ESPN COVID Card # 2

Wrote my first article since January: https://www.boxingnews24.com/2020/06/boxing-results-adam-lopez-and-luis-coria-entertain-in-las-vegas/

This caused me to miss the two middle bouts of the night. I did see the knockout and ran from the laptop to the TV when I heard the second knockdown in round 1 of the third fight. Unfortunately I have no scorecards or contributions there. I will need to watch those fights possibly tomorrow as I will be going to a bar this weekend! Boxing is back, the bar is back, what’s not to love! I want to focus on a few quick things with this blog post, some general takeaways.

1. No crowd, no boos. The main event was not a very good or interesting fight. It was practically decided in round four with a 10-6 round after 3 points were deducted from Vincente for a hit on the break and low blows. I did not think Jesse was going to be able to continue or we would get a Breidis vs Glowacki scenario with a KO following a guy choosing continue but still buzzed from the foul. I think the lack of a crowd allowed Jesse to move and pot shot his way to a dull victory. A crowd present may have spurred on some energy from the fighters. I do enjoy the empty arena fights as it reminds me of sparring and amateur competitions where you hear everything. It brings back the raw and primal nature of boxing.
2. Mark Kriegel had a great quip during the Lopez vs Coria fight where they were discussing Robert Garcia and Coria’s strategy of Cotto vs Margarito I. They were expecting to take damage but carry on and wear down their man. Kriegel came in a few moment later in a very Larry Merchant like delivery of “well he doesn’t have Margarito’s hand wraps”!!!
3. The ring announcer, whom I’ve never seen before, botched the announcement of the winner in Lopez vs Coria. He said the second score with the name of the winner and then said very softly “and new” to which the fighters still stood there to hear 96-94. He either needed to shout “and new!” or not say a name after the first 96-94 and then say 96-94 and new!! Nit picky, sure.
4. Joe Tessitore with the nursery rhyme Doctor Seuss rap after the first round KO. If you missed it, go back and find it.
5. Fury vs Joshua was the big announcement of the night! I know sometimes the best of plans in boxing don’t go according to plan. Joshua has two mandatory opponents and Fury has a contracted rematch with Wilder plus Whyte. One of them can lose and ruin this fight or one or both of them will be stripped and thus taking some of the shine off this unification for undisputed. This will show that sanctioning bodies don’t make champions, the best fighting the best does. No one will care about Usyk or Whyte’s paper title if Joshua and Fury fight. It will be interesting to see if either of those two or Pulev get tough in negotiating for step aside money knowing how big Joshua vs Fury is and having such knowledge of the fight coming off it puts them in the drivers seat to ask for more.