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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 4700213, member: 289"] I watched the last two fights of the ESPN card tonight. In the first 19-year-old Abdullah Mason, (8-0, 7KO, #91 per Boxrec) still another lightweight talent, devastated #791 Alex De Olivera (20-4, 14-2) in two rounds. De Olivera just caved in in the second round, staggering sideways. But then he's #791. Are there that many lightweights in world? Still it didn't prevent one of the color guys from describing Mason as "a left-handed Floyd Mayweather, (there are a lot of Floyd Mayweathers in boxing these days, even Floyd Mayweather). Mason is 5-9 with a 74 inch reach so he could grow beyond the lightweights. The came the main event, Jared "The Real Big Baby" Anderson, (If Jarrell "Big Baby Miller can get and stay clean, that fight's got to be made) vs. veteran trial horse Charles Martin. Anderson is listed as 6-4 with a 78 inch reach, (I've also seen him listed at 240 pounds). He came in with a perfect record of 4-0 with 14 knockouts, having won every round in every fight. But his amateur record was only 23-5 in 24 years. None of his pro opponents had been highly ranked. Nonetheless, he was being hyped as "the future of the heavyweight division". He came in ranked #32 by Boxrec. Charles Martin,14 years older at age 37, came in ranked #44, (29-3-1, 26-2). He was listed as 6-5 with an 80 inch reach but as soon as they were in the ring together, it became apparent that Martin was significantly taller than Anderson, although their stances may have contributed to that impression. His most noted opponents had ben Anthony Joshua, who knocked him out in 2 rounds in 2016 and Luis Ortiz, who finished him in 6 on New Year's Day 2022. Would Big Baby look as or more impressive than that? The answer was "No". Anderson had a great deal of trouble with martin's reach and his counter-punches. When Martin decided in the middle of the fight to stand his ground and exchange punches with Anderson, he came out much the better of it, staggering Anderson multiple time. He was unable to score a knock-out because Anderson was smart enough to clinch and then spend the next couple of round moving and stick to score points but avoiding exchanges. He reminded me a bit of Joshua in the second Ruiz fight and the fifth round looked like the first Ruiz fight. Martin's problem is that he didn't follow up. He retreated, looking for the counter punch, most of the fight. Anderson was able to use his jab to pile up the points. He even scored a knockdown in third round, although Martin claimed that he slipped on a logo in the ring, which many have bene true. He was never in significant trouble in the fight. They didn't flash the final punch count standings but Anderson was well ahead throughout the fight. He won the judges 98-91, 99-90 and 99-90. I was more generous to Martin, giving him the first and last rounds as he landed the most significant punch of each near the end, 97-92 for Anderson. The panel at the end was asked if Anderson is ready for the top fighters. They said maybe the bottom of the top ten. But they want Anderson to get another year of learning, especially on defense, before he's ready for the top guys. They said he moves backwards to avoid punches, rather than laterally and the other guy can always find you if you go backwards. [/QUOTE]

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