The Ghost Dog is still Sweetness…
By Robert Przybylo
BPrzybylo@opubco.com
That was a great weekend of boxing in preparation of the big one the sport has been hanging its hat on all 2009.
With Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton now less than a week away, it’ll be tough to outdo the drama of Friday and Saturday.
Allan Green TKO 2 Carlos De Leon
After a good opening round by Green that saw De Leon have some moments late, Green ended this one early.
One gigantic left hook caught and floored De Leon for the first time in his career in round 2. He ended up going down four time en route to the referee stopping the bout.
He may be the Ghost Dog now, but Green was all “Sweetness” on this night. This was the most impressive outing from Green since his destruction of Jaidon Codrington. Ironically enough, both were on Showtime.
Green puts himself right in the mix at 168 and is now 28-1. Future looks bright for the Tulsa native in an ultra-competitive division.
Carl Froch TKO 12 Jermain Taylor at 2:46
Oh, this hurt. It hurt, and you could see it coming, which made it hurt that much more.
Classic Taylor (both good and bad). Dynamite start, can’t finish the job, fades late. Seen this script before.
Taylor was criticized heavily for going after Kelly Pavlik too hard in their first bout in round 2 back in Sept. 2007. He was out of gas after not being able to finish the job.
Saturday was the opposite. After dropping Froch for the first time in his career in round 3, Taylor didn’t throw one meaningful punch in the final 30 seconds and to quote Dennis Green “let ‘em off the hook.”
Tough to find fault with Froch who stay composed in a hostile environment and was as fresh in the 12th round as he was in the first.
Didn’t know Froch had that type of chin. And big kudos to Froch trainer Robert McCracken who was the MVP of Saturday.
Froch was humble, witty and confident in his post-fight interview. Gave credit to Taylor for a great fight and wants Joe Calzaghe. Hmm, don’t think it’ll happen.
For Taylor, oy. Taylor doesn’t just find a way to lose, but to break your heart in doing it. In his two KO losses, he’s had the other guy on the deck first.
It almost seems like he’s thinking way too much out there. Nothing comes naturally for the Little Rock native. That’s too bad because thought he was the next big thing the common fan could get behind.
Part of me is frustrated at him because he’s cheated himself in training for so long that now is not the time you start taking that seriously. There are no shortcuts in boxing.
Had Taylor stood up another 14 seconds, he would have won a split decision. He was up four points on two cards than despite what would have been an obvious 10-7 round, he would have won.
For the record, no question about the stoppage. Good call. My American pride wanted Taylor to stand, but it wasn’t happening.
Cory Spinks split decision 12 DeAndre Latimore
Spinks dug deep after tasting the floor in the first. I said the winner of round 12 wins the fight. Spinks clearly won the 12th, and in the Boneman’s eyes, clearly won the fight.
Latimore was out of gas by round 5, which was a shame after his fantastic start. He had no experience to rely on and was just getting hit (though not hard) and not doing anything vs. Spinks.
Off the top of my head, believe I had Spinks winning 6-1-1 in the final eight rounds or 7-1. He won his home crowd back over with a courageous performance.
Juan Manuel Lopez TKO 9 Gerry Penalosa
Leading a lamb to slaughter. This fight irritated me. Don’t pass this off as Juan Ma getting a stiff test.
It’s against a gutsy veteran who is small for a weight class he’s normally not in vs. a dynamite younger fighter who is big for the weight class.
Lopez hit him with everything but never dropped Penalosa, who fought gamely as one could.
Think CompuBox gave Juan Ma way too much credit for punches landed, but that’s my opinion.
Anyway, great weekend as we now shift gears to Pacquiao and Hatton. In-depth look at both men later this week and a prediction.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment