When I was a young boy, I was raised a Washington Senator baseball fan, and Senators were consistently one of the worse baseball teams with their last World Series appearance in 1933 and last World Series victory in 1924 but they disappointed me not once but twice by the ultimate betrayal, they left town.   The first version of the Twins went to Minneapolis and since then won two world series.   The second version of the Senators went to Texas and now the Texas Ranger, but they at least didn’t win a world series as they are zero for two in World Series appearances. (The present Washington National won the first world series in the city history since 1924 and came to Washington from Montreal, but I have long left town when they came to town.)

The Kansas City Royals is my adopted baseball team and followed them since I moved to KC in 1985 after they won their championship and stayed a fan.   This year the Royals team has become fun since the All-Star break as many of the young Royals players have shown potential.   Over the last 30 games, M.J. Melendez has hit .295 with 5 homers, Witt, Jr. is batting .354 with 9 homers, and Michael Massey. 248 with 6 homers, Fred Fermin .325 with 5 homers plus solid catching, Garcia .292 as the lead off man and solid defense and finally Kyle Isbel has hit .273 over his last 30 game.

Despite his recent bad outing versus Cubs, Brady Singer has pitched well in the second half as he has been 3-1 over his last seven games with 3.51 ERA.   What has worked for the Royals is that on the offensive side, we have found athletes who fit the stadium they play in.  Royals is one of the bigger stadiums with one of the larger outfields and they have outfielders in Isbel and Drew Waters who can cover the ground in the spacious Royal stadium.  (Note to new owner John Sherman who is desperate to leave one of the best stadiums in the Major league for a new stadium, make sure you build your stadium to the players you have.)

We live in a new era of baseball here in Kansas City in which we have a potential super star in Bobby Witt, Jr. who combine defensive skills, speed, and power in one package as he now has 36 stolen bases to go with 24 homers along with many young players who are showing potential to be starters.  We may be witnessing the 2011 and 2012 Royals, young teams with a core learning to win before Dayton Moore had his brief moment in Camelot as he made moves to bring in the right players to add to the mix and led Royals to straight World Series appearances before it went back to hell post 2015 World Series.  We will find out as I wrote recently, will Royals have a return to the Camelot of 2014-15?

I often listen to Royals on Radio and enjoy the trio of Jake Eisenberg, Steve Stewart and the Hall of famer Denny Matthew who has been with the Royals from the beginning of the franchise to the present.   Television features Ryan Lefebvre and Rex Hudler but I must admit, love the radio team which combines the youngster Jake Eisenberg who has pleasant voice and his knowledge of the game is that of a long time veteran and there is Denny Matthews, who now only does Royals games at home but still his distinctive voice rings out through the radio as he often produces his version of baseball wisdom like walking the lead off man in late innings often comes back to haunt you. (This year, that is certainly true as many of Royals pitchers will walk lead off man and often ends badly.)  Steve Stewart is that middle guy who is the man between the youngster and the old pro with his 16 plus year as a Royal announcer.

Rex Hudler is what you would expect from a local baseball broadcast, a colorful character who relies on his vast 40 years of experience but who leaves no doubt he is a Royal booster.   The real fun I have is reading the various Royals pundits and if anything, there are some very brilliant pundits including Kevin O’ Brien and David Lesky plus Anne Rogers of MLB.  Then there is the Royals Farm report in which you get the latest on Royals prospects and when your team is in last place and one of the worst, you start paying attention to the minor leagues just to see what the future may hold.  

O’Brien and Lesky often go deep into the data and give you analysis rarely seen on various national broadcasts and networks like Fox sports and ESPN.  Compared to other sports that I follow like NBA, NFL, and college sports, these two are among the best in dissecting the Royals and prepared to tell the truth about the Royals and their organizations.   In the recent games in which Royals defeated the Cubs 4-3, Lesky humorously noted he would be more comfortable after the Royals took the lead if they could score 11 more runs.  He added this gem past weekend about Bobby Witt, Jr., “Bobby Witt Jr. is on pace for 31 doubles, 9 triples, 31 homers and 44 steals. Nobody has EVER done that. He currently has 24 doubles, 7 triples, 24 homers and 34 steals. There have only been 14 seasons EVER with all four of those stats and he has 38 games to go.”

