BoxRec

In a battle between the boxer-puncher (Valdez) and the wild slugger (Graziano) who would win in a contest scheduled for 15 rounds ?

Graziano may catch Valdez out and floor him, but he isn't winning. Valdez was granite-chinned and carried a punch in either hand as hard as Graziano's right. He mixed better skills with his punching too, and could fight on the back foot very well.

I would predict Valdez to stop Graziano in about the ninth round.

Valdez KO's a brave Graziano. Valdez was a top fighter IMO and would have too muich of everything for Rocky who would be looking for that one punch.

Damn, I thought I'd be risking public ridicule by picking Valdez

tiredoldngrey wrote:Damn, I thought I'd be risking public ridicule by picking Valdez

Valdez was a terrific fighter and one of the best punchers the middleweight division has ever seen. It's just a shame he had to come along when there was another greater champion already with the title. A little like DeJesus with Duran.

I think Graziano's all out aggressive style would give Valdez problems over the first three rounds. Valdez would be rocked, staggered and maybe even dropped, but by about the 4th round I think he'd settle down and begin taking control of the bout. Graziano might have a few good moments in the later rounds with some of his desperation flurries, but Valdez would systematically break him down and win by a 12th round stoppage.

My first thought was that Graziano would win, and that's what I thought most people would think. I was surprised that everyone is picking Valdez. However, when you think about, Valdez would have a very good chance. He should be able to hit the defensively challenged Graziano very easily.

It's doubtful that Graziano would be able to knockout him out and there is even less chance that Graziano would win outpoint him. Valdez have probably win a fairly easy decision. It's not out of the question that he would even stop Graziano.