Nonito Donaire vs. Jeffrey Mathebula - Saturday night fight thread

[Spicoli]

Donaire will get this call, deserved... but he must forget all that 5 plus division superman bullshit. He looked a bit flat and phat that last half and cards were too generous.

My thinking must be wrong.... I'm thinking now this must be a US fighter vs a foreign fighter on US venu. Don't really make much sense otherwise.

I'm confused. So you would still bill Donaire as a foreign fighter? He's clearly a media darling.

[Mars_ax]

That have got to be the blindest judges ever seems like we got candidates for those every week

I thought Mathebula won 5 rounds and Donaire 7, + a point for the 4th round KD. There's no fucking way that Donaire won more than 7 rounds.

[TitoFan]

That have got to be the blindest judges ever seems like we got candidates for those every week

I thought Mathebula won 5 rounds and Donaire 7, + a point for the 4th round KD. There's no fucking way that Donaire won more than 7 rounds.

Just think. If Nonito hadn't broken Mathebula's jaw in the 11th, and Mathebula kept the pace throughout the 11th and 12th.... the judges would've still given a comfortable decision to Nonito. More proof that judging is screwed up in professional boxing.

[Mars_ax]

Did Donaire throw his boxing skills out the window tonight?

He's just looking for that one shot.

I'm thinking moving up in weight isn't going to be as easy for Donaire as he thought. Plus, Mathebula had a huge reach advantage, and was very hard to hit, because he's so awkward.

[Mars_ax]

That have got to be the blindest judges ever seems like we got candidates for those every week

I thought Mathebula won 5 rounds and Donaire 7, + a point for the 4th round KD. There's no fucking way that Donaire won more than 7 rounds.

Just think. If Nonito hadn't broken Mathebula's jaw in the 11th, and Mathebula kept the pace throughout the 11th and 12th.... the judges would've still given a comfortable decision to Nonito. More proof that judging is screwed up in professional boxing.

Yup, the judging is still horrendous, it's pathetic, same bullshit every week.

[TitoFan]

That have got to be the blindest judges ever seems like we got candidates for those every week

I thought Mathebula won 5 rounds and Donaire 7, + a point for the 4th round KD. There's no fucking way that Donaire won more than 7 rounds.

Just think. If Nonito hadn't broken Mathebula's jaw in the 11th, and Mathebula kept the pace throughout the 11th and 12th.... the judges would've still given a comfortable decision to Nonito. More proof that judging is screwed up in professional boxing.

Yup, the judging is still horrendous, it's pathetic, same bullshit every week.

But some will throw up their hands and say it's "part of boxing".
As predictable a response as the lousy scoring we're seeing on a constant basis.

[fan johnny]

Donaire will get this call, deserved... but he must forget all that 5 plus division superman bullshit. He looked a bit flat and phat that last half and cards were too generous.

My thinking must be wrong.... I'm thinking now this must be a US fighter vs a foreign fighter on US venu. Don't really make much sense otherwise.

I'm confused. So you would still bill Donaire as a foreign fighter? He's clearly a media darling.

Uh? no the other way around. There was one Judge from South Africa though. No way Donaire won that many rounds. Although Donaire was clearly the better fighter. Mathebula had won many rounds out working Donaire. Donaire didn't do enough to get the credit he got. The Judges didn't give Mathebula credit for his connects but rather they clearly gave credit to Donaire for his aggression.

[Mars_ax]

Not a bad night of boxing, (except for the judging) Pavlik & Donaire both had tough fights, but came away winners. It remains to be seen how Kelly will do at SMW, but I hope he does well, many among us have had issues with Alcohol, it would be great to see him win another title. As for Donaire, there should be some great fights ahead for him, 122 & 126 are loaded.

[Mars_ax]

That have got to be the blindest judges ever seems like we got candidates for those every week

I thought Mathebula won 5 rounds and Donaire 7, + a point for the 4th round KD. There's no fucking way that Donaire won more than 7 rounds.

Just think. If Nonito hadn't broken Mathebula's jaw in the 11th, and Mathebula kept the pace throughout the 11th and 12th.... the judges would've still given a comfortable decision to Nonito. More proof that judging is screwed up in professional boxing.

Yup, the judging is still horrendous, it's pathetic, same bullshit every week.

But some will throw up their hands and say it's "part of boxing".
As predictable a response as the lousy scoring we're seeing on a constant basis.

I've been watching boxing for more then 50 years and I can't ever remember this many lame ass decisions as there's been in the last year or so. It's not "part of boxing", it's ruining boxing.

[Spicoli]

Donaire will get this call, deserved... but he must forget all that 5 plus division superman bullshit. He looked a bit flat and phat that last half and cards were too generous.

My thinking must be wrong.... I'm thinking now this must be a US fighter vs a foreign fighter on US venu. Don't really make much sense otherwise.

