There’s nothing as exciting as a great high-level fight in the boxing ring. Unfortunately, there is also no other sport as ready to let you down as often as it hypes you up. This past weekend was a perfect example of the good and bad sides of the sport.
Saturday saw an outstanding card in the evening that helped to wash away the bad taste of a classic case of questionable judging earlier in the day. Then, on Sunday, the weekend closed with an ugly championship fight moments after one of the most dramatic comeback knockouts you will ever see.
With all that in mind, let’s take a look back at the weekend and everything you need to know.
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British Boxing Board of Control to investigate Taylor vs. Catterall
While you can revisit our full coverage of Josh Taylor’s controversial split decision win over Jack Catterall to retain the undisputed junior welterweight championship, the fallout of the fight is surprising in that almost no one — including Taylor’s countrymen — is coming out in defense of the scorecards. From Dillian Whyte to Liam Smith to Carl Frampton, the result was met with near-unanimous disgust. As pointed out by former multi-time world title challenger Paul Smith, Ian John Lewis’ 114-111 scorecard in favor of Taylor is a 116-112 card without knockdowns and point deductions, meaning somehow Lewis gave Catterall just four of the 12 total rounds. According to CompuBox, Taylor landed six or fewer punches in nine rounds, compared to only one such round for Catterall. Boxing is more than a punch-counting contest, but the numbers certainly back up what almost every observer saw happening in the ring.
In response, the British Boxing Board of Control has stated they “will be investigating the scoring of this contest and will advise accordingly.” Of course, as European sports journalist Chris McKenna explained, fans should have no expectation of justice from the investigation.
Garcia and Martinez score huge upsets on Showtime
Fans who were feeling let down in the wake of Taylor’s win may have skipped out on tuning in and checking out Showtime Championship Boxing later in the evening. Those who did check out the fights were given a rare treat: a three-fight card with each fight delivering the goods. The show opened with Fernando Martinez scoring an upset win over Jerwin Ancajas to claim the IBF junior bantamweight championship. The fight between Martinez and Ancajas is the early frontrunner for Fight of the Year, with both men landing blistering shots throughout, though Martinez clearly did the better work throughout to take the unanimous decision despite entering as a more than +400 underdog.
After Gary Antuanne Russell remained undefeated with a late stoppage of Viktor Postol in a solid fight, the show ended with heavily-hyped prospect Chris Colbert on the receiving end of a 12-round throttling at the hands of late-replacement Hector Garcia. The native of the Dominican Republic fought a brilliant fight, smothering Colbert and never letting his hands stop moving when Colbert tried to lay against the ropes and look for an opportunity to land a perfect punch. By the final two rounds, Colbert, who’d suffered the first knockdown of his career, chose to all but run away from Garcia in an attempt to just make it to the scorecards. After Garcia won wide on the scorecards, Colbert suggested the two rematch. That would make little sense for Garcia, however, who is now in line for a shot at the WBA championship at 130 pounds after winning the title eliminator.
A comeback KO for the ages
WBO cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie retained his title on Sunday, beating Michal Cieslak in a fairly dull bout. Understandably, the main event of that card didn’t have anyone talking. The undercard bout between Jordan Gill and Karim Guerfi, however, had everyone buzzing.
After a seventh-round knockdown and a nasty spill as the fighters got tangled up moments later, Gill looked done. Guerfi poured on the attack as Gill sat along the ropes for the next two rounds. As it appeared the corner or doctor could stop the fight at any moment and save Gill from permanent damage, the fighter uncorked a massive finishing right hand. It was as sudden a turnaround as you get in boxing, with Gill turning everything around with a single punch, winning the European featherweight title in the process.
Rigondeaux suffers shocking upset loss
In an under-the-radar fight over the weekend, Guillermo Rigondeaux was defeated by unheralded Vincent Astrolabio. Astrolabio scored a knockdown in the eighth round that turned out to be the deciding moment in the fight as he won 95-94 across all three official scorecards, the one 10-8 round preventing a draw. Astrolabio has suffered losses to far less accomplished fighters than Rigondeaux, which may just be a sign that Rigondeaux’s days as a relevant player are over.
The former two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-division world champion has always been a polarizing fighter, who could often focus so much on defensive work that his performances were often sterile and unexciting, but undeniably effective. That has not been the case as of late, including in a terrible fight with John Riel Casimero this past August that set a CompuBox record for the fewest combined landed punches in a 12-round fight.