Rate the Fights From The Weekend

[Goodfella2279]

In honor of so many fights on this past weekend, I've decided to start a thread to basically rate the fights in how good they were with a 5 star system. Now as far as the UFC fights go, you guys can either rate just one of the fights or multiple. Anyway, here goes.

Showtime Fights:
Marquez UD over Lorenzo - ***
This was a very fun fight to watch and I was very impressed with Marquez and how tenacious he is. I don't see him as being able to beat a world class guy at this point in his career, but he always brings it and I have tons of respect for him. As far as Lorenzo, he was way too cautious and defensive. He kept trying to load up on one shot and when he wasn't hurting Marquez, he lost his composure and resorted to headbutting. Anyway, good, entertaining fight.

Abraham T.K.O. 4 over Miranda - *** 1/2
Wow, what an unbelievable performance by Abraham. This fight can be looked at two ways. Either Abraham just may be the goods and a exciting possible opponent for Pavlik or Miranda just isn't as good as we all thought he was. I think it's a little of both, but I side more towards Abraham actually being a very good fighter. Miranda is wild, leaves himself open and doesn't have a granite chin, which leads him to get in trouble in a few of his fights. But Miranda is a pretty good fighter so I can't discredit this win for Abraham at all. He came to the states and knocked Miranda out. So I'm very impressed with Abraham and think he should fight Pavlik as soon as possible. That's a very interesting fight.

HBO Fights
Arreola W DQ 3 over Witherspoon - ** 1/2
This was an entertaining, allbeit sloppy fight with an odd ending, which prevented it from getting more stars. I love the way Arreola fights, but I just see him getting countered to death against somebody like Klitchko (Wladimir) because of his wild, wide punching style. Witherspoon tried to get distance and jab, but Arreola didn't give him any room to breathe and won the fight. I see why the fight ended up the way it did, and I guess that it really didn't matter because Witherspoon was on his way out either way. But I think if Arreola can learn some defense he could be an interesting prospect to watch in the division.

Berto W TKO 7 over Rodriguez - *** 1/2
I know that this was a mismatch on paper. I know that no one gave Rodriguez much of a shot and that this was supposed to be an easy win for Berto. But when a fighter comes into a fight like this and delivers a great performance, it's still impressive. Berto's speed, counter punching and power are all impressive. Rodriguez had no answers at all for Berto, who pummeled him and landed one of the best uppercuts I've seen in a really long time. Berto's for real and I'm excited to see how he fares against better opposition.

UFC Fights-

Sanchez T.K.O. 3 over Fioravanti - ****
This was a great fight and say what you want about Diego, but he's a very good fighter that can give anyone fits if he's on his game. His striking looked awesome, and the kick and flying knee he landed were devastating. Fioravanti showed a lot of heart and determination, but Diego was not to be denied. Very good fight.

Sadollah Sub 1 over Dollaway - ** 1/2
I was dissapointed with this fight because I wanted it to be more competitive. I figured this was going to go into the third round and I was rooting for Sadollah to win by late submission. What I didn't expect was for Dollaway, who many felt was the best fighter in the house this season, was stupid enough to leave his arm out again and get armbarred for the second time. And the fact that he complained even though he clearly tapped was stupid. That being said, I like Sadollah and it will be fun rooting for him because he is like the underdog. He just finds ways to win and that's impressive.

Grove Split Dec over Tanner - ***
I was picking Tanner to win this fight because Grove looked absolutely horrible in his last two fights, losing to two guys he definitely shouldn't have lost to. But Kendall impressed the hell out of me with his striking, takedown and submission defense. He dominated the fight and the judge that had it for Tanner had obviously never watched an MMA fight before. That being said, I still don't see a championship in Kendall's future, but it was a very good performance.

So that's it. What do you guys rate the fights?

[BANKY]

Are you kidding on rating the berto fight higher than the arreola witherspoon fight? yucky poopoo. berto fought a guy who had no shot to beat him. Sound familiar?


***stars Marquez made the most of an opp, but will falter against top comp.
Marquez vs Lorenzo- Lorenzo looked good initially, didn't he? Hand speed, footwork. He ran from Marquez the bulk of the time. I particularly loved it when Raul would put his hands down and stand in the center of the ring just waiting for lorenzo to quit running. And lorenzo still would have gotten a draw from the judges if not for the point deduction. What about what lorenzo was doing is considered boxing? All he did was run and never once pressed the action. Isn't that worth something? When the action was inititated, it seemed Marquez won 70 to 80 percent of the time. Either way, i think Marquez easily won 8 or 9 rounds of this fight.


