Thursday, June 23, 2005

Some Notes on Recent Fights

Well, I really enjoyed the Tarver/Johnson rematch this past weekend. It really showed just how smart a fighter Antonio Tarver is. He adjusted brilliantly after Johnson bested him in their first fight. Tarver's jab kept Johnson from getting inside, and even when Johnson managed to get by the jab, Tarver slipped away before Johnson could do any real damage. As Johnson remarked after the fight, Tarver was just "craftier." Indeed.

Both fighters really gutted it out in the end, seemingly dead on their feet but still throwing punches and trying to score points. The true test of each man, however, will be in the third fight, which both sides are already talking about. I can't wait.

Ike Quartey managed to eke by gatekeeper Verno Phillips in their Jr. Middleweight fight. The fight really should have been a draw; Ref. Randy Philips really screwed up by calling a clear knockdown of Quartey in round nine a slip. So what should have been a 10-7 round was scored instead a 10-8, giving Quartey that extra point he needed to win the fight. Phillips also inexplicably stopped throwing punches in the last fifteen-twenty seconds of the final round, gifting it to Quartey and further assuring him the close call win.

I'd never seen Quartey fight before tonight, and apparently he was really up there in the division until losses to Vargas and De La Hoya sent him into an extended retirement. They were both apparently close calls, and Quartey (who once held a Welterweight alphabelt) quit more in disgust than in defeat. Unfortunately for Quartey, this fight didn't exactly position him for a huge fight. De La Hoya has too many other money fights to consider, as does Vargas. And I'm afraid, even if either of those men took on Quartey, he'd head right back into retirement after getting his head handed to him. Same goes for Ouma, Wright, or Castillejo.

As for the upcoming Mayweather/Gatti fight this weekend, I am sticking to my guns and steadfastly refusing to make a prediction. I also can't do the PPV thing, so my analysis of the fight is going to be at least a week late.

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