It was an interesting night of boxing on Saturday that saw cards that were featured on Showtime from the Armory in Minneapolis, and the Theater at MSG in New York City on DAZN. And there was a title fight in Japan that took place, earlier.
Some thoughts and observations on what took place...
- In the Showtime main event, Carlos Adames scored a ninth round TKO over Julian Williams, to retain the interim WBC middleweight title. But this stoppage from referee, Mark Nelson, has been highly scrutinized. Yeah, you could argue that Adames was ahead and on his way to winning this bout, but an argument could be made that 'J-Roc' had fought well enough that he earned the right to weather the storm and continue.
Carlos Adames vs. Julian Williams: FULL CARD Highlights | SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING
This was a solid fight, while Adames was the fresher and stronger of the two, Williams certainly had his moments. After a rough fourth round, Williams, was able to stay in this fight before it was waved off. Context matters in situations such as this. Regardless of what the scorecards read at the time (80-72, 78-74 and 77-74), Williams wasn't just surviving, he was still in this fight, in fact, he was punching back as the fight was called off.
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Esther Lin, Showtime Sports
“I think it was a terrible stoppage, but what can I do. I’m healthy I feel fine. I thought it was a terrible stoppage. I thought it was pretty much even and I was taking over while he was getting tired. But what can I do?" said the 33-year old Williams, who may have just gotten his last title shot. Which is why his usually mild-mannered trainer, Stephen 'Breadman' Edwards lashed out so angrily at Nelson in the immediate aftermath of this bout.
“[The referee] couldn’t say nothing to me. I told him it was a typical A-side stoppage," stated Edwards. " It was a good fight. He was hurt and I’m not saying he wasn’t hurt, but a fight like this, a man not going down, they going back and forth. If he’s the killer that they say he is let him finish him. He was tired too. But it’s always predictable, it’s always the A-side that gets the same s—t. [Williams][Williams] was down one time in the fight. [Adames] is supposed to be the most feared man in boxing, he never went down. Let him finish him if he’s going to finish him.”
Esther Lin, Showtime Sports
Again, Adames was winning, he may have well been on his to a victory, and no, this wasn't nearly as egregious as the decision made by Tony Weeks in the Rollie Romero-Ismael Barroso contest. But that doesn't justify Nelson's ruling.
- It was a rather interesting night in terms of officiating in Minnesota, as it looked like Luis Arias wasn't really given a full 10-count as he was stopped by Erickson Lubin in the fifth round of their junior middleweight contest.
It's clear that Arias had risen just after 'nine' was spoken by Zachary Young. But the fight was abruptly ended.
“I heard [the referee] say 8, 9, and then I got up," Arias recalled. "The next thing I know he’s waving. I thought it was a fast count…Lubin fought a good fight…But I still had five more rounds to land that shot. I landed it a couple times and he definitely felt it."
Lets make this clear, Lubin was in control, and most likely on his way to winning. But that still doesn't make the call any more palatable. You're supposed to be counted out at 10, not 9.1.
- Meanwhile at the Garden, Edgar Berlanga scored four knockdowns of Jason Quigley to win a wide 12 round decision. For Berlanga, it's his fifth straight decision after beginning his career with a string of first round stoppages.
This fight was designed for Berlanga to score a KO, but while he failed to do that, he still got in some decent work against a game Quigley. Unlike other recent outings where Berlanga seem to run out of ideas if he didn't stop his foes in the early rounds, in this contest he kept at it. Overall, it was a decent performance, and certainly one that was far more entertaining than his past few outings.
Ed Mulholland, Matchroom Boxing
Moving forward, it says here that a showdown with Jaime Munguia is one that makes sense for everyone involved. It's a good mix of offensive styles between flawed fighters, who are looking for some legitimacy as they try and get into the mix for bigger fights down the line. Both are undefeated, and you have the whole Puerto Rican-Mexican rivalry. Also both fighters are under the DAZN umbrella, so in theory, this is an easy fight to make.
But in recent days, there's been a lot of chirping between the head of Matchroom Boxing (which has Berlanga under contract) and the founder of Golden Boy Promotions, which handles Munguia.
OK, here's an idea, Berlanga-Munguia as the main event, and Hearn-De La Hoya as the co-feature. Put it up on pay-per-view.
- It was a rather strange trip to Japan for Joshua Franco, who went to 'the Land of the Rising Sun' to defend his WBA 115-pound title, only for him to miss the weight by almost two weight classes, before his rematch with Kazuto Ioka.
The pair had battled to a hard-fought draw back in December, but this time around, Ioka won clearly. Then in a surprising announcement, Franco announced his retirement at the age of 27.
Good luck to Franco in the next chapter of his life.
FINAL FLURRIES
Much more on this later, but Saul Alvarez has signed a three-fight pact with PBC, that will reportedly begin in September versus Jermall Charlo....Fernando Martinez, who successfully defended his IBF 115-pound title by halting Jade Bornea in 11, is a tough out for anyone in the division... Adam Kownacki should consider calling it a day...Are we finally getting our Southern California sunshine, back?....The four-part '30 for 30' on Bill Walton was very good....I can be reached at k9kim@yahoo.com....
