Upon Re-Watching, I Still Think Pacquiao Won, But…

Published

12 years ago

June 13, 2012

PacquiaoBradley Hogan 33 Three days on, and I'm still wrestling with the Pacquiao-Bradley decision. I'm still not sure what it was that my eyes saw. Fight night, I was certain. I was right there with the HBO crew, and that thunk you heard from Park Slope, Brooklyn was the same thunk you heard en masse in Vegas, and in the Philippines, and everywhere else people had access to the broadcast or stream of the fight. It was my jaw and your jaw, and probably hundreds of thousands of jaws hitting the floor when Michael Buffer got done telling us what we could scarcely believe..but could believe, without a lengthy bout of processing, because similar circumstance had forced us to pick up our jaw from the floor last month, and the month before that, and so on, and so forth

But then I kept ruminating, and marinating, and pondering some what ifs. What if there was a contrarian stance to take? What if a tsunami of emotion and opinion, coalescing around the new wonder that is social media, had turned a semi-screwy decision into a Brinks Job, a Madoffian fleecing. What if those two judges, Ross and Ford, weren't inept or worse, compromised, but actually turned in scores that were within the bounds of reason, based on the criteria they use to score fights. These were out there “what ifs,” because on fight night, I saw the replays, I saw Manny throwing shots that had mustard on them, I saw him landing more than a couple straight lefts that landed flushed and tested Bradley's chin, I saw minute after minute in round after round of Bradley backing up, or throwing mushy shots which seemed to find Pacman's forearms and gloves as much as anything else. I also saw the CompuBox numbers, which helped cement my take, based on the hard, cold numbers, that Manny threw more power shots, and landed many more, and that Manny won the fight. But, I had to remind myself, these old pros didn't have those watching aids on fight night. They didn't get the benefit of the super slo mo replays, or the punchstat numbers, to help inform their scores. Course, word was that just about every media person present at the MGM saw Manny the victor, and we all heard that Bradley after apologized to promoter Bob Arum for not getting it done. But I felt like I owed it to those judges who've been getting slammed by everyone and their brother, raked over the coals with Lasik jokes and such to re-watch that fight, with the sound off, and lose the replay and CompuBox crutches.

On Monday and Tuesday I did that. I re-watched the bout. And guess what? Manny still won on my card.

I still saw him doing more, a bunch more, based on the main component I use to score a bout: effective aggression. He landed the cleaner, harder shots. Round after round. But..I re-watched with another purpose in mind. To try and watch the rounds and determine if they could PLAUSIBLY be scored for Bradley. And guess what? I saw, on second watch, a fight that was closer than it looked initially.

Now, maybe my mind is irrevocably tainted. Maybe I'm bending over too far backwards in sympathy to Ross and Ford, trying too hard to take that contrary stance. But I found it exceedingly hard to find a runaway round, the sort of round that a kindergartner could watch, and tell you who won. There were no knockdowns. There were no shots landed that buzzed a guy to his marrow, made his knees knock. There weren't more than a couple blows that sent sweat spraying off into the second row, a clear signal that damage has been done, solid contact has been made.

On fight night, I gave a single round to Bradley, and upon further review–sorry Tim–I only gave him one more than that. This might be derided as the wimpiest unofficial card ever produced, but remember, I re-watched with a new purpose, to give Bradley and Ross and Ford the benefit of the doubt…and I scored 5 rounds for Pacquiao, two rounds for Bradley, and five rounds even. And what that told me was that I am backing off terming this fight a “robbery.” Bad decision, yep. Should Duane Ford beg and plead a moment of insanity for telling Steve Carp and the world he though Bradley gave Pacquiao a “boxing lesson?” I think he should…But there have been worse decisions than this one, and will be a half dozen more in the second half of this year, sad to say.

ROUND ONE Was it as effective as the most aggressive we've seen Manny on his best night? No, but he still pushed the action, looked to me to land half a handful of cleaner blows, plus Bradley landed on Manny's arms, up in front of his face. Manny's best shots probably landed in the last ten seconds, so if you were on the fence, as many could have been with this round, that late work might have nudged it to Manny. (Not fair to score with aid of replay, if you are trying to replicate the experience of the onsite judges; but replay showed Manny landing a clean, crisp left, the best of the round for either man, in the waning seconds. I think it was the waning seconds, I was watching with sound off, lest I be seduced by the smoothtalking seducers. Did that launch impress the judges like it did me? Not Duane Ford; he liked Bradley in the first.
The Round Winner: Manny Pacquiao
Could Bradley Have Won It, Plausibly: Yes

ROUND TWO No one separated themselves in this frame. Since we are undertaking this endeavor to test our initial reaction, and want to be as fair as possible, want to not be reflexively dismissive of friends and colleagues who saw a closer fight than we did, we tilt towards trying to view Bradley with open eyes and mind.
The Round Winner: Draw
Could Bradley Have Won It, Plausibly: I suppose so…though I keep getting visions of him being outfitted with little alligator arms as his jab falls short on Manny. Ross and Roth didn't agree on that front; they gave the nod to Bradley.

ROUND THREE Another tight one. No sharpshooter landing sniper fire. One Manny straight left stood out for me, in the middle third, but if you want to call this one a draw, power to you. I would have given a slight edge to Pacquiao, because, yes, I will typically reward you for trying to make the fight, “hitting” is the main aim of the game, but will bend over backward for Bradley here. Maybe I was being “too fair;” all three judges gave Manny the round.
The Round Winner: Draw
Could Bradley Have Won It, Plausibly: Yes

ROUND FOUR Manny got into fiery mode, and the boys traded some early, and the Filipino's power emerged for me here. The crowd told you, I think, who took this round, with their ovation after the frame. Bradley spent most of his energy trying to slip shots, moving his head here and there to evade. His offense wasn't top drawer here. All three arbiters were on the same page, for Pacquiao.
The Round Winner: Manny Pacquiao
Could Bradley Have Won It, Plausibly: Nah

ROUND FIVE Pacman tried to push the action, went forward, was the more aggressive man in this round. Did he miss a lot? Yes. Bradley was quite intent on focusing on defense here, and neglected a concerted offensive focus. But..only Jerry Roth saw it my way.
The Round Winner: Manny Pacquiao
Could Bradley Have Won It, Plausibly: Define “plausible.” I don't think so. But Manny missed a good deal; if a judge digs D, then maybe he gave Tim the nod here. Grudgingly.

ROUND SIX Guess what else is new? No runaway winner here. Bradley did a ton of backing up, and used a pecking jab, which to my eyes didn't bother Manny a stitch. Neither man was very busy the first two thirds of the round and in the last third Manny did more. He actually went on the offensive whereas Bradley mostly focused on D. All three watchers agreed with me.
The Round Winner: Manny Pacquaio
Could Bradley Have Won It, Plausibly: If you are a BIG fan of a half-arse jab and think there was mastery involved in Bradley's gameplan. I guess..

ROUND SEVEN Bradley got into more of an offensive groove. Don't know if heard it in his corner after the sixth, because I was watching with sound off, but it seemed like he was fighting as though he did. Then, a graphic popped up that said Manny was outlanding him in the round by about a 3 to 1 margin, so..I don't know. As I'm watching this bending over backwards to see all the good Bradley is doing, maybe I give him too much credit. Siiighhhh. The judges, by the way, refuted the CompuBox info, and all gave the round to Bradley.
The Round Winner: Draw
Could Bradley Have Won It, Plausibly: Yes. He wasn't backing up as much as in prior rounds, and that could/should be rewarded in my book.

ROUND EIGHT Same thing here; no runaway winner. Another round where I cannot say, damn, that judge should be locked up, or suspended and sent to remedial ed. Manny wasn't busy in the first third, and Bradley made him miss a lot, with that underrated head movement the last two thirds. I don't like flipping a coin; if a round is close, I generally won't do it. I am unafraid to admit that I didn't see separation and thus, declared no clear winner. More judges doing so might encourage more fighters to fight more aggressively, so as to send a non-subtle message to the judges. I WANT TO WIN. (Note: After the round, the camera showed Mrs. Pacquiao at her seat, head bowed, concern on her face. her body language didn't say, “We got this in the bag. This thing is sewn up.” Just sayin'…) Only Roth would've reassured her that her guy did better in this one.
The Round Winner: Draw
Could Bradley Have Won It, Plausibly: Yes.

