Classic fights I've watched recently

[handsofstone]

Bob Fitzsimmons vs James J Corbett



Fitzsimmons KOs Corbett in the 14th round to become World Heavyweight champ, grainy as fcvk footage as you can imagine being from 1897 but still some clear action as well, the knockdowns were grainy, Corbett was in control controlling and countering Fitzsimmons from the outside, he had Fitzsimmons down in the 6th after a 2 handed combination, Fitzsimmons tried to grab Corbett by the legs as he went down, in the 14th though Fitzsimmons decked Corbett with a left hand to the solar plexus and Corbett couldn't beat the count

[Ambling Alp II]

Amazing that anything of this exists at all. It was pretty coll when that surfaced a few years ago. Of course it would be nice if more was included, but at least we are able to see something!

[handsofstone]

Amazing that anything of this exists at all. It was pretty coll when that surfaced a few years ago. Of course it would be nice if more was included, but at least we are able to see something!

Absolutely, I've seen this a few times, I've always thought Corbett went down oddly at the finish, usually people double up in a hunch when creased by a body shot but Corbett looked kinda stretched out back straight on a knee

[DrDuke]

Johnny Du Plooy vs James Tillis

The fight started with Du Plooy taking the center of the ring. He became the aggressor, while Tillis was measuredly circling around. Both fighters were more of targeting and picking punches, than trying to outwork an opponent. Both had moments, yet Du Plooy seemed to edge the fight. In the 7th round Du Plooy caught Tillis with a solid counter right hand and wobbled him. In the 10th and final round Johnny started out faster than before, while James didn't like that and appeared to be more tired, he was trying to clinch a lot. In a one of the exchanges Du Plooy's right hand landed on Tillis' temple, while James was moving forward. Tillis went down. He got up, but Du Plooy pressed forward and landed a barrage of damaging punches, after what the ref stopped the fight.

[DrDuke]

Johnny Du Plooy vs Mike Weaver I & II

The first fight started pretty even with both fighters actively exchanging. In the 2nd round Du Plooy started to dominate, he seemed to hurt Weaver a bit. In the 3rd he hurt Mike more, but in the next round Weaver came back. In the 5th Du Plooy sustained a low blow and went down from it. After the recovery he went down again, but this time from no visible punches absorbed, as he seemed to go down from the wrist injury than from taking a shot. But the ref made a count that time. Johnny tried to bounce back and even landed some shots, but in the end of the round he went down again, this time from the punch. In the 6th injured Du Plooy was fighting at the back foot. After this round his corner decided to stop the fight.

The rematch also started bad for Du Plooy, as he was cut right in the 1st. Although the round itself was pretty even. In the 2nd Du Plooy went forward with the series of punches trapping Weaver at the ropes and sending him down. Mike got up. Johnny tried to finish Weaver and at first Weaver was surviving well, but then he was trapped at the ropes again, when Du Plooy threw a right hook to the body, right hook to the head combination, which sent Weaver down hard. It was clear, that Weaver wouldn't make the count, right after he went down. Du Plooy avenged a RTD loss by a KO.

[Ambling Alp II]

His knockout of Gianfranco Rosi is beyond awesome !!!!

Lloyd had some great nights.....I've not seen it as yet, but apparently his British title fight with Cliff Gilpin was a give-and-take classic.

Have also watched Sanders v Wlad K again. With Sanders you are always left with so many 'what ifs' it almost makes your head hurt.

Looking back at the fight you realise that although Wlad was robotic, Sanders must have carried a massive dig to put a big/powerful guy like Wlad on queer street and when he pulled the trigger his hands were super fast and he also had great timing.

Is the fight a true classic? Maybe not just yet...but with Wlad edging closer to ATG status... it grows in importance and reputation.

Wlad had a glass jaw. Samuel Peter had him down three times. Brewster stopped him. Williamson decked him. Never heard anyone think Sanders was good until the Wlad fight.

[Seamus]

Corrie Sanders dropped Rahman and almost put Vitali down in the 1st. Big puncher, despite not looking very athletic. He had poor stamina and was a fader.

[BroughtonRulesRefuge]

Wlad had a glass jaw. Samuel Peter had him down three times. Brewster stopped him. Williamson decked him. Never heard anyone think Sanders was good until the Wlad fight.

- Watching the usual Klitschko emasculated sissies still singing in soprano when there is adult male hormone therapy available comical.

Wlad never took a 10 count. His most KDs were 3 rabbits by Peter who had to change his style after this fight. The last one he clocked a downed Wlad for good measure. The fouls never called, but Wlad clearly won the fight his critics said he couldn't.

