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Friday Night Fights Results, July 23
WBA Light-Heavyweight: Montell Griffin vs Eric Harding (Non-tourney)
Both fighters 0-1, Griffin having lost a unanimous decision to Reggie Johnson, while Harding lost a unanimous decision to #2 seed Bob Foster.
Griffin has two senational rounds in the fight, the third and fifth. Every other round was dull and largely devoid of action, but rounds that largely went Harding's way.
End result, Harding takes a unanimous but hardly inspiring decision 96-94, 96-94, 97-93.
WBA Light-Heavyweight: Bobby Czyz vs Reggie Johnson (Non-tourney)
The second fight in the WBA's ligh-heavyweight ranks, Czyz tries to get a win after dropping a surprise decision in the opening round of the tournament to Roger Rouse. Johnson took out Montell Griffin before dropping a unanimous decision, as Harding had before him, to Bob Foster.
Czyz unloads early, a body shot dropping Johnson less than 20 seconds into the fight. Czyz stays on Johnson for the duration of the round, but Johnson survives. Czyz would control the second round as well until the final minute, when a straight right from Johnson turned the tide and it was Johnson blasting away at Czyz with an onslaught that in the eyes of many was enough to steal the round.
Czyz controlled the first half round 3, only to get caught by another straight right from Johnson to turn the tide, giving Johnson momentum and Czyz - dropped 2 times by Rouse in his first fight - showing signs his chin may again fail him. The signs told the truth, as Johnson dropped Czyz with a flurry in the 4th, but missed wildly on too many of his shots in the remainder of the round to bury Czyz.
Johnson was cut early in the 5th under the right eye, and though it was bleeding badly it wasn't in spot to really hinder his actions. A fact Czyz could attest to after being knocked down a second time. Johnson pressured Czyz who out of desperation kept firing back. But Johnson was landing the bulk of the shots, and Czyz was gamely hanging on. He would land a glancing blow to Johnson, and suddenly referee George Siller halted the bout. After an examination by the ringside physician, Johnson's cut was considered too bad to continue, and Czyz declared the winner via TKO.
An irate Johnson kicked at the ropes, pushed his handlers away and barked at anyone in shouting distance. He demanded a rematch, and it remains to be seen if he will receive one.
The judges had the bout even at the time of the stoppage, but Johnson would have taken the fifth 10-8 due to the knockdown.
WBC Jr. Featherweight: #1 Sergio Palma vs #5 Ji-Won Kim
Hard to put a finger on exactly what happened here. Kim dominates Palma for the opening two rounds before the favorite responds, grabbing hold of Kim and working him over in close, coming perilously close several times to hitting on the break.
Palma was in control in the fourth as well, picking Kim apart with jab after jab until a right cross from Kim dropped Palma in a heap. With Palma looking in a complete daze, Kim attacked, but Palma moved and blocked effectively to make it out of the round.
Inexplicably, that was the last offense Kim would muster for the fight. He would land a total of 100 punches for the fight, and half of those were in the first 4 rounds. Palma dictated tempo the rest of the way and proved too evasive and defensive for Kim to reach the rest of the way. It's hard to believe that, in the shape Kim had Palma in at the end of the 4th, and with a title shot on the line, he couldn't put forth more of an effort in the final 6 rounds.
Regardless, Palma advances to the title fight and will face the winner of Mike Ayala vs Victor Callejas.
Palma MD 10: 96-94, 97-94, 95-95
GH
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