Often in this sport we are happy to predict that when 2 relatively boring fighters face off, we will end up with a boring fight. Predictions however can be wrong and that's exactly what we saw as Andre Ward (26-0, 14) defended his WBA "super" and WBC "regular" Super Middleweight titles against Chad Dawson (31-2-0-1, 17) in a relatively entertaining bout.
The bout started in the expected manner with neither fighter really doing much at all. To be fair the first 3 rounds were unmemorable with more holding and posing than actual punching. If anything Dawson was perhaps in a slender lead having landed a number of eye catching right hooks in round 2. It wouldn't take long however for Andre Ward's class to pay off.
In round 3 the bout came alive with Andre Ward finding a home for his fast left hook and surprisingly he dropped Dawson with a beautiful single shot. After dropping Dawson, Ward seemed to put his foot on the gas and really started to let his hands go at the end of the round with his left hook tagging Dawson's head time and time again. The following round Ward really turned the screw not only dropping Dawson again but going all out for the stoppage and buckling the legs of Dawson again.
The 2 knockdowns seemed to effectively kill off Dawson's hopes and Ward began to really impose his will on the bout as Dawson struggled to land anything of note. Despite having a reach advantage Dawson was unable to do anything with his jab, his hook's were being neutralised and Dawson was effectively shut down.
After a number of slower rounds Ward again turned up the heat in round 8 as the two men fought up close with Ward ripping a number of hard and clean uppercuts to Dawson's chin. Whilst the two men clashed heads on a number of occasions it was the clean punches that Ward was landing landing that were really catching the eye.
By the start of round 10 Ward really was just beating Dawson up. Dawson was doing very little as Ward did as he pleased landing every shot in the book. Ward just continued to beat up Dawson through out the 10th round and wobbled Dawson before the challenger took a knee. Despite recovering to his feet Dawson looked like he didn't want to continue and Steve Smoger waved the bout off.
This performance really did show how good Ward can be on both the defense and offense. Not only did the "Son Of God" shut down Dawson's offense but he also became the first man to stop Dawson. Sadly however we do need to remember that Dawson was "dragged down" from Light Heavyweight for this bout and as a result he may have been feeling the effects of making the lower weight. The performance was brilliant but it could be considered tainted.
For Dawson, he may write his loss off as a loss at a lower weight however he was simply dominated. He may well return to 175 but I dare say he'll never be the fighter he once was, his confidence will be bust by this loss, he was out sped, out muscled and dropped repeatedly before being forced to quit. It may be a long road back for Dawson mentally.
Saturday, 8 September 2012
Vitali Klitschko v Manuel Charr
Although Vitali Klitschko (45-2,41) may now be 41 years old he managed to once again prove that he's one step ahead of father time as he made the 9th defense of his WBC Heavyweight title (since reclaiming it from Samuel Peter) by stopping Syrian born challenger Manuel Charr (21-1,11) in the 4th round.
Whilst Charr had talked the talk in the build up to the bout his didn't ever appear to be walking the walk. Whilst he started the bout well landing a right hand early on he was mostly forced to shell up thorugh much of the opening round as he was forced to take the unorthodox offense of Klitschko which both hit the guard and the split the guard of the challenger. Although Charr let his hands go late into the opener, it almost seemed as if he was there to survive the rounds and hope that Vitali was going to tire himself out hitting gloves, arms and Charr's forehead.
The second round was much like the opening round in that Charr was fighting behind his guard, rarely letting his hands go. Whilst he did land when he did throw punches Charr simply was doing enough to put Klitschko under any pressure at all and the champion did as he pleased. The round ended with Charr on the canvas suffering the first knockdown of his career. This showed that Klitschko had the power to get to Charr even if he was struggling to land clean on a regular basis.
Round 3 was Charr's best as he finally started to let his hands go and was starting to show some effectiveness with his pressure. Whilst he was certainly not winning the round he was starting to show some desire and seemed to force Klitschko onto the back foot more than once. Although Klitschko was able to land counters it seemed as if Charr had finally realised he needed to throw punches to win a fight.
