The Big Weekend Review

Stuart Brown

There were some intriguing bouts across the pond last night. Here’s my round up;
 



 
 
MGM Grand Las Vegas Nevada
 
The Catch-weight not enough of a ‘Problem’ for ‘Showtime’
 
Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner (30-2-0) vs ‘Showtime’ Shawn Porter (25-1-1)
 
This was an eagerly anticipated bout between two fighters looking to re-establish themselves on the highest rung of the fight ladder. Neither’s career had, had chance to fully recover since losses to Maidana and Brook respectively.
 
Broner’s mouth was as big as ever in the build-up to this one but showed very little. His demands for the catch-weight surely pointed to a lack of confidence at the weight.
 
Porter dominated proceedings from the first bell. He was in Broner’s face, hunting him down, working well to the body and head. Broner’s response was to hold, push Porter’s head down and run, finally being deducted a point in the eleventh.
 
The catch-weight appeared to have little impact on the super-fit Porter who was relentless through to the start of the twelfth when he was caught with a shock left-hand from Broner. Porter recovered well and went on the secure a unanimous points victory. I would question the close score of judge Byrd. Two rounds? Come on.
 
Conclusion
 
Porter can go from strength to strength in the ever exciting welterweight division. There are numerous big fight-nights out there and it will be interesting to see what his next move is. Will it be Mayweather next?
 
Broner simply does not look to have brought his strength and skills up through the weights. He’s looked average since his first fight at welterweight, being lucky against Malignaggi, not getting a KO and looking sluggish. I think his future lies back at lightweight/light-welter at best, this is assuming the wheels don’t well and truly drop off the Broner bandwagon.
 



 
 
Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr (17-0-0) vs Phil ‘The Italian Sensation’ Lo Greco (26-2-0)
 
The Truth is out there
 
Out in the Nevada desert we witnessed ‘The Truth’ at the top of his game. He completely dominated a very dangerous late-replacement in Lo Greco.
 
Lo Greco had only been beaten once previously, a UD over 10 against Shawn Porter. It easy to dismiss Lo Greco’s destruction due to the short-notice but he was fit, had been in sparring and ready to go.
 
Spence looked punch perfect. Fast, powerful hands that simply proved too much for Lo Greco in the third.
 
Watching footage of his previous fights and seeing the way he destroyed a very risky opponent I think there are very big things ahead for Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr.
 



 
 
Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
 
David Lemieux (34-2-0) vs Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (31-2-0)
 
Canadian Power rules
 
In an interesting competition for the vacant IBF world middleweight title the big-hitting Lemieux took on the skilled N’Dam.
 
N’Dam was a relentless competitor, getting put down four times, once in the second, twice in the fifth and once in the seventh. Each time he got back to his feet and took the fight to Lemieux. He must be given praise for the efforts shown. Despite the knockdowns N’Dam continued to pressure Lemieux, but didn’t have the power on the night to put Lemieux on his backside.
 
In the end, the knockdowns and power won the fight for the Canadian, with scores of 115-109 (Twice) and 114-110.
 



 
 
Oracle Arena, Oakland, California
 
The Kid Really has Gone
 
Andre ‘S.O.G.’ Ward (28-0-0) vs Paul ‘Real Gone Kid’ Smith (35-6-0)
 
From the start of the week everything seemed to go wrong for Smith. His long-term trainer Frank Gallagher wasn’t with him in the final days before the fight, he came in 4.4lbs over the catch-weight limit of 172lbs and then a further 3.4lbs over the renegotiated limit. Smith’s big Oakland payday was cut by the best part of £40,000.
 
Ward dominated the fight from the first bell, landing hurtful jabs Smith simply couldn’t avoid. Ward continued to keep the fight at distance and the damage quickly started to show on Smith’s body and face.
 
Ward finally stepped up the pace, with Smith’s corner being forced to throw in the towel in the ninth in a one-sided encounter.
 