The early KO showed that Abraham has the goods. We will see just how good he really is in a couple months.
****stars Miranda vs abraham- Miranda was throwing and not a lot coming back from abraham initially. But in the middle of the third, the well placed counters started. Even then, Abraham's punches still looked pretty wide. What i liked about abraham is that he would put both gloves up to play defense and take the punches off his arm, instead of rolling, so that he would be in good position to counter and with accuracy, even with his wide punches. The punch he hurt miranda with was a straight short right. The second punch was the widest left hook i think i have ever seen. Then the third literally bounced off his collarbone, but miranda just didn't have the legs at that point. Oh well, great win for Artwah, if i was him, id want nothing to do with pavlik. He's taller, throws straighter shots and has longer reach and a much better chin than miranda. God Bless for fighters like abraham that aren't wusses. Even Miranda, too bad he can't back up that mouth of his.


****stars-I thought this was biggest challenge fight of night. The fact that it ended the way it did changed nothing for me. It was only a matter of time before CHAZZ got ktfo anyways. Arreola's punches looke much straighter, and he did a good job of getting inside, which is what he needed to do. His punches didn't look wide to me at all. They were definitely about as straight as Chazz'.
Arreola-witherspoon-or as i like to call them, surrounding nipple tissue vs chazz-----Went how i expected. In watching witherspoon prior to this, i knew his defense and chin was a little suspect. In watching arreola earlier, i wondered whether he could evade enough shots from a premier HW to land his own. He did. Although, it was a big step up for Chazz, i think Arreola has faced a little bit tougher competition than Chazz before. Well, Arreola walked through him, good job.
I look for arreola to challenge a Eddie Chambers, povetkin type in the next year. IN the next 12 months, we'll forget about chazz, as he will be relegated to stepping stone status. We'll all be hoping that arreola pulls off an upset of a much more talented fighter, who doesn't have his heart. Fact is, i don't think there are alot of guys in his division with his heart. He is mexican, ya know.

I can't stand fights that are essentially predetermined. Teh fact that berto got to face a guy that everyone knew he would blow out in a Championship match is disgraceful at so many levels.
*star Berto-Mikki--------Yeah, berto, he was throwing a ton. He fights the way i wish may did. Not afraid to take chances and get hit while throwing his own combos and blows. As it is, i think he will be handled by the elite of the division because the upper tier guys can take a punch and will make him pay(and by pay, im not talking about them little loopy punches that mikki aka the mexican elvis, threw). I think marg and cotto would both own berto, because they would simply punch too hard. IN berto's next fight, i would like to see him take a real step up in class, its time. You can't win a world title and pull a Joe Calzaghe in this country, the fans won't usually let you, unless your name is roy jones or floyd. So, that means, loser of cotto marg, Pwill, cintron, clottey, Judah, mosley. And if he doesn't fight one of them, he's fooling himself.

***stars
diego vs fiorvanti-was an ok fight, luigi looked fat, way above his normal weight. if diego would have had trouble with him, i would have laughed, as it is, diego shoudl have finished this much quicker. Diego to me will always be one step below the leaders of the division. Can anyone really see him facing George Rush and winning? BJ Penn? Silva? No, no and no again. I really want him to be good, but he is just second tier.

**stars
sadollah vs dolloway-sadollah is the real deal, sucks that nobody takes him serious in the house, to bad for them huh? Dolloway got beat fair and square twice and the fact he complained after the obvious tap, speaks volumes to the guys character. Did you see he was partying when he left the house, and didn't go directly to camp? What a turd, he deserved to lose.

**stars
grove vs tanner- neither guy looks to be top level. grove obviously won. he is so tall though, its funny. Tanner is way past his prime and that beard has got to go. Grove didn't look like a guy that wants to challenge for the title. In fact, if he faces a top 10 guy in the division, he probably gets his butt kicked. I would like to see him take on a couple of top 10 guys, and if he wins, give him a shot at the champ.

[Placebo]

Khan v Gomez was a cracking fight :)

[Goodfella2279]

Good post Banky. I rated the Berto fight higher simply because it entertained me more than the Arreola-Witherspoon fight. I do agree it was a stupid fight with a guy (Rodriguez) who had no business being ranked number 2. I hate sanctioning bodies. That being said, Berto did what he had to do and then some. I thought he looked great, and while it was a showcase fight Berto did what he had to do in a "championship" fight. I don't dismiss the win for Berto at all. The guy fights who is put in front of him and fights well. And that uppercut was unbelievable. Now it's time to step it up and see how he does against better opposition.

While the Arreola vs. Witherspoon fight was more intreging going in because they were both undefeated, it was a sloppy fight with a stupid ending. Arreola should have been given the chance to knock him out and Witherspoon should have been given the chance to fight the next round to see how he does. Ending it with a DQ was dumb and the ref looked completely confused at the end. If it had a more decisive ending, it may have earned more stars.