ROUND NINE Pacquiao was a bit cleaner and more effective. A couple of Pacquiao's launches had a noticeable effect on Bradley. They moved him a half step, or knocked his head slightly to the side. No landslide of momentum, or knockdown to really put a Pacquiao stamp on it, but Manny won it. Ross and Roth agreed with my take. Ford dissented.
The Round Winner: Pacquiao
Could Bradley Have Won It, Plausibly: If I'm bending to the point where my back is breaking, I guess so…

ROUND TEN Manny showed his age here, no shame in that. Bradley just worked harder and while he still backpedaled for a goodly portion of the round, his offense sent note that he craved winning the frame. All three agreed.
The Round Winner: Bradley
Could Bradley Have Won It, Plausibly: Yessir

ROUND 11 Bradley was busier for much of the round, but you could argue that Pacquiao landed two maybe three power shots that had far more spicy mustard on them than anything Bradley threw, and thus, Manny's power should supersede Bradley's busy-ness. You know the drill–another close round, not easy for the best judge in the world to differentiate. Ford rewarded Manny's power here, the other two liked the reborn Bradley.
The Round Winner: Draw
Could Bradley Have Won It, Plausibly: Yes

ROUND 12 This Bradley, who was often first, and countered super smartly when he wasn't first, and didn't let Manny get into a rhythm, this guy could have truly, legitimately won the fight. All three judges thought he won the round.
The Round Winner: Bradley
Could Bradley Have Won It, Plausibly: Yes

So, we will continue to talk about this one. Maybe more useful than looking back, and my robot judges jokes, would be brainstorming and implementing improvements to the system. I'm thinking using more ex professional boxers, who do tend to know what they are seeing in there, couldn't hurt. Coming up with standardized criteria, so all judges in all jurisdictions are working off the same playbook, seems to make sense as well. And being more judicious about using words like “robbery,” I think, is something I will try to incorporate.

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

Published

1 day ago

July 25, 2024

David A. Avila

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 289: East LA, Claressa Shields and More

East Los Angeles has long been a haven for some of the best fighters around if you can keep them out of trouble. For every Oscar De La Hoya or Seniesa Estrada there are thousands derailed by crime, drugs or drinking.

Boxing has always been a favorite sport of East L.A. Every family has an uncle or two who boxes.

On Friday, 360 Promotions’ Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) fights Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1) in the main event at Commerce Casino, in Commerce, CA. UFC Fight Pass will stream the fight card.

The City of Commerce used to be part of East L.A. until 1960 when it incorporated. It’s still considered to be part of East Los Angeles, but informally.

Plenty of fighters come out of East L.A. but few make it all the way like De La Hoya and Estrada. Will Trinidad be the one?

The first world champion from East L.A. or “East Los” as some call it, was Solly Garcia Smith back in the late 1800s. Others were Richie Lemos, Art Frias and Joey Olivo. There is also 1984 Olympic gold medalist Paul Gonzalez.

Once again 360 Promotions brings its popular brand of fights to the area. On this fight card includes two female bouts. One features Roxy Verduzco (1-0) the former amateur star fighting Colleen Davis (3-1-1) in a featherweight fight.

All that action takes place on Friday.

Elite Boxing

The next day, also in East L.A., Elite Boxing stages another boxing card at Salesian High School located at 960 S. Soto Street in the Boyle Heights area of East Los Angeles.

Elite Boxing has promoted several successful boxing cards at the Catholic high school grounds. The area is saturated by many of the best eateries in Los Angeles. Don’t take my word for it. Check it out yourself and grab some of that delicious food.

Boxing has long been a favorite sport of anyone who lives in East L.A. It’s a fight town equal to Philadelphia, Brooklyn or Detroit. There’s something different about the area. For more than 100 years some of the best fighters continue to come out of its boxing gyms. Some will be performing on these club shows.

For tickets or information go to www.eliteboxingusa.com

Claressa Shields in Detroit

Speaking of fight towns, pound-for-pound best Claressa Shields who won two Olympic Gold Medals in boxing, moves up another weight division to tackle the WBC heavyweight world champion Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse on Saturday, July 27, at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

DAZN will stream the heavy-duty fight card.

Shields (14-0) cleaned out the super welterweight, middleweight and super middleweight divisions and now wants to add the big girls to her conquests. She will be facing Canada’s Lepage-Joanisse (7-1) who holds the WBC belt.

The last time Shields gloved up was more than a year ago when she fought Maricela Cornejo. Don’t blame Shields. She loves to fight. She loves to win. The last time Shields lost a fight was in the amateurs and that was three presidential administrations ago.

Shields doesn’t lose.

I wonder if Las Vegas even takes bets on her fights?

The only fight she may have been an underdog was against Savannah Marshall who was the last opponent to defeat her. And that was in 2012 in China. When they met as pros two years ago, Shields avenged her loss with a blistering attack.

Don’t get Shields mad.

