Finkel wrote: ↑21 Aug 2022, 13:19
Robbed on the cards.
Looking at Eyes on the ring.
Vast majority had Zhang winning the fight. I saw only one card that gave Hrgovic 8 rounds (115-112)
Media cards were a mix of Zhang winning and Hrgovic edging it.
The judges?
115-112
115-112
114-113
UD Hrgovic
GTFOH
Seriously? I had Hrgovic 116-112 and I was rooting for Zhang. I only saw 3 rounds he clearly won, including the first. I gave one round a 10-10.
Wasn't surprised at all that Hrgovic had trouble with him, but I didn't see Zhang doing much at all most rounds. I think maybe people scored rounds for Zhang because they were surprised that Hrgovic didn't run through him. But Hrgovic was obviously the busier fighter for the whole bout. Mostly Zhang just showed durability, and every few rounds tried to make a go of things for a minute or so, before slipping back into being idle.
People scored rounds because Hrg at times was looking out at the crowd after getting tagged by heavy shots in multiple rounds, he was clearly getting hurt. Throw in the knock down and it was easy to see why many had Zhang winning the fight scoring it round by round, despite Hrgovic taking over down the stretch.
Eyes on the ring, the majority had Zhang winning. Only one fan card gave Hrgovic 8 rounds.
That was the same on the round by rounds on different forum I've checked. Some had Zhang some had Hrgovic, again only one card I saw gave Hrgovic 8 rounds.
Though, now I should probably say two if I include your card.
R/boxing was in disbelief too
Add to that media cards I saw ranged from Hrg 114-113 to 112-115 Zhang
So yeah all three judges giving a UD was extremely suspect. Especially when two of the three scored 8 rounds for Hrgovic...
To me that is a robbery, and should ring alarm bells if you assess how likely that is.
A hard fight to score, I haven't seen the punch stats but on that I bet Hrgvic was up clearly.
I gave it to Big Bang by one because Hrgvic couldn't put a dent in him, Zhang has a quality chin and deflected a lot of shots too.
On the other hand Zhang controlled the pace of the fight, had better ring generalmanship, and most importantly hurt the Croat on a number of occasions.
Zhang clearly landed the better shots, but his activity was pretty fornicating poor. Some rounds he wouldn’t punch for 2:30 then have one flurry where he lands 3 decent shots. Judging nightmare.
I’d like to judge almost entirely on impact/effect of shots. But they don’t, and zhang simply got out worked for probably 30/36 mins if the fight…
I would actually like to see a rematch.
I'm not really a fan of them, but one of these guys needs to prove they can clearly win.
I wasn't scoring the fight, but neither seemed a clear winner to me.
Finkel wrote: ↑21 Aug 2022, 13:19
Robbed on the cards.
Looking at Eyes on the ring.
Vast majority had Zhang winning the fight. I saw only one card that gave Hrgovic 8 rounds (115-112)
Media cards were a mix of Zhang winning and Hrgovic edging it.
The judges?
115-112
115-112
114-113
UD Hrgovic
GTFOH
Seriously? I had Hrgovic 116-112 and I was rooting for Zhang. I only saw 3 rounds he clearly won, including the first. I gave one round a 10-10.
Wasn't surprised at all that Hrgovic had trouble with him, but I didn't see Zhang doing much at all most rounds. I think maybe people scored rounds for Zhang because they were surprised that Hrgovic didn't run through him. But Hrgovic was obviously the busier fighter for the whole bout. Mostly Zhang just showed durability, and every few rounds tried to make a go of things for a minute or so, before slipping back into being idle.
By the way, Saudi Arabia should not be where people fight, big money or not. The fact that even Usyk seemed a bit slowed down makes me think the humidity was ridiculous. I mean they were bathing in sweat and getting the canvas like a hockey rink. Joshua and Zhang slipping was obviously down to the shitty Saudi ring or lack of proper temperature control.
Mexi-Box wrote: ↑21 Aug 2022, 20:52
By the way, Saudi Arabia should not be where people fight, big money or not. The fact that even Usyk seemed a bit slowed down makes me think the humidity was ridiculous. I mean they were bathing in sweat and getting the canvas like a hockey rink. Joshua and Zhang slipping was obviously down to the shitty Saudi ring or lack of proper temperature control.
We're you around when Ali fought Foremen? That was hot, and no air conditioning. No place is "hot" now.
Finkel wrote: ↑21 Aug 2022, 13:19
Robbed on the cards.
Looking at Eyes on the ring.
Vast majority had Zhang winning the fight. I saw only one card that gave Hrgovic 8 rounds (115-112)
Media cards were a mix of Zhang winning and Hrgovic edging it.
The judges?
115-112
115-112
114-113
UD Hrgovic
GTFOH
Seriously? I had Hrgovic 116-112 and I was rooting for Zhang. I only saw 3 rounds he clearly won, including the first. I gave one round a 10-10.
Wasn't surprised at all that Hrgovic had trouble with him, but I didn't see Zhang doing much at all most rounds. I think maybe people scored rounds for Zhang because they were surprised that Hrgovic didn't run through him. But Hrgovic was obviously the busier fighter for the whole bout. Mostly Zhang just showed durability, and every few rounds tried to make a go of things for a minute or so, before slipping back into being idle.
Adalaie byrd, how have you been honey?
Nice try, but Adelaide is famous for scoring opposite the other judges, not agreeing with them.
Those scoring it for Zhang are the Adelaide Byrds in this equation
I thought Zhang won a close decision, Main Thing I got from this fight is Hrgovic should NOT have been avoided by all those ranked Fighters who were offered a fight with Hrgovic before Zhang accepted the fight. Hrgovic is not that good, every time he got hit solid, he turned and started walking away like it was the end of the round, allowing Zhang to hit him with several clean shots to Hrgovics face. He looked like he was daydreaming when he turned away, If Zhang was hitting hard enough to make him not no where he was that many times Zhang probably won, It was clear Zhang's punches were more damaging. Hrgovic will not be avoided anymore, he is not good enough to be avoided
hrg was hurt several times and got his arse downright kicked in a number of the rounds. at no point did he do the same to big bang zhang. zhang won for me, but was a swing decision because zhang lacked the gas, and credit to hrg he hung tough in there, but overall zhang came out of this fight brighter to me than hrg did. definitely agree that guys will be more confident in facing hrg now
i've been saying, and increasingly others saying too, that for a while hrg has been unimpressive. this isnt really just 1 off performance, he's been sloppy and lacklustre for a while. he's obviously a big fairly strong dude and should hang around the top 20-25, but he's gonna have a hard hard time beyond that
I suspect the decision was also due to other factors outside of what happened in the ring.
This global event was a showcase for Saudi Arabia and was used also as a showcase for Muslim fighters.
Fighters were proudly carrying their nations flags throught this event. So, I don't think we can dismiss that issue of China currently being under investigation for human rights violations against Sunni practicing Uighurs, and Saudia Arabia being a centre for Sunni Islam.
Remember we already saw them job Rivera on the cards against Bandou Jack, and that crazy 4 minute round. So they clearly had their finger on the scales.
Then consider the ref had even already raised Zhang's hand at the end and the crowd were booing when they announced Hrgovic had won.
I had it 116-111 for the Chinese. If Zhang had better stamina, he would have won wider, maybe even by KO. Hrgovic was looking vulnerable too often. Zhang proved to be a better schooled competitor, he simply lacked stamina to win more convincingly, but he still did enough to win.
Mexi-Box wrote: ↑21 Aug 2022, 20:52
By the way, Saudi Arabia should not be where people fight, big money or not. The fact that even Usyk seemed a bit slowed down makes me think the humidity was ridiculous. I mean they were bathing in sweat and getting the canvas like a hockey rink. Joshua and Zhang slipping was obviously down to the shitty Saudi ring or lack of proper temperature control.
We're you around when Ali fought Foremen? That was hot, and no air conditioning. No place is "hot" now.
Boxers sweat.
So let's not learn from mistakes? Maybe next time we can skip the desert and go full hockey rink!
Finkel wrote: ↑22 Aug 2022, 04:54
I suspect the decision was also due to other factors outside of what happened in the ring.
This global event was a showcase for Saudi Arabia and was used also as a showcase for Muslim fighters.
Fighters were proudly carrying their nations flags throught this event. So, I don't think we can dismiss that issue of China currently being under investigation for human rights violations against Sunni practicing Uighurs, and Saudia Arabia being a centre for Sunni Islam.
Remember we already saw them job Rivera on the cards against Bandou Jack, and that crazy 4 minute round. So they clearly had their finger on the scales.
Then consider the ref had even already raised Zhang's hand at the end and the crowd were booing when they announced Hrgovic had won.
You might be over thinking it.
I thought it was pretty close, but didn't score it, so I reserve any strong opinion either way.
It was disappointing after watching that I feel neither guy is going to play much of a part in the future of the top level of the division.
If anything, it reinforces how weak it really is.
DrDuke wrote: ↑22 Aug 2022, 05:01
I had it 116-111 for the Chinese. If Zhang had better stamina, he would have won wider, maybe even by KO. Hrgovic was looking vulnerable too often. Zhang proved to be a better schooled competitor, he simply lacked stamina to win more convincingly, but he still did enough to win.
