Saturday, May 20, 2017

Crawford Slices/Dices Diaz in TKO Triumph

Live from the fabled Mecca of pugilism, Madison Square Garden. Beamed into my Pacific Northwest living-room via an HBO subscription I most likely won't be able to afford much longer.

Gentlepersons, without any further ado, adont, or amaybe...

Opening stanza sees Mr. Terence Crawford start at southpaw to fight the Dominican Olympic gold medalist southpaw*. Uses his few inch reach advantage via sharp crisp jabs. Crawford looks a bit squared off and Mr. Felix Diaz lightly tags him upstairs. Diaz oft looks slow, lunging into wide misses. Second stanza starts rapidly with overhand left exchange, first Diaz then Crawford. Diaz getting inside hither and thither, Crawford ties up. Crawford's jab seems swelling Diaz's eye. Diaz gets in a solid right to the beard. I'm thinking we may not see that lovely Crawford Marvin Hagler-esque seamless transition from orthodox to southpaw and back. Third stanza is a slower starter than previous entries. Diaz continues to have some luck landing the lead right. Crawford stays crisp up the middle in nastier then nastier combinations, mixing in some better body work. These two Middleweights are displaying well in this WBO WBC Super Lightweight championship.


Now in the fourth round, we get a new paragraph. Funny, Diaz is getting cleaner shots in than I expected, but too is getting his tuchus handed to him. Diaz starts throwing hisself into Crawford more -- head first. Crawford catches him with uppercuts, if not first intercepted by a jabs. Either way, Crawford is controlling distances twixt 'em. Superior timing too. Fifth starts and ends quietly with Crawford sizing up the rest which needs sizing, I bet. Crawford carries his lead droopingly, but I'm OK with that. Sixth, the gap, she widens.
Now in the seventh, we get another new paragraph. Diaz is now a punching bag with a catcher's mitt sewn onto its front, then just then, he lands a hard left to Crawford. Best of his fight, perchance. Crawford responds via heavy body shots. Now, Crawford is mad. Eighth round is a lull of one, and I'm somewhat surprised Crawford didn't make Diaz pay mo'. At the end of the round, Diaz looks deflated on account a' body snatchings. In the ninth, Crawford looks even more predatorial in his greater surgically stalking advances.

Twixt ninth and tenth, still yet another but this time final paragraph. Diaz's corner threatens to do the rational thing and stop this. Diaz wants done. Diaz needs a better corner. Crawford pats him on the head as he hunkers down in the corner. Diaz landed four more punches in the tenth -- Crawford many more. Completely unnecessary. Whatta show by Crawford; didn't drop a round, moves to 31-0-0 22KO. Diaz is now 19-2-0 9KO.

*"I came out southpaw because I do what I want in there. That's my ring." Crawford, post-fight.