After having his best round in round 3 Charr seemed to have grown in confidence slightly by the start of round 4, this confidence was however misplaced. After coming forward and letting his hands go early in the 4th round he was caught by a counter left hand which opened up a cut that bled, badly from the off from around his right eye. Although it took the referee a few seconds to spot it he soon walked Charr over to the ringside doctor who deemed the cut to be too serious for the bout to continue.
Having lost due to the cut Charr showed his anger at the decision by shouting and screaming whilst punching the ropes. Sadly however it was hard to sympathise with Charr, who suffered his first career loss, as he had done little to suggest that he was able to turn around a fight he had been clearly losing. Had he come to actually fight from the off rather than turtle up it may have been easy to feel sorry for the challenge.
With the champion may be on the verge of retirement he may well feel it's time to bow out with his head held high. He may have won and been totally in charge but he didn't look at his best and until the cut he looked to be in for a long (and rather tedious) night. Having been a 3-time world champion and one half of the most dominant boxing brothers in history he has his place in the hall of fame secured and really has little to add to his legacy by continuing to fight on
Whilst Charr had talked the talk in the build up to the bout his didn't ever appear to be walking the walk. Whilst he started the bout well landing a right hand early on he was mostly forced to shell up thorugh much of the opening round as he was forced to take the unorthodox offense of Klitschko which both hit the guard and the split the guard of the challenger. Although Charr let his hands go late into the opener, it almost seemed as if he was there to survive the rounds and hope that Vitali was going to tire himself out hitting gloves, arms and Charr's forehead.
The second round was much like the opening round in that Charr was fighting behind his guard, rarely letting his hands go. Whilst he did land when he did throw punches Charr simply was doing enough to put Klitschko under any pressure at all and the champion did as he pleased. The round ended with Charr on the canvas suffering the first knockdown of his career. This showed that Klitschko had the power to get to Charr even if he was struggling to land clean on a regular basis.
Round 3 was Charr's best as he finally started to let his hands go and was starting to show some effectiveness with his pressure. Whilst he was certainly not winning the round he was starting to show some desire and seemed to force Klitschko onto the back foot more than once. Although Klitschko was able to land counters it seemed as if Charr had finally realised he needed to throw punches to win a fight.
After having his best round in round 3 Charr seemed to have grown in confidence slightly by the start of round 4, this confidence was however misplaced. After coming forward and letting his hands go early in the 4th round he was caught by a counter left hand which opened up a cut that bled, badly from the off from around his right eye. Although it took the referee a few seconds to spot it he soon walked Charr over to the ringside doctor who deemed the cut to be too serious for the bout to continue.
Having lost due to the cut Charr showed his anger at the decision by shouting and screaming whilst punching the ropes. Sadly however it was hard to sympathise with Charr, who suffered his first career loss, as he had done little to suggest that he was able to turn around a fight he had been clearly losing. Had he come to actually fight from the off rather than turtle up it may have been easy to feel sorry for the challenge.
With the champion may be on the verge of retirement he may well feel it's time to bow out with his head held high. He may have won and been totally in charge but he didn't look at his best and until the cut he looked to be in for a long (and rather tedious) night. Having been a 3-time world champion and one half of the most dominant boxing brothers in history he has his place in the hall of fame secured and really has little to add to his legacy by continuing to fight on
Saturday, 1 September 2012
Moruti Mthalane v Ricardo Nunez
In the final world title fight of the weekend we saw the IBF Flyweight title defended by South African Moruti Mthalane (29-2, 20) who viciously stopped the Panamanian challenger Ricardo Nunez (24-3, 20) in a fight of the year contender.
The bout started excellently for the champion who dropped the challenger with a single shot in the opening round. Although Nunez recovered to his feet he took a shelling to end the round and it appeared as if we were going to have a very early night on our hands as the champion couldn't miss. The champion again had the better of the action in the following round as he blocked most of Nunez's attacks and landed some picture perfect counters that appeared to shake the challenger time and time again.
