Bad Left Hook Live Boxing Results and Commentary: Antonio Tarver v. Nagy Aguilera

Might not get full live coverage in for this one. Still waiting for Diaconu fight to end, and ShoBox just went live.

Brinkley’s won the first two rounds of the Bute fight on my book. Very, very slow start for Bute, but Brinkley is surprisingly able to get in and get out, considering how much smaller he looks than the Romanian-Canadian.

Corner stoppage

Well, Tarver doesn’t look quite as soft as he did at the weigh-in. Tarver weighing his career high by 46 pounds.

Tarver pops out a few jabs that show but don’t land. Aguilera tries to attack with jabs to the body. Tarver’s feet look flatter than usual, probably in part because of the weight and in part because of his age.

A minute into the fight, and neither guy has come close to landing a punch. Aguilera rushes in and lands a couple of body punches. Tarver dancing on the outside a lot, but almost never actually throwing punches. Aguilera gets aggressive again and Tarver tags him with a left hand on the way in. Aguilera throws a few shots and lands one. Menefee says he missed all three. But is there any possibility of bias here?

Tarver is moving okay, but he just isn’t throwing punches at all. Tarver might have landed the best punch of the round, but he only landed 2 or 3 punches the whole round.

10-9 Aguilera

Alright, Bute fight just ended, now time to see fatty Tarver.

Both commentators scored the last round 10-10, and I have to imagine they’ll find any excuse to score rounds for their boothmate.

Aguilera rushes inside and lands a few shots to the body. Tarver is trying to get cute rather than using punches to open up Aguilera, but Aguilera just isn’t even sophisticated enough in there to get faked out by feints. A minute and a half in, and Tarver’s just doing jack squat again.

Tarver throws a right hand and sort of catches Aguilera a little. Nice 1-2 by Tarver with Aguilera in the corner, probably the best punch of the fight so far. Tarver is finally picking up the pace a hair. But 30 seconds of looking decent isn’t enough to make up for the 5/6ths of the round where he did absolutely nothing.

10-9 Aguilera
20-18 Aguilera

Tarver’s in even worse shape than he was in Rocky Balboa, where he was supposed to be an out of shape heavyweight.

Tarver is finally throwing a few jabs and not just feinting without throwing anything behind it. Tarver is a bit stationary, but is moving forward and keeping Aguilera from landing. Tarver with a decent uppercut, followed by a left hand.

Once again, Aguilera has been the aggressor this round, but this time Tarver didn’t allow him to land much and was able to catch him with a few nice counters. Aguilera picks things up for the last 20 seconds or so, but too little too late.

Bad Left Hook – Watching Antonio Tarver so you don’t have to.

Tarver 10-9
Aguilera 29-28

Tarver really doubled over on Aguilera’s two best shots. I think he’s got a decent chance at a knockout if he opens up right.

Granted, I just started watching this fight, but I haven’t seen Aguilera throw a punch yet, how can he be winning?

Well this is … well. Uh.

Tarver is starting to gain a bit of confidence, moving forward, but not throwing much. Unfortunately for Aguilera, he’s not throwing much either. Aguilera dancing a lot, Tarver feinting a lot, and the boo birds start to come out.

Tarver gets Aguilera in the corner, but still won’t throw a damn punch. Tarver’s winning this round, but only because Aguilera’s doing even less than he is. Oh, and now they break up the inaction by holding.

This isn’t quite Hopkins-Jones II, but this is one of the worst fights of the year, and if nothing else, Tarver is quickly proving he doesn’t have what it takes to continue his career at heavyweight.

Tarver 10-9
38-38

Ouch, my shoulder, oh, ouch!!!

I don’t think this is worth staying up for… i’m bored and sleepy

The commentators are speculating that Tarver hurt his shoulder. Perhaps he hurt his stamina too? What I’m seeing is the very definition of “shot”. He just can’t pull the trigger.

Aguilera comes in and nails Tarver with a headbutt. Aguilera tries to lead with his head again, and this time Tarver lands a short right hook. Tarver with a left uppercut that gets half blocked but was still the best looking punch of the fight so far.