Kevin O’Brien made this observation about Bobby Witt, Jr. “I know that they had more history than Bobby but another thing that’s remarkable about his year is that he was absolutely buried on the bench in the WBC behind Trea Turner and Tim Anderson (and look how those two years’ have gone).” 

Yes, I wrote this after the Cubs defeated the Royals 6-4 but at one time it was 6-1 and the Royals kept crawling back into the game and even the Cub announcers were worried with Melendez single to open the top of the ninth and Witt who was already 3 for 4 coming to bat. But alas, the mighty Witt struck out. 

When I grew up, I was a Washington Redskins fan in football and followed the Washington Senators in baseball. While still following the Washington football team or Commanders which they are know now, in baseball, the Senators moved twice, the first to Minneapolis and the second to Dallas.  Since 1973 and until the Nationals moved from Montreal in 2005.  By then I have lived in the Midwest since the mid-1970’s and lived in the Kansas City area for nearly a decade from the mid 80’s to the mid 90’s.  We adopted the Kansas City Royals as a family.

For a brief moment in 2014 and 2015, Royals had their Camelot in which they competed for World Series titles. In 2014, they came within 90 feet of sending the 7^th game into extra innings as Alex Gordon settle for a triple instead of going for an inside the park home run and then finally winning it all in 2015.  Within three years, they return back to the incompetency that marked much of the 21^st century and 2023 is taking incompetency to a new level.

For many Kansas Citians, they are waiting for the Kansas City Chiefs and first preseason.  Football fans are now living in the Golden age of Chiefs football with two Super Bowls and three Super Bowls appearance over the last five years, surpassing the late 1960’s and early 1970’s during the Len Dawson era.  Yet I am still intrigued by the Royals for I don’t know if we are witnessing the Royals of 2011 and 2012 where the core of the team that won 2015 were learning to win or just a continuation of our mediocrity.

We have won six games, swept two series, beating the Central division leader Minnesota Twins and the New York Mets.   Brady Singer had a great start against the Mets giving no runs and he gutted out a start against Twins giving up only two runs.   In his last seven games, he is 3-1 with a 3.00 ERA and looks like the Singer of 2022.  Bobby Witt has been pounding the ball with 13 RBIs over the six game homestand as he hit over .500 on the homestand including a walk off grand slam and has hit .333 for the last 30 games and Maikel Garcia is hitting .300 as the lead off batter.  Garcia and Witt are becoming a potent one-two punch and Freddy Fermin has had a strong season catching behind Salvador Perez.  Fermin development has allowed Perez to DH and even play a little first base.   

For the rest of the year, it will be interesting to see how Michael Massey, Kyle Isbel, and M.J Melendez developed since they have shown potential but Massey and Melendez are still under .220 but Isbel is up to .232 after hitting over .300 for the last 15 games and Drew Waters has hit .260 over the last 30 games.   

On the pitching front, there is another story as many of the 2018 draft class has failed to make an impact beyond Singer as Lynch and Bubic are both injured and Kowar has simply flopped.   With Scott Barlow being traded, Carlos Hernadez has 1.65 era over the last 15 games and now will have to show if he was temperament for being a closer.  Coles Ragans may be a potential starter as he pitched six shouts out innings and that is after allowing one earned run in five innings against Tampa Bay.   Only one run over the past 11 innings.  

Royals are 40 games under .500 after 110 games and yeah, they reflect their record but for the rest of the year, we will see which youngsters can help and certainly they picked up additional support at the trade deadline including Devin Mann who was hitting .308 for the Dodgers triple AAA this year. 