In round 3 the bout took a total 180 and Nunez's relentless aggression was rewarded as he dropped the champion in the late stages of the round after the two men had had a tear up of a round. Nunez continued his onslaught successfully in the following round as he leveled the scores on my card at 37-37. Mthalane was forced mostly to cover up doing the 4th as Nunez went hell for leather looking to end the bout early.
At the start of the 5th it was Mthalane looked ragged as he swung and miss and it seemed as if South African boxing was going to have a nightmare of a night as Nunez kept throwing trying to again drop the champion. Although Mthalane was starting to look tired at the end of the round the challenger couldn't capitalise as the tempo of the fight started to drop after a crazy start.
Round 6 was the most nip and tuck of the rounds with both men having solid spells but neither man really standing out, though it was obvious that Nunez was on the verge of punching himself out. His crisp aggressive punching had started to look less crisp, his defense had started to look more porous and whilst it was the challenger bringing the fight it was also the challenger being tagged the harder. The following round saw Mthalane regain control of the bout against a visibly tiring Nunez who was starting to look incredibly inefficient as Mthalane snapped his head back and forced him backwards. It appeared as if the talented South African was about to take the fight down the stretch anticipating that Nunez would wear himself out.
The end of the bout came in round 8 with Mthalane taking advantage of Nunez's slower hands and lower work rate, everything the champion was throwing was landing and snapping the head of the challenger back. A single show seemed to hurt the challenger and the champion pounced unleashing a flurry, this had Nunez in trouble and trying to run across the ring to freedom. Mthalane refused to let his pray go and unleashed one of the most devastating and prolonged attacks you will see in a boxing ring this year as he volleyed a none stop combination to the head of Nunez. The referee stood idly by as Nunez took 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 clean blows, the referee seemed to want to give the challenger every chance but the fight was done as he kept watching on 13, 14,15,16 Mthalane wasn't going to stop until the referee called the bout. Nunez's unconscious was draped between the ropes by the time the referee had seen enough and finally stepped in several seconds too late.
Nunez looked to be awake by the time the broadcast cut off but he certainly looked to be a man who had taken a lot of unnecessary punishment due to some awful officiating.
For Nunez I expect a very long rest, at 24 I hope it's not the end of his career at the top level as he's fun to watch but the prolonged punishment at the end of the bout may well see his career all but done.
I'd also expect Mthalane to take a break, put his feet up and watch, with the rest of the world, as Brian Viloria and Hernan Marquez battle in a unification at Flyweight. I can only assume that Mthalane will be looking at the winner of that bout as his #1 target for next time out, maybe even on a major show in the US.
The bout started excellently for the champion who dropped the challenger with a single shot in the opening round. Although Nunez recovered to his feet he took a shelling to end the round and it appeared as if we were going to have a very early night on our hands as the champion couldn't miss. The champion again had the better of the action in the following round as he blocked most of Nunez's attacks and landed some picture perfect counters that appeared to shake the challenger time and time again.
In round 3 the bout took a total 180 and Nunez's relentless aggression was rewarded as he dropped the champion in the late stages of the round after the two men had had a tear up of a round. Nunez continued his onslaught successfully in the following round as he leveled the scores on my card at 37-37. Mthalane was forced mostly to cover up doing the 4th as Nunez went hell for leather looking to end the bout early.
At the start of the 5th it was Mthalane looked ragged as he swung and miss and it seemed as if South African boxing was going to have a nightmare of a night as Nunez kept throwing trying to again drop the champion. Although Mthalane was starting to look tired at the end of the round the challenger couldn't capitalise as the tempo of the fight started to drop after a crazy start.
Round 6 was the most nip and tuck of the rounds with both men having solid spells but neither man really standing out, though it was obvious that Nunez was on the verge of punching himself out. His crisp aggressive punching had started to look less crisp, his defense had started to look more porous and whilst it was the challenger bringing the fight it was also the challenger being tagged the harder. The following round saw Mthalane regain control of the bout against a visibly tiring Nunez who was starting to look incredibly inefficient as Mthalane snapped his head back and forced him backwards. It appeared as if the talented South African was about to take the fight down the stretch anticipating that Nunez would wear himself out.