Sanders considered a legend by many on the old AOL forum chock full of fighters, trainers, ect because of his quick southpaw style coupled with early KO power. He seldom trained because the SA boycott prevented many fights, so he made big $ in pro rugby and golf, a rare multi sport boxer.

The lead of the 4 KDs in the 1st was a Sanders butt/LHk/butt combo that opened up Wlad left eye. Woulda knocked out 99.99% of heavies in history, but sopranos ain't interested in history.

Wlad completely dominated Brewster in an easy fight such that Roy was screaming for the fight to be stopped. Brewster landed one clean punch that never phased him, but the last rd, all of a sudden he could barely keep his arms up to bounce off the ropes to the canvas at the end of the rd. He had to be dragged and held upright on his stool. Manny and Vitali said he was drugged and that's good enough for me.

Betting had been suspended the week before because of a huge flood of bets from the UK. I immediately knew he was drugged before Manny confirmed. I had the same reaction when Foreman came out against Ali. George Plimpton screamed out the fix is in not knowing the later drugging of Foreman.

Wlad was down 1 sec vs Williamson who had been butting all night and dominated 4 of the 5 rds, a baloney fight ruined by Williamson.

Yeah, the Ks are in good company on this forum along with Manny and Canelo and we know why that is, but no matter to them. Epic is epic in any language.

[handsofstone]

Diego Corrales vs Acelino Freitas



Corrales stops Freitas in the 10th to become World Lightweight champion, had him down 3 times before Freitas had had enough, Freitas started off the much better, fighting on the back foot using all the ring, great lateral movement and picking Corrales off, nailing him with the right hands especially, Corrales constantly pressed but he was being picked off by some excellent work from Freitas, Corrales was getting through with some nice single shots but the overall boxing was being done by Freitas


Things turned on its head in the 8th though when Corrales backed up Freitas and dropped him heavily with a big right hand, Freitas was hurt but lost this mouthpiece and the time it took to get it cleaned up and back in, left it too late for Corrales to get the finish, Freitas looked to have recovered well in the 9th but at the end of the round another massive right from Corrales had him down again and again the gumshield came out and Freitas was docked a point then in the 10th a cuffing right had Freitas down for a 3rd time in the fight and although he made the count he signalled to ref he was done and it was stopped, great fight and turnaround from Corrales

[Onetimeonly]

Freitas gave corrales the idea to spit out his mouthpiece when weeks cheated Castillo.

[handsofstone]

Joshua Clottey vs Diego Corrales



Clottey outpoints Corrales over 10 rounds in a non title Welterweight war, a bit of a one sided war but a war nonetheless, Clottey dropped Corrales in each of the last 2 rounds and unsurprisingly Corrales lost his mouthpiece each time and deservedly lost a point the second time, I'm surprised Corrales lasted until the 9th before going down he took an absolute pasting in there, especially the first 4 rounds Clottey hit him with the kitchen sink, jabs, crosses, hooks and especially uppercuts, just nailing Corrales flush time and again, Correles had to rely on that massive heart more than once, amazed that he never went down in those early rounds, some of the work to the body was brutal


Corrales began to get home with his own punches in the middle rounds but was still taking a lot of punishment to do so, Clottey just walked through him but credit to Corrales he stood toe to toe, in the 9th finally Clottey put him down after a combination, losing the guard helped Corrales survive another round, Clottey had him down again in the 10th from right hand but as hurt as Corrales was he bravely got up and after the heart he showed deserved to hear the final bell

[handsofstone]

Miguel Cotto vs Carlos Maussa




Cotto stops Maussa on swollen eyes in the 8th round of a non title Super Lightweight fight, battle of the unbeatens, its hard to believe Maussa went on to become a world champion, he's so technically poor, tall upright and gangly but he made it work for him TBF, he was always second best here though, Cotto too technically compact for him, had the better variety and threw the better harder punches, he had Maussa down in the 3rd after an overhand right had him touching down. Maussa's eyes were swollen by the 4th and Cotto just kept plugging away, not getting flustered and hitting him with solid jabs and hooks to the body, some nice work upstairs as well

Maussa probably never won a round and Cotto was starting to find the target more and more when the ref called the doctor over where it was stopped

[MasterG]

Just watched Frank Bruno v Oliver McCall (Sky sports Mix)

That 12th round was hard to watch back then and its still hard to watch now even though you know the result.

Thank god it was only a 12 round fight otherwise Bruno would have been stopped in the 13th or 14th.

Just have to love Frank in the interview straight after the fight, poor bugger crying. You cant help but to love Bruno.