In 2011, the core of Gordan, Hosmer, Moustakis, and Perez were learning to be major leaguer and due to some good trades, Escabar and Cain joined the core that led to brief moment of Camelot for Royals fans and will 2023 be remember the year when the core learn to become major leaguers on the way to yet another Camelot?

Naoya Inoue and Terrance Crawford

This past week, we saw two great fighters dominate their leading opponents in their division.   Naoya Inoue fought for the 122-pound title against undefeated Steven Fulton, who was a slick boxer and the bigger opponent.  Fulton only had eight knockouts in his twenty-one victories but there was a path to victory to upset the powerful Inoue. 

Inoue not only dominated with power shots, but he also out boxed the taller Fulton.  He landed double the jabs and was more accurate than Fulton.  His hands speed showed up and yes, he also landed nearly triple the power shots. From the beginning of the fight, Inoue took control of the fight and there was not a round that Fulton even won.

Terrance Crawford faced Errol Spence, Jr. for undisputed control of the Welterweight division.  Crawford cleaned out the junior welterweight and now he wanted two divisions that he was in complete control of. 

Like Inoue did four days earlier in Japan, Crawford simply dominated the fight from the almost the beginning. The only round I gave Spence was the first round and that was more due to Spence’s activity as he threw nearly three times the punches, but he only connected on ten percent of them.  In the second round, Crawford landed a quick left that sent Spence to the canvas and this was the first time Spence hit the canvas.  From that point, Crawford took over the fight.  He bloodied Spence’s nose in the fourth round and knocked him down two more times in the last minute of the seventh round before stopping him in the ninth round. 

Shawn Porter, a former champion, and consistent contender for the title, fought both fighters but only Crawford ever stopped Porter in Porter’s career.  And Crawford is the only fighter who defeated Spence and stopped him. 

You could make the case that either fighter can be officially declared the best pound for pound fighter in the world since both fighters have held multiple titles and dominated their key rivals.   What is more impressive is that both fighters can both box and knock out their opponents.   Crawford out boxed Spence, landing triple the jabs and connected on forty two percent of his jabs.  Spence could not outbox his opponent and was vulnerable to Crawford combinations.  This was a similar performance to Inoue who also not only out slugged his opponent but out boxed his opponent.  Their boxing skills allowed them to control their opponents and allowed them to dictate the pace of the fight. 

Right now, I view Inoue as the best pound for pound but many boxing pundits will view Crawford as the best.  You can make the case for both, and we will see over the next few years how this plays out.  Crawford is 35 years, and his last fight was the best he ever fought. He is at his peak.  Inoue is only thirty and now he has the opportunity to go from 108 pounds to maybe the lightweight division.  The last fighter who followed a similar trajectory was the great Manny Pacquaio who went all the way up to the Welterweight division.    Inoue has the skills and power to move up to at least the lightweight division.  As for Crawford, will he go up to the 154-pound division?   Both fighters will be Hall of Fame fighters when they retire and their place in boxing history is secure. 

Terrance Crawford had been one of the past pounds for pound fighters having been first a lightweight champion before cleaning out the junior welterweights and faced Spence jr. for Spence WBA, WBC, and IBF title along with his own WBO title.  Spence, Jr. had been a Welterweight titlist since he defeated Kell Brook in 2017 for his IBF title. 

Spence, Jr. was a slick boxer who could change sides seamlessly, had a power full jab and could sting the body with powerful shot.  He had been a welterweight for his entire career as Crawford moved up to the welterweight.  Crawford was one of those fighters who combined both power and boxing style, but I viewed this fight as a close one before the opening bell rang.   I was wrong.

Crawford often took the early part of the fight to figure out his opponent and often ended up giving up early rounds on the scorecard but often came back in the second half of the fight.  In the opening four rounds, Spence averaged nineteen punches landed and thirty-five thrown compared to Crawford landing only seven punches and throwing fifteen.  Spence has been a consistent puncher as he averaged nineteen punches landed per round throughout the bout, but Crawford increased both his input and accuracy as he will double both his punches landed and thrown over the final four rounds. This trend would indicate that it would be close fight with Spence most likely to win early rounds.

