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A Dissenting Opinion: Jeffrey Freeman’s Round by Round Breakdown of the Charlo-Castano Fight
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Last Saturday night in San Antonio, Texas, there was a compelling 12-round junior middleweight unification title fight held on Showtime. Willing participants Jermell Charlo and Brian Castano attempted to unify all four belts in their weight division but thanks to the ringside judges and their split draw verdict, the claim of “undisputed” continues to go unclaimed at 154 pounds.
Fans and media were quick to beat up on Puerto Rican judge Nelson Vazquez for his 117-111 tally in favor of Charlo, the hometown fighter. The two other judges, Tim Cheatham and Steve Weisfeld had it much closer with a 114-114 draw and a 114-113 score for Castano.
Omaha Nebraska’s Terence Crawford tweeted out that Charlo lost the fight and must do better if he wants to be P4P. Many were surprised the fight was as close as it was with most experts picking Charlo to win, some by knockout. Only Main Events matchmaker Jolene Mizzone called the draw, her pick leaning towards Castano with a skeptical eye towards the judges.
Let’s now take a closer look at Charlo-Castano and see what the fuss is all about. Was 117-111 really such an outrageous score in favor of Charlo? Did Charlo really lose to an unheralded fighter from Argentina? Who should have won? Or was it actually just a close, legit draw?
ROUND ONE: A very jabby feel-out first without a lot of sustained action. Three belt champion Charlo is easily backed into a corner and onto the ropes by the pressure and attempted overhand rights of the mauler Castano, holder of the WBO championship. Not much to choose from here but Castano was busier so I gave him the round 10-9. Judges Cheatham and Weisfeld agree but the much-maligned Nelson Vazquez gives the round to Charlo, 10-9.
ROUND TWO: The rangy Charlo keeps the action in the center of the ring to start the second round, connecting with a nice one-two before fending off and avoiding wild punches from Castano with some wild punches of his own along the ropes. In the middle of the ring, Charlo does his best, most disciplined work, forcing Castano to back up from exchanges and not punch back. I scored this round for Charlo 10-9 as did all three of the ringside judges.
ROUND THREE: Long slashing jabs from Charlo keep Castano at bay and off balance throughout most of the third round. Then with ten seconds left in the frame, a firefight broke out with Charlo lingering on the ropes. Seeing this, Castano went on the attack and a tight left hook connected on the chin of Charlo, ringing his bell and bringing a smile. Charlo answered right back with a one-two but another Castano left hook seemed to faze him before the bell rang. I, and all three judges, gave this round to Castano 10-9 as he broke through and buzzed Charlo.
ROUND FOUR: Charlo is boxing well and moving at range but doing so prevents him from being able to land power punches with any real authority. Charlo clearly respects Castano based on his body language in the ring—his flinching from feints. Castano uses a nice high guard, not unlike that of Micky Ward. Still, Charlo is breaking through it in the fourth round with snappy one-twos and occasional left hooks. Castano’s wild punches are being blocked or miss outright, leaving him open to counters. I scored this round for Charlo 10-9. Judges Cheatham and Weisfeld disagree and give the fourth to Castano 10-9. Judge Vazquez sees it 10-9 for Charlo.
ROUND FIVE: Castano starts the fifth slowly, being boxed around and kept on a leash by the left jab of Charlo. Bull rushes from Castano are ineffective and Charlo is able to command range and distance with ease, mostly staying off the ropes and in the middle of the ring. With fifteen seconds left in the round, Charlo loiters on the ropes and pays for it with a hard right hand from Castano that causes him to cover up and take cover from Castano’s follow up barrage. A relatively uneventful round like this is hard to score on the fly without any time to reflect. Still, all three judges gave it to Charlo, 10-9. I have to agree with them. Charlo wins the round 10-9.
ROUND SIX: Charlo’s conservative gameplan is clear. Command the center of the ring with a stiff jab. Back up Castano and attack with the follow-up right hand if possible. Avoid being backed-up and stay off the ropes if possible. By the very end of the sixth round, Charlo is back on the ropes but this time he fights off them better and is not roughed-up by Castano. I gave the round to Charlo 10-9 and after six rounds I have the fight 58-56 Charlo, 4-2 in rounds. Only Steve Weisfeld gave this round to Castano; Vazquez and Cheatham seeing it 10-9 for Charlo.
ROUND SEVEN: A pair of one-twos in the middle of the ring from Charlo sets the tone in the seventh round. It may sound like a cliche but the bout now resembles a bull against a matador. When Castano charges, he is gored by jabs and circled around by Charlo, being forced to reset his attack in vain. I gave this round to Charlo 10-9 while all three judges saw it 10-9 for Castano.
