The question leading up to former three-time world champion
Robert Guerrero’s fight against journeyman contender Aron Martinez was whether
Guerrero could rebound from his recent loss to top Welterweight contender Keith
Thurman in March of this year. Although some viewed this fight as a mere “Comeback
Fight” for Guerrero and did not give Martinez much of a chance, Martinez showed
that he had come to fight when the two fighters met on June 6th at the StubHub Center
in Carson, California.
This fight was largely fought on the inside in the early
rounds, but it was Martinez who was able to consistently push Guerrero back
against the ropes and seemed to get the better of the majority of exchanges
between the two. This was highlighted when Martinez dropped Guerrero with a
combination to the body and head in the closing seconds of round four.
Although Martinez seemed to have an advantage in the early
rounds, an argument can be made that Guerrero had the advantage in the second
half of the fight. As the fight progressed Guerrero was able to find success in
keeping the fight in the middle the ring by controlling distance and landing
the more effective punches. Guerrero was able to dictate how the fight was
fought in this observer’s opinion in rounds six, eight, nine, and the tenth and
final round based on his ability to control distance and get his punches off
first.
The fight however, was extremely close and I felt could have
gone either way. At the end of the ten round Welterweight bout it was not
surprising to see the official scoring end up in a split decision. Two official
Judges Eddie Hernandez and Max DeLuca split scores of 95-94 for each fighter.
The third and deciding Judge Jerry Cantu scored the fight by a significantly
wider margin 97-92 in favor of Guerrero giving him a hard fought decision
victory.
Unofficially I scored this fight 95-94 in favor of Martinez due
in large part to the success he was able to have in the first half of this
fight. It was a bout however, that ended up being very difficult to score and
it is understandable how there can be varying opinions where an argument can be
made for either fighter.
Following the fight I commented on social media that I
thought the source of controversy if there was any in regard to this fight
would center around Judge Jerry Cantu’s scorecard. Although I felt this fight
was much closer than Cantu’s scorecard suggests and felt that Aron Martinez was
able to get the better of the action in the early rounds, there was a lot of
fighting on the inside during those rounds and some might feel that Guerrero
was able to get an edge in some of those rounds depending on one’s perspective.
The difference in this fight in my eyes was the knockdown
that Martinez was able to score in the fourth round and that is what gave him the
edge on my scorecard. Even though I scored rounds two, three, and four in
Martinez’ favor, there may have been some who felt that Guerrero was able to
win rounds one through three and taking into account what Guerrero was able to
do in the second half of the fight, it is understandable how a scorecard like Judge
Cantu’s can be rendered.
Regardless of the scoring of this fight, I believe that Aron
Martinez has established himself as a contender in the Welterweight division and
gave a good account of himself in defeat. Even though Martinez came out on the
losing end in this fight, he will likely get an opportunity against another top
contender in the division and is deserving of a rematch against Guerrero should
the opportunity present itself.
As for Robert Guerrero, he was able to bounce back from
defeat and put himself back in the win column. Although some may question the
scoring of this fight and debate whether the decision was controversial,
sometimes a win is a win and at the end of the day Guerrero did what he had to
do, win the fight.
It will be interesting to see whether Guerrero, who entered
the fight against Martinez rated number ten in the World Boxing Association’s
(WBA) Welterweight ratings will move up in those rankings off of this victory. For
a fighter however, who has consistently taken part in exciting fights and has
shown throughout his career a willingness to take on all comers, it is clear
that Robert Guerrero is still a force to be reckoned with in the Welterweight
division.
“And That’s The Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison
All Rights Reserved.
Follow Beau Denison on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison
No comments:
Post a Comment