According to CompuBox, Both Spence and Crawford are among the top ten when it comes to landing combinations punches and their data were similar coming into this fight.

The first round was a feeling out round as Spence threw forty-seven punches while he only landed five punches and Crawford landed two punches but then Crawford starts out slowly as usual.  While I gave Spence the first round, it had more to do with him throwing a ton of punches, but he was ineffectual. This would be the last round he would win as Crawford turned this fight into a virtuoso performance.

In the second round, Crawford nailed Spence with a straight left that sent Spence on his seat.  Spence got up quickly, but this was first time Spence hit the canvas and it gave Crawford a 10-8.  The third round was close as Crawford landed fourteen punches to Spence 17 punches, but Crawford was the more accurate puncher as he connected on those fourteen punches in while throwing only thirty-seven punches whereas Spence needed to sixty-two punches to land seventeen.  Crawford had the more effective defense and Spence was having trouble landing those big shots.

In the fourth round, a straight left backed up Spence and hurt him while a hook busted up Spence’s nose.  In the fifth round, Crawford landed upper cuts and hooks as he dominated the round.  Spence looked spent but he showed his guts by fighting on.  Crawford continued to land punches at will and in the seventh round, Crawford sent Spence down twice in the last minute of the round with lefts. 

The eighth round was a mere prelude to the final round as Crawford closed the show as he landed combinations that stunned Spence before the referee stopped the fight.

At the age of thirty-five, Crawford proved himself at the top of his game and this may have been his greatest fight.   He connected on 185 punches to Spence 96 punches, and his connect rate was 50 percent and landed 60 percent of his power shots, something that no other Spence’s opponents had ever done.

What was supposed to be a close fight turned into a rout for Terrance Crawford who showed that he is one of the top pounds for pound fighters.   Last week Naoya Inoue showed that he was a complete fighter and Crawford proved to be equally a complete fighter.  Both men can box, and they can slug. 

Crawford often started fights slowly, but, in this fight, he only used the first round to have his feeling around round but by the second round, Crawford figured out his opponent and from that point, it was all Crawford.   Crawford has now become the undisputed champion in two different weight divisions, at 140 pounds and 147 pounds, so where does he go from here?  He can fight Jaron Ennis or Vergil Ortiz or move up.  Spence wants a rematch but not at welterweight but at junior Middleweight as he is no longer going to fight as a welterweight.   So, does Crawford move up to the Junior Middleweight or finishes up the Welterweight division?  Would Crawford domination of Spence hurt the rematch even if at a higher division?  And not forget a rematch at junior Middleweight would not be for a title, there will be less than appeal for the fight.  For now Crawford proved himself one of the elite boxers in the world.

Stephen Fulton faced his toughest challenge in Naoya Inoue as they fought for Inoue WBA and WBC super-bantamweight title.  Inoue is one of the best pounds for pound fighters and now is a three-division title holder.  Inoue combines hand speed and power along with excellent technique. Fulton, who is undefeated but has only eight knockouts in his twenty-one victories, is a boxer with solid tactics and he is an effective counter puncher but could not match Inoue power.   He had to fight the perfect fight and stay upright for the entire fight.

Inoue is a smart fighter who can adjust in a bout and despite his power, he is an effective counterpuncher, always ready to take advantage of mistakes. Fulton had advantages in height and reach but Inoue had the home boxing ring advantage as the fight is in Toyoko.

Those advantages in height and reach did little as Inoue not only pounded his opponent, but he also out boxed his opponent.  Fulton was a bloody mess and at the receiving end of Inoue power shots. Inoue landed nearly double the jabs than Fulton and at higher percentage. Fulton boxing skills and jab were neutralized. 

