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In the pre-main event fight at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, Joel “El Cepillo” Casamayor and Almazbek “Kid Diamond” Raiymkulov fought to an unpopular twelve round draw. Raiymkulov suffered a disastrous opening round as he was cut and knocked down by Cuban southpaw Casamayor who was looking to get back into the world lightweight championship picture. It did not take long for Raiymkulov to recover from the early disappointment though as he began to power into Casamayor again and again with strong one-two combinations. It was obvious during rounds four and five that Casamayor respected Raiymkulov’s power, as he made a strategy of circling away from Raiymkulov’s dangerous right hand punch. Raiymkulov began to assert his own strategy, to wear down the older Casamayor and stop his swift footwork and movement around the ring by digging in with vicious body punches.
In round six, Casamayor proved to be the more accurate puncher of the two as he zeroed in on Raiymkulov with sharp straight left hands and the occasional jaunt down to the body with the same punch. Casamayor’s counterpunches were extremely successful for him and he occasionally managed to lead in the fight with a good jab followed by the left hand. Ominously so, Raiymkulov seemed well prepared to take whatever Casamayor had to offer.
Perhaps sensing his stamina reserves draining, Casamayor took the seventh round away from himself offensively by fighting a very negative round, making himself difficult to hit as the action descended into a rather scrappy affair. In the eighth though, Raiymkulov finally began to live up to his reputation as a puncher by ripping big punches to Casamayor’s head and body. Casamayor’s response was desperate and he was warned after throwing three low shots.
The final four rounds of the fight saw the true potential of the match-up finally realized as Casamayor concluded that he could no longer run and hope to elude the younger man, and still have a chance of winning the fight. Casamayor stood his ground and the fight came alive as both men had their moments in spectacular punch trades. Both fighters landed eye-catching punches and this trend continued until the final round. The last minute of the last round was breathtaking as both men were hurt by head shots, but neither gave ground as they tore away at one another until the bel signaled the end of the fight.
The final scores were: 116-111 for Raiymkulov, 115-112 for Casamayor, while the final card read 114-114, rendering this fight a draw.
Writer’s note: While the decision was unpopular with both camps and the majority of the broadcast team on HBO seemingly aggrieved on Raiymkulov’s behalf, I must say that I do not feel that a draw is a terribly unjust result. For all Raiymkulov’s vaunted power, it was Casamayor who scored the knockdown and managed to inflict greater facial damage upon his opponent. Although Casamayor fought negatively at times, he boxed and moved very well in the early rounds and made the bold decision to stand and fight the championship rounds with what was likely a much physically stronger opponent. I cannot help but feel that once again, the HBO broadcast team influenced the viewers with insinuations that a fighter not forcing the fight was not winning. Aggression makes for exciting fights but the idea of applying neat boxing technique should not be dispensed with as a means of winning a fight.
Jim Cawkwell can be reached at jimcawkwell@yahoo.co.uk