How did YOU score this round? Tell me in the comments.
ROUND EIGHT: Castano scores with a clean right to the chin in the first minute of the eighth round and then lands another before Charlo settles down the tempo behind his jab. Castano’s aggression has Charlo on the ropes where he hates to be, missing his attempted left hooks. Easy round for me to score for Castano 10-9. As in the first round, judges Cheatham and Weisfeld agree with me but Vazquez goes the other way, scoring the round 10-9 for Charlo.
ROUND NINE: Neither fighter is showing any signs of fatigue but for the first time in the fight, both boxers are starting to throw more arm punches than straight hard shots. Charlo is painting Castano with his jab but can’t get off his power punches. Castano’s aggression pays off late in the ninth round and he wins it on my card 10-9 by sheer force of will. All three judges agree.
ROUND TEN: After a slow first minute in the tenth, Castano backed Charlo into the ropes and connected with a nice little left hook. Charlo tried to answer but missed as Castano motored away. At the halfway point of the round, Charlo landed a left hook and a straight right that seemed to stun Castano who clinched hard for the first time in the fight, clearly rattled. Another nice one-two combo from Charlo put Castano into retreat mode and Jermell took advantage to tee off. I scored the tenth 10-9 for Charlo as did judges Cheatham and Vazquez. Steve Weisfeld scored the round 10-8 for Charlo without a knockdown, going just a little too far in my book.
ROUND ELEVEN: Castano is still affected by Charlo’s attack in the tenth. He is immediately backed into a corner to open the championship rounds, not a good look. Charlo can’t miss when he punches but he’s just not a real finisher. What he is is a boxer and he easily outboxes Castano to carry the eleventh, 10-9, on my card and on that of all three ringside judges.
ROUND TWELVE: Charlo enjoyed his most complete three minutes of the fight in the twelfth and final round. He kept Castano on the end of his jab, mixed in the left hook, and avoided the majority of incoming. I scored the twelfth 10-9 for Charlo as did all three ringside judges.
*** I scored the fight 116-112 for Charlo, 8-4 in rounds.
According to CompuBox, which Paulie Malignaggi once described as computer nerds playing at ringside, pushing buttons to decide which punches do and don’t land: “Charlo landed 151 of 533 (28.3%) punches in the fight to Castano’s 173 of 586 (29.5%). Castano held a slight advantage in power punches, landing 164 of 400 (41%) to Charlo’s 98 of 246 (39.8%) while Charlo out-jabbed his opponent by a significant margin, landing 53 of 287 (18.5%) to Castano’s nine out of 186 (4.8%).”
KO’s Conclusion: Castano was fortunate to get the draw and keep his WBO title after being hurt in the tenth and shut out in the championship rounds. Was 117-111 for Charlo really so bad? Not at all. I had it only one round closer.
The most egregious card was actually turned in by Steve Weisfeld who despite scoring the tenth 10-8 for Charlo, had Castano winning, which no real case can be made for, not even by Terence Crawford! Castano tried to win, yes. But he didn’t. This was not the “Fight of the Year” and though a rematch will be made, I can take it or leave it.
If anything, the draw score simply sets up an unnecessary rematch but this time on PPV.
“I won this fight,” said Charlo afterwards.
It’s hard for me to disagree.
Editor’s Note: Jeffrey Freeman’s opinion does not reflect that of his editor.
Photo credit: Amanda Westcott / SHOWTIME
Boxing Writer Jeffrey Freeman grew up in the City of Champions, Brockton, Massachusetts from 1973 to 1987, during the Marvelous career of Marvin Hagler. JFree then lived in Lowell, Mass during the best years of Irish Micky Ward’s illustrious career. A former member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and a Bernie Award Winner in the Category of Feature Story Under 1500 Words. Freeman covers boxing for The Sweet Science in New England.
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Early Results from Riyadh where Hamzah Sheeraz was Awarded a Gift Draw
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After two 6-round appetizers, British light heavyweights Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith got the show rolling with a lusty 12-round skirmish. Things went south in the middle of the seven-fight main card when WBC middleweight champion Carlos Adames locked horns with challenger Hamzah Sheeraz. This was a drab fight owing to a milquetoast performance by the favored Sheeraz.
Heading in, the lanky six-foot-three Sheeraz, whose physique is mindful of a young Thomas Hearns, was undefeated in 21 fights. Having stopped five of his last six opponents in two rounds or less, the 25-year-old Englishman was touted as the next big thing in the middleweight division. However, he fought off his back foot the entire contest, reluctant to let his hands go, and Adames kept his title when the bout was scored a draw.