In round eight, Inoue unleashed a brutal right hand that stunned Fulton and sent him twirling across the ring.  While Fulton retreated, Inoue smashed a left hook into Fulton’s face and Fulton hit the canvas.  Fulton barely got up and Inoue finished him as he delivered a flurry that doubled Fulton body in half and into the canvas. The referee saved Fulton from further punishment.

Punch Stats

PUNCHES	FULTON	INOUE
Total landed	47	114
Total thrown	223	379
Percent	21%	30%
Jabs landed	23	44
Jabs thrown	152	199
Percent	15%	22%
Power landed	24	70
Power thrown	71	180
Percent	34%	39%

Inoue can claim the king of the pound for pound king as he won titles in three divisions. While some may view the winner of Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford as they meet for the best of the welterweight division coming up this Saturday.  Inoue may have shown that he is the king of the pound for pound as he combines speed, boxing skills and one punch power that can be stretched.

Steve Fulton may have been the best fighter in the 122-pound division that Inoue could have faced, and Inoue easily dispatched him in.  Inoue won his first title at 108 pounds and has carried his title through the 122-pound division.  Fulton is a very good fighter who became a champion in 2021 by defeating Brandon Figueroa but against Inoue, he had little answers against Inoue and except for a couple of landing a couple of right hand in the seven rounds, he couldn’t carry much of an offense as Inoue simply landed more than doubled the punches including dominating with power shots and out jabbing the taller boxer.

Inoue has outstanding footwork, and this allows him to connect punches from all angles plus his hand speed forced Fulton to be a defensive fighter who feared opening up for he feared those powerful Inoue counter punches.

For Inoue, he can fight Marlon Tapales who is the title holder of two belts at junior featherweights.  Inoue won his initial title in the 122 pounds from Paul Butler.  Inoue may be repeating what another great Asian fighter, Manny Pacquiao who went from a 108-pound champion to being a champion at the welterweight division.   Inoue has the power and skills to move up to maybe even light weight division. 

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

Jaron Ennis look to stay undefeated against Roiman Villa and defend his interim IBF world welterweight champion.  Roiman Villa was full of confidence, but it did not take long for the notion of Villa being in the same league as Ennis ended quickly as Ennis simply used his quick hands to dominate the fight.  Over the first two rounds, Ennis landed thirty-six punches to Villa’s two.  Villa did not even strike a blow in the second round and Villa kept coming forward despite a bloody nose.  Ennis used quick right hooks off his southpaw and Villa often missed Ennis with a wide shots.  From this point, it was obvious that Ennis was in a different league than Villa .

Ennis doled out punishment from the opening bell and while he was extended past round seven for the second time in his career, it was an easy fight for Ennis.  In the sixth round, he buckled Villa as he connected a series of right hands, and while he had Villa in serious trouble, Villa stayed on his feet. 

He also nailed Villa with a left upper cut and hurt Villa in the seventh round.  The upper cut was an effective punch in the entire fight and in the tenth round he stopped Villa .

Ennis landed 227 punches versus only sixty-five punches for Villa, and he connected on 36 percent of his punches compared to only 14 percent for Villa.  Ennis landed more power shots and almost as many jabs compared to Villa’s total amount.  This was complete domination .

Ennis wants the winner of the Errol Spence Jr . versus Terrance Crawford bout for the King of the Welterweight division, and he certainly is ready to fight either one.  

A Boxing Perspective

July 10, 2023Tom Donelsonadmin

By Tom Donelson … Member Boxing Writers Association of America … and – long time honored contributor to http://www.dmboxing.com since 2008

I read an interesting piece about Muhammed Ali and Rocky Marciano.  The writer noted that Ali defensive skills were more due to his physical skills and speed to escape as opposed to his technical skill.  Rocky Marciano began his career as a strong fighter with a knockout punch and raw defensive skills . As he advanced, he learned the basics of defense and while he would never be considered a great defensive fighter, he developed enough skills to deflect punches while delivering knock out punches. 

