Volume I: Going for Gold
Olympic Boxing Recap, Rigondeaux vs. Casimero, and Spence Out of Pacquiao Fight
Welcome to the first edition of the Hardcore Casual Newsletter, a quick rundown of the week in combat sports. As I become more accustomed to formatting tools and (hopefully) grow my reader base this will grow and evolve, but as it’s the first issue I’ll be giving a brief background on the planned format. Each issue will have my “Fight of the Week” which I will break down; this will be the fight I personally enjoyed the most each week. Some weeks I have time to watch full MMA and boxing cards, so it may be the best of the best. Other weeks (like this one) I wasn’t able to watch as much (or there wasn’t as much on) and it may not be the most exciting fight in the world. At the end I’ll list all relevant fight results. I will also include a write up of the biggest news of the week and “quick hits” on other smaller stories. I’ll conclude with what’s coming up the following weekend and provide prediction pieces for larger fights.
The Olympics are the ultimate stage for many sports outside of the big five (basketball, baseball, hockey, American football, and soccer) and boxing is no different. The one main difference is who competes. In track, gymnastics, swimming, and most other sports it’s professionals. For the longest time in boxing, the world’s best amateurs took the stage.
This changed in Rio 2016, when three professionals participated with limited success. In Tokyo, however, there were 43 fighters with professional boxing experience; after the Games were postponed last year due to COVID-19 many of the would-be Olympians opted to turn pro. AIBA, the governing body that oversees Olympic boxing, made the change to allow those who would have been eligible in 2020 to compete even if they had fought professionally in the interim. As a result, 36 of the 186 men and 7 of the 100 women who competed in Tokyo were pros, to the chagrin of many in boxing media. Despite the outcry, only six fighters in Tokyo had more than four professional bouts. So was it as big a deal as it was being made out to be? How much of an impact did it really make?
Only eight professional boxers earned a medal1 at the Olympics: two gold, two silver, and four bronze. All eight were men, meaning professionals won 25% of the 32 medals2 across eight male weight classes. This means that men with professional experience slightly outperformed the field, as they represented 19% of the entrants. However, this is to be expected in some capacity. It makes sense that those that turned pro were among the better amateurs in Tokyo, so overperforming by such a small margin over the “expected” outcome isn’t surprising, nor is it likely that the short stints as professionals gave the fighters a significant advantage.
On the flip side, the professional women underperformed. None of them, world champions included, were able to reach the podium. Some of this can be explained by the differences between the professional and amateur game; despite recent changes aimed at making the amateur ranks more similar to the pros, amateur judges score primarily based on number of punches landed, while professional judges factor in the effectiveness of each punch. As a result in the amateurs two soft touches can outscore one heavy shot. The fighters who made the jump to the pro ranks acknowledged the need to readjust to their old style to be successful, and only some were able to adjust successfully enough to medal.
Ultimately it seems that the limited professional experience some fighters got under their belts wasn’t a huge benefit to the majority, nor did concerns about fighter safety materialize, as there was no statistically significant increase in injuries. Despite intensified media attention these Olympics played out much like most others. Check here for the full list of medalists.
I’ll cut to the chase and keep it short: this was not a fun fight. Despite a lot of fun trash talk the opening edition of the Fight of the Week was a dud. Per CompuBox, Guillermo Rigondeaux (20-2) and John Riel Casimero (31-4) combined for a record low number of punches landed (91) in a twelve-round fight. It’s hard to fault any of the judges for their cards, which favored Casimero by split decision, with how little they had to actually score. Casimero outlanded Rigondeaux 47-44; the number of power punches landed by Casimero (forty-one to Rigondeaux’s twenty-eight) is likely what secured him the win in the eyes of two judges. Rigondeaux, for his part, had stellar defense, routinely leaving Casimero looking foolish as he swung at nothing but air. Unfortunately for Rigondeaux, that defense never led to much. The name of the game is “hit and don’t get hit” and the latter alone wasn’t enough for Rigondeaux to prevail.
At forty years old and without having exciting fights it’s hard to see much of note in Rigondeaux’s future, despite him still being one of the best at 118 pounds. Casimero, on the other hand, vocalized his desire for a title unification with fellow Filipino champion Nonito Donaire (41-6) before taking on unified champion Naoya Inoue (21-0).
Other Notable Results
Vergil Ortiz defeats Egidijus Kavaliauskas (KO 8)
Joshua Franco defeats Andrew Maloney (UD)
Jason Maloney defeats Joshua Greer (UD)
Gary Antonio Russell vs. Emmanuel Rodriguez ends in No Contest (Rodriguez could not continue after accidental headbutt)
One of the most anticipated boxing matches of the year fell through last week, with unified welterweight champion Errol Spence (27-0) withdrawing from his bout scheduled for August 21 with Manny Pacquiao (62-7) due to a torn retina. This is the second major injury in recent memory for Spence, 31, who was in a high-speed car accident in 2019. Fortunately Spence’s vehicle was the only one involved and he was able to recover relatively quickly despite the severity of the crash. It seems luck is on Spence’s side again with this injury, as the tear was diagnosed in time and will likely not have long-term career implications for the champ. Had it not been caught until after the fight with Pacquiao, additional damage would have likely been sustained, and the diagnosis may not have been as favorable for Spence.
Pacquiao will instead take on WBA titlist Yordenis Ugas (26-4) in this weekend’s featured bout. Ugas was already slated to defend his title on the card, so he’s been in camp and training, albeit for a different opponent. After winning the WBA belt off Keith Thurman in 2019 Manny Pacquiao has taken over two years off. In his absence the WBA motioned to name Pacquiao the “Champion in Recess” and promote Ugas, formerly the “regular” champion to the “super” champion position formerly occupied by Pacquiao.
This should still be a solid fight, as Ugas is a talented boxer, even if a step down from Spence. Much like Pacquiao, Ugas is an aggressive and offensive fighter, which should make for an entertaining bout. Pacquiao’s skill speaks for itself; he’s one of the greatest fighters of all time. What will be interesting is to see if Father Time or ring rust play a major factor in the bout. As mentioned, Pacquiao has not fought since his victory over Thurman in July 2019. Now 42, he’ll have to prove that he has enough left in the tank to remain one of the elite fighters of today. I believe this fight is going to be action-packed but end in a decision, and it ultimately comes down to just how old and rusty Pacquiao is.
Quick Hits
In the latest news out of the circus that is Triller, two former MMA greats will take their talents to the boxing ring. Anderson Silva (1-0) will take on +500 underdog Tito Ortiz (0-0) on September 11. The fight will be held at 195 pounds.
UFC great Khabib Nurmagomedov signed a professional soccer contract to play in the third-tier league in Russia.
Nico Ali Walsh, grandson of Muhammad Ali, won via KO in the first round of his first pro fight.
Boxing: Manny Pacquiao vs. Yordenis Ugas, Saturday 8/21, 9:00PM EST
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MMA: UFC Fight Night: Cannonier vs. Gastelum, Saturday 8/21, 10:00PM EST
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A. Batyrgaziev (ROC) and B. Jalolov (UZB) won gold, D. Ragan (USA) and K. Davis (USA) earned silver, H. Bachkov (ARM), E. Marcial (PHL), D. Nyika (NZL), and K. Kunkabayev (KAZ) earned bronze.
In boxing there is no bronze medal match. The loser of each semifinal is given bronze, resulting in four total medals per weight class.