David Martinez Boxing

GUEST POST for dmboxing.com

by Adam Pollack

The Lamont Peterson – Amir Khan fight has to be considered fight of the year. Wonderful intense battle by two young elite prime warriors giving it their all. Some brutal blows were landed by both in 12 rounds of excellent high level combat. The speed, footwork, counters, body shots, uppercuts, blazing combinations, were all just wonderful. Kudos to both for showing us what a true championship fight is all about.

But what is all this talk of controversy? I saw no controversial fight. I saw no home cooking. Stop trying to make every big boxing fight out to be controversial or a fix. Stop trying to react emotionally, but instead look at matters in a fair and objective manner. It isn’t good for the sport to cast aspersions on that referee, nor are the criticisms of his point deductions fair. I respectfully disagree with HBO and those who say the referee was unfair.

First of all, neither knockdown of Peterson in the 1st round was a knockdown. The first was correctly called a slip and a trip. The second was a trip and a push. Right there, for the referee to call that a knockdown shows that he had no bias against Khan. In the heat of the moment, though, referees have to make snap judgments, and sometimes they get it wrong. Happens in the NBA, NFL and the like. Part of the sport. But honestly, watching it live, without the benefit of instant replay, I was not sure whether or not it was knockdown. You have to go with the referee’s judgment at that point.

As for the fouling, the referee was perfectly justified in taking points off of Khan. It is a violation of the rules to hold, to pull a man’s head down, and to push. Amir Khan did all three, and did all three of them incessantly, flagrantly, and despite repeated and consistent cautions throughout he bout by the referee to stop doing these things. You don’t need a referee to tell you to stop violating the rules or he’ll take points off. Every boxer is charged with knowledge of the rules, and every boxer knows that if you keep breaking the rules, you can get points taken off. The referee kept cautioning Khan, and yet he did not stop. If a referee does not take points off, then there is no reason for a fighter ever to obey the rules or listen to the cautions. No one whines and moans when a referee in the NFL calls a holding penalty, or illegal contact, etc. If you violate the rules, you get penalized. If you don’t want the penalty, don’t commit the penalty. And when there is a 15-yard penalty for roughing the passer, no one says the official gave the other team the game. They say that player should not have done what he did, that he should modify his behavior in the future lest he might potentially cost his team the game.
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By Tom Donelson

( Member of Boxing Writers Association & International Boxing Research Organization )

Zab Judah found himself with one more opportunity to win a big fight, this one from Amir Khan and become an elite fighter once again.  At the age of 33, Judah moved down in weight to the 140 pound division but Khan would be a big fight. As for Khan, he came into the fight as the younger and bigger fighter against an older but experienced boxer who has his share of big fights.  This fight happened because Tim Bradley chose not to fight Khan and Khan simply moved to the next best thing; Judah.

Khan began the first round by jabbing and looking for openings whereas Judah showed patience as Khan early jabs missed.  Khan long jab kept Judah a safe distance and where Judah did managed a right hook from his southpaw stance; he did very little offensively.

In the second round, Judah avoided many of Khan punches, but he did very little counter whereas Khan continued to control the real estate between his opponent.   By the third round, Khan physical feature started to take control but Judah managed to slip left hands but they had little effect on the bigger Khan.

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By Tom Donelson

( Member of Boxing Writers Association )

Paul Williams came off a two round knock out lost suffered at the hand of Sergio Martinez against Cuban fighter Erislandy Lara in a comeback fight.  For Williams, there would be no change in style against a fighter similar in style to Martinez.  As for Lara, the sixteen fight career did not fully show his boxing experience since he had fought 300 plus amateur fights.

The record will show a majority decision victory for Paul Williams but the reality was that Erislandy won the fight in the ring whereas Williams won it on scorecard.  In the first three rounds Erislandy score with his left easily as Williams seem to be continuously to be caught with the same punch over and over throughout the fight.

In the fourth and fifth round, it looked like Lara was tiring as Williams pressured the Cuban fighter.  Even in the sixth round, Lara mouth was open as Williams continued the pressure but Lara returned to what worked in the opening rounds as he hit Williams with those devastating left.

Lara got a second wind in the seventh round as he moved consistently in position to hit Williams with his left.  This continued throughout the next four rounds, the same thing continued to happen as Lara maneuvered himself beautifully allowing him to step away and fired away with those left but even his jab was more effective than Williams.  Williams was told by his corner that he needed a knockout and in the twelfth, he went for that knockout and while he threw ton of punches, he failed to stop Lara. Unknown to him and his corner, he had the judges on his side.

