In a fairly entertaining bout, junior middleweight Yuri Foreman remained undefeated with a split decision victory over Andrey Tsurkan tonight on Vs., employ his jab to great effect in the second half of the fight to seal the deal. I had it 97-93 for Foreman, personally.
I think Yuri Foreman seems like a really nice dude, but he is not much to watch fight. He's got fair footwork and is solid defensively, and he knows how to jab. He out-worked Tsurkan tonight, the same as he did Anthony Thompson in June. He's good, but his big lack of power and mediocre hand speed seems like it will hinder him at any higher of a level. Tsurkan and Thompson are both good wins, and it's a thin division, but I don't think he could beat Spinks or Forrest or Dzindziruk where he's at now.
In the opening bout, Sergio Martinez improved to 41-1-1 with a fourth round TKO of Russell Jordan. It was an easy win for Martinez, the same as most of his other 41 victories. He could really be a top-shelf fighter, but his lack of competition wouldn't let anyone know for sure.
Between those two fights, Monte "Two-Guns" Barrett got his revenge on Cliff Couser, knocking him out in the second round. It's the best I've seen Barrett look, from a boxing standpoint and just physically, in quite a while. But fighting six-rounders in a swing bout on Vs. is hardly what he had in mind. At 36, it's pretty close to being a done deal for Barrett. I've always liked him for no particular reason at all. Couser, on the other hand, looked absolutely, 100% finished. Barrett totally overwhelmed him this time around.
On a side note, I love the Paradise Theater in the Bronx, for all the same reasons I love the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan or the Aragon in Chicago. The atmosphere is outstanding -- not quite on the level of those two wonderful venues, but really great nonetheless. Those are wonderful rooms for a fight.