Classic fights I've watched recently

[Woldemar]

Bernard Hopkins vs Antwun Echols I and II

Good fights.

In first fight Echols created problems Hop especially in first half.He was agressive and demonstrated good speed and punching power but body punches by Hopkins made him tired and in second half BeHop dominated and get decision.

In second fight Hopkins acted first number and was agressive.Second bout was much dirtier than the first.In 2R blow the back of the head by Hopkins ,in 6R bodyslam by Echols.Hopkins stop Echols in 10R .Ref stop contest after Hopkins's combinations punches.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

I'm watching Calzaghe v Lacy for about the 40th time! Needed cheering up and that was an absolute stormer of a performance

Lacys corner should have stopped that after the 9th when it was clear calzaghe wasnt going to tire and lacy couldn't hit him. Would have saved his career

[handsofstone]

Prince Naseem Hamed vs Wilfredo Vazquez



Hamed stops Vazquez in the 7th round to retain his World Featherweight title, had him down 4 times before it was stopped, first KD was in the 2nd, left hand counter then again in the 6th from another left, Vazquez caught more square footed this time

In the 7th a Hamed right/left had Vazquez down and this was the most hurtful KD of the fight, Vazquez got up but was in trouble, the same combination had Vazquez down for the fourth time, again Vazquez bravely got up for more but as soon as Hamed opened him up seconds later the ref stepped in

[Stuarty]

I'm watching Calzaghe v Lacy for about the 40th time! Needed cheering up and that was an absolute stormer of a performance

Lacys corner should have stopped that after the 9th when it was clear calzaghe wasnt going to tire and lacy couldn't hit him. Would have saved his career

I rewatched Fury Wilder 2 again the other night and that was turning in to a Lacy(esque) beating. Trainer did right thing pulling him out.

[handsofstone]

Prince Naseem Hamed vs Wayne McCullough



Hamed beats McCullough by UD to retain his World Featherweight title, poor spectacle McCullough brought it to Hamed but he was outboxed fairly comfortably, Hamed wasn't at his best but his class always told, he picked McCullough off, lunging in with uppercuts or countering him with right hooks, too much showboating though and was just potshotting for long spells, no drama and bit of a stinker

[Bodyshot3]

Prince Naseem Hamed vs Wayne McCullough

Wayne kind of won the night for many fight fans though .....it was assuredly not his weight and he was past prime but he point-blank refused to go away and Hamed just could not blitz him and once in a while got a good smack in the mouth.

[Bodyshot3]

I'm watching Calzaghe v Lacy for about the 40th time! Needed cheering up and that was an absolute stormer of a performance

Agreed mate and I have watched it a fair few times
What I really like is the whole backdrop to the fight which also adds some extra context/spice.

Joe was frankly in danger of being a bit out of fashion by this point even with Brit fans and the press...….some of his WBO defences had been properly dull and he had made a bit of a meal of beating some pretty ho-hum opponents Benn and Eubank had already been through.

He was no longer the bright young thing who had sent Eubank sprawling.....he seemed to be treading water and not exactly giving fans value for money and a champ badly in need of a challenge to see what was he was really about.

It did not help that he was away from London and quite a private guy either...he was just a bit too provincial and not a cross-over act who had people in the office talking on Monday morning.

Lacy was the polar opposite.....hugely fancied, American, confident-talkative and knocking people over hard and early.
The SMW Tyson was the label being attached to him.

I think the fight gets more interesting because all these things were in play beforehand - Joe was treading water as a WBO "Euro Champ" and Lacy was flying and seemingly headed for some huge Vegas nights and greatness.

[margaret thatcher]

Lacy had only stopped 1 guy before the 7th in the 3 years ahead of the fight, that was a big fight I picked right, it's as if people hadn't followed Lacy's career at all or seen him just edge past Omar Sheika or claw one back from Donnell Wiggins. Even now you get stuff about these early blast outs when in fact he'd usually plod around for at least 7 rounds before starting to stop guys.

[handsofstone]

Prince Naseem Hamed vs Paul Ingle



Hamed stops the tough Ingle in the 11th to retain his World Featherweight title, Ingle down 3 times before it was stopped, first 8 rounds it was typical Naz, playing with Ingle, switching stances and nailing him with hard clean punches, Hamed had Ingle down in the 1st, doubling up the left hook to body then head, Ingle was down again in the 6th from sickening left to the body Hamed whipped in

In the 9th though Ingle finally started to get to Hamed, pressuring him and clipping him with several shots, Ingle had another great round in the 10th and thr momentum was all with him, in the 11th Hamed finished things out of the blue, nailing Ingle with a short left hand, Ingle got up but the ref waved it off, Hamed again showing his devastating power

[oogiebe]

Salvador Sanchez vs Pat Cowdell

Sanchez was terrific, winning this all the way and knocking down Cowdell in the final stanza. Not to say Cowdell didn't have moments. Competitive but not close.

What made this interesting to me was that it was a split decision, with judge Bob McMillon scoring the fight 145-144 in favor of Cowdell. Wondering if anyone ever heard of this judge or know of another poorly scored fight. The other two judges had the fight 146-140 and 148-137 both for Sanchez. I scored it 10-3-2 for Sanchez or 147-139.

