Saturday, March 18, 2006

Yawns

Toney v Rahman started off great, with both fighters working hard. The punch output was very high for a heavyweight bout.

Toney showed up fat and out of shape. Freddie Roach (Toney's trainer) has acknowledged that he cannot control Toney's weight, and that Toney's training regimen was almost exclusively sparring. That regimen did not work. Toney's sloth, combined with his lack of "heavyweight-caliber power", led me to expect a Rahman victory, particularly once I'd heard that he weighed in at 237 lbs.

Rahman looked to be in the best shape of his career, though he is still not a good boxer. He fights in a more disciplined manner than he did early in his career, but that is not saying much. Rahman has power, and he certainly has the ability to take a punch, but without speed OR good technique, he will never be a dominant champion.

The fight ended in a majority draw, with one judge scoring the fight in favor of Rahman. I thought that Toney looked to be winning halfway through, but Rahman outworked the huffing and puffing trash-talker during the last six frames. Toney ended up with nary a mark on his face, while Rahman bled from his nose, mouth, and a small cut over his eye.

Neither of these guys are the heir to the heavyweight division, and I won't watch their re-match, unless I'm bored beyond belief.

I'll be looking forward to the Chris Byrd v Wladmir Klitschko fight next month.

Sunday, March 05, 2006

Lacey Loses !!!

I must admit, I'd NEVER seen Jeff Lacey lose a fight until last night.

MANCHESTER, England (AP) - Joe Calzaghe cut Jeff Lacy around both eyes and knocked him down in the final round, earning a lopsided, unanimous decision on Sunday to capture the American's IBF super-middleweight title and hold on to his own WBO crown for the 18th time.
An underdog even with the British bookmakers to win the unification fight, the left-handed Welshman found Lacy's face and chin an easy target for 12 rounds, and even the American fighter nodded when Calzaghe lifted his arms aloft at the final bell.
It was Lacy's first loss in 22 fights, while Calzaghe, the longest reigning world champion for 8 1/2 years, goes on with another belt to show off. His record now stands at 41-0.
Judges Roy Francis and Adelaide Byrd called it 119-107, while Nelson Vasques scored the fight 119-105. If Calzaghe hadn't been deducted a point for pulling Lacy around in the 11th, he would have won all 12 rounds.
Lacy, five years younger than Calzaghe at 28, had defended his title four times and had hoped to dominate the fight with the power of his own left hook. He also hoped that Calzaghe's own left, which was broken in his last defense, might not last the fight. He was wrong on both counts.
Calzaghe came out throwing left uppercuts and hooks, and also threw his arms up to claim he won the opening round.
Although Lacy landed a solid right hand in round two, Calzaghe came back with a left-right combination to the chin and, by the fourth round there was blood coming from the American's nose and trickling down his face from cuts above both eyes.
With the home fans in the 12,000 crowd chanting "Easy! Easy!'', Calzaghe stayed on top and his right jab kept snapping into Lacy's face. The Welshman's punching speed seemed to take the strength away from the American, who rarely answered back with any hard shots.
Lacy's cornermen had to work hard on his eyes between rounds, and Calzaghe had him trapped in a corner and kept pummeling his face with fast combinations with the American fighting back to try and stay in the fight.
His right eye closing, Lacy got through with some right hands, but Calzaghe's accuracy was still keeping the Welshman well ahead on the judge's cards.
Lacy, nicknamed "Left Hook'', finally landed it in the ninth but it did little to stem the flow of shots coming his way.
A left and right put Lacy down for a count of four in the final round and the American continued with blood streaming down his face, but Calzaghe was unable to finish the fight with a knockout.