The end of the bout came in round 8 with Mthalane taking advantage of Nunez's slower hands and lower work rate, everything the champion was throwing was landing and snapping the head of the challenger back. A single show seemed to hurt the challenger and the champion pounced unleashing a flurry, this had Nunez in trouble and trying to run across the ring to freedom. Mthalane refused to let his pray go and unleashed one of the most devastating and prolonged attacks you will see in a boxing ring this year as he volleyed a none stop combination to the head of Nunez. The referee stood idly by as Nunez took 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 clean blows, the referee seemed to want to give the challenger every chance but the fight was done as he kept watching on 13, 14,15,16 Mthalane wasn't going to stop until the referee called the bout. Nunez's unconscious was draped between the ropes by the time the referee had seen enough and finally stepped in several seconds too late.
Nunez looked to be awake by the time the broadcast cut off but he certainly looked to be a man who had taken a lot of unnecessary punishment due to some awful officiating.
For Nunez I expect a very long rest, at 24 I hope it's not the end of his career at the top level as he's fun to watch but the prolonged punishment at the end of the bout may well see his career all but done.
I'd also expect Mthalane to take a break, put his feet up and watch, with the rest of the world, as Brian Viloria and Hernan Marquez battle in a unification at Flyweight. I can only assume that Mthalane will be looking at the winner of that bout as his #1 target for next time out, maybe even on a major show in the US.
Mario Rodriguez v Nkosinathi Joyi
Have we just had the upset of the year by Super Mario?
Unheralded Mexican tough man Mario Rodriguez (15-6-4, 11) may not have the best of records on paper but he has arguably just scored the upset of the year as he became the first man to stop the very talented Nkosinathi Joyi (22-1-0-1, 15) and claimed the IBF Minimumweight title.
Whilst only the hardcore boxing fans had heard of Nkosinathi Joyi they respected the South African. Not only was he unbeaten but he appeared to have it all, he was a great puncher, very fluid, great movement, technically sound and with superb stamina. He had beaten a relative who's who in his previous 23 bouts including the likes of Katsunari Takayama, Raul Garcia, Sammy Gutierrez and Florante Condes. His travels to Mexico to face Rodriguez wasn't meant to see usurped, it was instead supposed to be a chance to show case his skills outside of his homeland.
In the early rounds things went well for Joyi who was using his boxing ability to keep the tough Rodriguez at range. Whilst Rodriguez was pressuring and landing punches himself it was clear that Joyi was winning the rounds with his better movement, better shots and superior power. As the rounds went on however Rodriguez was gradually getting closer, cutting the distance and having more success. Every round it seemed that Rodriguez was doing better whilst Joyi was starting to wilt.
Things started to swing Rodriguez's way in round 5 as he started to connect with more success. Joyi wasn't being particularly bothered by any single shot, and was still possibly doing enough to claim the round but it was much closer than the previous ones. Round 6 continued the swing with Rodriguez now starting to grind down the champion. Whilst Joyi was still landing the better shots he was starting to get hit more himself by a challenger who refused to be swayed from his game plan.
At the start of the 7th round Joyi's shorts had really lost their sharp, crisp snap and he was starting to look tired. The pressure from Rodriguez was starting to pay off. Then, almost out of nowhere, Rodriguez seemed to wobble Joyi, the challenger went in for the kill and Joyi dropped to his knees where he remained until the referee was done with his count.
As the new IBF champion Rodriguez has a number of options. He could offer a rematch to Joyi, he could attempt to lure the winner of the upcoming WBO title bout between Ivan Calderon and Moises Fuentes into a unification or he could look to moving up.
For Joyi however the future is perhaps more limited. He has suffered long bouts of inactivity, his first trip abroad has been unsuccessful and he currently has little to no bargaining power so he will almost certainly need to travel for a fight of note (unless he wishes to face fellow South African Hekkie Budler for the IBO title). I'd expect however that Joyi, at 5'6" will have been struggling with to make the 105lb weight limit so perhaps the most likely outcome is that Joyi moves to either Light Flyweight or even Flyweight to allow his body the freedom to grow.
