One of the
bigger stories that came out of the Deontay Wilder-Johann Duhaupas card on
September 26th besides the “Game/Brave” effort put forth by Duhaupas in his
challenge of Wilder was the outcome of an undercard bout between undefeated
rising Heavyweight prospect Dominic Breazeale and battle-tested veteran Fred
Kassi. Breazeale, who entered the fight against Kassi having knocked out fourteen
of fifteen previous opponents as a professional is at a stage in his career
that one might argue is not all that unlike that of Deontay Wilder, who had
developed a reputation as one of the Heavyweight division’s feared knockout
artists prior to becoming a world champion earlier this year.
As was the
case when Wilder faced Duhaupas, Breazeale would face what many will likely
consider the toughest test of his career in the form of Fred Kassi. Kassi
entered the fight coming off of a controversial draw against former world title
challenger Chris Arreola in July of this year. A fight that saw Kassi outwork
Arreola over the course of ten rounds and one where there was a difference of
opinion as to who won the bout.
An
argument can and perhaps should be made that this fight between Breazeale and
Kassi was even more controversial. In what was a very competitive contest from
the outset it was a battle between Kassi’s ability to be elusive, pick his
spots, and effective counter punching versus Breazeale’s aggression and greater
activity.
Several of
the rounds in this fight were close where you can make an argument for either
fighter having done enough to win a round. As this observer watched this fight
what stood out to me was Kassi’s ability to pick his spots, but also to be
willing to engage with Breazeale and use his awkwardness to make Breazeale miss
with his offense.
Although
there was no question that it was Breazeale who was the busier fighter of the
two, in my estimation it was Kassi who landed the cleaner more effective
punches throughout the fight. It was however, a close fight in my eyes that I
had Kassi winning by two rounds at the end of the ten round bout.
As is
almost always the case when it comes to close fights it will often boil down as
this observer has often said over the years to what a judge prefers in their
own individual criteria in how they score based on clean punching, effective
aggressiveness, ring generalship, and defense. This was one of those fights
where although I felt one fighter was more effective and landed the cleaner
punches, I could see an argument in favor of the other fighter based on greater
activity and aggression.
It was no
surprise to see a difference of opinion at the end of this fight, specifically
a difference of opinion between Boxing fans and experts and the three official
judges who ultimately scored the fight in Breazeale’s favor by wide margins.
Judge David Hudson turned in a score of 97-93 or 7-3 in rounds while Judges
Irwin Deutsch and John Westeterp turned in scores of 98-92, (8-2 in rounds) and
100-90 (10-0 in rounds) respectively in Breazeale’s favor.
Although this observer was one of
many who expressed their opinion in questioning the accuracy of the scoring
following the fight on social media, it is important to remember that judges
score on a round by round basis and when several of the rounds in a fight are
close there can be differing scores based on what a judge looks for in their
own individual criteria. Some judges will score based on effective aggression,
while others may score based on clean punching, defense, and overall ring
generalship.
It
appeared that judges Hudson, Deutsch, and Westeterp favored the aggression of
Breazeale in their scoring of this fight. It is certainly understandable to a
degree how mere aggression can influence scoring. After all, fights can
sometimes be determined by who is able to dictate the pace of the contest.
There is no doubt that Dominic Breazeale was the more aggressive of the two
fighters, the question was whether he was effective in his aggression.
For this
observer the answer to that question is he was not effective and missed much of
his offense throughout the fight due to the awkwardness/elusiveness of Kassi. Although
I feel Kassi won the fight, I can see how others may feel Breazeale did enough
to win the fight.
As is
often the case when it comes to controversial decisions however, the central
issue tends to be focused on official scorecards which differ significantly
from the consensus of how a fight is seen among fans and Boxing experts. In
this case the focus is on the scorecards of judges Deutsch and Westeterp for
their wide scores in this fight.
This
observer was quite vocal following the fight saying that although I could not
say that I did not see argument for Breazeale having won the fight, it was a
fight that I did not see either fighter winning ten rounds, even going as far
as to call the scorecard of Judge Westeterp “Incompetent.” In all truth and
honesty, I cannot see either fighter as having won eight out of ten rounds
either.
It is
important to remember despite my opinion about this fight that it is just that
an opinion and part of the fun of the sport of Boxing and really all combat
sports is getting the chance to debate who won a closely fought contest from
time to time. Sometimes we simply agree to disagree. It is also worth
remembering that while fans may become full of passion and anger following a
controversial decision, judges are human and can have a bad night at the office
from time to time.
In almost
every case where a controversial decision is rendered in the sport of Boxing, a
solution often comes in the form of a rematch. Whether or not a rematch between
Breazeale and Kassi takes place in the near future remains to be seen, but it
is clear that the experience for Dominic Breazeale will likely prove beneficial
in the future as he was tested by a veteran and did perform well regardless of
what one’s opinion of the outcome might be.
As for
Fred Kassi, this is a scenario where a loss may ultimately do more for him than
a victory might have. There were many including this observer who felt that he
deserved the decision in this fight and even though he came out on the losing
end of a controversial decision he will likely find himself in the mix and
could get another fight against a top contender in the near future regardless
of whether or not he gets a rematch with Breazeale.
At the end
of the day regardless of the outcome of this fight two fighters have established
themselves as players in the Heavyweight division. Regardless of whether there
is a second encounter between Breazeale and Kassi, it will sure be interesting
to see what happens in the future for these two fighters.
“And That’s
The Boxing Truth.”
The Boxing
Truth® is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.
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