Fights You Watched Today

Poor man's Khaosai Galaxy imo.

 

I think Rungvisai is a brilliant fighter. Top three right now, and this is a very stacked division. Very heavy handed, very strong, tough and quite crafty in a deceptive manner. I like his positioning and how he uses little half-steps to really fuck with people. Gonzalez wasn't expecting his shots, and neither was Estrada. Unless they both look like granite next week, I think it's likely he KOs both Estrada and Chocolatito in rubber matches.

I agree that he's kind of like a poor man's Khaosai, but is that a bad thing?

 

Watched Jose Napoles beat Ralph Charles. Charles did well for the first three or four rounds while Napoles boxed within himself before Mantequilla stepped up his offense - after that I was just waiting for the KO to come which it duly did in the 7th. Napoles was just so much better than his competition at this point that he could pretty much win as he pleased.

 

Just finished watching Mike McCallum slowly dismantle Milton McCrory. This is exactly the kind of matchup I'd have been excited about had I been a fight fan in 1987. Now it all seems so obvious that McCallum would win but McCrory just had the one defeat at this point and arguably McCallum's best name win up to then was Ayub Kalule (the Jackson win looks a lot better in retrospect but Jackson was yet to be a world champ at this time).

McCrory did well up to the 7th, boxing off the back foot as McCallum stalked him but he started to take a significant beating in the 8th and then again in the 9th. He did well to stay on his feet up to the knockdown in the 10th and Joe Cortez rightly waved it off when McCrory got back up - you could see he didn't want any more.

 

Tito Trinidad v Oba Carr

Carr did pretty well for the first 5 or 6 rounds, knocking Tito down in the second and arguably taking the opening 3 rounds with tbe 4th being close as well. Trinidad though showed his ability to impose his will by constantly pressuring Carr, who continued to counter well for the next couple of rounds. But Trinidad kept the forward momentum going and wore Carr down with some nasty body shots until he ran out of steam in the 8th and two knockdowns and a follow up assault saw the ref intervene. Good little action fight.

 

Sanchez vs. Cowdell - Cowdell showed massive will and had success with his flickering jab. But I didn't get the feeling Sanchez was challenged at all. For Cowdell it was the fight of his life. For Sanchez, it was a walk in the park.

 

Rungvisai Fought a SIZABLE Portion of the Fight in the Wrong Stance...Seemed LISTLESS and DISINTERESTED Overall...1 of the STRANGER Performances by a High Level Fighter REED's Seen in Quite Some Time...

HEAD SCRATCHINGINGLY Strange...




REED

 

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the Thai betting circles 'influenced' this performance. Very strange as you say.

 

Hate to Go THERE, But Anyone That Saw Either Chocolatito Fight or the 1st Estrada Fight CAN'T Rule it Out...

No Sense of Urgency @ ALL from Rungvisai and his "Fight Plan" in the RE w/Estrada Made No Sense @ All...He Did His Legacy a DISSERVICE That Night...




REED

 

Hiroshi Kawashima vs 'Puma' Toguchi

A battle between two up and comers. Here both men are in their 4th bouts. Kawashima, scouted from the inter-high school tournaments, is a far cry from the full package you see against Espino, but he still shows flashes of his ability, with a natural sense of timing and some sharp shots. However, overall his feet are leaden and he has to consciously focus on defence, as during exchanges his movement is much more minimal and not integrated. 'Puma', a now legend on the national scene, is one tough bastard even here, and seems experienced and crafty to boot. He takes the best Kawashima has to offer, riding it and answering with his own well timed, strategic rights, exploiting some defensive naivety. Kawashima is wobbled in the second, and after that it's a full on brawl. As a bout itself, it's a well entertaining short scrap. In the end, Puma breaks down the amateur talent, fully finishing him with a beautiful right hand to the stomach. TKO for Puma. Check it out.

 

Watched Austin vs. Botile again. Really good fight. Great win by Austin. But good performance from Botile as well. Anyone think Botile deserved the nod?

 

Lol. Was still watching the fight when I wrote this. Forgot how it ended but had Botile winning up to that point.

 

This is why Sanchez can get overrated. I don’t even disagree with you on the fight itself, but the fact that he was taking a “walk in the park” in a fight that was quite close isn’t a good thing. It just perpetuates the mythic qualities of a fighter who does not need romanticism to justify his greatness.

 

Not sure I understand. You're saying it is a fault of Sanchez that he didn't try harder? That's a fair point.

 

Hiroyuki Ebihara vs Pone Kingpetch 1

Re-watch. Pure destruction, simple as. Beautiful left hand.

 

This is the Nunn-Kalambay of the 60s.

 

In what sense? It's brutalness or that it's flukey? Because I don't think it's that flukey.

 

I don't think it's a fluke, but Pone went the distance with him in the rematch, took a pounding from Harada and also went the distance with him in a rematch, so it is an outlier. Ebihara was a huge puncher and the first counter was picture perfect though.

 

Page vs. Tillis - surprisingly decent fight!

 

Not flukey, no - just it was uncharacteristic that this would be such a one sided and early KO.

 

Shozo Saijo vs Raul Rojas II

World Featherweight title match. 1968. Rojas the champion, but had lost a MD to Saijo previously in a non title match. This was a top class match up. Saijo and Rojas immediately came out fast, sharp and zoned in, throwing fast and accurate. Battling for centre ring, the two engaged quickly, however, throughout the beginning, Saijo took the lead with his fast left and swift feet. Rojas was always there though, and his skilled pressure made every round in the bout tense. These guys absolutely went for it in the 15th, trying for a KO in the dying seconds. However, it wasn't enough. Judges were called and Saijo was handed a UD, winning the title. He celebrated in triumph.

These guys really were a joy to watch: slipping, feinting, smart and extremely co ordinated. Both men were hurt multiple times in this bout, but Rojas came out worse, which wasn't helped by the increasing centre ownership of Saijo. Rojas was never deterred by it, so Saijo acted smartly and switched back to Boxing his man. I think Rojas didn't work enough off his excellent pressure movement in this bout, and as a result Saijo became the general. Still, there was nothing easy about this one. I highly recommend this if you like tight, tense Boxing with swings in action.

 

Stinks vs Judah
Bellew vs Haye 2

 

Hagler vs Mugabi.

Tom Selleck and Turd Ferguson at ringside.

Moustaches were the thing back then

 

I think I can see Richie "Ron Jeremy" Giachetti at ringside too.

If Hagler doesn't fight Mugabi, he probably stops Ray Leonard.

 

JC Barboa vs. Quiroga - good fight! Barboa seems to have that other worldly resilience and durability like Sal Sanchez.

 

Norton vs Bobick.

Wasn't much of a fight.

 

Antuofermo vs Hagler.

Some of the comments about how Hagler was totally robbed.....Hagler was cut and bone tired at the end and while you might get tired beating the other guy up you don't get cut doing it.

Cossell is such an overrated hack, too.

"Antuofermo looks like........he's been..........BEATEN UP!! TO DEATH!!"

54:00

 

Makes me laugh, you see Clenelo with his Clen and his teams of publicists and shit.

Antuofermo had a club foot and no "skills" and he'd have given Mayweather a harder fight, if not beaten him.

 

"Vito the Mosquito"