24.04.04 – Izyaslav “Slava” Koza – Novirasputin@hotmail.com – Well I gotta say these fights were simply and amazingly entertaining. All four contests had something to them, and even though Don King is in kind words a negative personality, we cannot expect to get a better PPV fight card from anyone. Now to the action.
Braithwaite vs. Azille
Honestly, when the mentioned that Azille was already knocked out by Braithwaite, I expected exactly what happened in the Judah Rangel fight, in Don’s last not so successful PPV. Still Azille found his moments and hung tough, however I don’t know if it was his actual toughness that kept him in there or Braithwaite’s laziness.
Round 1
Braithwaite came out doing something very strange, which I can only describe as nothing. He tried to move Azille back with a jab but did it in such a lackluster manner that, I was not surprised when Azille landed a few very telling blows, that I think were enough to get him the round.
10-9 Azille
Round 2
This I guess was the start of the fight for the Big Truck, as he very crisply peppered Azille with all sorts of rights and lefts, to I guess, really show who was the boss. This round was such a mismatch that I almost felt sorry for Azille. However when Braithwaite’s mouthpiece flew out of his mouth, that pity sort of turned into a hope that maybe Azille can do enough in the fight to win.
10-9 Braithwaite
Round 3
Really a continuation of Round 2, only in this one Azille actually got knocked down. Very nice forceful, and extra pretty because Braithwaite didn’t stand in front of him but moved around to the side to finish putting Azille down. His only problem was he didn’t follow up. Credit to Azille for getting up and giving it a go, because he honestly looked as if he would be finished off right then and there. Surprisingly at the end of the round Braithwaite, who I think definitely needs to stop doing his very poor imitation of Prince Naseem or Roy Jones, got staggered and almost lost his footing enough to go down, and even up the round. Even so easy round to score because of the KD.
10-8 Braithwaite
Round 4
What was a very entertaining fight up to this point took a turn for the worse, when both fighters were content to do nothing for the first oh 2:30 minutes of the round. Either Braithwaite was still feeling the effects of his near collision with the canvas from the previous round, or Azille forgot that he can actually try to win the fight. Anyway with about .20 seconds left in the round, Braithwaite pulled off a somewhat decent combo that I thought was the best up to that point and gave him the 4th.
10-9 Braithwaite
Round 5
Braithwaite seemed very bored this round, but still controlled the tempo with his jab. The difference in this round was he really controlled the round being flat footed, and not mauling Azille from all angles and trying to close him out, as he did in his best rounds in the 2nd and 3rd.
10-9 Braithwaite
Round 6
In this round Braithwaite again decided to go flat-foot, only this time he didn’t do enough with his jab, to counteract the two or so nice shots Azille landed on him. At this point in the fight it was a decision of whether or not Braithwaite did enough to win the round, or whether he let it go, because Azille was clearly giving away valuable points. Azille seemed to be looking for one punch, but what surprised me was he didn’t follow up on any of the good shots he got in throughout the fight. I would say in almost every round he had a moment or two when he snapped Braithwaite’s head completely back, but didn’t follow up.
10-9 Azille
Round 7
Best 2 way action round of the fight, nice exchanges that really cancelled each other out in terms of which fighter got in the better shots. With this action becoming null and void, the rest of the action was controlled by Braithwaite and his jab, even though at times his feet were still glued to the canvas.
10-9 Braithwaite
Round 8
Azille did a good job in pushing Braithwaite back and landed enough good punches for me to give him the round.
10-9 Azille
Round 9
Azille scored 3 good combinations in this round, and caught Braithwaite practicing his atrocious Zab Judah/Naseem Hamed shimmy imitation. As a boxing critic I give him two thumbs down, for not putting Azille away in round 4 and letting him, climb back into the fight, and taking him this deep.
10-9 Azille
Round 10
Braithwaite at this point seemed set on simply winning a decision, and not even attempting to close out Azille, who I thought had gained enough confidence to attempt and chase down Braithwaite. Braithwaite used his jab to fend off Azille and take the round with ring generalship.
10-9 Braithwaite
Round 11
Braithwaite again uses his jab and stays away from exchanges with Azille to take this round, Azille did not attempt to even take over the round.
10-9 Braithwaite
Round 12
Braithwaite again simply chose to box, and Azille seemed content to losing on points this time. He showed no real urgency or desire to try and win, and took it down to the wire just to say he went twelve.
