Bad Left Hook Fight of the Month Poll: December 2009
by Brickhaus on Jan 1, 2010 6:00 PM EST
in Boxing Fight of the Month Polls
Email
Print
Past winners:
- January 2009: Antonio Margarito v. Shane Mosley (53%)
- February 2009: Juan Manuel Marquez v. Juan Diaz (93%)
- March 2009: Ricardo Cordoba v. Bernard Dunne (81%)
- April 2009: Carl Froch v. Jermain Taylor (49%)
- May 2009: Carlos Abregu vs. Irving Garcia (35%)
- June 2009: Marcos Maidana vs. Victor Ortiz (45%)
- July 2009: Cristobal Cruz vs. Jorge Solis (32%)
- August 2009: Juan Diaz vs. Paulie Malignaggi / Juan Urango vs. Randall Bailey (tie, 45%)
- September 2009: Marvin Sonsona vs. Carita Lopez
- October 2009: Joseph Agbeko vs. Yohnny Perez (41%)
- November 2009: Manny Pacquiao vs. Miguel Cotto (78%)
December 2009 was a relatively abbreviated month in terms of fights, but there were still a few good battles, as well as one real standout. Here are the candidates, in chronological order:
Paul Williams MD12 Sergio Martinez - When Kelly Pavlik pulled out of his fight with Paul Williams, many were disappointed to find that the replacement was Sergio Martinez in what appeared to be destined to be a strategic battle of southpaws. Instead, the two went at it in an all out war. Both men were knocked down in the first round, and while Williams kept up his usual absurd workrate, Martinez was able to keep peppering him with clean punches, cutting Williams and constantly landing the hard right hook. In the end, Williams was able to come away with a controversial victory.
Jean Pascal UD12 Adrian Diaconu - In a rematch of one of the better fights of the year, Diaconu was able to keep things fairly close for about half the fight before Pascal pulled away. Pascal displayed tremendous grit, with his shoulder dislocating four times through the fight, and Diaconu doing a better job of actually getting inside and landing effective punches on Pascal. Still, the result was the same, with Pascal winning a wider decision even though it was apparently a closer fight.
Juergen Braehmer UD12 Dmitry Sukhotsky - The German slugger Braehmer faced the green Russian Sukhotsky in a fight where both men completely forgot about defense for periods of time, turning things into somewhat of a slugfest. Braehmer had the fight well in hand when Sukhotsky opened up a massive gash on Braehmer and knocked him down late in the fight. For the last few rounds, it turned into an all-out brawl, with Braehmer not knowing how to defend his face other than by throwing punches, and Sukhotsky laying everything he had on a tired and cut Braehmer for the last few rounds when he clearly needed a knockout or a stoppage. With a somewhat controversial break for the doctor to check Braehmer's cut, Braehmer was able to find enough in his reserves to stay standing and win the fight.
Kelly Pavlik TKO5 Miguel Espino - While it wasn't a particularly close fight, both Pavlik and Espino did their best to make it an exciting fight, with Espino pressing the action and Pavlik pressuring right back, leading to the inevitable conclusion of the bigger and stronger Pavlik knocking out Espino.
Others for consideration: Johnriel Casimero TKO11 Cesar Canchila; Fernando Guerrero TKO4 Jessie Nicklow; Nehomar Cermeno KO11 Alejandro Valdez
17 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Williams vs. Martinez
Great post! I was shocked to hear the bias the HBO commentators showed in favor of Martinez. I loved the fight. I’ve seen Sergio dominate on the under card of other fights. I find boxers who counter pressure fighters look brilliant. I couldn’t believe that Martinez didn’t knock Williams out in the second round. I found it odd that when he got his bell rung in the 4th he resorted to all sorts of cagey wrestling an holding tactics to keep from getting knocked out.
What does everyone else think?
I actually found the commentary to be fairly balanced
As far as Steward is concerned he pointed out a flaw in Martinez’s game about his avoidanc eof the left hand using only his footwork. This was working very well early but as he Steward reckoned he would get tagged late on when he tired and that’s what happened.
"Honey i forgot to duck" - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on Jan 2, 2010 6:48 AM EST up reply actions
Bias
@axhfan – That’s a good call out. Steward is pretty good about that. He’s also known for keeping his mouth shut after he figures out how the fight will go. Mayweather vs. Marquez was a prime example of that behavior. Thanks for the feedback.
@Drunken – I saw the great footwork of Martinez. He was wide open for a simple left hook, and why the hell didn’t Williams step to his left before punching? I tip my my hat to Sergio because I didn’t think he packed a hard enough punch to score his first knockdown. Thanks for the feedback.
The three guys who voted for Pavlik/Espino should be banned.
Permanently.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Jan 2, 2010 1:24 PM EST reply actions
Pavlik, Espino and Jack Loew I’m guessing
Maybe Arum.
Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport
by Scott Christ on Jan 2, 2010 1:34 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
Well played.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Jan 2, 2010 1:42 PM EST up reply actions
I actually wonder if Arum reads BLH…
I heard a story about him that he is actually pretty cool with fans. I heard that he gave two ringside seats to a fans because for whatever reason some stars didn’t show up.
"Boxing is dirty," said Casamayor. " The day I’m not ready to be a dirty fighter is the day I don’t fight anymore because it will mean that I have no heart for it anymore."
I would assume most promoters are “pretty cool” with fans, mostly because that is their job… Can’t speak of DiBella, Shaw, or any GBP people, but Goosen seemed really cool and perfectly willing to talk to just about anyone.
DiBella is definitely cool with fans
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Pavlik needed Taylor
After his beat down from Bernard Hopkins, Pavlik has really been under the radar and seemingly not really attempting to get back on the big stage. I haven’t been blessed enough to keep up with the Super Six, but I’ve got the feeling that since Jermaine Taylor has run out of gas in the last round of the last few fights I’ve seen. Maybe this made Kelly Pavlik appear to be a top notch player in his weight class. Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but is it Pavlik’s promotions team that’s keeping him corralled on small time pay-per view events and not exposed to the masses?
A phenomenal first round
What more can you ask for? Compelling and dramatic. Two knockdowns in a stunning opening round. The pendulum swung from one side straight back to the other as both fighters lost and gained momentum. This set the tone for the rest of the fight. Martinez landed more clean power-punches throughout the fight, which could have easily swayed the judges in his favour, but I think Williams’s punch output, and resilience, saved him in this fight. He showed grit and recovered well from a bad knockdown. Like the first Quintana fight there were flaws exposed in his game, but he came through a war and responded to adversity like a champion should.
Absolutely brilliant performance by Martinez, who fought one of the most awkward fighters in the world to fight against, and executed a great gameplan, gradually finding more openings as the fight went on. First the right hook then the straight left became prominent punches for him. I’d love to see these two go again.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