Sheeraz had the crowd in his corner and two of the judges scored the match with their ears. Their tallies were 115-114 for Sheeraz and 114-114. The third judge had it 118-110 for Adames, the 30-year old Dominican, now 24-1-1, who had Ismael Salas in his corner.
Ortiz-Madrimov
Super welterweight Vergil Ortiz Jr, knocked out his first 21 opponents, begging the question of how he would react when he finally faced adversity. He showed his mettle in August of last year when he went a sizzling 12 rounds with fellow knockout artist Serhii Bohachuk, winning a hard-fought decision. Tonight he added another feather in his cap with a 12-round unanimous decision over Ismail Madrimov, prevailing on scores of 117-111 and 115-113 twice.
Ortiz won by adhering tight to Robert Garcia’s game plan. The elusive Madrimov, who bounces around the ring like the energizer bunny, won the early rounds. But eventually Ortiz was able to cut the ring off and turned the tide in his favor by landing the harder punches. It was the second straight loss for Madrimov (10-2-1), a decorated amateur who had lost a close but unanimous decision to Terence Crawford in his previous bout.
Kabayel-Zhang
No heavyweight has made greater gains in the last 15 months than Agit Kabayel. The German of Kurdish descent, whose specialty is body punching, made his third straight appearance in Riyadh tonight and, like in the previous two, fashioned a knockout. Today, although out-weighed by more than 40 pounds, he did away with Zhilei “Big Bang” Zhang in the sixth round.
It didn’t start out well for Kabayel. The New Jersey-based, six-foot-six Zhang, a two-time Olympian for China, started fast and plainly won the opening round. Kabayel beat him to the punch from that point on, save for one moment when Zhang put him on the canvas with a straight left hand.
That happened in the fifth round, but by the end of the frame, the 41-year-old Zhang was conspicuously gassed. The end for the big fellow came at the 2:29 mark of round six when he couldn’t beat the count after crumbling to the canvas in a delayed reaction after taking a hard punch to his flabby midsection.
Kabayel remains undefeated at 26-0 (18 KOs). Zhang (27-3-1) hadn’t previously been stopped.
Smith-Buatsi
The all-British showdown between light heavyweights Joshua Buatsi and Callum Smith was a grueling, fan-friendly affair. A former 168-pound world title-holder, Smith, 34, won hard-earned unanimous decision, prevailing on scores of 115-113, 116-112, and a ludicrous 119-110.
There were no knockdowns, but Liverpool’s Smith, who advanced to 31-2 (22) finished the contest with a bad gash in the corner of his right eye. It was the first pro loss for Buatsi (19-1), an Olympic bronze medalist who entered the contest a small favorite and was the defending “interim” title-holder.
This contest was also a battle of wits between two of America’s most prominent trainers, Buddy McGirt (Smith) and Virgil Hunter (Buatsi).
Check back shortly for David Avila’s wrap-up of the last three fights.
Photo credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom
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Cain Sandoval KOs Mark Bernaldez in the Featured Bout at Santa Ynez
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Northern California’s Cain Sandoval remained undefeated with a knockout win over Mark Bernaldez in a super lightweight battle on Friday on a 360 Promotions card.
Sandoval (15-0, 13 KOs) of Sacramento needed four rounds to figure out tough Filipino fighter Bernaldez (25-7, 14 KOs) in front of a packed crowd at Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez.
Bernaldez had gone eight rounds against Mexico’s very tough Oscar Duarte. He showed no fear for Sandoval’s reputed power and both fired bombs at each other from the second round on.
Things turned in favor of Sandoval when he targeted the body and soon had Bernaldez in retreat. It was apparent Sandoval had discovered a weakness.
In the beginning of the fourth Sandoval fired a stiff jab to the body that buckled Bernaldez but he did not go down. And when both resumed in firing position Sandoval connected with an overhand right and down went the Filipino fighter. He was counted out by referee Rudy Barragan at 34 seconds of the round.
“I’m surprised he took my jab to the body. I respect that. I have a knockout and I’m happy about that,” Sandoval said.
Other Bouts
Popular female fighter Lupe Medina (9-0) remained undefeated with a solid victory over the determined Agustina Vazquez (4-3-2) by unanimous decision after eight rounds in a minimumweight fight between Southern Californians.
Early on Vazquez gave Medina trouble disrupting her patter with solid jabs. And when Medina overloaded with combination punches, she was laced with counters from Vazquez during the first four rounds.
Things turned around in the fifth round as Medina used a jab to keep Vazquez at a preferred distance. And when she attacked it was no more than two-punch combination and maintaining a distance.
Vazquez proved determined but discovered clinching was not a good idea as Medina took advantage and overran her with blows. Still, Vazquez looked solid. All three judges saw it 79-73 for Medina.
