HBO Boxing has a pretty good card going tonight. The main event is Sugar Shane Mosely against Ricardo Mayorga. Andre Berto and Steve Forbes are fighting first. Forbes recently lost to Oscar De La Hoya as a tune-up to the De La Hoya and Mayweather II fight that never happened.

Andre Berto vs. Steve Forbes – WBC Welterweight Title fight

Berto’s brother is Edison Berto a MMA fighter for EXC. After being trained by Jeff Mayweather against De La Hoya, it looks like Floyd Sr. is in Forbes’ corner for this fight.

Round One

The first round was a bit of a feeling out process until Forbes landed a clean combination, but Berto caught him with an uppercut. Berto looks stronger and quicker, though Forbes outweighs him. Forbes isn’t really letting anything land though.

Round Two

Forbes is quicker to the punch and has a pretty good round. Berto is cocking that right hand and is looking for spots to unleash it. Forbes is fighting a very smart fight thus far and is surprising Berto.

Round Three

When Berto gets inside, he seems to be looking for the clinch, but Forbes gets a few shots in there beforehand. Berto looked fired up in the third, but Forbes is still winning the fight on the inside. Much better round for Berto though.

Round Four

Excellent round for Berto. He’s throwing the bigger punches, but Forbes is still doing a great job at defending them.

Round Five

There was a wild trade which Berto got the better of. Berto is so fast, but Forbes is slick and is making this fight much closer than it should be. They traded left hooks that Berto also got the better of.

Round Six

Fairly close round, but Berto’s punches just look harder and stronger and he simply looks like the more impressive fighter. Forbes is scoring with his left hand and is taking everything Berto has to offer.

Round Seven

Berto missed and slipped after a wild combination and for some reason, the ref stopped them from fighting while Forbes tried to follow up. Forbes looks to be slowing down in his activity just a bit.

Round Eight

Berto is starting to land the right hand uppercut more often. He knocked Forbes’ mouthpiece out. And the cut over Forbes’ right eye that happened either from a punch or a head butt, is starting to open up a bit.

Round Nine

Easy round for Berto again. Forbes hasn’t really hit him in the last several rounds. He’s trying to set up the uppercut by throwing a short right to get Forbes to drop his head just a bit, and the he comes right back with the uppercut.

Round Ten

Another easy round for Berto. I’m not exactly sure what Forbes is trying to do, other than just be content with staying in there and being slightly competitive.

Round Eleven

Forbes scored with an overhand fight which was his best shot since the early rounds. But he couldn’t follow up. Forbes threw a nice left hook that scored, but had to take a big punch as well. His best round since early on, but I’m still not sure that he won it.

Round Twelve

Berto tried to throw some big combinations, but Forbes was mostly staying away. Forbes maybe won 2 or 3 rounds, but it was all Berto.

Winner: Andre Berto by way of unanimous decision

The scores were:

118-109
118-109
116-111

Shane Mosely vs. Ricardo Mayorga

Mayorga is 16 pounds over his 153 1/2 weigh in weight from last night. It’s interesting that not more has been made of Mosely’s relationship with Balco. I guess boxing kind of falls under the radar on the steroids issue. Mosely is wearing an Affliction t-shirt.

Round One

Mayorga is trying to throw a big over the hand right hand. Mosely is much quicker. Mayorga already got warned about hitting to the back of the head, and Mosely warned for hitting to the back. Mayorga took a shot and simply turned his back to him. Mayorga connected with a big right that stunned Mosely a bit, but Mosely is going to be able to time it because he’s raising his hand before throwing it.

Round Two

Mayorga’s awkward style seems to be giving Mosely a little bit of trouble. Mayorga probably won the first round just on the big right hand. Weird round. I have a feeling Mosely is just waiting to unleash a bit to wait for Mayorga to get tired.

Round Three

Mayorga is just putting his head down and throwing the overhand right. But he’s also ducking Mosely’s punches and trying to put in work on the inside. Mayorga is being wild on the inside, making Mosely have to worry about getting hit with elbows and his head as well.

Round Four

Mosely is finding his range. He’s scoring with more punches and Mayorga looks to be tiring a bit. He’s not only throwing big punches and missing, but he’s lunging and chasing. Mosely scored with a great straight right.

Round Five

I’m not sure if the announcers caught it but Mayorga tried to chase Mosely and Mosely got away and Mayorga pointed towards his trunks as if to say that Mosely had no balls. Best round for Mosely. He was all over him. Mayorga looks like he’s trying to find a way out.

Round Six

It was target practice for Mosely. Mosely’s right hand is scoring at will and Mayorga’s leading with his head strategy is going to get him knocked out. This is the true case of the bully getting picked on and unraveling.

Round Seven

Much better round for Mayorga. He probably even won the round after Shane won the last four. Mosely wasn’t as active and Mayorga was busier.

Round Eight

Terrible round. Sloppy fighting and lots of holding. The Mosely of the last few rounds is either tired, or is looking for a one punch shot. Mayorga is tired himself and isn’t really landing any punches.

Round Nine

Mayorga got in the best shot with a straight right that popped Mosely’s head back late in the round. Mosely isn’t as dynamic as he was and Mayorga is able to push him around a bit.

Round Ten

Another sluggish round, but Mosely was a bit more active and seemed to have more energy. Mayorga is celebrating everything even though he’s not doing much.

Round Eleven

Mosely is back in command and Mayorga isn’t doing anything other than celebrating.

Round Twelve

Mosely was fantastic in the twelfth. He scored with everything. Mayorga was just eating every shot. He knocked him down late in the round, but Mayorga got up. With a few seconds left, Mosely came in, threw one hook and Mayorga was out.

Winner: Shane Mosely by way of KO

It was a left hook that really put Mayorga loopy on the first knockout. He threw a right that more so pushed him down. And the second knock down was just an awesome left hook on the button.

It wasn’t a great night for fighting, but Shane Mosely sent the crowd home happy with the KO. There were two or three rounds which were really good, but the rest were just there, and some were downright boring.

In the first fight, Berto was just too young, too fast, and too strong for Forbes.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS