I LOOOOOVVVVEEE the heavy weights! I'm sure Stacey quit because of his injury - and I just told Dr. Goodfellow that he had his hand casted (that was her recommendation last night). However, prior to the tumble over the ropes, Stacey was sloppy.
I think Lopez and Nichol are even 1-1 each. I frankly think Rick will win and have one heck of a final with Sergio Perales.
boxmel wrote:I LOOOOOVVVVEEE the heavy weights! I'm sure Stacey quit because of his injury - and I just told Dr. Goodfellow that he had his hand casted (that was her recommendation last night). However, prior to the tumble over the ropes, Stacey was sloppy.
I think Lopez and Nichol are even 1-1 each. I frankly think Rick will win and have one heck of a final with Sergio Perales.
Mel we will have to just agree to disagree about the big guys. I agree that the winner of Lopez/Nichol against Perales should be a great bout.
9 of my 11 pre tournament picks are in the finals which isnt bad. Thought Esquivaus would give Williams much more of a bettel then that and figured Holmes and Jones was a toss up bout.
Good to see Demetrio Soto rounding back into form of a few years back, Mike Faragon looked solid at the Eastern trials so his excelling here doesnt surprise me one bit. My sleeper Enrique Nieves is one bout from punching his ticket and I think he beats Vargas by at least 5-6 points.
Someone who reads this forum, probably from Southern California, who is also uninformed and unknowledgeable, saw my opinion on the Christopher Avalos (So. Calif) vs. Sergio Perales bout. That person called the admin people at the Western Trials and asked that I be removed from running the computer judging on that bout. Luckily, the Chief Of Officials didn't feel this was necessary and I ran the scoring system for all the bouts in my ring.
Just so you are all in the know, all the computer tech does is start and stop the bouts. There is NO way a computer tech can affect or change the outcome of any bouts.
However, given the fact that someone wanted to use scare tactics and I don't want to give coaches and boxers any more reasons to dislike the computer scoring system, I will no longer participate by giving my opinions before or after any bouts at any event I run the scoring system.
It's this kind of pettiness that sours our sport. It's too bad there are people who have nothing better to do.
That's a shame,as a coach to my son I would be looking for any good constructive criticisicm to help my son to become a more complete boxer. I hope you change your mind and ignore this incident, I'm sure there is a lot of people that like to here diferents points of view.
Hugo, the best advice I can give you for boxing with computer scoring (or the clickers) is to tell your boxers to stay off the ropes and out of the corners. Three out of five judges must push the button for the same boxer in order to register a point. If the boxers are on the ropes and in the corners, you will definitely lose two judges and probably three because they won't be able to see a punch land. Keep them in the middle of the ring and moving so all the judges have a good view.
Soto at one time was one of the up and coming stars, battling the likes of Victor Ortiz in the J.O. National finals way back in 2003 . Now to beat Crespin by such a wide margain in the semis shows he is obviously serious about making a mark and putting together a legitimate run (Crespin looked real sharp to me at the Eastern tirals,in fact when the judges gave Larry Reico the decision over him we all kinda just scratched our heads to be honest).
Mel,I would ask you how you see his final vs Rodrigo Garcia playing out but understand you may not want to give opinions after that incident.
It is unfortunate when people complain to officials when someone who has no part in the outcome of bouts is expressing opinions when so few are giving us inside information as it is. There are people out there like that, like it or not .
Are any big name pros expected to be in attendance like at the Eastern trials or will it be more low key on that front ?
Mel - I hope you rethink your recent post. You are one of the few people who has the guts to actually voice an opinion. I know you have taken heat before but at least boxing fans get to read about the bouts when you write about them. If you don't give us info, then most of the time we get very little info, if any, about bouts at these tournaments.
Again Mel please continue to write about the bouts. If you don't want to make predictions at least continue to give us info about the actual bouts.
Congrats to Mike Faragon on making it to the finals. Mike - you and I met at the National GG at the cookout. I'm glad to see you doing so well. Good luck tonight and hopefully I'll see you box in Colorado Springs.
Dennis, I found out it was one of the boxers who complained. I really don't care if anyone "likes" me but I don't appreciate my integrity being questioned, especially by people who haven't a clue. I don't ever post anything I wouldn't also say to the boxers and coaches. And, as many of the boxers know, I can and will be very forthright in my assessment of their skills and what I feel, from a judge's point of view, they can do to become better.
