It was a decent night of fights on Friday Night Fights. That being said, I cannot wait until the Boxcino tournament next week.
Petr Petrov UD 10 over Gamaliel Diaz
Very rough fight with a lot of fouls. Diaz was clearly looking for a way out in the later rounds. He was outmatched in this fight and it really showed. Diaz had absolutely no answer for Petrov. When Diaz came forward he was being counter punched constantly. When Petrov was able to back Diaz up, he also dominated the fight. Petrov was knocked down in the first round with what looked to be a push or slip. Aside from that, the fight clearly belonged to Petrov. Diaz was knocked down in the 7th and also lost 1 (or 2) points for low blows at the end of the round. It was academic, as Petrov was way ahead in the fight.
I love Teddy Atlas, but one thing that drove me absolutely crazy is that Teddy gave the first round to Petrov. Petrov was knocked down in the first round and the ref counted the knockdown. At this point, there is no way it can be a 10-9 round for Petrov. Everyone likes to complain about judging, but very few people know how to do it correctly.
Taras Shelestyuk UD 8 over Juan Rodriguez
Shelestyuk just looked so much bigger than Rodriguez in this fight. He also seemed much stronger, landing the harder shots. A headbutt in the 4th round caused some anxious moments for Shelestyuk. He was cut on his forehead, but was bleeding into his eye. Shelestyuk was able to get past this and dominate the fight for a unanimous decision win.
Emmanual Robles UD 6 over Wilberth Lopez
Very uneventful fight.
Neither fighter looked great and I have to be honest, I would be shocked
if Robles, who remained unbeaten after this fight, will make a title run. He looked like a middle of the road fighter. Anyone can have an off night and I will look forward to his next performance. It would be interesting to see him step up in class. He should have been able to get Lopez out of there.
