Boxing

When Good Fighters Fight Bad

By Fred De La Riva

19.05 - This sport never fails to amaze me.

I've been an avid fan for more than 15 years now and I have watched the same scene play itself out time and time again. Fighters with an edge in power. Fighters with an edge in speed and skill. They've all done it. They've all made the same mistake.

To put it bluntly, they've fought stupid.

We've all seen it haven't we? Who can forget one the classic matchup between Sugar Ray Leonard and Roberto Duran. Yes Duran ranks high among among the all-time greats, but let's face it. The young Leonard had all the right tools to beat him. He was younger, faster, a good chin, decent stamina and believed that he could not be beaten. He could have danced around the Panamanian legend all night, but it was not to be that fateful day. Instead, Leonard decided to tough it out with Duran and he failed. Not that he didn't give Duran a run for his money, but Duran was as tough as they come. In a brawl, few men in the history of the sport would have out lasted him.

In my opinion, there are two basic types of "stupid" fight plans. There are variations of these mind you, but for simplicity's sake, they can be broken down as follows:

1. Let your "loins" do the fighting.

If tough is all you have. If brawling is all you can do then go with it. Men like Yori Boy Campas, and Mickey Ward have done this successfully, but as a fan who admires both the brutality and skill of the sport sees a fighter who can box decide to tough it out with a tough guy, I cringe. This weekend's Dorin/Spadafora fight was a case in point. Spadafora has long been labeled a "soft fighter" and true fight fans know that the term "soft fighter" is an impossibility. Unfortunately, Spadafora did not know this and caved in to the pressure. In his attempt to unify part of the lightweigt crown, Spadafora decided to duke it out with the tough Dorin.

Bad decision.

The first three rounds should have told him, that Dorin was not going to back down. Hell, Dorin's battles with Balbi, should have told Spadafora that the Romanian was going to give as good as he got. Lucky for Spadafora that Dorin lacked power and that the judges were willing to award him some of the closer rounds. I thought Dorin should have won, but that is neither here nor there. Yes the fight was scored a draw, but Spadafora lost a few bargaining chips with his bad strategy. He could have commanded a bit more "dough" in his quest to fight the division's biggest name Floyd Mayweather if he had added one more title to his resume. Let's just hope that if Spadafora was ever to meet Mexican tough guy Jose Luis Castillo, he remembers what got him where he is.

2. Rely Solely on the KO.

The big punch. The great equalizer. The most exciting moment in sports.

When a man catches another man at just the right time to either temporarily affect his balance or temporarily cut the blood supply to his brain, we get what boxing calls a knockout. Many fighters have been blessed with this potent weapon, but as the competition gets tougher and as the stakes get higher, relying solely on the KO more often than not proves to be a detriment.

Tua can you hear me?

In what should have been his "comeback fight", instead proved to be a nightmare for Nate Campbell. The Jacksonville fighter who is known for his wicked power was taken to school by an unknown pugilist from the Bronx named Eldemeiro " the Tiger" Martinez. Nevermind that Martinez lacked a big punch. Nevermind that he lacked name recognition. Nevermind that he lacked the experience. Nevermind that Campbell had the better corner. It didn't matter last Saturday afternoon, because Campbell was intent on looking good in front of a national audience on NBC. The result was just the opposite.

Campbell it seemed, did not learn his lesson from last January's fight against Joel Casamayor. Much like Casamayor, Martinez used his hand speed and technique to frustrate Campbell for much of the fight. Pay no attention to Campbell's post fight comments that he had "outside" distractions during training. He fought like he had 100 pounds stuck in his pants and failed to use any other weapon in his arsenal except his strong right. Martinez landed by far the most significant punches, not counting the ones that Campbell landed in the 8th round which finally knocked him down. The result.? A gift draw if you ask me.

Don't get me wrong. I love a good bar room brawl as much as the next guy, but in all fairness there is no reason for a fighter to make a match harder that it should be. After all this is isn't the "Toughman Contest". Boxing is a dsicipline. It's hit and not be hit. Boxing is a technique. It's making a man react to your every feint. It's making your opponent go where you want him to go. It's an art form.

If you have any questions or comments please contact the author at delariva69@sbcglobal.net

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