Williams and his corner used the same strategy that cost him the Martinez fight and his three losses were to southpaw.  While the HBO staff made the case that maybe we have seen the best of Williams, it could easily be style that conflicts with his own. Williams does not use his heights and fights like he is 5’9” instead of 6’2”.  Against southpaws, he is vulnerable to straight lefts over his right that he holds low.  Williams doesn’t have to fight since he has kept his money, invested wisely and lives simply.  On this night he looked like a shot fighter who survived a bad decision but it could simply be a case of wrong style.  As for his goal of fighting Sergio Martinez, there was nothing tonight to show that he could beat the Argentina champion in a rubber match.

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By Tom Donelson

( Member of Boxing Writers Association and International Boxing Research Organization )

It was suppose to be the big heavyweight fight of the past decade and the big test for Wladimir Klitschko over the past seven years. Instead, the fight ended with a whimper with little action and only in the first minute of the last round did one see any excitement or doubts about who will win.  For the most part, it was classic Klitschko; reduce his opponent to survival mode.

The opening round set the pace for most of the fight as David Haye looked to maneuver for a big blow while Wladimir Klitschko used his jab to control the real estate.  Haye biggest problem was his inability to penetrate Klitschko’s defenses and his failure to use his own quick hands to jab his way inside; instead he leaped in with punches.

On occasions, he landed his overhand right enough times to produce a welt under Vladimir Klitschko’s left eye but he threw half as many punches and connected on half as many punches.  During the second half of the fight, Haye became less active and while Klitschko lost a point for pushing Haye down, Haye flopped in order to get another point deduction.  The referee even counted Haye for an eight count after Haye flopped in the eleventh round. The referee got tired of Haye’s tactic and figure that one way to get his attention was to deduct a point and let the record show he was knocked down.

There was only three rounds in the fight had any serious competition, the third round in which Haye showed some rhythm and connected on some solid rights and the fourth round in which Haye actually connected on more punches for the only round in the fight.

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By Tom Donelson

( Member Boxing Writers Association and International Boxing Research Organization )

This past Saturday, HBO boxing after Dark had an evening of knock out boxing as the card featured knock out artists in both bouts.  Adrien Broner came into the bout as an undefeated fighter with 16 knockouts in 20 wins against the tough Jason Litzau, who goes for broke.  In the second bout, Mexican sensation Camelo Saul Alvarez challenged British veteran Ryan Rhodes.

In the opening round of the first fight, Litzau and Broner posed more than fight as they felt each other out with little action until the last thirty seconds when Broner attacked with vicious combinations.  The Broner attacked began with a left hook that missed followed by a right that stunned Litzau.  The right hand paralyzed Litzau for a brief moment and Litzau did not quite know where he was; Broner added a solid right, left hook, a right upper cut that send Litzau eyes rolling back and then concluded with a left hook sending Litzau down along the rope.  The referee did not bother to count as it was self evident that Litzau was not going to get up.

In the main event, Rhodes and Alvarez exchanged a few polite punches before Alvarez exploded with some combinations near the end of the first round as he connected on a series of combinations with the right hand showing the most pop.  Alvarez showed patience in the second round as he waited to see what Rhodes, who jabbed tentatively as the memory of those stinging rights in the first round still fresh in his minds.  When Rhodes turned southpaw, he proved vulnerable to Alvarez’s right as Rhodes looked ineffectual.

Alvarez showed some defensive skills as he moved his head against Rhodes and avoided many of Rhodes’ punches.  Alvarez occasionally would attack and never feared his opponents’ power. Rhodes started to connect on a few punches in the third round but they had little effect.

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By Tom Donelson

( Member of Boxing Writers Association and International Boxing Research Organization )

Froch moves on

Carl Froch was one fight away from facing Andre Ward and being a part of the Super Six tournament final.  His opponent, Glen Johnson, was the ultimate road warrior and a fighter better than his record as he became one of the elite light heavyweights over the past decade.  At the age of 42, Glen Johnson still had enough talent to be a threat and his most recent victory over the younger Allan Green reminded the boxing world that he was still one of the best in the world.

In the opening bout, Mikkel Kessler fought a warm up fight against Mehdi Bouadla.  Bouadla pressed the action against the accomplished Kessler but halfway through the round, Kessler used his jab to set up combinations. Bouadla own jabs penetrated Kessler own defense as he kept the round close.

Bouadla defense made it difficult for Kessler in the second round as Kessler’s jab often fell short and when he got closer; he got counter by a Bouadla left hook. Kessler fought a better third round as ring rust from 14 months layoff started to evaporate and a Kessler right sent Bouadla down for an eight count. Bouadla spit his mouthpiece out to gain more time and the referee gave him a point deduction for delaying the fight.  Kessler continued his assault with multiple combinations.

