Ryan Rhodes storms back to stop Jamie Moore in British thriller
by SC on Oct 23, 2009 5:49 PM EDT
in Post-Fight Analysis
4 comments
Ryan Rhodes started slow, but he came back fast. In a thrilling war, Rhodes upset Jamie Moore in Bolton today to win the European junior middleweight title via seventh round stoppage.
Moore dominated the first three rounds, but was rocked at the end of the fourth by Rhodes, who seemed to be fighting Moore's fight, a bad move on the surface. But Rhodes came back to win the fifth round and shake Moore up again in the sixth. Moore, though, battled back and made the sixth a toss-up round.
In the seventh, though, the final momentum shift came. Rhodes put Moore on spaghetti legs with a huge right hand, and Moore crashed to the canvas early in the frame. Rhodes then put the charge on, but Moore's legs appeared to come back fast. It then appeared that Rhodes was shaken a bit, but suddenly he nailed Moore with an overhand right, sending the defending titleholder back into the ropes. Rhodes then unloaded, and referee Howard John Foster called for the bell at 2:35 of the seventh round.
It's a massive win for the 32-year old Rhodes (43-4, 29 KO) and a very, very tough loss for Moore (32-4, 23 KO). Rhodes is now the mandatory for WBC titlist Sergio Martinez, too, and that was a position he was fighting to get into last year when Vernon Forrest held the title.
For Moore, who was pretty much universally ranked in the top ten at 154 pounds, it's back to the drawing board. He appeared to gas pretty badly in this fight, but if he has to move up in weight, he'll find the going quite rough. At just 5'8", he would be a small middleweight, even with his tank-like build.
Congratulations to Ryan Rhodes for his amazingly tough performance, and hats off to both men for a Fight of the Year contender.
The Bad Left Hook Divisional Rankings have been updated accordingly, with previous No. 10 Moore falling out, and Rhodes moving into his spot.
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what’s with the 26 on his arm/trunks?
The Dude Abides
by battle axe of doom on Oct 23, 2009 6:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
It’s the date of his wife’s and daughter’s birthdays.
by strike4A on Oct 23, 2009 6:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
The psychological shift was interesting. Moore walked forward and you could see fear in Rhodes’ eyes for 3 rounds. Then, when Rhodes caught Moore clean and Moore was on the back foot for the first time, Rhodes’ body language changed completely – he knew he could hurt Moore, and he felt that he himself couldn’t be hurt. It was thrilling and fascinating. I still think Moore could have survived. He came back well from the first knockdown and then seemed to get lazy with his defence, dropping his hands and squaring up. Or possibly he was weight drained or battle worn and just couldn’t fight at that kind of pace anymore. Rhodes was magnificent, thought. Overall, I’m dissapointed – I wanted to see Moore bring his exiciting style to a world level. But what a fight.
by Falstaff on Oct 23, 2009 6:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Great fight. Restored my faith in British boxing after last weeks debacle .Nice comments by them after the fight as well. Respect to both
by skidd1 on Oct 24, 2009 1:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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