Be thankful Boxing fans. After a summer of nothing to watch on the Boxing front, We have been blessed with a bountiful of bouts this fall. In the last few weeks we`ve had Pacquiao-Margarito and Martinez-Williams. This weekend was chock full of brawls we all looked forward to. The Big Bouts were Marquez-Katsidis for Marquez` WBA/WBO lightweight championship, and Froch-Abraham in Showtime`s Super Six tournament for the Vacant WBC Super Welterweight Title. Also in action were Andre Ward vs Sakio Bika for Ward`s Super middleweight WBA title (A non-tournament bout), Andre Berto vs Freddy Hernandez for the WBC Welterweight title and Celestino Caballero vs Jason Litzau in a 10 round bout.
I`ll save the best for last so I`ll start with Celestino Caballero vs Jason Litzau. Did Caballero even train for this fight? Never before did I see such a good young prospect who was once highly touted in the Pound for Pound rankings come into a fight so unconditioned, unmotivated and so unprepared. Jason Litzau is like one of those bad NFL teams that Good NFL teams don`t put away early when they are supposed to. They let them hang around and it comes back to bite them in the end. Hats off to Jason Litzau, a 13-1 underdog, Litzau won 97-93 96-94 on two cards, while Caballero prevailed 96-94 on the third card. Litzau never let up and put the pressure on Caballero all night and stole a victory!
I made the mistake of Being on My computer early yesterday evening and accidentally saw the results of the Froch-Abraham fight (I hate that). I was really looking forward to this fight so I watched anyway knowing the outcome ahead of time. I really gained alot of respect for Carl Froch after His title fight loss vs Mikkel Kessler. Froch fought tougher, slicker and smarter than I though He could and lost a close bout that could`ve went either way. There was only one way for last nights bout vs Arthur Abraham to go, Froch`s way. The Cobra stuck and Moved, threw combo`s upstairs and down and completely outclassed Abraham all night. Abraham (known for staying in a shell and giving away early rounds) never initiated the fight, never counterpunched and never showed up to Helsinki as far as I`m concerned. The only thing that annoyed Me more than Abraham`s gameplan was Froch`s Fiancee Rachael Cordingley screaming and yelling from the stands.... until they put her on camera. Sigh! The judges scores were 120-108 twice and 119- 109 in favor of Froch, who rebounded from his only career loss back in April to Mikkel Kessler.
What is there to say about the Andre Berto-Freddy Hernandez matchup Saturday night? Not really that much. Another win for Berto, against another mediocre fighter. Berto landed 9 punches, the last one a right hook that snuck past the left hand of Hernandez guarding His chin, Dropping him with about a minute left in the 1st round. Hernandez got up at the count of 8, still a little wobbily and the Referee had seen enough. In His post fight interview with HBO`s Larry Merchant, Berto expressed His willingness to fight some of the divisions best fighters. Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley and of course Manny Pacquiao were the names thrown around as possible opponents for Berto in the near future.
The WBA Super welterweight Andre Ward fight with Sakio Bika of Contender fame was a sloppy Headbutt, elbow throwing and holding mess. Coming into the fight it was said how Bika must use these tactics to Get Ward off his game. Did they See Ward`s fight with Allan Green? In the June 19th bout with Green, Ward fought a tough inside fight with a bigger Allan Green and Shut Him out on the scorecards. All three judges scored the fight 120-108. Saturday night`s title fight with Bika was very similar especially on the scorecards. One judge had it 120-108 for Ward and the other two had it 118-110 also for Ward. I had it alot closer. Ward couldn`t get off early and when He did it wasn`t as often as He would have liked. There were alot of complaints to the Ref from both fighters about headbutts and elbows and everything else. In the later rounds, Bika faded a little and Ward stayed busy enough to seal the deal. So up next for the undefeated WBA champ Andre Ward is Arthur Abraham (who is coming off back to back losses) in the Semi final round of the Super Six World Boxing Classic. With Froch`s win over Abraham earlier in the evening, Froch will take on the always dangerous Veteran Glen Johnson. Dates TBA.
In the final fight of the evening Juan Manuel Marquez took on tough Australian Micheal Katsidis for the WBA/WBO lightweight championship. This may be a candidate for fight of the year. Marquez showed an uncanny ability to throw sharp accurate punches while being pressured all night by Katsidis. Even after being dropped in the 3rd round by a perfect left hook, Marquez came back in the round like the Warrior He is, and punchuated the round with a flurry. In the middle rounds still being backed up, Marquez found a home for punches from all angles especially some huge uppercuts and big body shots that would eventually start to take thier toll on Katsidis. Katsidis had no quit in him, fighting 40 days after the death of His brother, but in the 9th round He was rocked repeatedly by an array of blows by Marquez and Referee Kenny Bayless stepped in to call the bout.
In the Post fight interview, Marquez called out (Guess who?) Manny Pacquiao to a 3rd fight after a Draw and a close decision loss to the Pound for Pound king. Marquez also wore a "Juan Manuel Marquez Beat Manny Pacquiao twice" T-shirt at the post fight press conference. Lets see, Martinez called out Pacquiao at 156 lbs after beating Paul Williams last week, Andre Berto called out Pacquiao last night at 147 lbs, and now Marquez called Pac out at what? 140? I think the only person who didn`t call out Pacquiao was Texans wider reciever Andre Johnson after his 4th qtr scrap with Titans Defensive back Cortland Finnegan in the Texans 20-0 win over Tennesee on Sunday. At 223 lbs I think Johnson is just a little to big for Pacquiao. Maybe Pacquiao should clone himself? Just leave an extra clone laying around just incase Fraud gets His act together and gives us the fight We all really want.
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