Saturday, July 08, 2006

Spinks In a Squeaker

On Saturday night, Cory Spinks went up in weight to challenge the former Russian bareknuckle brawler Roman Karmazin for his IBF junior middleweight belt. Spinks moved up in weight after he was stunned and stopped by Zab Judah at 147lbs. Spinks had all three of his belts taken by domination in front of his hometown fans, and he was certainly out to redeem himself.

Going into this fight, I was torn. As a child of the Cold War, I don't easily root for a Russian, but I have long loathed Cory Spinks and his silly showboating. I saw Kamazin's beat-down of Kassim Ouma, and was looking forward to this fight, as it looked to be a good match of contrasting styles--Karmazin's precision punching and moderate power against Spinks' speed, slickness, and relatively light hands.

In the first round, Cory Spinks came out swinging, and he used both his hand speed and mobility to take the round over the less active, plodding Karmazin, who kept his left hand low in the typical European style. Spinks took advantage of this flaw, throwing his jab on the way in, then smartly moving out laterally as before Karmazin could unload.

In round two, Karmazin rocked Spinks with a big right hand, and the Russian definitely shifted the momentum, at least for the second frame. Karmazin took control, not so much with a lot of punches, but by dictating the pace. Spinks put on a flurry in the final seconds, but the round went to Karmazin.

In rounds three and four, Spinks looked very slick, moving around the large ring peppering the champion with his jab. Karmazin's left eye began to show some redness, and it was beginning to look like it would be a long night for the Russian. The fight was staged in a relatively large ring, and Spinks was using that space in expert fashion.

In the fifth round Karmazin continued to follow Spinks, all the while eating punches. Spinks, not known for his power, began to land some power shots to go with his jabs. Spinks was showing no sign of flagging, and Karmazin was showing no sign of an effective offense.

I scored round six for Kamazin, as he started to land to both the head and body, forcing the slowing Spinks to fight more defensively. I could see how some would have scored it for Spinks, however, as he continued to land a great many jabs. Halfway score 58-56 Spinks.

In the seventh, Karmazin again pressed his offense, though the round was very close, even more so than round six. The left eye of Karmazin was continuing to swell. It appeared that an incidental headbutt opened a small cut under the Russian's right eye, but there were also Spinks jabs landing in the same area.

In round eight, Spinks returned to his impressive form, landing both jabs and straight rights on the doggedly pursuing Karmazin. Karmazin was walking right into the quicker Spinks' punches, though Spinks' output was not what it had been in the early rounds.

Karmazin turned it back on, to a degree, in the ninth round, though Spinks was still too elusive for Karmazin to land more than a few power punch combinations. Karmazin was stalking, but was not able to catch and damage Spinks.

Karmazin put several good punches together in the tenth, rocking Spinks, though he didn't pursue this golden opportunity. Karmazin didn't look particularly fatigued, but for whatever reason, he was not able to mout an effective pursuit. Spinks was ripe for the taking.

In the eleventh, Karmazin stalked Spinks around the ring, definitely winning the round, but not taking his chance to further break down the challenger. In my opinion, Karmazin made a huge blunder not pressing his advantage here, when he might have scored a knockout.

In the twelfth and final round, Spinks ran away from Karmazin. There is no other way to say it. I could hear the fans slipping away from boxing. This is the sort of thing that I hate as a fan, but I certainly understand Spinks' strategy. Spinks had nothing left in the tank, and Karmazin might have dropped him had he caught him.

My scorecard agreed with that of Jerry Griffin, the lone judge who scored the fight a 114-114 draw. Manfred Kuchler and Melvina Lathan both scored it 115-113 for Spinks, a decision that I can certainly respect. I'll bet that they scored the very close seventh round for the new champion, and that's a valid call.

In the aftermath, both fighters were gracious and showed good sportsmanship. Spinks was overcome with emotion, but was very respectful to man who's belt he'd just won. Spinks made a great showing, both inside and outside of the ring.

Karmazin complained that the referee didn't allow him to work on the inside, and he was correct, but I don't think that Karmazin was cheated. What we saw was within the typical range of variation of professional referees.