What a sports day. Rooting for Jordan Spieth in the British Open - he was tied with two holes to go, then had two straight bogies, the last on a missed 1 1/2 footer, and wound up three down. Flipping back and forth between the boxing and the NBA game while keeping track of the Mets- what station were they on? I had to check the ESPN website. they were up 6-0 going into the 8th inning when Lugo gave up 5 runs and Diaz 4 on a walk-off grand slam. Ugh and double ugh! Somehow I also kept track of what was going on with Showtime's boxing, although I only bothered to score the Charlo fight.
The boxing featured three action-packed fights. if there was a theme, it's that combination punching beats going for the big one, especially if they are still standing there after the big one. The first fight was between Amilcar Vidal and Immanuwel Aleem, middleweights. it's was Vidal's first fight in this country and he had an undefeated record with a high knock-out percentage but he was looking for a reputation. Aleem was a veteran who needed a win and almost got it. He out-boxed the bigger Vidal in the early rounds and then traded with him at close range, contrary to his corner's instruction to move and box. Vidal had hoped for an early knockout and he landed a lot of good punches over the course of the fight but seemed unable to hurt Aleem, which is why he was willing to trade with the bigger opponent. Aleem had the faster hands and I thought he landed the greater number of punches, (he couldn't hurt Vidal, either). Vidal covered up and waited for Aleem to stop punching to get his own shots off. But the judges saw Vidal as the winner, not an outrageous decision but a questionable one. Neither man looked like a major contender but it seems anyone can get some kind of a title these days so who knows?
Rolando Romero vs. Anthony Yigit, lightweights: Romero kept his hands low but avoided most of Vigit's punches and stuck out his jab as a rangefinder and threw the right as if he wanted to punch a hole in the wall. Vigit recoiled when he got hit but stayed upright until late in the fight. He got some occasional shots in by himself. Romero became frustrated that Vigit wouldn't go down and started fouling him with a low blow, an elbow or simply by pushing him down. the referee kept warning him but didn't disqualify him. Romero hit Vigit with a legal shot a split second before the bell for the 5th round and decked him. Vigit never really recovered and Romeo really went after him. Vigit went down a couple more times but was counted out on his feet with a bloodied face and nose in the 7th. he's no contender either but Romero might be if he keeps his dukes up and reads the rule book. Vigit calls himself a "Muslim Jew" (?), and speaks a bunch of languages but can't punch in any of them.
Brian Castano proved hard to handle for Jermell Charlo. He's a shorter, stockier fighter but he has quick hands and some power. He throws a mean double-hook, the second one almost always landing on Charlo. He reminded me a bit of Andy Ruiz against Anthony Joshua when Joshua closed in for what he tho9ught was the kill and got stung by Ruiz's surprising hand speed and power. Castano is a much better fighter than Ruiz, however. Charlo, likes his brother, likes to take his time to size up an opponent and gives away too many early rounds. He fights off a power jab and right cross but settles for counter-punching too much and allowed Castano to back him into the ropes too much. Castano came out as the more aggressive fighter but Charlo hurt him with a flurry in the second round that put him on the defensive. Then Castano hurt Charlo that that double hook in the third and seemed to take over the fight, repeatedly backing Charlo into the ropes and throwing combinations. Charlo's corner kept telling Charlo to stay in the center of the ring, use the jab to create distance and work his other punches off of that. He finally listened to them and again hut Castano in the 10th, getting him to dance away from his punches and keeping him on the defensive. it was close to a 10-8 no knock-down round and you allow for that. Charlo seemed to be taking the 11th round off when he could ill afford to but rallied with combinations at the end that rocked Castano again. Then he clearly won the 12th round. I had it 116-114 for Charlo. One judge had it 117-11 for him. Anther had it 114-113 for Castano and the other had it even at 114-114. So the 154 pound crown is still not united, (Charlo has 3 belts, Castano one: remember when we had one champion in each division? Neither do I.) A rematch seems inevitable and it should be quite a battle.