Perhaps her toughest foe as a pro was in her pro debut when she clashed with Franchon Crews-Dezurn in Las Vegas. It was four rounds of fists and fury as the two pounded each other on the undercard of Andre Ward and Sergey Kovalev in November 2016.

That was a ferocious debut for both female pugilists.

Assisting Shields on this fight card will be several intriguing male bouts. One guy you should pay special attention is Tito Mercado (15-0, 14 KOs) a super lightweight prospect from Pomona, California.

Many excellent fighters have come out of Pomona including Sugar Shane Mosley, Shane Mosley Jr., Alberto Davila and Richie Sandoval who just passed away this week.

Sandoval was best known for his 15-round war with Philadelphia’s Jeff Chandler for the bantamweight world title in 1984. Read the story by Arne K. Lang on this link: https://tss.ib.tv/boxing/featured-boxing-articles-boxing-news-videos-rankings-and-results/81467-former-world-bantamweight-champion-richie-sandoval-passes-away-at-age-63 .

Fights to Watch

Fri. UFC Fight Pass 7 p.m. Omar Trinidad (15-0-1) vs Viktor Slavinskyi (15-2-1).

Sat. ESPN+ 12:30 p.m. Joe Joyce (16-2) vs Derek Chisora (34-13).

Sat. DAZN 3 p.m. Claressa Shields (14-0) vs Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse (7-1), Michel Rivera (25-1) vs Hugo Roldan (22-2-1); Tito Mercado (15-0) vs Hector Sarmiento (21-2).

Omar Trinidad photo by Lina Baker

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Arne’s Almanac: Jake Paul and Women’s Boxing, a Curmudgeon’s Take

Published

3 days ago

July 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Jake Paul can fight more than a little. The view from here is that he would make it interesting against any fringe contender in the cruiserweight division. However, Jake’s boxing acumen pales when paired against his skill as a flim-flam artist.

Jake brought a 9-1 record into last weekend’s bout with Mike Perry. As noted by boxing writer Paul Magno, Jake’s previous opponents consisted of “a You Tuber, a retired NBA star, five retired MMA stars, a part-time boxer/reality TV star, and two undersized and inactive fall-guy boxers.”

Mike Perry, a 32-year-old Floridian, was undefeated (6-0, 3 KOs) as a bare-knuckle boxer after forging a 14-8 record in UFC bouts. In pre-fight blurbs, Perry was billed as the baddest bare knuckle boxer of all time, but against Jake Paul he proved to have very unrefined skills as a conventional boxer which Team Paul undoubtedly knew all along. Perry lasted into the eighth round in a one-sided fight that could have been stopped a lot sooner.

Jake Paul is both a boxer and a promoter. As a promoter, he handles Amanda Serrano, one of the greatest female boxers in history. That makes him the person most responsible (because the buck stops with him) for the wretched mismatch in last Saturday’s co-feature, the bout between Serrano and Stevie Morgan.

Morgan, who took up boxing two years ago at age 33, brought a 14-1 record. Nicknamed the Sledgehammer, she had won 13 of her 14 wins by knockout, eight in the opening round. However, although she resides in Florida, all but one of those 13 knockouts happened in Colombia.

“We found that in Colombia there were just more opportunities for women’s boxing than in the United States,” she told a prominent boxing writer whose name we won’t mention.

The truth is that, for some folks, Colombia is the boxing equivalent of a feeder lot for livestock, a place where a boxer can go to fatten their record. The opportunities there were no greater than in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1995. It was there that Peter McNeeley prepped for his match with Mike Tyson with a 6-second knockout of professional punching bag Frankie Hines. (Six seconds? So it would be written although no one seems to have been there to witness it.)

Serrano vs Morgan was understood to be a stay-busy fight for Amanda whose rematch with Katie Taylor was postponed until November. Stevie Morgan, to her credit, answered the bell for the second round whereas others in her situation would have remained on the stool and invented an injury to rationalize it. Thirty-eight seconds later it was all over and Ms. Morgan was free to go home and use her sledgehammer to do some light dusting.

The Paul-Perry and Serrano-Morgan fights played out in a sold-out arena in Tampa before an estimated 17,000. Those without a DAZN subscription paid $64.95 for the livestream. Paul’s next promotion, where he will touch gloves with 58-year-old Mike Tyson (unless Iron Mike pulls a Joe Biden and pulls out; a capital idea) with Serrano-Taylor II the semi-main, will almost certainly rake in more money than any other boxing promotion this year.

