30.03.08 – Bill Calogero, TheDailySports.com: With technological advances coming almost on a daily basis, this past Thursday through the weekend featured a glimpse of what I believe will be the future of one of the many choices of how we will be able to watch boxing events; Broadcast via the Internet..
On Thursday, Don King’s DonKingTV.com kicked off with the broadcast of the IBF Jr. Middleweight Championship bout between Cory Spinks and Verno Phillips. In what was a very entertaining fight, Verno Phillips upset Cory Spinks to become the NEW IBF Jr. Middleweight Champion via a twelve round Split Decision.
Phillips was the busier fighter throughout the contest and many who were in attendance felt that the fight was not as close as the scorecards indicated. One judge saw the fight in Spinks’ favor with the score of 115-113, while the other two saw it 116-112 and 115-113 in favor of Phillips.
Verno Phillips improves to 42-10-1 (21 KO’s) and at 38 years old, joins the recent “Fighters over 35 Winning Titles” movement.
Cory Spinks drops to 36-5 (11 KO’s) and looks to regroup.
On Saturday Night, broadcast live from Germany via a link on EastSideBoxing.com from Sport.ard.de, Arthur Abraham retained his IBF Middleweight Title with an exciting KO win over Elvin Ayala.
Abraham used his superior boxing skill to dominate most of the fight over the very tough Elvin Ayala. His relentless attack kept Ayala searching for new ways to keep him at bay.
In the 5th round, Abraham sent Ayala to the canvas with a punch that landed behind his ear. Elvin was up quickly and survived the round. In the seventh, Abraham looked to end the fight as he opened up a barrage that had Ayala doing all he could to stay on his feet.
Ayala picked up the pace and had his best rounds during the eighth and ninth, landing several hard shots to the body and head of the IBF Champion. Ayala started the tenth strong, but as the round progressed; Abraham got back into his groove and battered Ayala for the final minute of the round.
A solid left hook put Elvin in trouble during the eleventh, but he managed to survive the round. As the twelfth and final round began, it was obvious that Elvin Ayala needed a KO to win the fight. He started out strong, willing to go toe to toe with Abraham to try and score an upset.
Abraham was determined to finish the show with an exclamation, which he most certainly did. As the two combatants were trading blows in the corner, Arthur Abraham landed one of the most devastating uppercuts I have seen in a long time, immediately sending Ayala crumbling down and out.
Arthur Abraham improves to 26-0 (21 KO’s) and said he would like to fight Kelly Pavlik. Elvin Ayala was more excited to be in Germany and get a chance at the IBF title. After he was able to stand, which took several minutes; he was all smiles and said he tried his best. His Promoter, Rich Cappiello looked at Abraham and said, “You are one tough bastard!” I think that summed it up in regards to this match up.
On Saturday night, GoFightLive.tv broadcast “World Fight Night” from the Soaring Eagle Resort & Casino located in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, promoted by Clip Boxing. The Main event featured an exciting, action-packed bout between Former WBO Light Middleweight Champion Bronco McKart and Former IBF Light Middleweight Champion Raul Marquez.
Marquez used a relentless body attack, followed by right-left combinations to McKart’s head during the course of the fight to earn a split decision win. One judge scored the fight in favor of McKart at 96-95 (which I still am wondering what fight he was actually watching) while the other two saw it in favor of Marquez with scores of 97-93 and 96-94, giving Raul Marquez the victory. TheDailySports.com scored the fight 97-93 also in favor of Marquez.
Raul Marquez stated that he has re-dedicated himself to the sport and now has six wins in a row, with five coming by knock out; to prove what he said is true. He improves to 41-3 (29 KO’s) and looks to get into the wide-open Jr. Middleweight Division.
Bronco McKart drops to 51-9 (31 KO’s) and for some reason, felt he won the fight. Lets be real….it was not close! He boxed going backwards, and did not seem to hurt Marquez with anything he threw. He WAS in shape and looked to still be mentioned, but he was not ready for Raul Marquez last night.
All in all, I feel we got to see three very good cards via the Internet. I was impressed with the quality of all three and here is my overall opinion of how the three broadcasts fared:
1.The BEST video feed was GoFightLive.tv. Their show did not skip, nor did you lose any audio during most of the broadcast. There was one point where the feed dropped altogether for a couple of minutes, but that was it. The video was crisp and for all intent purposed, was like watching a normal cable broadcast.
2.The BEST audio feed was Germany’s feed via EastSideBoxing.com and Sport.ard.de. The show did not miss a beat for all bouts with its audio, but did get choppy with the video at times. Although the video skipped from time to time, the audio was constant and stable. They also did a good job with the specialty graphics, like round numbers and between round commentaries.
3.The BEST production overall, which included error free and clean audio & video, also did a great job with the specialty graphics. The corner work and analysis that came from DonKingTv.com during all of the fights was the way we are accustomed to. You knew what round and how much time there was left, etc. In addition to that, they utilized graphics during introductions to display names and records, which I believe is essential if we are to enjoy watching fights via web casting. As a complete package, this was the best broadcast of all three events.
Overall, I am extremely excited and look forward to seeing more fight cards via the Internet. With their above average video quality, I am looking for GoFightLive.tv to improve as soon as their next broadcast. I am also excited to have the opportunity of seeing live fights from Europe as well.
ESPN2’s FNF RESULTS:
ESPN2’s Friday Night Fight’s resurgence continues to give us important quality match-ups and more importantly, competitive fights as they broadcasted live from the Seneca Allegany Resort & Casino located in Salamanca, NY.
The Main event featured an action-packed fight between Kassim Ouma and Cornelius “K9” Bundrage in a Jr. Middleweight bout that had title shot aspirations.
Bundrage was the aggressor early on as Ouma didn’t seem to get going until a severe cut opened over K9’s left eye during the 4th round. Although he stepped it up and won the 4th, 5th and 6th rounds on my scorecard, it was not enough for Ouma to get the win.
One judge saw the fight at 95-94, while the other two had it 96-93 all in favor of Cornelius Bundrage to give him the unanimous ten round victory. TheDailySports.com scored the fight 96-94 also in favor of K9.
Bundrage improves to 28-3 (16 KO’s) and looks to get a title shot soon. Kassim Ouma was simply not busy enough to win rounds. He drops to 25-5-1 (15 KO’s) and needs to regroup if he wants to make another run at a World Title.
In the co-main event, Mike Jones, who went into the fight 12-0 (12 KO’s) was forced to go the distance for the first time during his professional career, wining a unanimous eight round decision over veteran Germaine Sanders in their Welterweight contest.
All three judges scored the fight 78-74 helping Jones improve to 13-0 (12 KO’s). The cagey Sanders drops to 27-6 (17 KO’s).
I can’t emphasize how happy I am with ESPN2 for turning what was fast becoming a poor night of boxing to the way it should be, entertaining and meaningful. I am actually looking forward to the FNF Broadcasts again!
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For full discussions on these fights and all the other top pro boxing news, don’t miss this week’s “Talkin Boxing With Billy C” radio program. Tune into TPSRADIO.net on Wednesday from 6-8pm EST to listen live, or go to www.TalkinBoxing.com for all information on downloading the podcast of the show as well as ALL previous shows and a listing of all syndicated radio stations where you can hear the “Talkin Boxing With Billy C” radio show.
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This weeks scheduled guests are Former World Champion “The Coalminer’s Daughter” Christy Martin, World Champion Eileen “The Hawaiian Mongoose” Olszewski, and Author of “Sweet William: The Life Of Billy Conn”, Andrew O’Toole.
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