This Saturday, 2 Solid Fight Cards

[Guest]

March 8 (Saturday), 2008 At Estadio Olimpico Andres Quintana Roo, Cancun, Mexico
(HBO) Oleg Maskaev (34-5) vs. Samuel Peter (29-1)
(The Ring Magazine #3 Heavyweight vs. #2)
(WBC Heavyweight belt)
(HBO) Juan Diaz (33-0) vs. Nate Campbell (31-5-1)
(The Ring Magazine #1 Lightweight vs. #5)
(WBA, WBO, and IBF Lightweight belts)
John Ruiz (42-7-1) vs. Jameel McCline (38-8-3)
Jose Luis Castillo (56-8-1) vs. Timothy Bradley (21-0)
Guty Espadas Jr. (41-7) vs. Leonilo Miranda (27-0)
Adrian Hernandez (12-0) vs. Gilberto Keb Baas (28-16-2)

At The O2 Arena, London, England
(Showtime) David Haye (20-1) vs. Enzo Maccarinelli (28-1)
(For The Ring Magazine World Cruiserweight Championship)
(WBA, WBC, and WBO Cruiserweight belts)
Souleymane M'baye (36-2-1) vs. Jose Soto (22-4-2)
Kevin Mitchell (25-0) vs. Carl Johanneson (27-3)
Paul Smith (22-0) vs. Cello Renda (14-5-1)

[swerb]

Im actually kinda excited for the Haye/Maccarinelli fight. Haven't watched a cruiserweight fight in years ... these are the two best, for all the belts.

Still, I'll prolly tape that one and watch the HBO fights. Another chance to see Juan Diaz fight, and Maskaev/Peter should be interesting. Winner earns the right to be the one to get left jabbed to death by Klitschko.

HBO showing the Ruiz/McCline fight too? Or just Baby Bull and the heavyweight scrap?

[Guest]

I think just my boy Diaz and the heavys.
Haye called out Klitschko so he'll be headed to Heavyweight soon.
Should be 2 nice cards.

[peeker643]

This Campbell-Diaz fight has been 8 rounds of brutal inside fighting and Diaz has a gash above his eye that's taking a big toll.

Campbell is giving him everything he could want and more.

Interesting to see what happens if this goes to the judges because it's close.

[swerb]

This is one of the better fights of the last couple years. Marquez/Vasquez action level.

Clickers workin OT between this one and Duke/UNC.

Great fight. Campbell's givin the Baby Bull all he can handle.

[peeker643]

Diaz is in trouble after 8. Tired, hurt and inactive. Not a good combination.

[swerb]

Great game plan in this fight for Campbell. Also, great conditioning. Really thought the body shots from the first 5-6 rds from Diaz would hurt Campbell late.

Instead, Diaz is the one thats folding.

1st 8 rounds were tough to score though. This could go either way, despite the fact Campbell has convincingly won the last 3 rounds, and is ahead by a couple pts on my card.

[swerb]

I'll tell you what ... I think the Baby Bull mighta taken this one a little for granted. Looks like Diaz has some love handles, and Campbells clearly the better conditioned fighter late in this fight.

[peeker643]

If Diaz wins this fight on the cards it's a fucking travesty of epic proportions. Including the point they took away if it was for a head butt.

[swerb]

I've seen worse. Inexperienced judges, fight in Mexico ...

[swerb]

For the record, Im with Lederman here

115-112 Campbell

[swerb]

WOW

This is a major upset. Great fucking fight.

Diaz will bounce back. Wake up call. Dont sleep on a vet like Campbell.

Similar to what just happened to Paul Williams.

[peeker643]

I've seen worse. Inexperienced judges, fight in Mexico ...

Sounds like a weekend you may have had in college....

Two of the three got it right.

[peeker643]

Maskaev-Peter ain't seeing the 7th. Its the anti Klitschko-Ibraminov fight.

Measure and throw.

[swerb]

I got Maskaev at 8-1 odds to win by KO or TKO.

Was very surprised to see those odds for a big puncher fighting such a technically sloppy fighter in Peter.

[swerb]

Well, so much for that.

