Sitting press row Saturday night from the Adrian Phillips Ballroom at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey it was hard not to notice how eerily quiet the Guillermo Rigondeaux vs Joseph Agbeko fight had become.
Thirty minutes earlier the ballroom was in a frenzy as Jersey’s own Glen Tapia was in the ring in his first legitimate test as a pro facing off against the hard hitting and aggressive Texas bred James Kirkland. It was a fight that going in everyone knew no matter the outcome, Kirkland was going to bring a kill or be killed mentality. While Tapia in past fights has shown that he can box, preparing for the type of fight that Kirlkand was going to bring is something that very few fighters can prepare for.
In the beginning Tapia looked as if his game plan would work, boxing from the outside, picking his punches and landing a couple hard shots that hurt Kirkland early in the 1st. Tapia easily won the first round, yet the last minute of the first round proved to be more of what the fight fans would see for the next five rounds. Kirkland finding repeated success on the inside. The next three rounds was a frantic pace of back a forth action between these two men with Kirkland winning a majority of the slugfests but Tapia showed his heart and mettle against Kirkland, making every effort to stand his ground.
However that proved to be his downfall as the final stats showed Kirkland landing 287 of his 572 power punches, a staggering 50% connect rate. To make matters worse Kirkland threw a total of 644 punches with a 47% connect rate;Tapia only landed 30% of his total punches on Kirkland. The onslaught of such precision and power was too much for Tapia as referee Steve Smoger mercilessly but a round late stopped the previously unbeaten Tapia. However the damage was done far before Smoger stopped the fight as Kirkland had Tapia hurt in the previous round but while ref Smoger had the doctor check on Tapia before the beginning of the 5th, apparently the punishment he had took up to that point was not enough for the doctor, ref and Tapia’s corner to stop the 23 year for going out for more punishment.
In the end, while boxing fans may have won with such display of heart, it was the type of fight that boxers come back different from. These type of fights take out something from the fighters and Tapia may very well be damaged goods. Only time will tell but from the amount of punishment Tapia took, it’s hard to feel good about his future.
While Kirkland-Tapia was the highlight of the night, Guillermo Rigondeaux was the main event but it sure didn’t feel like it as the ballroom all but cleared out after the Tapia fight. While Kirkland is about who can take the most punishment- a wrecking ball of sorts, Rigondeaux is on the opposite side of the spectrum. An architect- a finely tuned sports car.
A Cuban gold medalist, who has only been pro since 2009 has made a huge statement in only 13 bouts. His last win saw him make hard hitting Nonito Donaire look like an amateur against him, Rigondeaux may not dazzle or wow the crowd with his hard punching ability but his boxing I.Q. and on point counter punching is a sight to see. While fans seem to detest that he was even on T.V., Rigondeaux has earned his spotlight over formidable opponents as opposed to some fighters such as Gary Russel Jr who have been given T.V. time against lesser opposition ;yet little is said about such discrepancies. Russell Jr has been a pro just as long as Rigondeaux but has yet to fight for a title or even fighters of the same caliber as Rigondeaux has.
Perhaps Rigondeaux is too talented for his own good in the ring but Saturday night he displayed a array of boxing technique that should get him praise. Agbeko was a formidable opponent, but early on it was obvious that he was in over his head-even with Roger Mayweather in his corner. Agbeko simply was outclassed. While the main event was basically over by the mid rounds, the few fans still in the crowd got their monies worth. A fight of the year candidate in Tapia-Kirkland and a entertaining scrap with Matthew Macklin earlier in the night,Top Rank put on a good show. However Rigondeaux saved his best punch for HBO analyst Max Kellerman when asked about a rematch with Donaire, “If he (Donaire) want’s another beating, tell him to come and get it, I’ll give him another one”
Where Rigondeaux goes from here is hard to say, Abner Mares, Leo Santa Cruz, Orlando Salido and Evgeny Gradovich would be four fights that would be nice to see before Donaire, but with promoters posturing a couple of those bouts are all but non existent.
And then…
Sometimes being a fan is tough, emotions get involved, especially when the person in the ring is someone you may be close with. That’s what occurred with Glen Tapia fans. While Tapia gave it his all, his fans were pretty upset and a couple started saying some disparaging things about James Kirkland and his trainer Ann Wolfe. Things that should not be said at any event. I’m a little shocked that a fight did not break out near press row.
Atlantic City is a dying town.
This past November NY passed the expansion of gambling in the state which will allow for additional casinos in New York; while the casinos may be only in upper state NY, adding casinos in the vicinity of the NY city area will only take away from A.C. that much more. This past Saturday felt like a Tuesday morning at 2 am at some regional casino in Council Bluffs ,Iowa. It was bad. I understand that I am not from Jersey or the area so perhaps there is some attraction to A.C. but A.C. lost whatever luster it ever had. If i am missing something, someone please let me know.
Here’s to me being on the ball.
I was excited to be heading to Las Vegas this upcoming weekend to cover the Adrien Broner v Marcos Maidana fight. I have been able to cover three of the past 4 Broner fights but apparently I was a little too anxious as I got my flights a bit early as Goldenboy announced that they were moving the fight from Vegas to San Antonio. However I already had my flights purchased and the airline I booked with does not fly to San Antonio. That’s the way it goes sometimes.