fenech 4. 10-9 Fenech 5. 10-9 Marquez 6. 10-9 Fenech 7. 10-9 Marquez 8. 10-9 Fenech 9. 10-9 Marquez 10. 10-9 Marquez 11. 10-9 Marquez 12. 10-9 Marquez Total: 7-5, 115-113, Marquez. Marquez struggled greatly with Fenech's punch output & bullyboy tactics through the first four rounds. He seemed to have more trouble timing Fenech's assault than his backers had expected. On activity & aggression, Fenech swept three of the opening four rounds. Marquez never completely came to terms with his man's work-rate, but round five was a turning point. A sharp right counter early in the round stunned Fenech momentarily, & from there, Marquez's momentum took the forefront & with it, the round. Fenech worked hard to split rounds six-through-nine with his opponent, but Marquez's accuracy count was rising fast as the fight wore on. Crisp, accurate punches, inside & out, told the tale over the last three stanzas, with Marquez looking at the top of his game against an increasingly-frustrated Fenech. Second Undercard... Hearns vs. McCallum 1. 10-8 Hearns 2. 10-9 Hearns 3. 10-9 McCallum 4. 10-9 Hearns 5. 10-10 Even 6. 10-9 Hearns 7. 10-8 McCallum 8. 10-9 McCallum 9. 10-9 McCallum 10. McCallum TKO Hearns Total: 4-4-1, 85-85, Even McCallum hit the deck in the opening minute, more surprised than truly injured, off the back of a tremendous right hand from Hearns, hidden behind the long jab. McCallum took a count of six & shook off being caught cold, but could not penetrate Hearns' range. Hearns, for his part, landed several times more over the next three rounds with the right, but could not shatter McCallum's jaw. Fighting off the backfoot, Hearns held the fight at distance for some time, but McCallum was persistent & smart on-approach, breaking down the distance & improving his connect percentage with bodyblows in rounds five-through-eight, punctuating his success with a two-count against a tiring Hearns in the seventh. Hearns was felled again late in round ten, & battered upon rising against the ropes, before a right hook to the body-uppercut upstairs combination left him defenseless, forcing referee Mitch Halpern to intervene.
For mine, it's one of those fights where a one-off probably still favours Marquez, but he's surprised by what Fenech can dish out & bring to the table, making it quite close. Subsequent rematches, IMO, would result in Marquez growing more dominant with each outing. In short, Marquez adjusts better to what Fenech brings than vice-versa, though in a one-off bout, Fenech would have his chances. I still consider Marquez the better man in all, bias or not.