10-9 Braithwaite
I had it 116-111. The official’s scores were all overwhelmingly in Braithwaite’s favor. Although I agree he clearly controlled the fight, I don’t think he controlled every second of it, and definitely seemed lazy, bored, and/or tired on more then a few occassions. Azille decided to leave well enough alone and although he had his moments he was obviously outgunned, but was still game enough to finish the fight on his feet.
Mayorga vs. Mitchell
Well before the show started they interviewed Mayorga’s opponent, Rivera, and I was really psyched about seeing them go at it, because Rivera looked good from the highlight clips, however that was not the case. The story here was Mayorga’s problems at the scales, in making weight, which prompted the fight to be cancelled. Honestly like any true fight fan, I wanted Mayorga’s ability to party hard, and make weight, and fight just as hard to be true. Unfortunately it isn’t, and I think this is a clear sign to him that if he wants to be a serious contender, he needs to cut that Bull—- out. He is very entertaining, however entertainers really need a job in movies not in the boxing ring. The only reason we saw him tonight is because of his cigarette and food antics which, coupled with his “I love it when you hit me” attitude, Don King knows will put people in seats. As soon as he loses to an opponent of tonight’s similar caliber he will be out on the street with no real boxing achievements to show for it, no matter how many times he praises Don King for finding him. Don King will lose him, like a little kid loses a puppy, if it makes him better off, this is why Mayorga needs to accomplish something and he needs to do it bad (a Forrest win ain’t much). Mayorga is a tough guy, he is a warrior, but he won’t ever be anything other then a one hit wonder, if this is the sort of thing he keeps doing. As for his opponent, there really isn’t much you can say about him. During his interview, he sounded as if he had just been through some traumatic experience, I almost felt sorry for the guy, as I believed he won’t make it out of Round one. Surprisingly the Philly native made it through to a decision loss.
Round 1
Very empty and meaningless round, in which one fighter (Mayorga) was waiting for his opponent to do something, and the other fighter was too scared to do it. Mayorga looked quite confused in there, and let Mitchell get in some nice shots, in between numerous clinches, to take the first one.
10-9 Mitchell
Round 2
This round basically explains exactly why Mitchell made it through the rest of the fight. First of all Mitchell seemed petrified to me, he reminded me of my pet peeve fighter, which people endearingly call “the quiet man.” Mitchell grabbed Mayorga an unmeasurable amount of times, and I could not believe anyone in their right mind would give this round to him. In my mind Mayorga may not have done anything, but at least he didn’t want to dance in an embrace to a chorus line of boos from the crowd. Easy round that should go to Mayorga by default.
10-9 Mayorga
Round 3
This is the round that Mayorga asserted himself in, and really hammered Mitchell enough times to take it.
10-9 Mayorga
Round 4
In this round Mayorga seemingly stunned/hurt Mitchell and with a lull in the rest of the action took the round by default.
10-9 Mayorga
Round 5
Mayorga aggressive with his punching, as he leaps in with dangerous intent behind each lead jab. I don’t know how much affect this had on Mitchell, but it didn’t seem to give him much hope in the way of mounting a comeback.
10-9 Mayorga
Round 6
Mitchell was deducted 1 point for hitting on the break, which seemed a little iffy to me because the punch was not that bad, and Mayorga wasn’t as affected by it. Still it did not really change the momentum of the fight as Mayorga was obviously dominating at that point. Mayorga was also warned for a low blow in this round.
10-8 Mayorga
Round 7
Mayorga again presses and steals the round in what for me seemed, unimpressive, either due to Mayorga not trying for the KO or Mitchell taking Mayorga’s stuff well and clinching. By the way at some point during this round, when the referee separated the two guys, Mitchell instead of putting his hands up, just walked over to Mayorga and clinched him again, while patting him on the butt. This was one of the weirdest things I have ever seen, in that Mayorga was just as stupefied by it as I was, especially when there was still time in the round to make a fight of it.
10-9 Mayorga
Round 8
I thought Mitchell stunned Mayorga as he came in with a nice over the top straight, but didn’t press to make something of it. Still it was a boring round and that was the decisive factor in choosing to give it to Mitchell. Mitchell also lost his mouthpiece in this round, and Mayorga’s glove had to be retaped.