Whilst most boxing fans will not be aware of just how big of an upset this, it's genuinely huge and on par (at worst) with Sonny Boy Jaro's victory over Pongsaklek Wonjongkam.
Unheralded Mexican tough man Mario Rodriguez (15-6-4, 11) may not have the best of records on paper but he has arguably just scored the upset of the year as he became the first man to stop the very talented Nkosinathi Joyi (22-1-0-1, 15) and claimed the IBF Minimumweight title.
Whilst only the hardcore boxing fans had heard of Nkosinathi Joyi they respected the South African. Not only was he unbeaten but he appeared to have it all, he was a great puncher, very fluid, great movement, technically sound and with superb stamina. He had beaten a relative who's who in his previous 23 bouts including the likes of Katsunari Takayama, Raul Garcia, Sammy Gutierrez and Florante Condes. His travels to Mexico to face Rodriguez wasn't meant to see usurped, it was instead supposed to be a chance to show case his skills outside of his homeland.
In the early rounds things went well for Joyi who was using his boxing ability to keep the tough Rodriguez at range. Whilst Rodriguez was pressuring and landing punches himself it was clear that Joyi was winning the rounds with his better movement, better shots and superior power. As the rounds went on however Rodriguez was gradually getting closer, cutting the distance and having more success. Every round it seemed that Rodriguez was doing better whilst Joyi was starting to wilt.
Things started to swing Rodriguez's way in round 5 as he started to connect with more success. Joyi wasn't being particularly bothered by any single shot, and was still possibly doing enough to claim the round but it was much closer than the previous ones. Round 6 continued the swing with Rodriguez now starting to grind down the champion. Whilst Joyi was still landing the better shots he was starting to get hit more himself by a challenger who refused to be swayed from his game plan.
At the start of the 7th round Joyi's shorts had really lost their sharp, crisp snap and he was starting to look tired. The pressure from Rodriguez was starting to pay off. Then, almost out of nowhere, Rodriguez seemed to wobble Joyi, the challenger went in for the kill and Joyi dropped to his knees where he remained until the referee was done with his count.
As the new IBF champion Rodriguez has a number of options. He could offer a rematch to Joyi, he could attempt to lure the winner of the upcoming WBO title bout between Ivan Calderon and Moises Fuentes into a unification or he could look to moving up.
For Joyi however the future is perhaps more limited. He has suffered long bouts of inactivity, his first trip abroad has been unsuccessful and he currently has little to no bargaining power so he will almost certainly need to travel for a fight of note (unless he wishes to face fellow South African Hekkie Budler for the IBO title). I'd expect however that Joyi, at 5'6" will have been struggling with to make the 105lb weight limit so perhaps the most likely outcome is that Joyi moves to either Light Flyweight or even Flyweight to allow his body the freedom to grow.
Whilst most boxing fans will not be aware of just how big of an upset this, it's genuinely huge and on par (at worst) with Sonny Boy Jaro's victory over Pongsaklek Wonjongkam.
Gennady Golovkin v Grzegorz Proksa
Gennady Golovkin (24-0, 21) made not only his US debut but also a real statement to the boxing world as he successfully defended his WBA Middleweight title by stopping Poland's Grzegorz Proksa (28-2, 21) in 5 one sided rounds.
The difference between the two was obvious from the opening round with Golovkin rocking Proksa late in the opener before dropping the Pole. Whilst the Pole claimed it was a slip it obvious that he had been hurt and hurt hard. The following round Golovkin continued to attack, carefully and accurately showing not only excellent shot selection but heavy handed power and unnerving composure.
Proksa's best round was round 3 though it was the only one in which the Pole didn't looked to have been hurt by Golovkin's shots. Despite it appearing like a small respite for the challenger it was still a round that champion won with his accurate shots. More than anything the round acted as the calm before the storm and in the following round Golovkin did some of his best work, dropping Proksa again and really hurting him with sickening left hooks to the body. Whilst Proksa managed to see the bell for the end of round 4 he was looking like a beaten man, his nose bloodied and his body feeling the effects of the disheartening shots.