When Marciano retired, he left undefeated and with no apparent brain injuries that could be detected; but as Ali got older, his speed left him and he became easier to hit.  His third fight with Joe Frazier was a war that shorten both men’s careers, and in his fight with Earnie Shavers, he took some massive shots.  The younger Ali would have avoided most of those punches, but the older Ali showed he could take a punch, but those punches took their toll.  By the time he finished, it was becoming apparent that he suffered injuries and would end up with Parkinson’s disease .

Roy Jones had a similar career to that of Ali.  Jones had a super-fast hand, and his defensive skills also had less to do with technical skills than his physical attributes.  After defeating John Ruiz for Ruiz’s version of the heavyweight crown, he was on the top of the boxing world but a close victory over Antonio Tarver in their first fight showed the first sign of decline . In his second fight with Tarver, he was knocked out in the second round and from that point, he was no longer the Roy Jones of old. 

He suffered a devastating knockout to Glen Johnson in his first fight after the Tarver loss, and lost a unanimous decision to Tarver in their rubber match.  When he was younger fighter, he easily beat Bernard Hopkins but later, in his declining years, Hopkins easily beat Jones . Hopkins was a solid technician who was able to have a successful career long into his forties as he rarely took a beating during much of his career.  

Hopkins learned the ABCs of defense and that allowed him to be one of the great middleweights . He never had the physical skills of Jones early in his career, but learning the boxing basics allowed him to continue his career and defeat Roy Jones in their second fight.

Throughout boxing, like other sports, physical skills can take a player only so far at the elite level of professional sports, for even the most skilled athletes are competing with other top athletes and learning the basic skills can add to an athlete’s career.  Great boxers often depended, not only on just basic physical skills, but also learning the basics. Learning the basics will allow the boxer to have a longer and more successful career. Larry Holmes’ basic boxing skills allowed him to be competitive with younger fighters into his forties and he even fought Evander Holyfield for his title while losing a unanimous decision.  (It is interesting that George Foreman did win a title at 45 against Michael Moorer and in his reincarnation after a decade layoff, he added some additional defensive skills. Just like Marciano, Foreman was not great defensively, but he picked up enough skills to compete with younger fighters.)

Jared Anderson faced his toughest test against former Heavyweight champion Charles Martin. 104 years ago, Jack Dempsey defeated Jess Willard in Toledo and now the undefeated Jared Anderson wanted to make his statement in the heavyweight division in Toledo, and he certainly won the fight on the scorecard. The decision was unanimous 99-90, 99-90 and 98-91 and I had it 99-90, but the reality was that Anderson showed heart and guts but also showed his inexperience.

Jared began using his quickness to gain control of the bout over the first quarter as he landed fifteen punches on Martin four punches. He won the first four rounds and looked like he was in control but in the fifth round, Anderson faced the challenge of his young career.  One weakness of Anderson nearly derailed his victory as he has a habit of moving straight back when avoiding punches and in the fifth round, Martin nailed him with a straight left halfway through the round. For the next ninety seconds, it was survival time as the inexperienced Anderson found himself trying to defend himself as Martin simply pounded him from one end of the ring to the other.

Survived he did and in round six, he came back out, connecting and out -landing by a two to one margin against Martin. The fifth round was the first round he lost in his career.

Anderson had never seen the seventh round in his young career, but he won all the remaining rounds as he out punched and out landed Martin the rest of the fight but in the tenth round, his inexperience nearly cost him the fight. With seconds left, he raised his hand in victory, knowing all he had to do was to survive those seconds, but Martin stunned him with a left and put Anderson on the defensive. He covered up as the final bell rang. He forgot that rounds last three minutes and not two minutes and forty-five seconds. The final Martin barrage was a little bit too little and too late.

Anderson normally averaged sixty-three punches per round with a 40 percent connect rate but tonight the average punches thrown was thirty-seven punches per round and he landed sixteen punches for an average of nearly 43 percent connect rate. Martin landed 85 of 324 punches for a mere 27 percent.