10-9 Mitchell
Round 9
I thought Mitchell again did enough to win, as Mayorga was not really pushing for a KO. More of a Mayorga didn’t do anything type of round to score for Mitchell.
10-9 Mitchell
Round 10
Mitchell slipped in this round, and Mayorga still could not settle the issues between the tape and his glove which for some reason decided not stick to each other. That being the most important aspect of the round, in regards to how boring it was, I gave it to Mitchell just because he made it through against an uninspired, and what seems like half-stoned, Ricardo Mayorga.
10-9 Mitchell
I had it 6-4 in the end, but there was no real doubts as to who won the fight, and so the official scores being overwhelmingly in Mayorga’s favor did not really affect me. It was obvious by the persistent booing in the crowd, that Mayorga had lost the night before when he couldn’t make weight, so this victory over a last minute replacement, did not awaken a desire in me to clap for a sham fight. On a side note, this is the sort of thing that ticks me off, a little bit. I see guys give it there all and kill themselves to make weight, and eat, sleep, and **** boxing, and this guy, doesn’t make weight and still gets TV exposure, which will surely earn him big cash. It ain’t right people, even if it is just a simple boxing writer’s opinion.
Oquendo vs. Ruiz
I figured it out guys, it just hit me like a flash of lightning right before the bell rang for this bout, I now know exactly how to watch a John Ruiz or Fres Oquendo fight. All you gotta do is count the number of clinches in each round, and you will have loads of fun. I tell you that is what me and my friend did and we probably had more laughs predicting whether or not they would break the previous rounds total, then anyone who paid to watch Starsky and Hutch (great movie by the way, very funny). Yup this fight reminds of that movie “Plan Nine from Outer Space,” in that it was so bad that you actually begin to enjoy it, if you watch it correctly. It also reminds me of a famous quote from a legendary comedian, who said, “We went to see a fight and a hockey game broke out.” That is about what we should expect from these two. We expected to see a wrestling match, and at certain rare points a boxing match broke out. What was interesting was the trainers of both guys shoved each other at the face off before round 1. I think those two did more fighting then their charges did during the whole eleven rounds.
Round 1
How the heck do you even begin analyzing this fight? I guess we ask ourselves who clinched more in this fight, and surprisingly although that is Ruiz’s Monicker, Oquendo wanted to hug and kiss more. I wrote that Ruiz landed the better punches and looked more aggressive but again if you argue I wont care.
Clinch Count: 8
10-9 Ruiz
Round 2
A shockingly sickening sequel to round 1. The only redeeming things I saw were Ruiz’s marginal ability to slip Oquendo’s punches well on a few occasions, which is why I gave him this round as well.
Clinch Count: 9
10-9 Ruiz
Round 3
Another meaningless black hole, void-filled round. It was so boring that I only decided to give it to Oquendo in the last seconds for some unimpressive combination, or a single punch. It was really forgettable so I choose not to remember why I thought Oquendo won the round. The clinch count kept moving up unofficially, although with the amount of times my eyes closed I might have missed a few.
Clinch Count: 10
10-9 Oquendo
Round 4
This is arguably the worst round of the fight, and that pretty much says a lot people. Even the commentators had no idea how to score it, and neither did I. The only things of note were two slips by Ruiz as the two ballerinas danced in the center of the ring. One of them seemed blatantly on purpose, but in all honesty who really cares.
Clinch Count: 11
9-9, or 10-10 it doesn’t matter both guys looked plain gross in there.
Round 5
This was the round were at least on my scorecard the clinch count reached the fight high. Surprisingly Oquendo decided to fight out of one of them, and so I gave him the round based on that.
Clinch Count: 13
10-9 Oquendo
Round 6
Hmm you would think the round that, statistically had the least amount of clinches, would be the best, but unfortunately this is when the crowd finally woke up enough from their almost zombie like state, to start chanting “Bull—-.” I have to wholeheartedly agree. Although the clinching was to a minimum, the two of them stood there and looked at each other like two dancers at some sort of moves competition. They seemed to try to outdo each other in their posing, which unfortunately was even worse then the infinite amount of clinching. At this point anything that either of them did, that remotely resembled boxing I rewarded and awarded the round to. Oquendo was the lucky winner by flicking his jab out enough times to get my sad approval.
Clinch Count: 4
10-9 Oquendo
Round 7
Honestly I have no idea why I gave this round to Oquendo, in fact I don’t even remember what happened in this round. On my summary card it reads there were 0 jabs thrown, and I have no idea what that means honestly.