[Ancherrera]

I have been watching all the fight in order, Pretty interesting to see the change in personality and to listen to the commentators

[handsofstone]

Prince Naseem Hamed vs Cesar Soto



Hamed beats Soto by UD to unify the Featherweight division, horrible messy fight, styles just didn't gel, Hamed deserved his win but he wasnt at his best, Soto dirty as fvck and TBF Naz wasnt blameless but Soto especially concentrated more on roughing Hamed up, Naz was first to lose a point in the 4th then again in thr 5th for body slamming Soto to thr canvas, Hamed looked close to a DQ especially when he pushed Soto over again

Soto finally lost a point in round 8 for use of the head and it just played out a mess until the end, holding, spoiling, wrestling, rabbit punches, hitting on the break, this fight had every infringement in the book, Hamed's glimpses of class won him the fight, Soto just seemed intent on making it ugly

[Ambling Alp II]

Oliver McCall-Bruce Seldon
This fight was better than expected. Seldon fought with a lot of spirit and even backed McCall up. However, in the end McCall was too much.

[Jeff_lacy_ko]

Lacy had only stopped 1 guy before the 7th in the 3 years ahead of the fight, that was a big fight I picked right, it's as if people hadn't followed Lacy's career at all or seen him just edge past Omar Sheika or claw one back from Donnell Wiggins. Even now you get stuff about these early blast outs when in fact he'd usually plod around for at least 7 rounds before starting to stop guys.

I agree with this. Lacy was a grinder not a one shot puncher. I was wrong about calzaghe. I thought he would wilt under pressure but not even close

[handsofstone]

Prince Naseem Hamed vs Augie Sanchez



Hamed KOs Sanchez in the 4th to retain his World Featherweight title, absolute war, Sanchez gave his all and rattled Naz a few times, he had him down in the 2nd but the ref called slip, bizarre as clearly Sanchez drilled him with 2 straight rights down the middle, Hamed was wobbled later in the round from monster swinging left hook as well


Hamed seemed to wake up by the 3rd though and Sanchez was looking weary already, Hamed probably shouldve had a knockdown of his own called when a right hook had Sanchez grabbing onto his legs, again ref ruled a push

No matter Hamed found the KO in spectacular fashion in the 4th, caught Sanchez with a left then 2 straight rights, the last one nearly took his head clean off Sanchez's shoulders, epic finish and Sanchez had to be stretchered out the ring

[milpool]

Dennis Andries v Tony Sibson

The first all-British world title fight since 1980 (Jim Watt v Charlie Nash I believe) saw Tony Sibson leapfrog super middleweight to challenge the WBC light heavyweight champion, Dennis Andries. The British title was thrown in for good measure too.
It was a fairly even start but it wasn't long before Andries used his bigger size to dominate the smaller man. Sibbo never stopped coming forward but Andries just seemed too big and too strong and eventually wore the smaller man down. The eighth saw the beginning of the end as Andries ended the round tagging Sibson with some heavy shots and the finish looked inevitable.
Sibson came out for the ninth looking like he didn't have much left and Andries finally got through putting his man down three times before the referee stepped in to end things.

[handsofstone]

Fighting Harada vs Eder Jofre 1+2



Harada outpoints Jofre over 15 rounds to become World Bantamweight champion, well deserved win for Harada he was the better busier and clearly wanted it more, he came out like a man possessed, attacking the body of Jofre, whipping in vicious lefts to the body, he rocked Jofre in the 4th with an uppercut which had him backed onto the ropes where Harada battered him with lefts and rights, things settled down after 5/6 rounds and Jofre began to have a little success but really Harada had already done the damage and although he wasnt as busy as earlier he was still putting togetget some hard looking combinations and was the clear winner


Harada wins the rematch on points as well to retain his title, closer fight than the first one, Harada wasnt as aggressive as he was last time, Jofre got off quicker this time and probably shaded the first couple rounds before Harada got going, it was even stevens for most of the fight, Harada landed the eye catching shots up close while Jofre landed the right hand over the top occasionally, no real drama and although there was plenty leather thrown by both men, it wasnt a great watch, Harada finished backing Jofre up to take last couple rounds to seal the double

[Tony1244]

Young-Foreman

Foreman had points taken away for fighting and Young complained for things like GF toub=ching his arm. Biased ref.

Fight GF should have won.

[PredatorHayds]

SRL-Hearns

9-10
9-10
9-10
9-10
9-10
10-9
10-9
10-9
9-10
10-9
9-10
9-10
10-8
SRL Stops Hearns

I had it Hearns 124-122 going into the 14th round.

1

[handsofstone]

Fighting Harada vs Alan Rudkin



Harada beats Rudkin by UD to retain his World Bantamweight title, he was awarded a knockdown in the 1st but it was clearly a slip by Rudkin, it was a good competitive fight, no stand out but a close match, both men looked to exchange jabs and both fought at a good pace, Rudkin fought tooth and nail with Harada all the way but came up short on the night, Harada probably edged it in his quality

[NoScoutingReports]

Just watched The Fight of the Millennium (Oscar De La Hoya vs. Felix Trinidad) back for the first time in a good while, hard to believe it was over 20 years ago now. Some very tricky rounds to score, especially early, thought De La Hoya would definitely get the decision in Vegas but there you go!

[Duran1970]

Can never ignore the Don King element

[oogiebe]

Can never ignore the Don King element

Pure evil.

[AntonioMartin]

Salvador Sanchez-Nicky Perez...

[handsofstone]

Lionel Rose vs Fighting Harada



Rose beats Harada by UD to become World Bantamweight champion, competitive fight but a deserved win for Rose, he was the cuter boxer, more polished landed the quality blows, was first off with the jab, his left hook counters were quality and the right cross caught the rushing Harada time and again, Harada as always was aggressive and never stopped coming forward and attacked the body of Rose


Rose had Harada down in the 9th after walking him onto a right hand, Harada wasn't hurt but it pulled Rose away in the fight, Rose wobbled Harada in the 14th with a straight right as well, Harada emptied the tank going for the KO but Rose kept composed to see it out and become world champ