What a great night of free boxing. Boxing get's a bad rep for not showing enough free fights like MMA does on Spike. But if you pay attention and know what to look for there are good fights on every weekend with ESPN, Telefutura, etc.
Friday Night Fight's first episode of the year brought us a two fight televised card that I think is essential for boxing to maintain it's popularity. A fight that features a young prospect and a fight that will bring fireworks. What's interesting is that this was the night of EXPOSURE.
First we saw Demetrius Andrade add another win to his record. While he clearly dominated every round, strangely Herrera still exposed him a bit. I think Andrade's lack of good footwork and lack of punching power was on display here. He should have been able to put the clearly outmatched Herrera brother down. Yet, he was happy with not working, throwing one punch at a time and getting a victory.
In a time, when his dad is under fire by your management and the media this was not a good fight for his father. You can see that he has things to work on. Also, no longer can you say that the sky is the limit for Andrade, he probably will never be a Paul Williams. I just don't think that after 200+ amateur fights and 12 pro fights you will have this much to work on as a boxer. He just doesn't work enough, throws from the wrong places, and has no punching power. Good win though. I'm interested to see when his handlers will put in him a title shot position.
The second fight was an entertaining one. I picked Herrera winning a 12 round decision in an upset prior to the fight and I was rewarded. I saw Herrera doing exactly what I thought he would do against Ruslan. Ruslan doesn't use his jab enough to keep Herrera from landing punches and tying up. Once he learns to be first, instead of pressuring with position, then trying to counter, I think he will be able to beat better competition. He relies too much on coming forward and hoping the guy covers up and not move so that he can throw his shots. Not going to work with anyone with any foot movement, toughness, or just a overall good boxer. Keep fighting the way he does and he will be a ESPN staple, nothing more.
Good fights! Ready to see next week! Manfredo vs the Haitian Sensation!
No comments:
Post a Comment