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Allan Green decisions Tarvis Simms; Antwone Smith stops Henry Crawford

Allan Green won a unanimous decision over Tarvis Simms in Oklahoma. But the real story of the night was some negligent officiating in the welterweight co-feature between Antwone Smith and Henry Crawford.

Allan Green won a unanimous decision over Tarvis Simms in Oklahoma. But the real story of the night was some negligent officiating in the welterweight co-feature between Antwone Smith and Henry Crawford.

Allan Green won a unanimous decision over Tarvis Simms in the main event of last night's Shobox from Newkirk, OK, improving to 29-1 (20) with the victory. Green likely keeps his spot as the Super Six alternate, but credit should be given to Simms, who at 38 came in on a few days' notice and fought a taller, stronger, younger and more athletic fighter and gave him a tougher time than most might have expected. Bad Left Hook actually scored it a 95-95 draw, as Simms clearly gave Green a ton of trouble mentally, and we got the Green that gets lazy tonight, rather than the Green that comes out for the kill.

Of course, do credit Green, too. He didn't have to take Simms, a damn sound fighter and a lefty, on such short notice. Simms is a much better fighter than Green's originally-scheduled opponent, Victor Oganov. Not a puncher, but a good defensive fighter who made Green hit a lot of gloves and elbows, and also just plain miss plenty. Official scores (being that Green is from Oklahoma) were 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93.

It was the night's featured undercard bout, though, that provide the action, the drama, and really, a fair bit of controversy. In a welterweight battle, Antwone Smith scored another big win, taking Henry Crawford's "0" with a TKO/RTD win following nine rounds.

In the earlygoing, Crawford was clearly the faster, stronger fighter, but Smith, as always, plugged away. He's not much of a boxer, really. He does a lot of things wrong, he doesn't finish (we'll get to that), and he can gas himself out, which he did at one point tonight. But it was Crawford that got exhausted first in this fight, and it cost him.

In the sixth round, Crawford was knocked down and then staggered around the ring for about two minutes, taking constant punishment with glassy eyes and his hands down. There is no question that referee Gerald Ritter or Crawford's corner should have stopped the fight during that round or after. Crawford wound up winning the next two rounds on the BLH card, but it was more due to Smith being tired after throwing a metric ton of wild punches trying to put Crawford away in the sixth.

In the ninth, Crawford walked into a bomb of a right hand from Smith, and went down like a big oak tree. Delayed reaction, slow fall, the whole nine. Again, he was so clearly out on his feet that any decent referee in the world would have waved it off. Crawford, though, was allowed to continue. Luckily, the bell sounded before Smith could walk up to him and cave his face in, because it was obvious Crawford's hands weren't going up.

Crawford, who had drooled his water back out between rounds prior to the vicious second knockdown, was yelled at by his corner, who tried to get his attention, get him to look up. In fact, the first thing they said when he said down was a communication between corner men: "Wake up! Wake him up!" and out came the sponge. Eventually, the corner couldn't possibly have sent him back out for the tenth round, and they mercifully saved Crawford from a potentially horrible situation. He barely had any clue where he was.

But the bigger issue than even the corner is this: Where was the referee to protect the fighter? And why didn't the ringside doctor go take a look at this man who was OBVIOUSLY messed up between rounds from the sixth through the ninth? Not once did the physician go over to Henry Crawford and ask him how he felt. He was struggling to respond to instructions and seemed to be fighting on instinct.

Fact is, this fight may have ruined Crawford, which I hope isn't the case, but he took an ugly, unnecessary beating and was unable to protect himself for the majority of the sixth, then got his brain smashed again in the ninth.

Had Crawford even come back to win that fight, it wouldn't change the fact that it was the wrong decision to let him keep taking punishment in the sixth round, and that letting him go back out for the seventh was just as wrong.

Smith is now 17-1-1 (9), while Crawford falls to 23-1-1 (9).

In the TV opener, Marcus "Too Much" Johnson improved to 18-0 with an eight-round decision win over a very tough, very game but totally outgunned Victor Villereal in super middleweight action. Johnson won the fight 80-71 on every card, and Bad Left Hook scored it the same.

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weird thing was

I thought it was strange that, according to the rules in this card, only the referee had authority to stop the fight…not the Dr. What’s the policy behind that rule? – those pussy-ass Drs and their attempts to save lives. That should be illegal, the Dr. should always have the power to unilaterally stop a fight.

"I swear to God, I'll take this ******* ball and shove it down your ******* throat" - Serena Williams

by lcollins1 on Oct 3, 2009 1:47 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

That happens elsewhere, too, but doctors will go “Yeah you should stop it,” and referees then go, “It’s over!”

Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes

by SC on Oct 3, 2009 1:48 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

still. Just give the Dr. the power. Why not? Dr. has to be there anyway, why not give him some heavy. It’s a dumbass policy to only give a ref the power to stop the fight when you have a Dr. ringside.

"I swear to God, I'll take this ******* ball and shove it down your ******* throat" - Serena Williams

by lcollins1 on Oct 3, 2009 1:51 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

oh I agree

Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes

by SC on Oct 3, 2009 2:03 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

Johnson Thoughts

Do you think this guy has any shot? He has got to have one of the best nicknames in the sport right now and should be on the radar for after the Super Six. Maybe taking on Green at some point in the future?

by waldo47 on Oct 3, 2009 4:32 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

I doubt DiBella pits his top guys against each other

But Johnson looked pretty good. Didn’t put punches together as good as I’d like to see, but was very accurate with his punches. I’d like to see him in there with someone who has a semblance of defense, just to see how he looks when his opponent is actually trying to avoid his shots.

Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."

by Brickhaus on Oct 3, 2009 5:13 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

I’m just afraid that the Super Six is going to essentially scare everyone away from the 168 division (because of the lack of opponents) and there will basically be a huge rift at the end between the people in the Super Six and not. Taking the mindset of a promoter, why would you want to be in that division if all the big money names are tied up. No potential for big fights so you might as well get out of that division if you can. On the flip side there aren’t too many names at 160 or 175 but at least you got Dawson and Hopkins or Pavlik and LTP. So if I’m managing a prospect in 168 I’m basically trying to get him out of there.

by waldo47 on Oct 3, 2009 5:24 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

There are plenty of fighters left at 168 outside of the Super Six. Bute, Andrade, Stieglitz, Balzsay, Inkin, Bika, Green, Curtis Stevens, and the talk is that Pavlik is most likely moving up after the Williams fight, win or lose.

Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes

by SC on Oct 3, 2009 10:17 AM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

The problem

The problem with some of those fighters, especially the better ones, is that they will always be known for ‘not being in the Super Six,’ regardless of merit. Now that might be a good thing if you want to look to take steps up in competition. Are these guys good, sure, are they big draws; maybe oversees but certainly not in America.

by waldo47 on Oct 3, 2009 4:07 PM EDT up reply actions   0 recs

The Ref

Was the most responsible of everyone for what happened – and his performance after the knockdown at the end of the 9th was unbelievable. How he possibly couldn’t tell that Crawford was done after he got up was one thing, but when he stumbled forward after the 8 count, that was the icing on the cake. And then he seemed prepared to let it go on if the corner was willing. And no doctor coming up? Unreal.

by A.F. on Oct 3, 2009 2:05 PM EDT reply actions   0 recs

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