From: sxl@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Simon Lau)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.misc
Subject: Boxing (Toney vs Macallum, Herol Graham, etc.)
Date: 9 Oct 92 15:45:14 GMT
Reply-To: sxl@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Simon Lau)
Organization: Laboratory for the Foundations of Computer Science, Edinburgh U


I managed to get a tape of the second Toney vs Macallum fight to watch
over the summer holidays. I don't know how others felt but after watching
it several times, I thought that Toney deserved the decision but not
by the 8 and 7 round margins awarded by the 'judges'. Curiously enough,
after the first viewing I agreed with the commentators that Macallum 
had been robbed; in fact I predicted that Macallum would win on points, but
when I decided to score the rounds myself for the second viewing, I was
somewhat surprised to find that Toney was the winner. Watching and scoring 
yet again confirmed this latter view.

Maybe the point I'm trying to make is that, if you just watch the fight
and try to build up an overall picture (rather than scoring each round as it
happens yourself), then it is very easy to be swayed by the commentators' own 
impressions of the fight.
Still, this WAS a close fight (hell, most of the rounds were tight)
and if you think Macallum should have gotten it, then fine.

The computer stats showed that Macallum landed the more punches but
Toney's were usually sharper and harder; Macallum's punches were slowly racking
up points but rarely concerned Toney. Even his famed body punches didn't
unduly trouble Toney. To me it seemed that Toney always had that extra gear
when needed, and even though not all his combination punching got through to
Macallum, some did, which was enough (IMHO) to eradicate the lead built up 
by Macallum. If Macallum was younger then I'm fairly sure he would have beaten
Toney, but as it was, though he had the brains, he lacked the speed and
power to puill it off; he put up a good fight though - regardless of what two
of the judges thought.

The recent quote from Toney to Barkley was a real hoot (at a press conference)

"I can't make you any uglier than you already are" 
(or something remarkably similar)

Barkley's manager had to restrain him.

Barkley himself thought that Macallum had been robbed and promised not
to leave it up to the judges if they met.

Alright, let's get it on !

Colin McMillan (ENG) lost his WBO featherweight (?) title in his first defence 
against Reuben Palacios (?) (Puerto Rican). McMillan's very skillful, but 
his opponent was one mean mutha and had McMillan in touble on several 
occasions.

I had McMillan leading when the end came in the seventh (?). 
All of a sudden, his right arm was dangling at his side and he was just 
jabbing with his left. It was then noticeable that all was not right 
with his right shoulder - it had been dislocated; his corner noticed this
and thankfully threw in the towel. He had been leading on the judges' cards
as well. Though their team made an appeal for a 'no contest' it was turned
down. However, the WBO have ordered a rematch. McMillan was to have fought
a unification bout with the IBF champion Paul Hodkinson (ENG), but it will now
be delayed. There were many people over in England who thought that if
the fight were ever made then McMillan's artistry would triumph over
Hodkinson's power. Seeds of doubts have now been sown after this fight;
Hodkinson is a far better pressure fighter than Palacios, as was demonstrated 
when Hodkinson successfully defended against the dangerous Fabrice Benichou
(FRA).

Another shock defeat occured when Herol Graham lost his British middleweight
title to unknown Frank Grant. Graham was once acknowledged as the finest
defensive boxer in the world but at the age of 33, his reflexes aren't
what they once were. Graham, a southpaw, couldn't get rid of his fellow
southpaw who was sticking to Graham as though he seen the second Hearns vs
Barkley fight one too many times. In the 9th round this relentless pressure
paid off and Graham had a chance to admire closely, the colour of the canvas.
Though he got up, it would soon be over when the referee stopped the fight.
It was Graham's first defeat at the hands of a British fighter for 14 years.

Though lacking a big punch, Graham was an immensely skillful fighter.
Michael Watson, Chris Eubank, thought by many to be Britain's best fighter 
now, and Nigel Benn avoided him on their way up because of Graham's 
considerable prowess as a boxer.

Graham once proposed to fight both Michael Watson and Eubank on the same
night, with half an hour rest in between !
Before his latest defeat, Graham was so convinced he would beat Eubank
that he offered to fight him for no money. 

Maybe it was fortunate for Graham that the fight was never made at this
stage in Graham's career. Because of his ageing reflexes, he would surely
have been overpowered by Eubank and Benn in the SuperMiddleweight division.
It may have been different several years ago though, when there was hardly 
a fighter capable of laying a glove on him.

Graham has fought for the world middleweight championship twice. He lost twice.
First time, he lost a narrow split decision against Mike Macallum;
the second time, the referee was on the point of stopping the fight against
Julian Jackson in Graham's favour, when he was caught by a punch voted
punch of the year in several magazines. Ah, cruel fates.



Simon.
Newsgroups: rec.sport.misc