A battle between Southern Californian’s saw Compton’s Christopher Rios (11-2) put on the pressure all eight rounds against Eastvale’s Daniel Barrera (8-1-1) and emerged the winner by majority decision in a flyweight battle.
It was Barrera’s first loss as a pro. He never could discover how to stay off the ropes and that proved his downfall. Neither fighter was knocked down but one judge saw it 76-76, and two others 79-73 for Rios.
In a welterweight fight Gor Yeritsyan (20-1,16 KOs) scorched Luis Ramos (23-7) with a 12-punch combination the sent him to the mat in the second round. After Ramos beat the count he was met with an eight punch volley and the fight was stopped at 2:11 of the second round by knockout.
Super feather prospect Abel Mejia (7-0, 5 KOs) floored Alfredo Diaz (9-12) in the fifth round but found the Mexican fighter to be very durable in their six-round fight. Mejia caught Diaz with a left hook in the fifth round for a knockdown. But the fight resumed with all three judges scoring it 60-53 for Mejia who fights out of El Modena, Calif.
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The Return of David Alaverdian
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By TSS Special Correspondent David Harazduk — After David Alaverdian (8-0-1, 6 KOs) scored a gritty victory against a tough Nicaraguan journeyman named Enrique Irias, his plans suddenly changed. The flashy flyweight from Nahariya, Israel hoped to face even tougher opposition and then challenge for a world title within a year or so. But a prolonged illness forced David to rip up the script.
The Irias fight was over 22 months ago. On Saturday, Feb. 22, Alaverdian will be making his first appearance in the ring since that win when he faces veteran road warrior Josue “Zurdo” Morales (31-16-4, 13 KOs) at the Westgate Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. It’s the fifth promotion by Las Vegas attorney Stephen Reid whose inaugural card was at this venue on Feb. 13, 2020.
“I’m excited to come back,” Alaverdian declared.
During his preparation for Irias two years ago, Alaverdian felt fatigue after a routine six-round sparring session. “It was on April 1, 2023, about ten days before my fight. It felt like an April Fool’s joke,” he said. He came down with a sore throat, a headache, and congestion. He soon developed trouble breathing. At first, he thought his seasonal asthma had flared up, but his condition soon worsened. No matter what he did, Alaverdian could no longer take deep breaths. Fatigue continued to plague him. His heart constantly raced. Instead of breathing from his diaphragm, he was breathing from his chest. He sought out numerous doctors in the United States and in Israel.
His symptoms were finally diagnosed as Dysfunctional Breathing (DB). DB is a condition that can stem from stress and is often misdiagnosed. Its symptoms include dyspnea and tachycardia, both of which David experienced.
While receiving treatment, the Vegas-based pro went back to Israel where he coached aspiring fighters. “David’s influence on Israeli boxing is amazing, because he shows we can succeed in a big business even though we come from a small country,” said another undefeated Israeli flyweight, 20-year-old Yonatan Landman (7-0, 7 KOs). “A lot more Israelis are going to dare to succeed.”
Landman was able to work with Alaverdian during David’s return to Israel. “He is a great guy and a friend,” Landman said. “He has a lot of willingness to help, share his knowledge, and help you move forward.”
Alaverdian finally started to feel like he could compete again eight months ago. He won last year’s Israeli national amateur championship and competed in Olympic qualifiers. Now, he’s preparing to fight as a professional once again. “He doesn’t mention anything about [his breathing issues] like he did before,” his coach Cedric Ferguson said about this camp. “He’s been working like there’s no issue at all.”
It has been a whirlwind week for the 31-year-old Alaverdian. In addition to putting the finishing touches on his preparation ahead of Saturday’s comeback fight, David got married on Tuesday. His mom came over from Israel for the wedding and will stay for the fight. “It’s a good distraction,” David said of this week’s significant events. “It helps me. That way I don’t have to focus on the fight all day.”
Josue Morales, a 32 year old from Houston, hopes to play spoiler on Saturday. The crafty southpaw has never been stopped during his 52-fight career. “He’s a seasoned guy with a lot of experience,” Alaverdian said of Morales. “He knows how to move around the ring and is more of a technical boxer. He’s a tough opponent for someone who has been out of the ring for two years.”
A win Saturday night would complete a monumental week for David Alaverdian, both in and out of the ring, repairing the once-shredded script.
Doors open at the Westgate fight arena at 6:30 pm. The first bout goes at 7:00. Seven fights are scheduled including an 8-round female fight between Las Vegas light flyweight Yadira Bustillos and Argentine veteran Tamara Demarco.
NOTE: Author David Harazduk has run The Jewish Boxing Blog since 2010. You can find him at Twitter/X @JewishBoxing and Instagram.
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