You scored it for every chinese person. Interesting fight
margaret thatcher wrote: ↑22 Aug 2022, 00:49
hrg was hurt several times and got his arse downright kicked in a number of the rounds. at no point did he do the same to big bang zhang. zhang won for me, but was a swing decision because zhang lacked the gas, and credit to hrg he hung tough in there, but overall zhang came out of this fight brighter to me than hrg did. definitely agree that guys will be more confident in facing hrg now
i've been saying, and increasingly others saying too, that for a while hrg has been unimpressive. this isnt really just 1 off performance, he's been sloppy and lacklustre for a while. he's obviously a big fairly strong dude and should hang around the top 20-25, but he's gonna have a hard hard time beyond that
When he smashed mansour in 2018 he looked like he had massive potential. Then he tread water for 4 years and looked worse
Hes still young enough to improve but he needs to keep fighting better fighters. Joyce, parker, whyte type level fighters
Finkel wrote: ↑22 Aug 2022, 04:54
I suspect the decision was also due to other factors outside of what happened in the ring.
This global event was a showcase for Saudi Arabia and was used also as a showcase for Muslim fighters.
Fighters were proudly carrying their nations flags throught this event. So, I don't think we can dismiss that issue of China currently being under investigation for human rights violations against Sunni practicing Uighurs, and Saudia Arabia being a centre for Sunni Islam.
Remember we already saw them job Rivera on the cards against Bandou Jack, and that crazy 4 minute round. So they clearly had their finger on the scales.
Then consider the ref had even already raised Zhang's hand at the end and the crowd were booing when they announced Hrgovic had won.
You might be over thinking it.
I thought it was pretty close, but didn't score it, so I reserve any strong opinion either way.
It was disappointing after watching that I feel neither guy is going to play much of a part in the future of the top level of the division.
If anything, it reinforces how weak it really is.
I don't see how Hrgovic underperforming reflects badly on the division as a whole. There are plenty of prospects including Sirenko, Dubois, Jalolov, Pero, etc some of which will almost certainly turn out to be capable at top level. I don't think lack of talent is a problem. Hrgovic not living up to expectations hardly reflects badly on the division as a whole.
Finkel wrote: ↑22 Aug 2022, 04:54
I suspect the decision was also due to other factors outside of what happened in the ring.
This global event was a showcase for Saudi Arabia and was used also as a showcase for Muslim fighters.
Fighters were proudly carrying their nations flags throught this event. So, I don't think we can dismiss that issue of China currently being under investigation for human rights violations against Sunni practicing Uighurs, and Saudia Arabia being a centre for Sunni Islam.
Remember we already saw them job Rivera on the cards against Bandou Jack, and that crazy 4 minute round. So they clearly had their finger on the scales.
Then consider the ref had even already raised Zhang's hand at the end and the crowd were booing when they announced Hrgovic had won.
You might be over thinking it.
I thought it was pretty close, but didn't score it, so I reserve any strong opinion either way.
It was disappointing after watching that I feel neither guy is going to play much of a part in the future of the top level of the division.
If anything, it reinforces how weak it really is.
I don't see how Hrgovic underperforming reflects badly on the division as a whole. There are plenty of prospects including Sirenko, Dubois, Jalolov, Pero, etc some of which will almost certainly turn out to be capable at top level. I don't think lack of talent is a problem. Hrgovic not living up to expectations hardly reflects badly on the division as a whole.
I don't feel either is a contender now. I had them both as prospects going into the fight.
The level of the fight reflects the current quality of the division to me.
These were two guys knocking on the top ten (for the winner) and neither are particularly promising now they have been evenly matched against each other. Prior to that, there was little way of measuring how good either was after a series of 'sure to win' fights coming up.
Just my opinion.
Finkel wrote: ↑22 Aug 2022, 04:54
I suspect the decision was also due to other factors outside of what happened in the ring.
This global event was a showcase for Saudi Arabia and was used also as a showcase for Muslim fighters.
Fighters were proudly carrying their nations flags throught this event. So, I don't think we can dismiss that issue of China currently being under investigation for human rights violations against Sunni practicing Uighurs, and Saudia Arabia being a centre for Sunni Islam.
Remember we already saw them job Rivera on the cards against Bandou Jack, and that crazy 4 minute round. So they clearly had their finger on the scales.
Then consider the ref had even already raised Zhang's hand at the end and the crowd were booing when they announced Hrgovic had won.
You might be over thinking it.
I thought it was pretty close, but didn't score it, so I reserve any strong opinion either way.
It was disappointing after watching that I feel neither guy is going to play much of a part in the future of the top level of the division.
If anything, it reinforces how weak it really is.
You are possibly right.
I love a good conspiracy theory