Despite having taken a battering in the previous round the brave Proksa came out for the fifth round, it didn't long however for Golovkin to drop the Pole for a third time, this time with Proksa finishing up face first on the canvas. Despite beating the count the referee waved the bout off having seen enough to declare Golovkin the winner by TKO.
Following the bout Golovkin called out anyone between Light Middleweight and Super Middleweight, seemingly looking for the toughest and best challenges out there. He seemed open to fighting the winner of Andre Ward's up coming fight with Chad Dawson or pretty much anyone in and around those weights. The mostly likely outcome however is that Golovkin is eying up the winner of the upcoming bout between Sergio Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr with the new IBF/WBA "super" Middleweight champion Daniel Geale and WBO champion Dmitry Pirog as solid alternatives.
For Proksa it's likely he will return home to the UK and look for a solid rebuilding fighter, maybe even facing Darren Barker or Martin Murray as all 3 fighters attempt to get back in the title hunt. This loss however will seriously dent the Pole's confidence.
The difference between the two was obvious from the opening round with Golovkin rocking Proksa late in the opener before dropping the Pole. Whilst the Pole claimed it was a slip it obvious that he had been hurt and hurt hard. The following round Golovkin continued to attack, carefully and accurately showing not only excellent shot selection but heavy handed power and unnerving composure.
Proksa's best round was round 3 though it was the only one in which the Pole didn't looked to have been hurt by Golovkin's shots. Despite it appearing like a small respite for the challenger it was still a round that champion won with his accurate shots. More than anything the round acted as the calm before the storm and in the following round Golovkin did some of his best work, dropping Proksa again and really hurting him with sickening left hooks to the body. Whilst Proksa managed to see the bell for the end of round 4 he was looking like a beaten man, his nose bloodied and his body feeling the effects of the disheartening shots.
Despite having taken a battering in the previous round the brave Proksa came out for the fifth round, it didn't long however for Golovkin to drop the Pole for a third time, this time with Proksa finishing up face first on the canvas. Despite beating the count the referee waved the bout off having seen enough to declare Golovkin the winner by TKO.
Following the bout Golovkin called out anyone between Light Middleweight and Super Middleweight, seemingly looking for the toughest and best challenges out there. He seemed open to fighting the winner of Andre Ward's up coming fight with Chad Dawson or pretty much anyone in and around those weights. The mostly likely outcome however is that Golovkin is eying up the winner of the upcoming bout between Sergio Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr with the new IBF/WBA "super" Middleweight champion Daniel Geale and WBO champion Dmitry Pirog as solid alternatives.
For Proksa it's likely he will return home to the UK and look for a solid rebuilding fighter, maybe even facing Darren Barker or Martin Murray as all 3 fighters attempt to get back in the title hunt. This loss however will seriously dent the Pole's confidence.
Daniel Geale v Felix Sturm
Australian Daniel Geale (28-1,15) first made his name when he traveled to Germany last year and defeated the then IBF Middleweight champion Sebastian Sylvester to claim his first world title as a professional boxer. Amazingly he repeated the act just hours ago as he once again traveled to Germany and dethroned a German champion to claim the WBA "super" title from Felix Sturm (37-3-2, 16).
The fight started excellently with both both men having a solid claim to the opening round as both fighter let their hands go and shared solid offense. It seemed as if Sturm's jab would be the most potent weapon but Geale often matched him solidly in a high octane jab off. The startling thing however was that Geale often found his way around the Sturm jab where he could unleash solid combinations to both the head and body of the champion.
Many of the opening rounds were close as both men took it almost in turns to come at the other. Despite the action being hotly contested the only early damage either man suffered was a small cut around the back of Geale's in ear from what appeared to have been from an accidental clash of heads late in the second round. It was however not the cut that played a big part on the fight but instead the body work of Geale who repeatedly dug into Sturm's body in the early portion of the fight, taking the wind out of the German's sails.
Despite starting well it seemed like the accumulation of the body shots took their toll on Sturm in the middle rounds as the Australian came on strong whilst Sturm seemed very subdued and tired. In many of the middle rounds Sturm looked like a man who was there for the taking and his usually reliable jab was rarely finding the target with any success as Geale managed to slip inside and unleash up close time and time again. By the end of the 7th round Sturm was looking worn out, he had taken barrages of shots from the dogged Aussie who was starting to storm away with the bout.