[Bodyshot3]

Just watched Frank Bruno v Oliver McCall (Sky sports Mix)

That 12th round was hard to watch back then and its still hard to watch now even though you know the result.

Thank god it was only a 12 round fight otherwise Bruno would have been stopped in the 13th or 14th.

Just have to love Frank in the interview straight after the fight, poor bugger crying. You cant help but to love Bruno.

Just when Bruno was deemed to be old, washed-up and not worthy of another title crack...….he gets over the line
Still love the fact that things came right for Frank; nobody tried harder or had more setbacks.

[handsofstone]

Miguel Cotto vs Lovemore N'Dou



Cotto outpoints N'Dou over 12 rounds, great learning fight for the young unbeaten Cotto, deserved win for him but N'Dou made him work for it, strong and durable he gave Cotto some things to think about, switched southpaw for a spell and Cotto had to adjust but he done well to outbox N'Dou, he boxed beautifully at times, worked the left hook upstairs and down, caught N'Dou with some hard crisp punches, Ndou was never hurt though and he done well to block and parry a lot of Cotto's work, still Cotto overall looked the bizz, patient and precise

[milpool]

Barry McGuigan v Steve Cruz

A good fight to watch, all action from beginning to end in what was fought out in intense heat, not only from the sun but also from the lights above the ring.
I watched the BBC version and the general consensus was that McGuigan might have nicked it even with the three knockdowns and point deduction. I really didn't see it that way, I thought Cruz was in control for the best part of the fight, although McGuigan did have his moments, in particular around the 5th or 6th round when it looked like Cruz was wilting.
I didn't score it but Cruz winning by UD was probably a fair result and there were no complaints from Barry in his post fight interview.
I'm sure 9 times out of 10 McGuigan wins this but it just seemed to be Stevie's night on this occasion.

[scartissue]

Barry McGuigan v Steve Cruz

A good fight to watch, all action from beginning to end in what was fought out in intense heat, not only from the sun but also from the lights above the ring.
I watched the BBC version and the general consensus was that McGuigan might have nicked it even with the three knockdowns and point deduction. I really didn't see it that way, I thought Cruz was in control for the best part of the fight, although McGuigan did have his moments, in particular around the 5th or 6th round when it looked like Cruz was wilting.
I didn't score it but Cruz winning by UD was probably a fair result and there were no complaints from Barry in his post fight interview.
I'm sure 9 times out of 10 McGuigan wins this but it just seemed to be Stevie's night on this occasion.

I scored this about 2 years ago. Here is what I wrote after seeing it:

I thought I'd check out the Barry McGuigan-Stevie Cruz featherweight title fight after these many years. Man, what a pace for 15 rounds and in the Las Vegas desert to boot.

Round 1: 10-9 McGuigan
Round 2: 10-9 Cruz
Round 3: 10-9 McGuigan
Round 4: 10-9 McGuigan
Round 5: 10-9 McGuigan
Round 6: 10-9 Cruz
Round 7: 10-9 Cruz
Round 8: 10-9 McGuigan
Round 9: 10-9 McGuigan
Round 10: 10-8 Cruz (scores a knockdown)
Round 11: 10-9 Cruz
Round 12: 10-9 Cruz (scored it even but 1 point deducted from McGuigan for low blow)
Round 13: 10-9 McGuigan
Round 14: 10-9 McGuigan
Round 15: 10-7 Cruz (scores 2 knockdowns)

Total: 142-140 Cruz

Official scores unanimously for Cruz 143-142, 142-141 and 143-139. A few of the UK analysts had McGuigan just retaining his title, but although I was a big McGuigan supporter, I gotta call them the way I see them. Cruz must have really infuriated his corner when he would hold back after hurting a fighter. I saw him do the same thing when he fought Jorge Paez. He decked him, had out on his feet, but just wouldn't throw another punch let alone a finisher. I should also add that that was one Herculean effort by McGuigan to take the 13th and 14th on my card when there couldn't be much in the tank. Excellent fight.

