[GForce]

PAY PER VIEW RESULTS, December 18

WBA Jr. Welterweight: Maurice Watkins vs Micky Ward: Maj. Draw (Ward 96-94, 95-95, 95-95.)


WBA Welterweight Title Fight: #3 Luis Rodriguez vs #4 Vernon Forrest

The first championship fight that will need a rematch...Rodriguez wins round 1, Forrest round 2, before a brutal head butt in the 3rd opens a sickening gash on Forrest that leads to the fight's stoppage. So at least one title will not be decided until next year. The bout will likely be scheduled for late February or early March.

WBC Light-Heavyweight Title Fight: #1 Michael Spinks vs #2 Antonio Tarver

Three fights, three knockouts for Spinks, who has put the jinx on Rufino Angulo, Jimmy Dupree and Alvaro Lopez. Tarver has simply been efficient, punishing Don LaLonde en route to a stoppage bookended by unanimous decision wins over Bruno Girard and Eddie Jones. Tarver is thought to be very good...Spinks great. But Tarver wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Round 1: Spinks seems off balance for much of the round, shocked Tarver has come right out after him. As a result, Spinks is blasted from pillar to post, having a hard time evading punches and throwing weak, defensive jabs in an effort to stem the tide. Tarver goes to the body early but is landing hard power shots to the head for much of the round. Tarver has come to fight.

Round 2: Tarver comes out like a house on fire to start the round but swings wildly. Spinks dodges it and blasts Tarver with a short, clean cross to the jaw. Spinks spends the rest of the round just dismantling Tarver with his jab. Seems the first round woke up Spinks, much to the crowd's delight.

Round 3: Spinks gets inside Tarver early and belts him with a hook to the body, then an uppercut that shake him up. He lands another hook and another uppercut in close, splitting the gloves. But Tarver responds with a counter hook after a missed straight from Spinks, and responds well, working Spinks to the body. A wild right from Tarver catches Spinks clean, but he responds well with a powerful straight right hand of his own to regain the momentum before the round ends.

Round 4: Spinks is trying to get inside but Tarver is keeping him at a distance and lands a powerful uppercut followed by a lead right on the button. Spinks lands a cross then gets inside, with both men leaning on each other a bit. Spinks unloads an uppercut that again finds the mark. But Tarver fires an overhand right that Spinks never sees and Spinks is soon down on the canvas. He's up at four and seems OK, but Tarver is all over him. Spinks dodges a lot of blows, but Tarver lands enough in the final minute to leave Spinks dazed at its conclusion.

Round 5: Spinks responds well and comes out working almost entirely with his jab. Tarver lands a few significant blows, but the round is largely Spinks', led by the jab and solid defense.

Round 6: Tarver talks a lot for the first two minutes while Spinks is content to just pick at him from a distance. Inexplicably, after flooring Spinks in the 4th, Tarver has lost all aggression, largely forfeiting his advantage. He scores here and there with solid shots, but strings little together and Spinks is again able to control the round on the strength of his jab.

Round 7: Spinks unloads a vicious right hand on Tarver near the minute mark that visibly hurts him but also appears to wake him up. Tarver attacks for the first time in three rounds and lands a pair of hard uppercuts that turn Spinks' legs to jelly. The two clinch for much of the remainder, but the round ends with Spinks definitely the worse off.

Round 8: Even for the first two minutes before Tarver traps Spinks in a corner and goes back to working the body as he had earlier in the fight. After seeming to avoid getting in close with Spinks, Tarver now embraces it and is ripping hooks to the ribs again and again. Spinks seems to have lost some snap on his jab at the moment.

Round 9: Again, even for the first two minutes before Tarver ties Spinks up and wrestles him toward a corner where he again goes to the body. A powerful uppercut is the blow of the round and comes in the final 30 seconds, the third straight round where Tarver has turned it up late.

Round 10: Spinks resumes control, his jab effective and setting up powerful crosses that Tarver is having a hard time blocking. That creates openings for Spinks to land the uppercut that served him so well earlier in the fight a couple of times, controlling the round.

Round 11: A nothing first minute before a lead right from Tarver dazes Spinks and a followup hook to the body puts Spinks down. He's up at eight and spends the final minute preventing Tarver from landing much as he tries to finish Spinks. He didn't capitalize in the subsequent rounds after the first knockdown, so it will be interesting to see how Tarver responds here.

Round 12: Spinks again responds well, but Tarver is certainly more aggressive than after the previous knockdown. Spinks appears out of trouble, though, and the result is an even, action packed round where both fighters land their shots.

Round 13: Tarver is doing nothing this round, and it's unclear whether it's due to fatigue or just tactical. Regardless, Spinks doesn't do much either until late when he lands a three-punch combination that staggers Tarver for the only real meaningful blows of the round.

Round 14: Tarver again evades and when Spinks gets in on him he ties him up. Spinks isn't landing much, but he's throwing more and landing enough to take the round virtually by default.

Round 15: Even, unexciting final round, with neither anxious to mix it up. Tarver at least throws some blows, but he would have been better served to have done so the past few rounds rather than giving them away. An uppercut from Tarver early is the best blow of the round, and he wins an exchange in the final 20 seconds as well. Both fighters raise their hands at the bell.

A MAJORITY DECISION!!!!

142-142 EVEN...

142-141 ....

142-141 for the winner, and NEW WBC Light-Heavyweight Champion....
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ANTONIO TARVER!!!!

The two knockdowns make it hard to argue with the decision, but Spinks landed more blows at a higher rate, although Tarver threw about 70 more punches. After the fight, Spinks' camp is livid that judge Rogelio Perez gave the 13th round - in which Tarver did virtually nothing - to Tarver. Giving it to Spinks, as seemed obvious, would have yielded a majority draw.

However, judge Tony Castellano, who scored the fight a draw, mistakenly scored the 4th round 10-9 for Tarver when it should have been 10-8 by virtue of the knockdown. If both those errors were corrected, Tarver would still have won by the same decision.

A good, entertaining fight that will likely be repeated at some point next year.


IBF Jr. Middleweight Title Fight: #1 Oscar De La Hoya vs #3 Maurice Hope

Nothing really to write here except UPSET!!! Hope didn't earn much respect even after taking a unanimous decision over #2 seed Winky Wright. Nothing changed here as De La Hoya, who had not been overly impressive despite his victories, came in a huge favorite.

Hope thoroughly dismantles Oscar, taking a unanimous decision victory 147-136, 147-136, 146-137. Oscar is dropped in the 9th, fights a valiant 14th, dropping Hope, but is unable to undo his performance.

Perhaps my own ignorance about Hope, but this one may rate as the top upset thus far in my eyes, particularly because of its ease.

The winner, and NEW IBF Jr. Middleweight Champion...MAURICE HOPE!!!

GH