BoxRec

i recently watched this fight and scored it and id just like to know how you guys had it if use have scored it!???
and i am talking about their first fight here

i had it 115-113 for Jeff



'WE WAS ROBBED'

I agree

I had Fenech winning . I thought he was robbed . He fought a brilliant fight I thought.

grrrrr this fight still makes me mad . This horrendous decision was the end of Fenech as an elite fighter. He lost the fire that made him the who and what he was. No way could anyone with normal vision come up with a draw :x

p.s. not bad for a fighter that had won the Oz pro flyweight title 7 years earlier

I was Pissed about this one too. It was a dual main event fight card I watched it at Chicagos Uptown theatre on the big screen I dont even remember who fought in the other fight. But I remember this one . Horrible dec.

Jeff was a favourite of mine. He was a top fighter. He should have won this fight. I think brittle hands prevented him from winning more titles. I'm sure that's why he lost the rematch. I also heard that Azumah had flu going into the first bout, not sure how true this is.

Fenech often gets overlooked when people discuss their fantasy matchups. There were quite a few that Jeff could have got involved in.

Fenech should have unified at 122 or 126. A fight with Antonio Esparagozza at feather would have been good

The brittle hands plagued him throughout his career. He was born with unusually small hands and consequently broke them regularly. I think it was after the 126 titlefight against Victor Callejas that he retired yet again due to another broken hand in an early round. Still, not as much pain as Callejas had to put up with

For a good Fenech fight try getting your hands on the Samart Payakarun fight for the 122 title. He sufferd a flash first round KD then simply hammered the other guy mercilessly. The ending was brutal and Payakarun went on to become a buddhist monk

Another one was the Steve McCrory 118 defence. Severely weight drained, his trainer was going to forfeit the fight and the title yet Fenech insisted on going through with it. Due to the weight thing he was almost KO'd in the mid rounds before showing some serious guts (and an undiscovered level of ring smarts and boxing skill) and stopping McCrory in the 14th

if fenech wasnt robbed in Vegas....what do u think woulda happened after that

Who the hell knows. His style wasn't condusive to a career into his mid 30's so I reckon the Nelson rematch would still have happened. Possibly with the same result Going to lightweight may have been reaching too far in weight so.........

sorri but i disagree with nelson rematch being the same result.... Fenech would have beaten Nelson in their rematch if Fenech had won the decision in Vegas...the real Jeff Fenech was left in Vegas after that fight and we never saw him again

That's what we'd all like to think but Nelson may have been a bit too good either way. If you apply logic to the situation Fenech should have been the most motivated for the rematch that he'd ever been, considering the ripoff. I was there that day in '92 for the rematch. None of the 35,000 there could believe what we'd just witnessed - Jeff Fenech being taken apart by a superior fighter

Fenech's unfortunate problem was that he was a natural feather with the hands of a flyweight. Had his hands been naturally stronger my guess is there'd be a whle lot more being written about him today

agreed. he shoulda been a lot more motivated for the rematch but he thought he had won it b4 the fight started!! i have a doco on Fenech and mentions he wasnt training how he shoulda been compared to Nelson who was training harder and with more determination...
its hard to state what would of happened if Fenech woulda won the Decision in vegas!

as for your statement that fenech was a natural feather with flyweight hands i must agree agen alot of fenechs opponents mention that he wasnt powerful but had quite a few KOs because of his non stop punching attack and his ability to cut off the ring to effectively

Think I'd prefer to remember the best parts of his career

The Calvin Grove fight-ending was difficult to stomach. Only a few years before Grove was offered a Fenech titlefight and he replied with "are you insane? you want to see me killed?"

I heard a rumour that Fenech had an injured rib going into the rematch with Nelson, Apparently it was caused by Tszyu in sparring.

Ben Keilty wrote:I heard a rumour that Fenech had an injured rib going into the rematch with Nelson, Apparently it was caused by Tszyu in sparring.

I don't remember. Either way, I don't see it having a bearing on the outcome. Fenech's mindframe seems to have been the problem

altho i did hear that Fenech had an injection on his fragile hands prior to the fight and went through the actual knuckle and came out the other end

I think it was much closer than people generally think and could have gone either way... Nelson was actually blocking a lot of Feneches punches... I wouldn't really say this was a 'robbery' as such...
Credit Nelson for giving Jeff a rematch...

I think its wrong to say that 'disapointment' ruined Jeff for the rematch... Nelson was just the better fighter... plus Jeffs hand troubles caught up with him perhaps...

silkov wrote:I think it was much closer than people generally think and could have gone either way... Nelson was actually blocking a lot of Feneches punches... I wouldn't really say this was a 'robbery' as such...
Credit Nelson for giving Jeff a rematch...

Agreed, I thought a draw was fair

well its maybe because im an Aussie that i see this a more terrible decision and it has an affect more on me seeing as how i love Fenech.. but comeon Jeff won atleast 9 out of 12 rounds and azumah nelson was compltely wrecked after that fight

Migz wrote:well its maybe because im an Aussie that i see this a more terrible decision and it has an affect more on me seeing as how i love Fenech.. but comeon Jeff won atleast 9 out of 12 rounds and azumah nelson was compltely wrecked after that fight

The truth is that Nelson had an illness going into that fight, flu or something... so really his performance was amazing... also you really need to watch what was happening when Nelson was on the ropes... many of Jeffs punches were being taken on Nelsons arms and gloves and Nelson scored with some good counters all the way through the fight...... again I'd say it was a close fight which could have gone either way, no way was it 9 rounds to 3 in Jeffs favour imo.... and I'm a fan of both fighters...

Ok is this a fight that could have gone either way? so dissapointing those who favored the loser? I have an opinion but I'm asking just to get my bearings on what I"m hearing here.

On a scale of 1 to 10 how bad do you consider this decision?

I thought Fenech won without a doubt, but it was not the unforgivable robbery that some like to claim...I have seen a hell of a lot worse decisions. Fenech should have had the win, but any lingering questions were cleared up and answered in the second bout!

Neslon chose to fight off the ropes, which gave the impression that Fenech was in command.