Clinch Count: 10
10-9 Oquendo
Round 8
With the amount of boredom, me and the majority of fans had to overcome watching this, almost mezmerizingly atrocious performance, we did see what I believe is a Guinness world record. Exactly three seconds after the bell, Oquendo and Ruiz had again found themselves in each others arms, and I think that is the fastest clinch after the opening bell in the history of boxing. Oh and Oquendo was the closest of the two to resemble a boxer, so I again thought it fair to give him the point, although, I would give anything for Tua to jump in, and save this fight by putting both these guys in their rightful places, flat on the canvas.
Clinch Count: 8
10-9 Oquendo
Round 9
Ruiz finally put that determination he always shows in the beginning of his fights, by running into the ring, and rushed Oquendo. Unfortunately they still managed to hug their way through the three minutes, but not before Oquendo was stunned by something. I would like to believe it was boredom knocking on the door, but in actuality it was a Ruiz punch coming as he rushed in.
Clinch Count: 13
10-9 Ruiz
Round 10
Luckily Oquendo did enough to win in the beginning of the round, so I could count the clinches in peace. He flurried in a marginally exciting manner, and that produced enough desire in me to give him the nod.
Clinch Count: 11
10-9 Oquendo
Round 11
Well I remember that movie Sgt. Bilko, where both guys seemed to think they were the one paid to take a dive, and so they continued doing nothing, until out of sheer boredom one of them threw something, and that ended the whole deal. This is what I think happened here. It wasn’t so much that Ruiz wound up finishing Fres off with a well placed punch, it was that Fres made a mistake in the pattern of the fight. The pattern was simple: Fres throws a jab or two, and right away no matter what jumps in for the clutch. Ruiz does the exact same thing, and by repeating over and over, they call themselves boxers, and collect their paychecks. Good job guys, two thumbs up. With that being said, it seemed Oquendo forgot that Ruiz might throw something as he went in for his final clinch attempt and got caught. Ruiz smelling that the fight could be over, landed some telling blows that made him look like Mike Tyson, and Fres Oquendo like a bobble toy. The referee, Wayne Kelley, probably just as bored and upset as we were in seeing this fight stepped in and called a halt to the contest, as Oquendo complained. There was really no controversy about it, if Oquendo would have been allowed to continue, I think Ruiz although not the best finisher would have enough to put Fast Fres on his back. My friend and I were kind of shocked to see it end because by our tally, the 11th round clinch total would have been the greatest sum of any round. We were on 12 when Fres went in for 13 and got caught, to say the least it was somewhat disappointing.
What I love the most about this fight though is what both “fighters” said afterwards.
John Ruiz: “I knew he had a good jab, but he would eventually tire and I would grab him.”
Ahem, Johnny I think you didn’t have to wait for him to tire to grab him, I think you did that all night long.
Fres Oquendo: “ They stopped a great fight”
I think Fres suffered some telling effects from those last couple of shots that Ruiz landed.
In all honesty this was the worst fight I have ever seen in my life, and its funny because I still enjoyed it although for different reasons.
Byrd vs. Golota
Prefight thoughts: Andrew Golota looks to be in great shape, he always possessed marginal skill, and he fought very good competition in his career, if he comes in prepared to go 12, he can win.
Guys at least to me, Andrew Golota did not disappoint. The guy seemed calm and almost amusing in his pre fight interviews, and I thought he really would do what I thought he can, and that is win.
I especially memorized this wonderful part of his interview, which really captured his mood during the fight: “They say I am a dirty fighter, but I take a shower 2-3 times a day, so I don’t know how dirty I can be.”
As for Chris Byrd, what can I say? The guy is very dependable. You can depend on him to come in and give it his all no matter who he is fighting, and I think this is why this was arguably the best fight of the year so far (with Judah-Spinks, and Mesi-Jirov close behind).
Round 1
Golota comes out and presses the action, and either forces or follows Byrd to the ropes. Once there Golota does not overreact and patiently waits in and gets in the necessary shots on Byrd, who really does not fire anything back. Although Byrd exhibits great defensive skills, there has to be punching in order for it to contribute to something.
What impressed me also was Golota did not mind showboating, as Byrd backed off. This really is not an indicator of how well Golota did, but it shows that he was not as tensed up, and worried about the fight, as we thought he would be.