After almost five rounds, Aguilera is starting to throw arm punches on the rare occasions he actually throws, and Tarver is getting much more active without seeing a big knockout threat. He ain’t landing much still, but at least he’s throwing. Again, some activity from Aguilera in the last 20 seconds, but he doesn’t land much.

Tarver 10-9
Tarver 48-47

I was debating about whether to go out or go to bed tonight, and after watching five rounds of this, I’m about ready to pass out.

Tarver catches Aguilera with a couple of cute jabs that land. Aguilera tries for a few much bigger shots, but they all miss pretty badly. Tarver with a short right hook that catches Aguilera but had nothing on it. Aguilera’s fighting as if he’s already trying to go for the knockout, but he’s just landing absolutely nothing.

Menefee, without a hint of irony, says Tarver has been his best when fighting in the clinch. Both guys nail each other with decent shots at the same time, but while Menefee coos about Tarver, I think Aguilera landed the much harder shot.

I could see some scoring that round for Aguilera on pure aggression, but for the most part it wasn’t effective.

10-9 Tarver
Tarver 58-56

Get it, Tarver! You find your youth!

Aguilera seems to have a lot more left in his legs than Tarver, but unfortunately for him, Tarver’s a pretty slippery guy. One minute into the round, neither guy has tried to land a punch, and the crowd is getting rowdy. Tarver gets Aguilera into the corner, and the two are trading a bit. Tarver seemed to get the better of the actual exchange, but coming out of it Tarver seems tired while Aguilera doesn’t seem bothered at all.

And after one good minute, we’re back to the same old. Tarver lands an uppercut. Aguilera lands a couple of his own while in the clinch. Best round of the night by a long shot, but I still wouldn’t exactly recommend it to anyone.

10-9 Tarver
68-65 Tarver

how terrible Aguilara is to be worse than this Tarver

Thank God for ten round fights.

Tarver has Aguilera pinned against the ropes for about 20 seconds but manages to not throw a single punch, just feint like crazy. Tarver hangs onto a clinch, and Aguilera is landing punches while in the clinch. Halfway into the round, those are the only punches that have landed. Aguilera with a jab to the body, and he’s circling around Tarver. Tarver throws a left hand, gets blocked, and Menefee oohs and aahs. Aguilera with a right hand counterpunch. Tarver throws a couple jabs with no oomph behind them whatsoever. Tarver throws a single right hand, and as the clacker goes off, Tarver throws a few wild hooks, a couple of which halfway land, and sadly that’s almost enough for him to steal the round.

Aguilera 10-9
77-75 Tarver

I do not understand you, Nagy Aguilera.

I’ll add this now: Tarver can’t punch for shit at this weight.

Tarver gets Aguilera backed into a corner, feints for 20 seconds, then lets Aguilera out without throwing a punch. Aguilera backing up and circling. Tarver catches him with a decent left hand, and Aguilera’s nose is bleeding. Tarver is catching Aguilera with that left hand now, but he’s very rarely throwing it and not getting much behind it. Tarver gets Aguilera against the ropes and lands a few decent shots. In the cormer, Tarver is teeing off on Aguilera, sort of. Still not landing much, and when it lands, there’s no power.

Perhaps Tarver’s best round of the night.

10-9 Tarver
87-84 Tarver

thru one more round. I hate when I wake up in the wing chair.

Oh sweet mercy, we’re almost there. Aguilera is fighting aggressive, but he’s slow and Tarver is getting way out of the way of his telegraphed punches. Tarver not even pretending to try to counterpunch. Tarver’s plain backing up now, killing time, and Menefee makes a stupid comment about how Aguilera should have fought this way all night. Hint: He’s fought this way all night, just now Tarver is backing up because he knows he has the fight in the bag.

Aguilera throws a couple of punches that miss pretty badly. Tarver does nothing in return but clinch. Oh look, Aguilera landed a punch. Tarver’s not even trying, he’s just surviving. And that he does.

10-9 Aguilera
96-94 Tarver

98-92
98-92
98-92

ALL FOR ANTONIO TARVER

Both fighters fought hard, god bless and good night….

Good Lord. After all that goodwill he built up as a commentator, that post-fight interview was classic obnoxious Tarver.