Articles

Robert Guerrero-Andre Berto Fight A Vicious Rumble, Ghost Gets UD

Published

12 years ago

November 25, 2012

HBOmage001 They rumbled in the main event which unfolded at the Citizens Bank Arena in Ontario, CA on Saturday night. It wasn't a fight, it was a rugged rumble, and after twelve rounds, it was determined that Robert Guerrero got the better of it, over Andre Berto. But both men deserved ample praise, for their grit and stamina, if not the “W.” It was Guerrero, though, who repeatedly backed Berto to the ropes, and fired shots, and thus who got the judges' love, by scores of 116-110 times three.

Guerrero scored knockdowns in round one and two, but Berto in round four found some answers. His right hand found a home, but the Ghost's volume won out, as Berto looked to hold a bit too often to match the Cali boxers' output. Ghost had the stat edge, 258-731 to 182-411.

Guerrero after told Max Kellerman that he wanted to do what he promised, win a street fight. He said he didn't want to let Berto use his fast hands. What about the uppercuts he ate? “He didn't hurt me at all,” said the winner. “Strong guy, punched hard, so I was able to take the shots,” he said. Rematch? “Oh yeah, definitely. I'm looking for Floyd Mayweather next, Pretty Boy let's do it.” Berto put on sunglasses for the chat with Kellerman, and we saw his closed eyes, a gruesome site, which testified to his cajones on this night. He said the ref was against him. We saw video of Guerrero holding and hitting on the first knockdown, and Ghost protested that it was within the rules. Berto blamed the ref again and then said, “It is what it is.” Guerrero said he was warned too, and wanted Berto to cut the ref talk.

Berto (28-1 with 22 KOs; living in Florida; two time welter champ) was 146 3/4, 158 on fight night, while Guerrero (30-1-1, 2 NDs, with 18 KOs; living in Gilroy, CA; four division champ) was 146 1/2 pounds, 152 on fight night.

In the first, the WBC interim welter champ Guerrero pumped a jab, as did Berto. The Floridian's lead shoulder was popped higher than we'd seen before, a la Adrien Broner. Berto went down after eating a hard left in the first. Ghost held and hit while whacking him, and the ref didn't see it. Berto went down again, to a knee, in the second. His right eye looked bad. Berto was stuck on the ropes, and didn't spin out, or really fire back with authority. It was an in-close rumble, with Ghost up in Berto's grill. He whacked and then smothered Berto. Berto did score with a couple hard rights in the round. That right eye was almost a slit by this point. “Drop that left hand, baby,” said Robert's trainer-dad after the round. In the fourth, Berto got some confidence, and Ghost didn't smother as much. Berto landed a hard left in the fifth, and he had to like the fact that Ghost wasn't in his face so much. The fight was getting tighter. In the sixth, the ref warned Guerrero for going low, after Berto was warned in rounds before for various infractions. Berto was now landing some uppercuts in tight. Ghost, his chin planted on his chest, open for the uppercut, got wobbled by a right late. Lederman had it 4-2 after six.

Berto landed showy shots and Ghost banged him hard on the ropes. Berto wobbled to his corner, in a darned solid round in seven. A featherweight just four years ago, a thick and rugged Guerrero kept backing Berto up in eight and nine. He ate right uppers and spit them out. He did blink twice at 1:25. The right eye was almost closed on Guerrero to start the tenth. Didn't stop him from fighting like he did the previous nine. Morgan asked for a KO after the round. In the 11th, it was the same; Guerrero backed up Berto, bullied him on the ropes. Berto, both eyes nearly closed, flurried a few times off there. In the 12th, Berto was again on the ropes. They rumbled, same as they did in every prior round. We went to the cards, after Guerrero hit Berto a few times after the bell. “In a year we had Rios-Alvarado, this was as good as it gets,” said Kellerman. The men hugged as they awaited the call of the cards.

Follow me on Twitter here https://twitter.com/#!/Woodsy1069.

Come back for David Avila's ringside report.

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Michael Woods

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Articles

Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

9 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

9 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!