Antonio Escalante smashes past Miguel Roman in El Paso war
by Scott Christ on Feb 26, 2010 11:15 PM EST
in Boxing Results and Post-Fight Analysis
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When someone says "he fights like a Mexican," tonight's Friday Night Fights main event is the sort of fight they're talking about.
Highly-touted Antonio Escalante out-brawled Miguel "Mickey" Roman in El Paso, winning a unanimous decision on scores of 97-92, 96-93 and 96-93. Bad Left Hook scored it a slightly wider 98-91. There's no doubt that Escalante (23-2, 14 KO) won the fight, I don't think, but the key thing is that these two men put on a hell of a show for 10 rounds tonight.
Roman (28-7, 20 KO) is a made-for-TV fighter. Teddy Atlas compared him to Arturo Gatti or Micky Ward after, talking about it not really mattering if he won or lost, that he's the sort of fighter you always want to see. That's exactly what he is. As Joe Tessitore put it, "You can give me Mickey Roman any time."
It was the sort of fight that fight fans love. Escalante is a real contender, fighting now at 126, having been ranked No. 8 by The Ring at 122. Roman is not, and overall you could see the obvious difference in talent. Roman can't box in space, isn't fast, isn't particularly heavy-handed (though he did rock Escalante), but he's got a huge heart, a tremendous chin, and he doesn't know how to take a step backwards.
It's a good win for Escalante, and a good loss for Roman.
Sidenote: Escalante decked Roman in the eighth round, then got on his bike for the ninth, prompting Roman to stop cold, cross his arms, and invite Escalante to hit him. Escalante feinted like he was going to, and then didn't. Roman didn't budge.
If I were Escalante, I'd have cold cocked him. Ask Robbie Peden how to deal with something like that.
On the undercard, Golden Boy prospect Danny Garcia stayed unbeaten but had some trouble with England's Ashley Theophane, earning a split decision victory (94-95, 95-94, 96-94). Bad Left Hook scored it 96-93 for Garcia, who apparently left his jab in Philadelphia tonight, because he just did not jab Theophane at all, and Theophane scored with a lot of looping shots that really should not have been getting in. Garcia's going to need a couple more fights at that level, but he did show some good counter-punching tonight. Garcia is now 16-0 (10), while Theophane drops to 25-4-1 (7).
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On the topic of Garcia, I’m not sure he needs more fights on THAT level right now. I’d honestly strongly consider stepping him back down for two, maybe three fights. More fights at that level could result in a L, and, whether we like it or not, a prospect that takes a loss at this point is set back three or four years in his progression up the ranks.
Absolutley!
"If you sit there and watch a person take about an hour to tie his shoestrings, then you realize that whatever problems you got ain't that significant"
---Vernon Forrest 2006
by The Midnight Rambler on Feb 27, 2010 1:23 PM EST up reply actions
If this fight doesn’t make my top 20, then it was one hellacious year for great fights. I figure this winds up top 15 at the least.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Feb 27, 2010 1:40 PM EST up reply actions
top 5
"If you sit there and watch a person take about an hour to tie his shoestrings, then you realize that whatever problems you got ain't that significant"
---Vernon Forrest 2006
by The Midnight Rambler on Feb 27, 2010 1:52 PM EST reply actions
Maybe. I kinda hope there are five better fights than this one, honestly.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Feb 27, 2010 2:39 PM EST up reply actions
I don't think it was better than, say, Villa-Mtagwa
which was around the same skill level and was rated as the 5th best fight of that year.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Great fights with no-names never make FOTY…..it’s like Meryl Streep winning Oscars just by walking on screen. Listen, if this was Mayweather-Mosely we’d all be saying it was the greatest fight of all time. I’ve seen numerous fights on Telemundo or the old “Boxing Made in Mexico” broadcasts that were way better than lots of the “greatest fights of all time” lists, but the boxers were just guys from Matamoros or Tijuana or wherever. This was a tremendous fight….if Phil Rizzuto were alive he’d be screaming HOLY COW!
Listen, if this was Mayweather-Mosely we’d all be saying it was the greatest fight of all time.
This could have been Godzilla-King Kong and I wouldn’t call this the greatest fight of all time.
I think the thing is this: These guys you’re talking about, the no-names, their fights can be really awesome, but when you really break it down, there are reasons against putting a fight like this on par with, say, Marquez-Diaz from last year. Or even JuanMa Lopez-Mtagwa, which was a more similar fight.
Look, I’m all for closet classic fights. I love to watch fights like this. But the skill level is a factor. Fights like this, or like Mtagwa-Villa for a recent example (like Brick used above), are so great because these guys often aren’t very good. Actually, I think Escalante is a pretty good fighter, but Mickey Roman knows how to do one thing: Walk forward and punch. It’s exciting, I love to watch it, and I’m all in praise of this fight and feel bad for anyone that didn’t see it. But if Mickey Roman were a better fighter, it wouldn’t have been this good. The same can be said of most of Gatti’s classics.
Anyway, I’m not trying to say this wasn’t a hell of a fight. It was. And so far it’s easily leading the FOTY race, but the year has barely even started sputtering.
Also, just for the record, Meryl Streep’s only won two Oscars.
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Feb 27, 2010 4:30 PM EST up reply actions
That's not true
Sithchachawal-Monshipour was a FOTY in most circles, and those guys are as no-name as you get.
It’s a skill level issue. While I like watching two guys show huge heart to duke it out, the skill level just wasn’t there that makes it aesthetically as pleasing as, say, Vazquez-Marquez or even Perez-Agbeko.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
And I had Dunne-Cordoba as my personal FOTY last year
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Yes, but she has been nominated 4,375 times. Look it up…..
I agree Godzilla-KK wasn’t the GROAT. That goes to Godzilla-Gammera. Obviously.
16 nominations!
25 Golden Globe nominations, 7 wins there
She’s a great actress, what do you want??! Plus she does a lot of Oscar bait movies/roles.
Godzilla-Gammera was overrated. (I kid, I kid.)
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Feb 27, 2010 6:00 PM EST up reply actions
You actually checked out her record? I didn’t find her on boxrec (don’t ban me please) so I only took a guess.
Actually, Godzilla vs Mothra was better. Where’s Mr Bill? Believe it or not, there’s a movie called Godzilla vs the Netherlands.
You know what I’d pay $11 for in 3D? Godzilla v. Meryl Streep
Bad Left Hook
"To the town of Agua Fria rode a stranger one fine day..."
by Scott Christ on Feb 27, 2010 6:12 PM EST up reply actions
FNF's
Escalante put on one hell of a gutsy performance. I didn’t think he had it in him. As for Garcia, I think he needs a little more work.
Ha ha ha, Godzilla in 3d would be amazing.
http://www.examiner.com/x-33584-Cleveland-Boxing-Examiner
Cleveland Boxing Examiner
by Cleveland Boxing Examiner on Feb 27, 2010 10:02 PM EST reply actions
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