Anderson showed guts in surviving that fifth round and showed that he can take a punch of a legitimate puncher, but he also showed defensive lapses that nearly cost him the fight. Forget Martin’s punch stats, he nearly stopped Anderson in the fifth round and while Anderson nailed him numerous times with solid shots, Martin never appeared hurt, but he did manage to hurt Anderson in the fifth round and certainly stunned him in the closing seconds of the tenth round.  Martin did hit the canvas at the end of the third round but he got up quickly and appeared more stunned than hurt.

Anderson showed he can be a contender for the heavyweight title, but that time is not yet now.

Read an interesting piece about Muhammed Ali and Rocky Marciano.  The writer noted that Ali defensive skills was more due to his physical skills and speed to escape as opposed to his technical skill.  Rocky Marciano began his career as a strong fighter with a knockout punch and raw defensive skills. As he advanced, he learned the basics of defense and while he would never be considered a great defensive fighter, he developed enough skills to deflect punches while delivering knock out punches. 

When Marciano retired, he left undefeated and with no apparent brain injuries that could be detected but an Ali got older, his speed left him and he became easier to hit.  His third fight with Joe Frazier was a war that shorten both men career and in his fight with Earnie Shavers, he took some massive shots.  The younger Ali would have avoided most of those punches, but the older Ali showed he could take a punch, but those punches took their tool.  By the time he finished, it was becoming apparent that he suffered injuries and would end up with Parkinson disease. 

Roy Jones had a similar career to Ali.  Roy Jones had a super-fast hand, and his defensive skills had less to do with technical skills than his physical attributes.   After defeating John Ruiz for the Ruiz’s version of the heavyweight crown, he was on the top of the boxing world but a close victory to Antonio Tarver in their first fight showed the first sign of decline and in his second fight with Tarver, he was knocked out in the second round and from that point, he no longer the Roy Jones of old. 

He suffered a devastating knockout to Glen Johnson in his first fight after the Tarver loss and lost a unanimous decision to Tarver in their rubber match.  When he was younger fighter, he easily beat Bernard Hopkins but later in his declining years, Hopkins easily beat Jones as Hopkins was a solid technician who was able to have a successful career long into his forties as he rarely took a beating during much of his career.  

Hopkins learned the ABCs of defense and that allowed him to be one of the great Middleweights. While he never had the physical skills of Jones early in his career but learning the boxing basics allowed him to continue his career and defeat Roy Jones in their second fight

Throughout boxing like other sports, physical skills can take a player only so far at the elite level of professional sports for even the most skilled athletes are competing with other top athletes and learning the basic skills can add to an athlete career.  Great boxers often depended not just basic physical skills but also learning the basics. Learning the basics will allow the boxer a longer and more successful career.   Larry Holmes’ basic boxing skills allowed him to be competitive with younger fighters into his forties and even fought Holyfield for his title while losing a unanimous decision.  (Interesting, George Foreman did win a title at 45 against Michael Moorer and in his reincarnation after a decade layoff, he added some additional defensive skills. Just like Marciano, Foreman was not a great defensive skill, but he picked up enough skills to compete with younger fighters.)

Haney by Decision over Lomachenko

May 21, 2023Lightweights, Recent Fights, Tom Donelsonadmin

By Tom Donelson (BWAA) Member Boxing Writers Association of America

Devin Haney engaged in his toughest fight as he faced Vasiliy Lomachenko for the undisputed light weight title and the fight went as I thought as Haney used his size to jab and Lomachenko was the more aggressive fighter.

The fight was close most of the way and when reviewing the various scorecards, there were many close rounds which made it difficult to score . The only two rounds that were easy to score was the 10^th and 11^th in which Lomachenko dominated with 31 punches landed versus 7 punches landed for Haney. These two rounds impacted how many boxing fans and pundits viewed this fight as these two rounds were near the end of fight.