Time for Peter/Klitschko II. Anything short of that or Haye/Klitschko will be disappointing.

[peeker643]

I got Maskaev at 8-1 odds to win by KO or TKO.

Was very surprised to see those odds for a big puncher fighting such a technically sloppy fighter in Peter.

Peter is the physically sloppy fighter as well.

Guess he was in good enough shape to cost you cash though Swerb. 6 rd TKO.

[swerb]

At least we got to see a heavyweight fight that had a little action.

Not that those were two elite talents, but theres nothing like seeing 250 lb men throwing big punches at each others heads.

Thats whats always made the heavyweight division so compelling before these last 5-6 years of suck.

[peeker643]

Agreed.

I'm here to be entertained. And it doesn't take much.

[Guest]

Peter and Maskaev are both average at best.

The Baby Bull was screwed once his eye got busted opened.
He'll be back better than ever.

[swerb]

Honestly, I think Diaz still loses that fight without the busted eye.

IMO, it was the difference in the game plans and conditioning of the 2 fighters that was the difference. Not the eye. Eye didn't help, but Campbell still wins that fight without it. And remember, he also lost a pt on a bullshit call. He busted that cut open with a legit punch, not the phantom headbutt they penalized him for.

[peeker643]

Spoon,

Diaz seemed to be pissed about the cut. I understand being pissed given it did take him out of the fight in many ways. But damn, it's hard not to see so many head butts if an opponent fighting the same style is in the ring with him, no? And it wasn't a butt that cut him as it was.

Ultimately I thought Campbell fought a more aggressive, physical fight even before the cut. It was close, but I thought Campbell came in with a great approach.

[swerb]

Exactly. No way Diaz can be pissed about a cut given his style. Nothing against his style, I love it.

I like the kid. He'll be back. With the disclaimer that I want to first see Katsidas fight coming up here, he's still likely the best lightweight out there.

But he got taken to school tonight.

Took Campbell lightly. This was the fight of Campbell's life, and he acted like it. Great, gutty game plan and approach. Superb conditioning.

[Guest]

Campbell looked good, no doubt about it.
I actually don't think the point deduction was bullshit, it wasn't a headbutt however.
Campbell hit him on a break while the ref was stepping in, dirty move.

[bustedknuckles]

There are a myriad of reasons why Diaz lost this fight. It was the "perfect storm" so to speak for Campbell. He has been a roll lately and was well conditioned and mentally focused while Diaz was not. Evidently there were also distractions last week between Diaz's camp and Don King (go figure) and that's never a good thing on the eve of a fight. Then you have the cut on top of all of the other stuff. If Diaz is the fighter that most people think he is, myself included, then he'll be back to form soon and prove this was only a temporary set back. In the meantime, give Nate Campbell all the credit in the world for stepping up to the plate.

In regards to Samual Peter, he's the Heavyweight version of Edison Miranda, a dominant physical force, but a one trick pony nonetheless. The solid technical fighters like the Klitschko boys are going to present significant problems for him. His fights are usually entertaining though, so I'll keep watching him.

[peeker643]

Either way, very interesting fight to watch with the non-stop inside banging. Again I'm amazed there wasn't more of an issue with head butts given there was usually no distance between the two fighters.

I'm also wondering about the cut care like Lampley and Steward discussed on the telecast. That was a nasty gash but it sure didn't look like Diaz had the best care for it over the course of the night.

Couple questions for the better boxing-0educated guys out there:

What was the purse and the payday for Diaz and Campbell?
Also, what do the better cut-men get from a fighter and is it for just the fight or for the training leading up to the fight as well?

[Guest]

I believe the cutmen get a percentage of the purse.
And I also think it's just for that night, unless it's someone they know.
Diaz's cutman was garbage, what was he doing?

The Baby Bull will be back, I don't doubt that for a second.
Campbell looked good, and was focused as hell.

[bustedknuckles]

I believe that the cutman and 2nd get paid through the trainer's portion of the purse which is usually around 10% of the fighter's purse, but that may vary or be completely different at this level. I don't know what the purse was for this fight, but I'd be shocked if Diaz's portion wasn't seven figures.