It’ll be interesting to see what’s next for Smith. Three defeats in a row, albeit in differing circumstances is likely to mean an end to his venture at world-level.
 
The surge in young (Including his own brother Callum) super middleweight talent at the British level, may mean a return at the British level could be a disaster. I’m a big fan a Smith. Friendly and approachable and has had a decent career in the ring. Perhaps now the time is right for him to hang up the gloves and pick up the microphone to continue on a so far successful media career.
 
This was a solid comeback fight for Ward after a nineteen month lay-off. There are numerous fights out there for him at super-middle, but whether or not he’ll return at this weight, or take the step up to light-heavy remains to be seen. He has all the talent in the world, but will he put the shows on the fans want to see?


http://www.v2boxing.co.uk/#!The-Big-Weekend-Review/c1xmj/55871ba60cf2a5839d91e3c9

Really enjoyed the Lemeiux fight. Thought he was a bit rough around the edges and was getting tagged plenty himself when he was in seek and destroy mode, but in fairness, he had NDam shaking every time he landed the left hook.

GGG already called him out on Twitter. That's a fight I'd want to see. 0% chance it goes 12. Out of interest, is Lemeiux a left handed orthodox? His left hook was so powerful I thought he must be.

Likewise Dipper , great fight and full credit to N'Dam he has the most remarkable recovery powers I've seen. Lemieux looks very beatable but what a peach of left he has and I look forward to watching him perform again.

Cheers , rodders

Nice write up, Stuart.

Yep, as others have said the Lemieux fight was excellent and the pick of the bunch. I don't know what's more remarkable about N'Dam - how many times he goes down, or how he's able to recover and shake it off so quickly every time. He's a good, skilled boxer, but the problem is he only strings it all together in spurts. The fifth round was a possible turning point for me, as he'd come back well from a tough couple of openers in 3 and 4. He made Lemieux miss a couple of big shots on the ropes, but instead of countering and getting out of there like he'd been doing he stayed there too long, pushed his luck and Lemieux punished him with that lovely left hook to the ribs before switching it upstairs for the knockdown, which he repeated moments later.

All of a sudden, a round where N'Dam was on his way to a 10-9 which would have made the fight even on my card becomes a 10-7 against him, and now he's four points down instead. I thought he was winning the seventh before he got decked, too. Good jab, a quality mover and a lovely, tricky right uppercut in his arsenal as well - if he could just stay in his feet for a while he'd be a nightmare for anyone!

Still, Lemieux did some fantastic body punching and did a solid job of cutting the ring off. N'Dam couldn't miss him with the jab at times and he's quite predictable. I even thought N'Dam stiffened him a couple of times, so I doubt it's the kind of performance which is going to give Golovkin nightmares. But he was fit as a fiddle here, set his attacks up with lovely body work and with his power he's an interesting fight for anyone at 160 or 168 if he goes up. Fun to watch whatever the result.

As for Broner, I thought he was abysmal. He doesn't even seem to know what kind of fighter he wants to be now. He took the centre of the ring and went on the front foot, but what does that matter if you're not going to initiate any exchanges and are going to do nothing but hold when the fight gets in close? He set himself up to have a bit more of a scrap than a boxing match and made no effort to switch to the latter once he'd wasted six rounds making a pig's ear of the former.

Poor, scrappy fight and Porter's work had little quality to it overall, but I'll cut him some slack as it's hard sometimes to look good against a guy who just isn't there to win. He certainly didn't seem bothered by the weight and he did some nice body work, too.

If N'Dam could just stay on his feet he would be a force to be reckoned with. Would have decisioned Quillan and Lemieux

PaulHv2 wrote: 
 
From the start of the week everything seemed to go wrong for Smith. His long-term trainer Frank Gallagher wasn’t with him in the final days before the fight
 

Well am not surprised he came in over with Frank training him



Although I can see the resemblance

hahah, Joe even... Thanks for the comments.