A few thoughts:

- Dan Rafael pisses me off.

- Erislandy Lara and Guillermo Rigondeaux looked great, just as expected. Very cool to see Jesse Reid in the corner too. One of my favorite trainers.

- Miguel Vazquez was fantastic against Breidis Prescott, who gets a lifetime pass from me after he destroyed Amir Khan. You don't get the feeling that Vazquez is destined for greatness but he's awkward, consistent, tough to figure out, and has a nice jab. He controlled Prescott from the 3rd round on. Lots of jabs, nice body work that slowed Prescott down, and the occasional power punch that cracked Prescott and warned him about throwing in combination.

- I thought Duane Ford's card of 95-94 Vazquez was bad.... until they announced Dave Moretti's card. 97-92 PRESCOTT? How could anyone of sound mind think that Prescott won 7 rounds out of 10 in that fight. That's awful. Not just regular awful either; Eugenia Williams, Lewis-Holyfield I awful. Jerry Roth had it 96-93 Vazquez which was fine (I had it 97-92, Teddy Atlas had it 98-91), but Moretti should get tazered for that card, just to prove a point.

I agree with everything you said.

Rafael sucks and was totally useless in the booth last night. I like what I saw out of the Cuban fighters. I think Lara can be really good.

Rafael doesn't tick me off all that much, however everytime they go to the studio i run off and take a piss, or grab a beer, or something, so i miss half the shit they say.



I was thinking about this, i actually wasn't surprised, i mean how can you be surprised anymore when this shit seems the norm now? But umm, i really think Moretti was confused which fighter was which, i say that without mocking him or anything. I really believe he thought Prescott was Vazquez. Why? There's just no other way. Judging just can't be that bad, my mom could have judged that fight right and she's legally blind, no joke. I just can't believe he knew which fighter was which, i just can't do it.

I'd buy that if they both didn't have their names on their friggin' trunks. Plus, Moretti has been around for YEARS. There's just no excuse for a card like that last night.

I can't believe he actually thinks Prescott won, there's just no way, it defies logic. I still just can't do it, there's a point where reality can't be warped any further and he surpassed it. No way.... just no way....

And Moretti usually has had a good judging record. When you get cards that are out of line, especially from judges who have good records in the past, do you believe that it is just favoritism, incompetence, or are bribes really going on that we don't know about? The two main parameters always seem to be that:

Journeymen can't a break on scorecards most of the time.

The guy with the more influential promoter, better record, bigger TV deal contract most of the time gets the benefit of the doubt in close rounds. You wonder if there is an intimidation factor if a judge may be apprehensive to score for the obvious "lesser" fighter. And if such intimidation exists, who is doing the intimidation? I thought the mob was dead and no longer controlled some fights and fighters like in the 40's and 50's?

Jack

There's really no way to tell, Jack, and that's what is so infuriating. That's a card that went 7-3 for Prescott in a fight that if he won 3 rounds, he's very fortunate. After the 5th round, he was throwing one punch at a time, haymakers at that, and there wasn't nearly as much on them as there was in the first 3 or 4 rounds because of the Vazquez body attack. I can understand a judge having a 'bias' toward a given style (preferring the aggressor, higher work rate, etc.) but most of those rounds weren't even really that close if you were paying attention. It's as if he just filled out the card for the rest of the fight sometime between the 2nd and 3rd rounds.

It's true that journeymen usually can't get a break (see Morrison-Puritty, for instance) but both of these guys are prospects, although Prescott is more highly rated. There's no excuse. Ugh.

What bothers me most is that there are people watching the broadcast who hear that card announced, point at the TV, and say, "See!? That's why boxing..." etc., and it really doesn't help our cause. Duane Ford's card was only a round away from giving that fight to Prescott and that is just insane as well. Apparently Jerry Roth was the only one who watched all 10 rounds without getting up and going to the concession stand.