Having just falling behind Sturm then tried to fight back, his jab started to look busier and more efficient, his usual snap was back and he started to grind out several rounds as Geale himself started to slow due to the hectic pace he had set himself. Several of these rounds were almost impossible to score as each man gave as good as they got and were likely the reason for the varying score cards that we finally got.
Going into the championship rounds it was anyone's guess as to who was in the lead and the fighters knew it as they put it all on the line in both rounds 11 and 12. Whilst the 11th was close both men were starting to look tired, their work, whilst busy was starting to look sloppier and more desperate than it had earlier on and it was fair to say we didn't expect much going into the final round. Instead of the pace slowing even more in the 12th it seemed as if both men had a second wind as they unleashed on each other in a hectic round that saw both men putting it all on the line in arguably the most enjoyable round of the bout. As soon as one man finished his series of punches the other came back with more ferocity, then the first fighter came back as both men tried to stake a claim for the round.
As we came to the final bell, the scores were anyone's guess. There had been enough close rounds to score it any which way, in fact you wouldn't have been shocked had the scored included as many as 3 or 4 tied rounds due to the give and take nature of the bout. Rather ominously however the German's looked worried whilst the Aussie's corner looked optimistic, as if they could feel something in the air as they did when Geale beat Sylvester...
Michael Buffer announced the first card, 116-112-Sturm, we then though Sturm would become the unified Middleweight champion...the the second card came 116-112-Geale, it suddenly dawned on us that we might not actually end up with a unified champion after all. Everyone watching waited with baited breath almost preempting a 114-114 scorecard, then Buffer announced the third scorecard 116-112...he paused...before confirming that it was for Daniel Geale who had managed to claim another Split Decision victory in Germany!
For a non-German based fighter to have won 2 close bouts in Germany in world title fights in the opponents home state is almost unheard of, so for Geale to have managed that in just the last 18 months or so is simply incredible. The doors have really opened for the Aussie who will certainly be watching tonight's bout between Gennady Golovkin and Grzegorz Proksa very closely as well as awaiting the out come of a number of other major Middleweight bouts. For Sturm however the end is nigh, if not already here.
The fight started excellently with both both men having a solid claim to the opening round as both fighter let their hands go and shared solid offense. It seemed as if Sturm's jab would be the most potent weapon but Geale often matched him solidly in a high octane jab off. The startling thing however was that Geale often found his way around the Sturm jab where he could unleash solid combinations to both the head and body of the champion.
Many of the opening rounds were close as both men took it almost in turns to come at the other. Despite the action being hotly contested the only early damage either man suffered was a small cut around the back of Geale's in ear from what appeared to have been from an accidental clash of heads late in the second round. It was however not the cut that played a big part on the fight but instead the body work of Geale who repeatedly dug into Sturm's body in the early portion of the fight, taking the wind out of the German's sails.
Despite starting well it seemed like the accumulation of the body shots took their toll on Sturm in the middle rounds as the Australian came on strong whilst Sturm seemed very subdued and tired. In many of the middle rounds Sturm looked like a man who was there for the taking and his usually reliable jab was rarely finding the target with any success as Geale managed to slip inside and unleash up close time and time again. By the end of the 7th round Sturm was looking worn out, he had taken barrages of shots from the dogged Aussie who was starting to storm away with the bout.
Having just falling behind Sturm then tried to fight back, his jab started to look busier and more efficient, his usual snap was back and he started to grind out several rounds as Geale himself started to slow due to the hectic pace he had set himself. Several of these rounds were almost impossible to score as each man gave as good as they got and were likely the reason for the varying score cards that we finally got.
Going into the championship rounds it was anyone's guess as to who was in the lead and the fighters knew it as they put it all on the line in both rounds 11 and 12. Whilst the 11th was close both men were starting to look tired, their work, whilst busy was starting to look sloppier and more desperate than it had earlier on and it was fair to say we didn't expect much going into the final round. Instead of the pace slowing even more in the 12th it seemed as if both men had a second wind as they unleashed on each other in a hectic round that saw both men putting it all on the line in arguably the most enjoyable round of the bout. As soon as one man finished his series of punches the other came back with more ferocity, then the first fighter came back as both men tried to stake a claim for the round.