119 - Perales and Lopez should be an excellent bout. Both have power and similar styles. I think whoever wins has the skills to make it to the quarterfinals of the Championships (based on the draw, of course).
125 - Williams and Martinez. I think Williams is too fast and has more experience than Martinez.
132 - Vargas and Nieves. Haven't seen Nieves the last two nights. Vargas smothers his opponents and brawls pretty well.
152 - Soto and Garcia. This is a hard one for me. Both were excellent JOs; I think Rodrigo had a better national record - and both have been out of the ring for many years.
106: Diego Hurtado, Reno, Nev. vs. Francisco Ibarra, Brighton, Colo. Tough one to call and I usually would go with the guy who had the bye in a pickem bout. This time I'm not going to do that rather I think Hurtado wins a close bout.
112: Jerry Guevara, Brownsville, Texas vs. Daniel Roman, Inglewood, Calif. 2 young guns battling here. I will go with Guevara in this one. Both these guys have tons of experience even though most of it was in the JO division.
119: Sergio Perales, Los Fresnos, Texas vs. Rick Lopez, Brighton, Colo. Should be another action packed close bout. I will go with the younger Perales. I agree with Mel that the winner of this one could easily make it to the Olympic trials.
125: Raynell Williams, Cleveland, Ohio vs. Daniel Martinez, Covina, Calif. Raynell Williams is too fast and should win this one. Williams could easily be in the Olympic Trials too.
132: Roberto Vargas, Santa Ana, Calif. vs. Enrique Nieves, Phoenix, Ariz. I think Nieves will win this one. He is 19 or so but has national tourney experience. This one could be a tough one as they both seem to be strong boxers.
141: Mike Faragon, Schenectady, N.Y. vs. Michael Concepcion, E. Orange, N.J. I know this should be a tough bout, but I'm going with Mike Faragon.
152: Rodrigo Garcia, Santa Ana, Calif. vs. Demetrio Soto, Los Angeles, Calif. Soto defeated Crespin by a lot so I'm going with him. Soto was given credit for 19 scoring blows in the 4th round which is impressive.
165: Dominic Wade, Largo, Md. vs. Kelly Max Buchanan, Teague, Texas I think Wade will be too fast for Buchanan. Wade has defeated some top guys in the open division even though it is his first year in the open class.
178: Dennis Hasson, Philadelphia, Pa. vs. Lionell Thompson, Buffalo, N.Y.
WOW - this one should be a war. They both have a lot of national experience and seem to have been around forever. I think Thompson will win a battle.
201: Akeem Holland, San Mateo, Calif. vs. Andres Taylor, Johnstown, Pa.
Holland is very strong, but so is Taylor. Holland appeared to tire more so than Taylor when I've seen them box. Taylor was very gracious in defeat to my son at the MW trials and I want to see him win tonight. Taylor defeated David Thompson at the MW Trials while Akeem Holland lost to Thompson at the NGG. They were both close bouts and I know that styles make a difference. Both of these guys throw hard punches and it could be a brutal war. I just think Taylor will win as Holland's size and style will not give Taylor trouble.
201+: Justin Jones, Houston, Texas vs. Tim Washington, Toledo, Ohio
Jones beat Holmes who beat Washington at the MW Trials so I'm going with Jones.
Light flyweight Diego Hurtado, Reno, Nev. vs. Francisco Ibarra, Brighton, Colo.
Flyweight
Jerry Guevara, Brownsville, Texas vs. Daniel Roman, Inglewood, Calif.
Bantamweight Sergio Perales, Los Fresnos, Texas vs. Rick Lopez, Brighton, Colo.
Featherweight Raynell Williams, Cleveland, Ohio vs. Daniel Martinez, Covina, Calif.
Lightweight Roberto Vargas, Santa Ana, Calif. vs. Enrique Nieves, Phoenix, Ariz.
Light welterweight
Mike Faragon, Schenectady, N.Y. vs. Michael Concepcion, E. Orange, N.J.
Welterweight Rodrigo Garcia, Santa Ana, Calif. vs. Demetrio Soto, Los Angeles, Calif.