10-9 Golota
Round 2
Byrd really confuses and makes Golota feel awkward. He also staggered him I believe towards the end of the round. At the end of the round to add to the confusion Byrd ended up behind him, as he has done on numerous occasions to many fighters. Good round for Byrd.
10-9 Byrd
Round 3
Very close round to score, but I gave it to Golota in the end. The problem was that Golota landed the better shots, while Byrd controlled the action for a majority of the round, with his movement and punch slipping, and countering. I think Golota’s punches were more telling. I also noticed something very key, and that is Byrd always makes the same type of facial expression when hit with a good punch. It’s almost a sarcastic smirk, that suggests the punch was not that powerful. I think that had Golota not looked at his own shoes, in trying not to trip over his own insanity, and tried to take advantage of those smirks, he could have really hurt Byrd early.
10-9 Golota
Round 4
I think Golota kept Byrd on the ropes, more so then Byrd allowed Golota to take him there. This allowed Andrew to narrow his attack, and focus well on Byrd’s body.
10-9 Golota
Round 5
In this round I thought Byrd flurried very well off the ropes, and caught Golota with more counters then he did in most of the other rounds. Good tactical fight so far, and I could see a few of these rounds going either way.
10-9 Byrd
Round 6
Golota gets in 2 good shots, which based on the rest of the action were the factor that gave him the round.
10-9 Golota
Round 7
A repeat of last round only this time in Byrd’s favor as he gets in the bigger shots.
10-9 Byrd
Round 8
Byrd flurries better off the ropes again. At this point I thought Golota’s conditioning was starting to deteriorate and he would, either be stopped, or lose a decision in the latter half of the fight.
10-9 Byrd
Round 9
Byrd outboxes Golota, and to add insult to injury outflurries him, which is something Golota had done better up to that point. At some point in the round Byrd also staggers Golota.
10-9 Byrd
Round 10
Byrd for some reason drops his hands, after being hit as he held his glove to his ear. Golota outboxes Byrd and backs him up effectively.
10-9 Golota
Round 11
Golota staggers Byrd, and Byrd leans down and touches the canvas. Although I thought referee Randy Neumann, didn’t do his usual bad refereeing job tonight, and actually let both guys fight it out, this really should have been a knockdown. A fighter cannot put his hands down on the canvas like that and call a halt to the contest. Golota was so scared of doing anything, lest he be disqualified again, he just stood there and looked at the ref, who called it a slip I guess. Neuman seemed extremely bored, which in essence was a good thing, because both fighters had an opportunity to just fight
10-9 Golota (but should have been 10-
Round 12
Golota gets in 2 good shots early, and uses a half illegal shoulder to push Byrd to the ropes, but it really didn’t do him much good. Byrd outboxes and outflurries Golota, who at that point would have been knocked out by a fighter with any kind of power. I am glad they finished the fight, and Golota finally finished a world title bout, in a respectable manner.
10-9 Byrd
I had it 114-114 but a lot of the rounds I could see going either way, so I was not completely upset that the ref let Byrd pull a Corrie Spinks a few times, by touching the canvas and stopping the action.
Golota left the ring, but came back after Byrd said a few words, and Don King chimed in there would be a rematch. Byrd said “this is the kind fighting the heavyweight division needs,” and I agree with him 100%. He also said he won the early rounds easily and Golota came on strong at the end, but I don’t think that was the case. Golota was tiring and actually did enough early to hold on to a draw. Golota then made his way back into the ring and stammeringly explained he thought he won, and thanked the audience and everybody. I really felt happy for him, the guy obviously has some issues with his personality, and or character, but he fought them into submission, and really did a good job tonight.
Both Golota and Byrd complained to their respective corners during their fight, and both corners did a good job in motivating their fighters to finish strong, and finish like warriors.
Final thoughts:
I was really satisified with tonights fights on the whole, and even found the Ruiz-Oquendo hugathon entertaining (unofficial Clinch Count total: 109. Beat that sumo wrestling). The refereeing was really good, in that it was kept to a minimum, and the judging at least picked all the correct winners when it had too. The commentary was rather good and impartial, and the fighters themselves really put on a good show, with Golota Byrd, really giving everyone their dollar’s worth. I hope we see this kind if stuff in the future on PPV, and perhaps boxing can regain its good name.
Novirasputin@hotmail.com if you read up to this point, and want to comment on it.