ESPN had the fight 115-113 for Haney and MMA had the fight 115-113 for Lomachenko . (My good friend David Martinez / dmboxing.com agreed with MMA with a 115-113 score).  The first round was a close round as Haney tried to land couple of good jabs, but Lomachenko ended the round with a flurry but interesting, it was Haney who landed more effective power shots, landing 45 percent of his shots but only landed 1 jab out of 21 attempts. Close round, I gave it to Haney by a whisker, but it could easily gone to Lomachenko.

In the second round, Haney was the more accurate puncher as his jab won the round, but the third round belonged to Lomachenko as he pressed the action and landed 40 percent more power shots . First round that he found a rhythm. After three rounds it was 29-28 in favor of Haney, but it could easily have been 29-28 in favor of Lomachenko.

The fourth was Haney best at that point as he landed nearly double punches but in the fifth round, Lomachenko nailed Haney with a solid right that shook Haney. Haney landed 13 punches to Lomachenko 12 punches, but the best punch of the round belonged to Lomachenko. After five rounds I had 48 to 47 for Haney.

In the sixth round, Haney landed some solid rights and Lomachenko left side has some redness, but Lomachenko landed some good head shots . Halfway through the fight, I had Haney up by 58 to 56 but depending on how you scored the first round, it could easily be 57 to 57.

Haney opened the seventh round with an uppercut partially blocked while Lomachenko landed two solid rights and after tying up Lomachenko, Haney landed a solid right plus he landed a jab and left hooks while Lomachenko landed a combination. Close round but I gave it to Lomachenko but could easily gone for Haney. 67-66 for Haney after seven rounds, Compubox noted that Haney landed 70 punches to 62 punches at this point of the fight and Lomachenko only landed 20 percent of his punches when he normally land close to 40 percent . Haney defense frustrated Lomachenko.

Another close round but Haney landed solid jabs and more efficient with his punches as he won the eight round and after eight rounds, Haney was winning on my scorecard 77 to 75. In the ninth round Haney beat Lomachenko to the punch and Lomachenko could sustain a consistent attack, and with three rounds left I had Haney up by three points, 87 to 84. After nine rounds, Haney landed 92 punches to 80 for Lomachenko.

Lomachenko dominated the tenth and eleventh round as he landed clean shots, easy for judges to score. (these two rounds were the easiest to score.) He appeared to get the upper hand and Haney suddenly looked confuse and after round tenth, Haney face showed concern. Concern were well founded as Lomachenko buckled Haney with a left hand from his southpaw position in the eleventh round. He landed punches in bunches as Haney only landed 2 punches to Lomachenko 20. Over these two rounds, Lomachenko landed 24 more punches. With one round left, it was 105 to 104 on my scorecard but Lomachenko had the momentum.

Haney made his last stand as his corner had to assume this was a close fight on the scorecard. Lomachenko closed out the fight as he consistently beat Haney to the punch and swarming style gave Haney fits. Lomachenko won the final three rounds as he landed 44 punches to 18 for Haney. I had this a draw but there were several rounds over the first nine rounds that were close and could easily have gone for either fighters.

Lomachenko landed 124 punches compared to 110 punches for Haney, but he landed only 22 percent of his punches, lower than his normal output but then Haney only landed nearly 28 percent. Lomachenko higher punch landed output came over the final three rounds and these last three rounds is what most fans will remember and not how close it was for the first nine rounds.

This was intriguing fight, but Lomachenko won the last three rounds on my score card and leaves me wondering if Lomachenko had started earlier with his more aggressive stance, if he could have easily won.

The lightweight division is loaded but Haney should give Lomachenko a rematch to see if he truly the better fighter. This fight was close and not a definite win for either fighter, so a rematch is in order.

There are several intriguing fights involving Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta Davis that could be made. Haney, Davis, and Stevenson are undefeated but as Lomachenko showed, he is as good as the top three.

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