Kessler began the fourth round by unleashing combinations and found a home with his right hand as Bouadla took some big shots as he tried to survive the round but with ten seconds left, another Kessler right sent Bouadla down, but Bouadla got up and wobbled back to his corner.

As the sixth round began, the first question was how did Bouadla survive to get his far as he got pasted over the past three rounds.  With a minute left, a Kessler left hook hurt Bouadla and this was followed by a second left hook along with a nasty right hand that sent Bouadla a third time.  Kessler finished up Bouadla with another combination and after hitting the canvas for the fourth time, Bouadla was finished.  Kessler won impressively and set himself for another big fight; maybe against Lucian Bute.

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By Tom Donelson

( Member of Boxing Writers Association and International Boxing Research Organization )

Arthur Abraham had lost two fights in a row during the Super Six tournament and faced the new favorite Andre Ward as a heavy underdog but Abraham has one thing in his favor; the big punch.  For Ward, this was not an easy bout against one of the most rugged fighters in the world.

Abraham began the first round moving forward with the idea of pushing the action as he moved behind a peek-a-boo; making it difficult for Ward to jab effectively against Abraham. Halfway through the second round, Ward landed his best combination of the fight at that point but it did little to sway Abraham from moving forward and both fighters started to bend some of the rules as the fight started to get rough.  Both fighters exchanged jabs throughout the third round in a fight that moved quickly with Abraham landing some of the more powerful shots over the last minute of the round.  Known as a slow starter, Abraham forced the action through the first three rounds.

Fourth round was Ward best of first four rounds as he dominated most of the round as he threw most of punches even though Abraham attempted to steal the round with a rally that allowed Ward to counter.  The fifth and the sixth round repeated the fourth round as Abraham allowed Ward to get off and throw punches first; there were one occasion that Ward hurt Abraham for the first time of the fight.    At the halfway mark, Abraham looked exhausted, an unusual occasion since Abraham usually get better as the fight moved forward.  Ward started to take the fight to Abraham who seemed content to be a punching bag while occasionally throwing wild punches but he could never pull trigger or maneuver Ward in a position to unleash his powerful punches.   With a minute left in the tenth round, Ward switched to southpaw and continued to pound Abraham, who simply looked confused.  Between the tenth and eleventh round, Abraham’s corner exhorted their fighter “go for it, you can do it.”   In the opening of the eleventh round, Abraham landed a solid counter for one of his best punch but Ward continued to box around the tough Armenian born German fighter.

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By Tom Donelson
(Member of the Boxing Writers Association, International Boxing Research Organization and contributes to numerous boxing publications)

Paul McCloskey challenged Amir Khan for Khan’s version of the junior Welterweight title. For Khan, a victory meant a big dollar fight with Timothy Bradley and who knows from there? Khan decided to take the action to McCloskey and while neither fighter appeared to hurt each other, Khan’s activity won the first round as he threw more punches and connected on more.

Khan led with the right twice in the first minute of the second round but did little damage but McCloskey played a waiting game as if looking for the right moment to strike back or was it that he was simply unable to solve Khan’s hand speed?  Khan started to throw more effective combinations at the end of the round but still did not hit McCloskey with solid shots.

By the end of the fourth round, McCloskey was fighting defensively and soaked up the harder punches of Khan but this strategy was hardly winning rounds.    Halfway through the sixth round, Khan stunned McCloskey with a combination and an accidental head butt open up a cut over McCloskey left eye.  The fight went to the scorecard and this resulted in an easy decision for Amir Khan as he won every round.

Andre Berto defended his version of the Welterweight against Victor Ortiz, a talented fighter who had a disappointing loss to Marco Maidana and a majority draw against Lamont Peterson, fights that had many questioning his heart.
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By Tom Donelson

(member of the Boxing Writers Association, International Boxing Reseach Organization and contributes to numerous boxing publications)

ESPN featured on Friday night, Cuban prospects night and HBO on Saturday night featured Cuban Yuriokis Gamboa defending his WBA featherweight against Jorge Solis. It could be said that of all of the Cuban fighters fighting today, Gamboa may be the best.

In the opening bout, upcoming star Miguel Angel Garcia fought Matt Remillard in a battle between undefeated fighters. In the first round, Remillard tried to get inside but halfway through the round, Garcia unleashed a battery of punches before the fight settled down with Remillard continued to move forward but his offense was ineffectual.  Garcia battery of punches showed the difference between the two fighters for Remillard punches lacked pop whereas Garcia punches went through Remillard defenses.

In the second round, Garcia moved around the ring while nailing Remillard with hard shots whereas Remillard did managed to connect on a couple of hooks to the body while pursuing.  At the end of the round, Remillard did manage to nail Garcia with a right hand.

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