Quijano: Dropping the ball

Saturday, December 17, 2011

QUESTION: Under which of the following circumstances should a fight be stopped?

A.) When a second head starts to protrude, making the fighter appear like a conjoined Siamese twin. B.) When the fighter starts resembling a character from the “Living Dead.” C.) When the hematoma is so huge and tender to the touch that the fighter declines an attempt by his corner man to apply an enswell. D.) All of the above.

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I’m no medical expert but when a fighter starts looking anything but normal, that should be a good enough sign to stop a fight, right? Wrong.

Apparently, referee Sam Viruet thought otherwise and allowed Giovanni Segura to last until the eighth round with a grotesque, baseball-sized lump that could have burst at anytime.

Viruet later stopped the carnage in the eighth round after Brian Viloria landed a left hook flush, which caused Segura to stagger. He later stated that he feared for Segura’s life, but I thought the fight could have been stopped sooner.

Tests later confirmed that Segura ruptured a blood vessel and suffered a fracture. The stoppage came at just the right time, but Viruet nearly dropped the ball on this one.

And the enswell thing just cracks me up. Seriously Mr. Cornerman, what were you planning to do? Smoothen it out and spread the swelling?

THE FIGHT. In typical workmanlike fashion, Segura immediately buckled down to work and attempted to walk through Viloria, throwing hooks and body shots in the first two rounds.

But Viloria defended and counterpunched well. His jab was effective and he exploited Segura’s porous defense by sharpshooting some hooks and straights. His left hook was particularly effective and this punch caused the swelling quite early in the fight.

I predicted Viloria to win early, but lose steam if the fight went into the championship rounds. Luckily for him, Segura wasn’t as durable as advertised.

I give Viloria an A, but in that fight, his suspect conditioning was never tested.

UFC 140. I don’t know what it is with Jon Jones, but it seems we’re getting a knack for correctly calling his fights.

We predicted a shootout with Lyoto Machida in the first round, before a submission victory in the second, which is pretty much what transpired, save for the fact that Machida was rendered unconscious in the second on account of that standing guillotine choke.

It was another case of styles make fights, as Machida had some success early with his striking. Regardless of how he fared against Shogun Rua, the Karate Kid remains one of the best stand-up strikers in the game and he demonstrated this quite well even against the taller Jones.

But the talented Jones would not be denied. After making adjustments and re-calibrating his offense, he found his range and it was only a matter of time before he got to Machida.

Another one bites the dust.

SUPERSIX FINALE. Finally, after a grueling process of elimination, which saw withdrawals from two protagonists, several scintillating match-ups, a postponement due to injury, it’s down to this.

Carl Froch (28-1, 20KOs) vs. Andre Ward(24-0, 13KOs) for the Showtime Super Six Super middleweight tournament.

Froch is a terrific boxer-puncher who relies on a lashing jab and eye-catching combinations to get the job done. To get to the finals, he beat Andre Dirrel, lost to Mikkel Kessler then defeated Arthur Abraham and Glen Johnson.

The multi-talented Ward is the more complete fighter, who often adapts his style to the opponent he is facing. To get that coveted final spot, he defeated Kessler, Allan Green, Sakio Bika and Abraham.

It’s going to be the fistic equivalent of a tactical chess match with both fighters eager to control the complexion of the match. I think Froch will have the edge early as he will win some rounds with his longer range and shoe-shine combos.

But I expect Ward to eventually take over and catch Froch on the inside. He will land the harder blows and dominate down the stretch. My beer mug cum crystal ball says it’s Ward by a unanimous decision.

LAST ROUND. It’s on Ariel Bercide who’s in town to marry the love of his life. Cheers!

(jingo_quijano@yahoo.com)