I'm confused. So you would still bill Donaire as a foreign fighter? He's clearly a media darling.

Uh? no the other way around. There was one Judge from South Africa though. No way Donaire won that many rounds. Although Donaire was clearly the better fighter. Mathebula had won many rounds out working Donaire. Donaire didn't do enough to get the credit he got. The Judges didn't give Mathebula credit for his connects but rather they clearly gave credit to Donaire for his aggression.

Agreed. My bad mate, Killians Red has seen fit to put its boot in my arse tonight. Good points. Donaire has the punch and effect but he has of late sold himself short, loading up and taking short cuts. He intends to go up and wont always have the time-room to adjust to bad habits. Mathebula really took some rounds tonight.

[shza]

Just finished watching. I thought Donaire won 8 rounds to 4. I scored it 116-111. I gave Mathebula 2 and 3 and then a couple in the second half of the fight -- I think 7 and 8. The judges' scorecards were definitely wide but I thought the HBO guys were giving Mathebula more credit than he deserved, given how pitter-pat all of his output was. Decent fight.

Pavlik would get destroyed by Froch, much less Ward. He should be aiming for Arthur Abraham - that's more his level.

[Rantcatrat]

Not a bad night of boxing, (except for the judging) Pavlik & Donaire both had tough fights, but came away winners. It remains to be seen how Kelly will do at SMW, but I hope he does well, many among us have had issues with Alcohol, it would be great to see him win another title. As for Donaire, there should be some great fights ahead for him, 122 & 126 are loaded.

I didn't have as much of a problem with the Donaire-Mathebula scoring as I have in the past with other fights because the right guy won. Mathebula slapped a lot with his punches and moved away from the action the entire fight. Is it me or has Donaire become so enamored by his power that he constantly looks for the big punch, forgetting combination punching and effective body work? Clearly, he is explosive, but should he not consider setting those game-ending punches up more? I still favor Rigo if they fought. I would like to see Donaire v. Nishioka or Donaire v. Mares.

[Rantcatrat]

Just finished watching. I thought Donaire won 8 rounds to 4. I scored it 116-111. I gave Mathebula 2 and 3 and then a couple in the second half of the fight -- I think 7 and 8. The judges' scorecards were definitely wide but I thought the HBO guys were giving Mathebula more credit than he deserved, given how pitter-pat all of his output was. Decent fight.

Pavlik would get destroyed by Froch, much less Ward. He should be aiming for Arthur Abraham - that's more his level.

The criticism on Pavlik is correct and exaggerated at the same time. Max Kellerman made the point during the broadcast, but think about it, who has he lost to? Future Hall of Famer, light heavyweight Bernard Hopkins and p4p Sergio Martinez. Clearly, Ward and Dirrell would be bad match-ups for him, but I like the Froch fight. Pavlik would be the underdog, likely lose, but you know going into it that it'll be a good action fight. Pavlik did finish a prime Jermain Taylor faster than Froch finished a past-his-prime Jermain Taylor, at Froch's weight, mind you. And a fight with Bute ain't half bad either. Bute could end his career, or Pavlik could end Bute's and earn a fight with Froch.

[Mars_ax]

Just finished watching. I thought Donaire won 8 rounds to 4. I scored it 116-111. I gave Mathebula 2 and 3 and then a couple in the second half of the fight -- I think 7 and 8. The judges' scorecards were definitely wide but I thought the HBO guys were giving Mathebula more credit than he deserved, given how pitter-pat all of his output was. Decent fight.

Pavlik would get destroyed by Froch, much less Ward. He should be aiming for Arthur Abraham - that's more his level.

That's about how I scored it, 116-112, Mathebula was landing an occasional decent shot and countering well at times, but a lot of his punches were weak jabs that missed the mark. The more effective power punches were primarily coming from Donaire.

As for Pavlik, he may not be quite ready yet for the big dogs @168, I say stay busy like he has been, and work on not getting hit so much. I respect Kelly for putting his life back together, hopefully his story has a happy ending, he's a really likable dude.

[Hulk]

Just finished watching. I thought Donaire won 8 rounds to 4. I scored it 116-111. I gave Mathebula 2 and 3 and then a couple in the second half of the fight -- I think 7 and 8. The judges' scorecards were definitely wide but I thought the HBO guys were giving Mathebula more credit than he deserved, given how pitter-pat all of his output was. Decent fight.

Pavlik would get destroyed by Froch, much less Ward. He should be aiming for Arthur Abraham - that's more his level.

Same score I had it. Mathebula was pretty fast, had good defense and a good jab, but never really put any steam on his punches. There were all fast slapping shots. Max was trying to make it appear closer than it was, he did the same thing with the Pavlik fight.

Pavlik looked pretty good I thought, not great. He did a good job though against a crafty, faster, younger man.

I want to see Pavlik vs. Bika !

And I wanna watch Crank Yankers !