Friday's fights (spoilers)

[a87star]

My predictions:

FNF -

Ahunanya UD10 Butler. "The 13th" comes up with another solid win against a "so-called prospect" with an inflated record.

ShoBox -

Hearns KO7 Gonzalez
Ward KO6 Ravelo

[mh2365]

recording the shobox fights ... I'll watch them in the am

[a87star]

Ahunanya won a close UD over Butler. Friday knocked down Zo in the fourth round and in trouble in the seventh. Butler's eye was almost swollen shut. I scored it 96-92 for Ahunanya.

[lethal liberal]

Yeah,one judge had one point seperating the two..crazy!? Ahunanya was one flurry from having Butler out of there several times during the fight. I really thought Butler was going to quit. Two good wins for Friday even though both were overrated prospects..still,2 wins over guys that are considerd prospects is a good deal for a journeyman. Friday is a good gatekeeper for the division. He definitely earned himself a few more paydays at the least. I had the fight scored about the same as a87. I think Butler should hang it up. He doesnt have the skills to get to the top and with a surgically repaired retina and swelling like that..yeah,maybe he should play it safe. Take care fellas.

[Thunder]

Originally Posted by a87star

My predictions:

FNF -

Ahunanya UD10 Butler. "The 13th" comes up with another solid win against a "so-called prospect" with an inflated record.

ShoBox -

Hearns KO7 Gonzalez
Ward KO6 Ravelo

Originally Posted by lethal liberal

Yeah,one judge had one point seperating the two..crazy!?

1) good calls
2) actually two judges had a one-point margin. . . really crazy!?

Suspect call when the ref (was it Randy Newman?) stopped the action while Butler was getting pounded to look at his eye. I thought maybe he was going to stop it, then went through a couple moments where he wasn't sure what to do.

[Romultiltus]

Originally Posted by Thunder

1) good calls
2) actually two judges had a one-point margin. . . really crazy!?

Suspect call when the ref (was it Randy Newman?) stopped the action while Butler was getting pounded to look at his eye. I thought maybe he was going to stop it, then went through a couple moments where he wasn't sure what to do.

I started laughing each time Teddy Atlas tried to pronounce Ahunanaya. It came out different each time. By the end of the fight, he just stopped referring to him by name at all.

BTW - dumbest sidebar story in ESPN2 history: Naming famous people/characters with "day-of-the-week" names.

Big 'Zo should now think more about his health and retire. He's not going anywhere in the division. Plus, after a 13-month layoff, he came in at 265 lbs. - career high. Not a good sign. If Ahunanya threw more than 5 punches a round, he would have stopped Big 'Zo easily.

[a87star]

I think Ahunanya has moved from journeyman to gatekeeper with his wins against Cameron and Butler. He's definitely a tough test for any up and coming HW.

Hearns had some rough moments for the first three or four rounds but then he turned it on and started dominating Gonzalez. Ward dominated Ravelo from the opening bell and took the fight right from him. Both corners were right in throwing the towel for their respective fighters because things were getting ugly.

I'm still not sold on Hearns but Ward looks like he will be a player at SMW/LHW in the near future.

[mh2365]

Hearns gets hit way too much to ever be a contender ... they will keep handpicking opponents and I'm not sure he will ever make a run at a real title.

Ward definitely looks like the real thing. Ravelo was looking to quit from the 2nd round on.

Good win for Chambers on the undercard also.

[a87star]

Originally Posted by mh2365

Hearns gets hit way too much to ever be a contender ... they will keep handpicking opponents and I'm not sure he will ever make a run at a real title.

Ward definitely looks like the real thing. Ravelo was looking to quit from the 2nd round on.

Good win for Chambers on the undercard also.

Hearns gets spots on TV because of his name. When a pretty decent regional fighter is able to hit a "so-called' prospect as much as Gonzalez did.....it's a bad sign.

Chambers is back on track after his dissapointing performance against Povetkin. He'll probably get another crack at one of the HW titles before the year is out. Wonder if any of his critics have anything to say about him now other than "he's just like Chris Byrd" or "the guy has no heart and should retire". People should be lucky that a capable (not saying he's great) US heavyweight is even around.

[mh2365]

I think he is a lot like Chris Byrd which isn't a knock on him. I also think he has good "back against the rope" skills like Toney. Not sure about his heart though because he looked like he just quit against Povetkin. Either way he is a small HW and probably will never hold one of the big 4 titles.

[a87star]

Chambers might never hold one of the four title but he's a decent American HW. My comments were directed at some people who immideately dumped on the guy after the Povetkin fight and wrote him off. At least give him another chance and if he does the same thing again.......then he's on the path to being Dominick Guinn.

[mh2365]

In fairness to me (and I know you weren't directing it at me) but I haven't really liked him from the get go. Although I actually thought he'd beat Povetkin.

[Bam Bam]

Originally Posted by a87star

Chambers might never hold one of the four title but he's a decent American HW. My comments were directed at some people who immideately dumped on the guy after the Povetkin fight and wrote him off. At least give him another chance and if he does the same thing again.......then he's on the path to being Dominick Guinn.

Well I wrote him off. Guy wouldn't listen to his corner. Looked scared. Botched his big shot IMO.

[Bam Bam]

Originally Posted by a87star

Hearns gets spots on TV because of his name. When a pretty decent regional fighter is able to hit a "so-called' prospect as much as Gonzalez did.....it's a bad sign.

Chambers is back on track after his dissapointing performance against Povetkin. He'll probably get another crack at one of the HW titles before the year is out. Wonder if any of his critics have anything to say about him now other than "he's just like Chris Byrd" or "the guy has no heart and should retire". People should be lucky that a capable (not saying he's great) US heavyweight is even around.

Mark my words - Hayes - light heavy - could clean up these half-asses in the HW division.

[a87star]

Originally Posted by Bam Bam

Well I wrote him off. Guy wouldn't listen to his corner. Looked scared. Botched his big shot IMO.

You are certainly entitled to your opinion. I'm a boxing fan that usually gives someone a fair shake after a hiccup in their career. Like I said, if it happens again.......then he just doesn't have what it takes to be a top fighter.