[handsofstone]

Miguel Cotto vs Randall Bailey



Cotto stops Bailey on a cut left eye in the 6th to retain his World Super Lightweight title, had him down twice en route, destroyed him really, broke him down to the body and caught him with some big shots upstairs, an overhand right from Cotto caught Bailey down the pipe and put him down in the 2nd, a combination from Cotto had Bailey turning and taking a knee in the 3rd, a thumb to the eye from a left from Cotto opened up a cut, Cotto carried on beating Bailey up until the ref called the doc and stopped it, brave from Bailey he tried to give it a go and land that big right hand but after the knockdowns and the cut he looked on borrowed time, class again from Cotto, some savage bodywork

[handsofstone]

Miguel Cotto vs DeMarcus Corley



Cotto stops Corley in the 5th to retain his World Super Lightweight title, bad call from the ref who was dreadful throughout, it was a tear up from the off, fairly eventful to say the least, Cotto had Corley down seconds into the fight, caught him with a left hook, Corley only touced down for a sec and wasn't badly hurt, Cotto then lost a point in the 2nd for a low blow, Corley was dangerous and badly wobbled Cotto with a right hook in the 3rd and Cotto spent most of the round on rubbery legs in survival mode, Corley then lost a point for a low blow in the 4th, then in the 5th Cotto rocked Corley onto his heels and put him down with a left to the body, he didn't look too badly hurt, when he got up Cotto steamed in and Corley for whatever reason took a knee as Cotto pressed, the ref then bizarrely waved it off, Corley shouldn't be taking knees when not hurt but that was a horrendous call by the ref


The ref was garbage all night, he paraded Corley around the ring when taking a point off Cotto and vice versa when Corley was docked, neither guy had been warned either before the deductions, hopeless twat, great fight though Corley was dangerous with that right hook but Cotto landed more and his pressure effectively beat Corley

[handsofstone]

Miguel Cotto vs Ricardo Torres



Cotto stops Torres in the 7th round to retain his World Super Lightweight title, mental fight, both men down and hurt several times, Cotto put Torres down in the 1st with a left/right, Torres wasnt hurt and rocked Cotto with a right hand later in the round, Cotto recovered well though, in the 2nd Torres rocked Cotto badly again with a left hook and battered him around the ring, Cotto stood up to some big clean shots before a 1/2 finally put him down, he recovered well though and finished the round landing bombs on Torres


Cotto started to break Torres down to the body in the 3rd, he got a couple warnings for straying low but you could tell some legal lefts to thr body were hurting Torres and backing him up, Cotto had Torres down again in the 4th, left hand downstairs looked borderline, things turned again in the 5th when Torres wobbled Cotto with a big left/right/left uppercut, had Cotto reeling around the ring again where Torres carried on landing massive shots, Cotto showed his stones though and managed to stay upright, big round for Torres though


In the 6th Cotto was firmly back on top and right at the end of the round decked Torres for a third time with a jab followed by a massive right hand, the 7th round was bonkers, Torres rocked Cotto again and both men on had a tear up, throwing bombs, just as things quieted down Cotto forced the finish, a combination to head and body put Torres down for the fourth and final time, batshit crazy fight

[Caractacus]

[handsofstone]

Miguel Cotto vs Gianluca Branco



Cotto stops Branco in the 8th to retain his World Super Lightweight title, easy win for Cotto who done as he pleased in there, Branco was tailor made for him , he just stood in front of Cotto, no head movement and Cotto just methodically broke him down, it was all left hooks, head and body just kept pounding away round after round, Branco's right side of jaw was swollen as Cotto repeatedly nailed him flush, Branco was signaling in the 7th that his right arm was bothering him and in the 8th round Cotto landed a left hook to his bicep and Branco turned around and signalled to the ref he was done

[handsofstone]

Antonio Cervantes vs Esteban De Jesus



Cervantes beats De Jesus by wide UD to retain his World Super Lightweight title, dropped him 3 times en route, he had De Jesus down in the 1st, missed with a left but came back with a right to drop him, De Jesus had Cervantes down from a right hand in the 3rd but the ref wrongly ruled slip, Cervantes went on to outbox De Jesus, he was taller than him and never allowed the swarming De Jesus to get on the inside to good effect, Cervantes jabbed well, countered well, landed some crisp straight right and left hooks and no matter what De Jesus tried nothing worked and he was quite easily dealt with


Cervantes had De Jesus down again in the 12th from a straight right/left jab, De Jesus wasn't badly hurt from the KD but the fight in general was taking its toll and he was looking ragged, no surprise he was down again in the 15th, quality left uppercut from Cervantes sent him on his arse for the best KD of the fight, De Jesus groggily made it to the end just but Cervantes a clear winner

[handsofstone]

Esteban De Jesus vs Guts Ishimatsu




De Jesus outpoints Ishimatsu over 15 rounds to become World Lightweight champ, pretty boring fight, no drama, one sided as De Jesus kept things simple to outbox Ishimatsu all night, his jab was sharp, nice movement and as the rounds went on he upped the tempo and widened the gap, Ishimatsu was tough and strong but he never had any answers and had no plan B to try change things up, routine win for De Jesus

[bennie]

Lopez needed slinging out for the disgusting headbutt he tried.