Saturday 5 October 2013

Scott Quigg v Yoandris Salinas

In a less than satisfactory ending Scott Quigg (26-0-2, 19) retained his newly upgraded WBA Super Bantamweight title courtesy of a 12 round majority draw with under-rated Cuban Yoandris Salinas (20-0-2, 13).

Oddly rather than complaining about the draw, I want to be one of the few to compliment good scoring. All too often we complain about bad scoring, as Sky Sport's did on TV, though on this rare occasion the scoring was sport on.

The first began at a very slow pace with Salinas landing his jab at will and making Quigg seem like a novice. It was an almost expected start with both men feeling each other out but few would have expected it to remain so slow so long and in fact it took several for either man to really come alive.

For the Cuban a slow pace was ideal and it helped win a majority of the early rounds with Quigg almost fighting the wrong fight. It was odd that a fighter like Quigg, known for his strength and energy, started so slowly and by the mid-way point it appeared his slow pace was going to cost him his title as he was genuinely in a hole. In fact by round 7 it was easy to make a case for Salinas being 6 rounds to 1 up, effectively securing at the very least a draw, barring a knockdown, or of course a knock out.

Knowing he was well behind on the scorecards Quigg began to go through the gears and in round 8 he finally managed to generate some momentum stepping up his work notably and easily taking the round as he put Salinas under serious pressure. The success from this round saw Quigg building some real momentum and clearly took rounds 9, 10, 11 with a similar strategy of putting his foot on the gas and applying pressure with plenty of work.

By the start of the 12th it was easy to say Quigg was winning, based merely on the way the momentum was going, something I think Sky Sports did in effect, though on my card he was going to need a big final round to take home the decision. Salinas seemed to have the same sort of idea in his head, though perhaps felt he was in the lead. This lead to a very weird 12th round with Salinas back on his toes moving around the ring and flicking out his jab whilst Quigg applied pressure. It was the first time Salinas had used his feet since about round 7 though his lack of work rate meant Quigg took the round anyway.

With the fact I had given Salinas 6 of the first 7 and Quigg had taken the final 5 a draw seemed the most obvious result and, thankfully, two of the judges agreed, with the third viewing Quigg as a 115-113 winner giving us a majority draw. And for once, the right decision.

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