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Yahoo's The Contender Page)
I just watched Jesse Brinkley knock out Anthony Bosante. Anthony fought a good fight, but a really stupid fight.
All I got to say is "Billy Conn". Boxing fans know exactly what I'm talking about.
I'll have my round up by morning.
Last week, a very bad cut from a headbutt ended Joey Gilbert's run against Peter Manfredo. A lot of the guys thought that was the worst cut they ever seen. It was indeed quite nasty, but Sergio looked at the fight as a positive for Joey, not a negative, particularly if he continues his career. Jesse and Alfonso thought he should consider not fighting again after that cut.
After the fight, Peter's father was not pleased at what he saw, and thought it was due to Peter being too chum with the other guys. Peter explained how difficult it was to be in this competition, because the fight with Alfonso was the first time Peter ever fought without his dad, and he felt he had matured and became a better fighter because of it. Regardless, Peter was happy to get the win and be one step closer to the finals.
Stallone gave Peter his IV pendant for winning the fight, and his reward was an advice session with legendary trainer Angelo Dundee. Dundee went through the fight tape with Peter, giving him pointers on what he can work on in training for his next fight, and then took him in the ring to help him improve his stance. As far as rewards go, this was probably the best one, because it helps Peter en route to the semifinals.
Meanwhile Jesse was a conflicted person. He felt bad for Joey, because he was the matchmaker last week. He also had a personal problem, as he was overweight (14 llbs over at one time) and had to get the weight down in less than a week. The problem is, Jesse has a sweet tooth, and can't seem to put the food down. Having wrestled in high school for four years, I know how that is. Jesse took me back to those days with the solar suit (I used those as well as wore trash bags while running in order to make weight).
Jesse and Anthony had made an agreement on the weight limit. The regular middleweight limit was 160, but Anthony gave him a pound extra. So when it came time to weigh in, Jesse stripped down to absolutely nothing (a normal thing when you're trying to make weight). Didn't work though, because he was half a pound over.
It was Anthony's decision on whether to allow Jesse weight to stand; had it been a sanctioned fight by an alphabet organization he would have had to make the exact weight. Anthony said Jesse needed to lose the half a pound, and an angry Jesse had three hours to lose half a pound or he'd forfeit the fight. Jesse was pissed, but lost it easily. Tommy rightfully chewed him out for blaming it on Anthony; the fact is he should have watched his weight better than what he had. Considering how much work Jesse had done to lose all of the weight, the other boxers wondered if he'd have enough energy to go five rounds the next day.
Jesse Brinkley vs.
Anthony Bosante
is the final fight of the quarterfinals. Both guys are power punchers. We already saw what Anthony could do, as he had the only knockout of the competition so far, dispatching Brent Cooper. Jesse is very athletic, and that might prove to be a problem for Anthony. Jesse went on about his hamstring injury, but surprisingly no one ever mentioned Anthony's torn hamstring from the last episode. Both are coming into this fight on bad wheels.
As soon as the round started, Anthony unloaded with a nice hook. That was a message to Jesse right off the bat: "I'm trying to knock your teeth out". Anthony looked really serious, and almost robotic like in the ring. Jesse didn't let it effect him, but wasn't that busy through the first round. Jesse mocked Anthony at the end of the round, but Anthony probably won that one.
In the second round, both fighters picked up the pace. I liked how both corners talked to their guys before the round started, and both responded. Anthony had very impressive defensive skills, bobbing and weaving, and using his glove to absorb some of Jesse's shots. Jesse looked a bit sloppy in this round, as he was throwing some wild punches that weren't hitting the mark. Anthony's round easily.
Jesse turned it around in Round 3. I don't know if it was simply due to him getting some good shots that were finally connecting or that Anthony didn't seem as aggressive as the prior two rounds. Either way, Jesse tagged him, and had the man frustrated. He also popped him with some good counterpunches that made their mark. Anthony's kids were going crazy over there. Jesse won the round.
I don't think Jesse expected what came in Round 4. Anthony comes out of the corner and just unleashes everything he has, and never takes a breather. Punch after punch after punch just comes in, and Jesse can't adequately defend himself or get some space to throw a counter. A very lopsided round, but I don't think Jesse was ever hurt from those punches because Anthony never measured any of them and placed power behind them. After this round was over I thought it was possible that Anthony punched himself out in that round.
The final round was classic. As I mentioned earlier, this was reminiscent of Billy Conn vs. Joe Louis, except that was a much better fight between much better boxers and almost three times as many rounds. Anyway, Conn had been killing Louis the whole fight, outclassing him all the way up to the last round. But he got greedy, and wanted to knock Louis out. Only problem was, by trying to unload and go toe-to-toe with Louis, Conn was setting himself up for a knockout. And Louis delivered.
That's what happened to Anthony. In that round he forgot everything he was doing the previous four, and stayed focused on throwing punches. Boxing is more than that though, and if you get caught by the right one, your lights are out. All it took was for Anthony to lower that head ONE TIME, and a wicked uppercut by Jesse ended Anthony's dreams. Jesse followed that uppercut with another one, and Anthony was sprawled out on the canvas.
Anthony would get up and beat the count, but the guy was out on his feet, and the ref stopped the fight a few seconds later. All Anthony had to do was hold on for 31 seconds. That's it. 31. He couldn't do it because he didn't fight smart in the last round. One million dollars gone down the drain just like that.
Anthony doesn't deserve all of the blame, though. At the end of the 3rd Round, Jeremy, Anthony's corner, and Sergio told him to go out there and brawl. Now sure, it worked in the 4th round, but they should have told him to be careful and keep his hands up. When you're in a contact sport, you have to worry about defense as well, and finish the fight the right way. Anthony had no business having his head that low in the first place; that's for trying to throw those downward punches and he ended up getting exposed. Why are you throwing those kind of punches in the last round and you're ahead????
Jesse was simply smart. He was right; you're supposed to knock fighters like that out, because they're stupid fighters. They think they can go in there and impose their will on you in the ring. You simply wait for your opening and take it. And that's exactly what he did. Anthony may fight again, but he needs to learn his lesson from this loss.
Next week, it's the semifinals. See ya next week.
