November 2007 Archives
If you believed some of the boxing scribes you probably didn't pay to watch the Fernando Vargas vs Richardo Mayorga fight this past Friday. They said that Vargas and Mayorga were just two washed out fighters not worth the price of PPV. That the undercard sucked. They were wrong on both counts.
Vargas-Mayorga was an exciting fight! With Mayorga bum rushing Vargas fifteen seconds after the opening bell rang. Both Vargas and Mayorga brawling in the middle of the ring throwing and landing haymakers. Vargas getting knocked down in round one. Vargas rallying and hurting Mayorga in round three. Vargas ripping into Mayorga and rocking him in round nine. There was enough ebb and flow to the fight to call it a barnburner. The fight was close enough that all it took for Mayorga to get the decision was Vargas getting knocked down in round eleven. The scores were 113-113 draw, 114-112 and 115-111 for Mayorga. Defying all odds the fight went the distance. For Vargas and Mayorga this fight was a classic.
The undercard was solid and equally as exciting. Roman Karmazin looked great demolishing, dropping and KOing Alejandro Garcia in 3 rounds. Kermit Cintron stopped tough Jesse Feliciano in the 10th round of a hard-fought fight. Jason Litzau continued his comeback with a good win over seasoned fighter Edel Ruiz.
For those of you who missed the Vargas-Mayorga fight ESPN is going to broadcast the exclusive replay of Ricardo Mayorga's decision over Fernando Vargas on ESPN Classic on Saturday, December 1, 2007 at 5:00 PM PT/ 8:00 PM ET. The Cintron-Feliciano IBF welterweight title fight will be also be replayed on ESPN Classic on Saturday, December 1, 2007 at 6:00 PM PT/ 9:00 PM ET.
Once again I my scores differ drastically with the judges ringside. I had the Humberto Soto vs Joan Guzman fight 115-113 for Guzman. The judges scores came in at 117-111, 117-111 and 118-110 all in favor of Guzman. Associated Press saw the bout a draw at 114-114. Bob Arum saw it 115-113 for Guzman. Harold Lederman HBO's unofficial score keeper had the bout 115-113 for Guzman. ESPN had it 116-112 for Guzman. Although I had hoped that Soto would win since he is one of my favorite boxers, I concede that Guzman did win the fight, but not at the wide margin that the judges had it.
I like a fighter who presses the action. A fighter that keeps moving forward throwing punches. A fighter that will walk into and through a punch to be able to land a punch. Soto is that kind of fighter. He is a hard hitter. Soto's 7th round knockout of the very game and capable Bobby Pacquiao last June is a good example of Soto's punching power. Guzman on the other hand uses the hit and run style. He throws punches at lighting speed but he hasn't knocked anyone out since 2003. Soto walked right through Guzman's punches Saturday night.
Judges are supposed to score fights on four categories: effective aggression, defense, ring generalship, clean and hard punching. Good defense means the ability to hit and not get hit. But when a boxer starts back peddling, dancing and running around the ring to avoid getting hit wheres the effective aggression? You have to watch out for that. If a boxer can initiate a punching exchange while backing up or keeping the distance then you have effective aggression combined with defense which is good. But a boxer who runs around the ring avoiding contact or the boxer who runs around until the final few seconds and then unleashes a flurry should be viewed as the loser of the round unless of course he or she knocks out their opponent.
After winning the fight with Soto, Guzman announced that he wanted a fight with Pacquiao. I am a big Manny Pacquiao fan and have been to all of his fights in Las Vegas but if Guzman lands a fight with Pacquiao you won't find me ringside nor will I buy the fight on PPV. It will just be a frustrating fight for Manny and a boring fight for the viewers.
It was great to be able to see the non-PPV Mosley-Cotto undercard fights via Yahoo's live stream. Maybe its just because I am a die hard boxing fan but I always make sure I get to a fight when the doors open so I can see every match on the card. Its true that some of them are walkouts but at the same time some of the undercard fights are the best fights of the night.
I love watching a boxer's pro debut. One bout on the Mosley-Cotto card was a pro debut, the kid's name was Michael Faragon. He was fighting Javier Garcia who had three previous professional fights in Puerto Rico. One could only imagine how Faragon felt walking out to the ring at Madison Square Garden. With a seating capacity of approximately 20,000 Madison Square Garden's sheer size alone is overwhelming then add to it all the bright lights and the fact that its a first pro fight. Faragon, having had a lot of amateur experience proved to be a solid puncher with good boxing skills. The fight was a close one with all three judges scoring it 39-37 for Faragon deservingly.
Another fight on the undercard that Yahoo streamed live was Billy Dib vs Rogers Mtagwa. I usually don't like back peddlers which Dib did a lot but he has great defense and is very elusive. He likes to bang too so it made the fight fun to watch. His style reminded me of Prince Nasseem Hamed, who I found out later Billy idolized as a kid. The undefeated Dib won an wide 8-round unanimous decision but Jack Mosley, his trainer has a lot of work to do with him before he steps into the ring with top ranked fighters. Dib needs to develop offensive skills to be a complete fighter. He also likes to drop his hands a lot and showboat which is going to get him knocked out if he gets careless.