Asked his opinion of so-called crossover boxing by a reporter for a college newspaper, the venerable boxing promoter Bob Arum said, “It’s not my bag but folks who don’t like it shouldn’t get too worked up over it because no one is stealing from anybody.” True enough, but for some of us, the phenomenon is distressing.

—

The next big women’s fight happens Saturday in Detroit where Claressa Shields seeks a world title in a third weight class against WBC heavyweight belt-holder Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse.

A two-time Olympic gold medalist, undefeated in 14 fights as a pro, Shields is very good, arguably the best female boxer of her generation which makes her, arguably, the best female boxer of all time. But turning away Lepage-Joanisse (7-1, 2 KOs) won’t elevate her stature in our eyes.

Purportedly 17-4 as an amateur, the Canadian won her title in her second crack at it. Back in August of 2017, she challenged Cancun’s Alejandra Jimenez in Cancun and was stopped in the third round. Entering the bout, Lepage-Joanisse was 3-0 as a pro and had never fought a match slated for more than four rounds.

Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse

True, on the women’s side, the heavyweight bracket is a very small pod. A sanctioning body has to make concessions to harness a sanctioning fee. Nonetheless, how absurd that a woman who had answered the bell for only 11 rounds would be deemed qualified to compete for a world title. (FYI: Alejandra Jimenez was purportedly born a man. She left the sport with a 12-0-1 record after her win over Franchon Crews Dazurn was changed to a no-contest when she tested positive for the banned steroid stanozolol.)

Following her defeat to Jimenez, Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse, now 29 years old, was out of action for six-and-a-half years. When she returned, she was still a heavyweight, but a much slender heavyweight. She carried 231 pounds for Jimenez. In her most recent bout where she captured the vacant WBC title with a split decision over Argentina’s Abril Argentina Vidal, she clocked in at 173 ¼. (On the distaff side, there’s no uniformity among the various sanctioning bodies as to what constitutes a heavyweight.)

Claressa Shields doesn’t need Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse to reinforce her credentials as a future Hall of Famer. She made the cut a long time ago.

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Former World Bantamweight Champion Richie Sandoval Passes Away at Age 63

Published

4 days ago

July 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

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Richie Sandoval, who won the WBA and lineal bantamweight title in one of the biggest upsets of the 1980s and then, not quite two years later, suffered near-fatal injuries in a title defense, has passed away at the age of 63.

News circulated fast in the Las Vegas boxing community on Monday, July 22, the grapevine actuated by a tweet from Hall of Fame matchmaker Bruce Trampler: “Boxing and the Top Rank family lost one of our own last night in the passing of former WBA bantamweight champion Richie Sandoval. It hurts personally and professionally to know that Richie is gone at age 63. RIP campeon.”

Details are vague but the cause of death was apparently a sudden heart attack that Sandoval experienced while visiting the Southern California home of his son of the same name.

Richie Sandoval put the LA County community of Pomona, California, on the boxing map before Shane Mosley came along and gave the town a more frequently-cited mention in the sports section of the papers. He came from a fighting family. An older brother, Albert “Superfly” Sandoval, became a big draw at LA’s fabled Olympic Auditorium while building a 35-2-1 record that included a failed bid to capture Lupe Pintor’s world bantamweight title.

Richie was a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic boxing team that was stranded when U.S. President Jimmy Carter (and many other world leaders) boycotted the event as a protest against Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan.

As a pro, Sandoval’s signature win was a 15^th-round stoppage of Jeff Chandler. They fought on April 7, 1984 in Atlantic City. Chandler was making the tenth defense of his world bantamweight title.

Despite being a heavy underdog, Sandoval dominated the fight, winning almost every round until the referee stepped in and waived it off. Chandler, who was 33-1-2 heading in and had avenged his lone defeat, never fought again.

Sandoval made two successful defenses before risking his title against Gaby Canizales on the undercard of Hagler-Mugabi in the outdoor stadium at Caesars Palace. In round seven, Sandoval, who had a hellish time making the weight, was knocked down three times and suffered a seizure as he collapsed from the third knockdown. Stretchered out of the ring, he was rushed to the hospital where doctors reduced the swelling in his brain and beat the odds to save his life. This would be Richie’s lone defeat. He finished his pro career with a record of 29-1 (17 KOs).

Bob Arum cushioned some of the pain by giving Richie a $25,000 bonus and offering him a lifetime job at Top Rank which Richie accepted. And let the record show that Arum was good to his word.

A more elaborate portrait of Richie Sandoval was published in these pages in 2017. You can check it out HERE. May he rest in peace.

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