I do agree with you for the most part about Diego, but as I said in an earlier post, he would be a tough opponent for anyone at the division. I'm not saying he would beat St. Pierre, but he wouldn't get blown out either. He's talented and if he can just put it all together, he could be a force.

Oh, and Dollaway is a complete idiot. He'll fight in the UFC, but he thought twice that he is going to run right through Amir and got beat twice. Idiot.

Placebo, I read about that fight. It sounded amazing. I didn't see it, was it on American T.V. at all? I hope they replay it or maybe I can see it on you tube or something because it sounded like a great fight and Khan's toughest test to date.

[Placebo]

I can make it available, I have 10mb upload speed :)

[Goodfella2279]

That would be incredible Placebo. Was it only shown in Europe? Because I didn't see it televised anywhere here in the States.

[Placebo]

I only know it was aired in the UK, I downloaded it from a boxing site, I'm looking to upload it now, it's 340mb but I'm going to cut out ring walks and post fight interview to make it smaller, gimme a few mins :)

[Placebo]

Re-encoding now, will take about 5 mins plus whatever uploading will take (not long if I can find somewhere I can upload with my full 10mb!) :)

I won't give spoilers to the fight, but there's one moment half way through that was just amazing, gave me goosebumps and I've been watching boxing since the age of 12 (23 years ago).

Edit: Uploading now at 763kb/s :)

[Placebo]

http://rapidshare.de/files/39807543/Amir_Khan_vs_Michael_Gomez.wmv.html

[Goodfella2279]

Thanks Placebo. That's awesome. I read all about it, so I think I know which moment you are talking about. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

[Goodfella2279]

Download finished. Great quality. Thanks a lot.

[Placebo]

No problemo, if I can't give something back with having 10mb upload speed then I don't deserve it ;)

Rapidshare.de isn't the best site, annoying download ticket system and all that, but I couldn't find somewhere that holds 200mb+ files that also has a decent upload speed.

[korey1980]

I didnt think the Berto fight was good at all. I mean, that guy he fought had no reason to be in the same ring as him. If anything they shouldve made him face someone like Cintron, or someone who is actually in the top 10. I actually watched about the first 3 rounds, then caught the tail end of the fight. Berto shouldve been pressing more, cuz Rodriguez obviously couldnt hurt him. Booooring, and I usually enjoy watching Berto fight. Guys like Cotto or Margarito wouldve gotten him outta there much earlier.

[Goodfella2279]

That's just the way Berto fights. He's a counter puncher, really. I agree that if he would have pressed on the gas he would have gotten Rodriguez out of there sooner, but overall I thought it was a good tactical performance from Berto. He knows that if he just goes out there and bum rushes the guy, he could walk into a stupid shot. Instead, he picked him apart and knocked him out. It was a stupid fight to make for a title, but I can't fault Berto for that. He fought who was in front of him and looked good doing it, in my opinion. Now it's time to step it up and see how he fares.

[korey1980]

That's just the way Berto fights. He's a counter puncher, really. I agree that if he would have pressed on the gas he would have gotten Rodriguez out of there sooner, but overall I thought it was a good tactical performance from Berto. He knows that if he just goes out there and bum rushes the guy, he could walk into a stupid shot. Instead, he picked him apart and knocked him out. It was a stupid fight to make for a title, but I can't fault Berto for that. He fought who was in front of him and looked good doing it, in my opinion. Now it's time to step it up and see how he fares.

Yeah, they definitely couldve picked better opposition for Berto to fight against. Who was the mandatory for Floyd when he left? It definitely wasnt Rodriguez. I hope Berto is forced to fight a top 10 guy in his next fight.

[Goodfella2279]

I agree. No more b.s. mandatories for Berto. It's time to step it up. I think we've established that he can crush lower and middle tier opposition. It's time for him to face true top tier guys and see how he does.

[Goodfella2279]

On another note, I think that Berto's handlers have done a good job bringing him along so far. Nowadays, fighters are gradually brought up to better opposition so that they don't prematurely fight more experienced guys that crush them, and I attribute this as the Fernando Vargas theory. He was brought along incredibly quick, beating Yory Boy Campos (sp) in his 16 or 17th fight I think. But then he fought Trinidad wayyyy too soon, fought him well, but got viciously knocked out and really was never the same fighter after. Now he is the oldest 28 or 29 year old I've ever seen, has been knocked out by great fighters like Mosely and De La Hoya, and is retired. It's unfortunate because if he was brought up a little slower, he really could of been something special. He fought hard and hung with the very best in his division. Had he been moved a bit slower, he may have even beaten those world class fighters. I enjoyed Vargas, but many handlers are using his career of a blueprint as to how to move a fighter up too fast.