As we came to the final bell, the scores were anyone's guess. There had been enough close rounds to score it any which way, in fact you wouldn't have been shocked had the scored included as many as 3 or 4 tied rounds due to the give and take nature of the bout. Rather ominously however the German's looked worried whilst the Aussie's corner looked optimistic, as if they could feel something in the air as they did when Geale beat Sylvester...
Michael Buffer announced the first card, 116-112-Sturm, we then though Sturm would become the unified Middleweight champion...the the second card came 116-112-Geale, it suddenly dawned on us that we might not actually end up with a unified champion after all. Everyone watching waited with baited breath almost preempting a 114-114 scorecard, then Buffer announced the third scorecard 116-112...he paused...before confirming that it was for Daniel Geale who had managed to claim another Split Decision victory in Germany!
For a non-German based fighter to have won 2 close bouts in Germany in world title fights in the opponents home state is almost unheard of, so for Geale to have managed that in just the last 18 months or so is simply incredible. The doors have really opened for the Aussie who will certainly be watching tonight's bout between Gennady Golovkin and Grzegorz Proksa very closely as well as awaiting the out come of a number of other major Middleweight bouts. For Sturm however the end is nigh, if not already here.
Tepparith Kokietgym v Nabuo Nashiro
WBA Super Flyweight champion Tepparith Kokietgym (21-2, 13) had his toughest fight in almost 4 years as he struggled past perennial world class Japanese hardman Nabuo Nashiro (18-5-1, 12) scoring a razor thin majority decision.
The fast punching Thai was given hell by the much hard punching Japanese fighter who was attempting to become a 3-time Super Flyweight champion who refused to give up. Although Tepparith wasn't given the space and freedom to work freely he did manage to do enough to retain his title with the scores of 114-114, 115-114, 115-113, though the cards were closer than many felt they should have been.
With this loss Nashiro falls to 0-4-1 in his last 5 world title fights, though all of those losses have come to very good champions (Suriyan Sor Rungvisai, Tomas Rojas and Hugo Fidel Cazares-who also scored the draw). He had vowed to retire if he lost today so it may well be the end of his career, despite the fact he can still hold his own with the best in the world, as he proved against Tepparith. Hopefully Nashiro gives it one more go and faces fellow Japanese fighter Yota Sato in a "passing of the torch" style fight.
Whilst it could be the end for Nashiro it seems to just be another step forward for Tepparith who is swiftly becoming one of the most impressive youngsters in the sport. Since winning the WBA "interim" world title just 16 months Tepparith has beaten a number of top fighters including Daiki Kameda, Tomonobu Shimizu and now Nashiro, all in their back yards in Japan.
The fast punching Thai was given hell by the much hard punching Japanese fighter who was attempting to become a 3-time Super Flyweight champion who refused to give up. Although Tepparith wasn't given the space and freedom to work freely he did manage to do enough to retain his title with the scores of 114-114, 115-114, 115-113, though the cards were closer than many felt they should have been.
With this loss Nashiro falls to 0-4-1 in his last 5 world title fights, though all of those losses have come to very good champions (Suriyan Sor Rungvisai, Tomas Rojas and Hugo Fidel Cazares-who also scored the draw). He had vowed to retire if he lost today so it may well be the end of his career, despite the fact he can still hold his own with the best in the world, as he proved against Tepparith. Hopefully Nashiro gives it one more go and faces fellow Japanese fighter Yota Sato in a "passing of the torch" style fight.
Whilst it could be the end for Nashiro it seems to just be another step forward for Tepparith who is swiftly becoming one of the most impressive youngsters in the sport. Since winning the WBA "interim" world title just 16 months Tepparith has beaten a number of top fighters including Daiki Kameda, Tomonobu Shimizu and now Nashiro, all in their back yards in Japan.
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