Middleweight Dominic Wade, Largo, Md. vs. Kelly Max Buchanan, Teague, Texas
Light heavyweight Dennis Hasson, Philadelphia, Pa. vs. Lionell Thompson, Buffalo, N.Y.
Heavyweight
Akeem Holland, San Mateo, Calif. vs. Andres Taylor, Johnstown, Pa.
Super heavyweight
Justin Jones, Houston, Texas vs. Tim Washington, Toledo, Ohio Pic'em
Winners on red.
May 26 - Championship Bouts
106 lbs/48 kg: Diego Hurtado, Reno, Nev., dec. Francisco Ibarra, Brighton, Colo., 55-36
112 lbs/51 kg: Jerry Guevara, Brownsville, Texas stopped Daniel Roman, Inglewood, Calif., RSCO-3 (1:28)
119 lbs/54 kg: Sergio Perales, Los Fresnos, Texas stopped Rick Lopez, Brighton, Colo., RSCO-3 (:32)
125 lbs/57 kg: Raynell Williams, Cleveland, Ohio stopped Daniel Martinez, Covina, Calif., RSCO-1 (:39)
132 lbs/60 kg: Roberto Vargas, Santa Ana, Calif., stopped Enrique Nieves, Phoenix, Ariz., RSCO-3 (:54)
141 lbs/64 kg: Mike Faragon, Schenectady, N.Y. dec. Michael Concepcion, E. Orange, N.J., 39-37
152 lbs/69 kg: Rodrigo Garcia, Santa Ana, Calif., stopped Demetrio Soto, Los Angeles, Calif., RSCO-2 (1:01)
165 lbs/75 kg: Dominic Wade, Largo, Md., stopped Kelly Max Buchanan, Teague, Texas, RSCO-3 (:28)
178 lbs/81 kg: Lionell Thompson, Buffalo, N.Y., dec. Dennis Hasson, Philadelphia, Pa., 22-17
201 lbs/91 kg: Andres Taylor, Johnstown, Pa., dec. Akeem Holland, San Mateo, Calif., 27-10
201+ lbs/91+ kg: Justin Jones, Houston, Texas dec. Tim Washington, Toledo, Ohio, 42-37
I picked 9 out of 11 correctly. I'm very surprised that 4 of the bouts were RSCO's that I expected to be relatively close. 2 of them I picked the winner - Guevara and Perales while the other 2 I did not pick the winner - Vargas and Garcia. I was not surprised about the Raynell Williams or Dominic Wade wins by RSCO.
Wow! Some pretty high scores and a lot of stoppages. What kind of scoring is being used at the Westerns? Computer or clickers? What are the officials being told to score? I know, as a coach, it is very difficult to keep up to the inconsitancies of scoring these days. Looks to me like the officials were scoring everything thrown? I usually do not see these high scores at a US tournament. Melanie, can you please clarify? WOW again!
Computer scoring was used. Clickers are not used at USAB national tournaments. I thought that there were way too many slaps counted. However, I do think the right boxers won. There were also many boxers there who were not as skilled as most of the elite athletes. This also caused high scoring as they were totally outpointed.
As always, the judges are told to score the legal effective punches thrown in the scoring area with the white knuckle surface of the glove and the weight of the shoulder behind the punch.
Take a look at the scores at the Western Trials and compare them to the scores at the MW Trials.
At the MW Trials not one final score had a boxer over 38 points with not very many even in the 30's. At the Western Trials many bouts had final scores in the 40's and quite a few in the 50's. There were even a couple in the 60's. The judges were clearly counting more punches as scoring blows at the Western Trials than they were at the Midwestern Trials.
It is a lot easier to get an RSC-O when the judges count more punches. It is harder to get a 20 point lead during the first 3 rounds when the total points scored only gets into the 20's or 30's.
Dennis, the RSCOs came because the quality of the competition was not as high as other qualifiers or national tournaments. It was very easy for the judges to get to 20 points ahead when one boxer was totally outpunching and outclassing the other.
I'm sure Stacey quit because of his injury - and I just told Dr. Goodfellow that he had his hand casted (that was her recommendation last night). However, prior to the tumble over the ropes, Stacey was sloppy. 
