HATTON/MAYWEATHER LIVE COVERAGE: DE LEON V. ESCOBEDO

by The Prophet, ProphetFighting

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Kenny Bayless the ref for this fight, the announcer poses the question "Quien es mas macho?" I know the answer to that already--Daniel Ponce de Leon is a serious badass. Escobedo barely looks to be of legal drinking age (though we learned in the prefight he's 23). Expect another KO here....

DE LEON/ESCOBEDO ROUND 1

De Leon stalking, though no real punches yet. De Leon throwing the jab but not committing to it. Fighters tie up, Bayless separates them. Escobedo hits De Leon with a solid left. De Leon throwing big punches but doesn't connect with anything. Another hard counter left from Escobedo. Body shot by De Leon. De Leon misses with a wild shot. Round comes to a close and solid first round for the younger fighter. Escobedo 10-9...


DE LEON/ESCOBEDO ROUND 2

De Leon trying to maul his opponent with body shots and rabbit punches. The latter gets him a warning from Bayless. De Leon connects with his first solid shot of the fight. A minute left I'm giving it to De Leon so far. Compubox informs us that De Leon hasn't actually landed a jab in the fight. Not a great round for either guy, but I'll give it to Ponce de Leon 10-9 making the fight 19-19


DE LEON/ESCOBEDO ROUND 3

De Leon's trainers trying to get him to crank up the pace and let his hands go. He's trying to do it but Escobedo's defense is pretty good and De Leon gets clocked with a counterpunch. Despite that the fight is now at a more favorable pace for De Leon. De Leon still swinging for the fences, Escobedo defending well. Escobedo moving now and making himself a very elusive target. A few good punches by De Leon ends the round. I'll give it to De Leon based on his control of the tempo. 10-9 De Leon giving him a 29-28 lead through three...


DE LEON/ESCOBEDO ROUND 4

Harold Letterman has the fight scored 29-28 as well. De Leon starting to put more pressure on his opponent. Escobedo seems to be a bit shellshocked now and not counterpunching. De Leon has him against the ropes and unloads a series of punches to the body. Escobedo moving somewhat better now. Unless Escobedo does something in the last 30 seconds it'll be De Leon's round due to his "effective aggression" and tempo control. De Leon wins the round 10-9 and leads 39-37 through 4.


DE LEON/ESCOBEDO ROUND 5

Larry Merchant quips that the British fans "haven't had solid food" in days. De Leon at a slower pace now but still backing Escobedo up. Escobedo countering again now. De Leon mauls Escobedo with a chopping right and a series of punches. Bayless now warning De Leon about "holding him down". Nice series by De Leon but Escobedo takes it well. De Leon stalking now, throwing more punches and basically imposing his will on Escobedo. Another round for De Leon 10-9, giving him a 49-46 lead through 5.


DE LEON/ESCOBEDO ROUND 6

De Leon pushing the pace to start the round, Escobedo scores with his counterpunches. Another solid right hand counter by Escobedo. Escobedo goes to the canvas but its just a slip. De Leon not as busy so far in round 6. De Leon throws a couple of combinations that Escobedo blocks with his gloves. De Leon holding and hitting again. De Leon busier now and landing some solid punches. Solid counter right and another by Escobedo. Tough round to score as it started at Escobedo's pace and ended favoring De Leon. I'll give it to Escobedo 10-9. De Leon still leads 58-56


DE LEON/ESCOBEDO ROUND 7

Lederman gave round 6 to De Leon. De Leon trying to establish a rhythm as the round begins. He's the busier fighter but he hasn't landed anything significant yet. Uneventful round so far, Escobedo catches De Leon with a counterright with a minute left. De Leon pushing the pace but still not doing much damage. His round though, 10-9. 68-65 De Leon through 7.


DE LEON/ESCOBEDO ROUND 8

De Leon still coming forward and controlling the pace, Escobedo still bending down at the first sign of pressure. De Leon now trying to measure his opponent with something that approximates a jab. Drunken Brits in the crowd now beginning some kind of soccer-like chant. As you're all aware by now Hatton is a big supporter of Manchester City of the English Premier League. He typically enters the ring to a horrid version of "Blue Moon" that is apparently the theme song for Manchester City. Anyway, dull round won by De Leon 10-9 78-74 through 8.


DE LEON/ESCOBEDO ROUND 9

Drunken Brits end their chant and the apathetic buzzing of the crowd resumes. De Leon catches Escobedo with a right, then starts holding again which gets a warning from Kenny Bayless. Nice series by De Leon. Another hold and hit--at some point Bayless will penalize De Leon. Another miserable round, with De Leon still controlling the tempo and will take the round. 10-9 De Leon, 88-83 for him through 9.


DE LEON/ESCOBEDO ROUND 10

Camera shows a group of shitfaced drunk Brits slurring their support for Hatton. Since this round appears to be taking the same dull pace as the previous ones I'll tell you about my guilty pleasure as a fight fan--there's nothing I enjoy more than a Floyd Mayweather, Sr. sighting. Floyd Sr. makes Roger sound like William F. Buckley. At the De La Hoya/Mayweather fight the HBO producers had the good sense to just give Floyd Sr. a microphone and let him ramble on for almost five minutes. I was going to suggest a Floyd Sr. drinking game, where you take a shot every time he says something intelligible but I finally realized that everyone would finish the night stone cold sober. 10-9 De Leon, 88-83 through 10...


DE LEON/ESCOBEDO ROUND 11

Lederman gave the last round to Escobedo for his effective counterpunching. De Leon starting to unload again. Merchant suggests that Kenny Bayliss "doesn't understand the rules here" for his failure to do anything about the holding and hitting. Merchant then backtracks and says "but he's a good referee". On my card Escobedo needs a KO to win. More holding and hitting by De Leon. Not a decisive round for either fighter, De Leon steps up the pressure near the end of the round. Could go either way, I'll give it to De Leon 10-9 making it 98-92 through 11.


DE LEON/ESCOBEDO ROUND 12

Announcement that "this is the final round" gets the best crowd response of the fight. Escobedo moving and crouching, De Leon holding and hitting. Escobedo counterpunching better now. Merchant observes that its like "someone has sucked the life out of this arena". Over on SPIKE, two fights remain--the Mac Danzig/Tom Speer UF final and the Clay Guida/Roger Huerta fight. Fight mercifully ends--I'll call it 10-9 De Leon 108-101 for the fight. Decision coming up momentarily...

THE DECISION:

115-113, 117-111, 118-110 a unanimous decision for Daniel Ponce de Leon.....

Jeff "Left Hook" Lacy vs. Peter Manfredo Jr. up next and we'll start a new post for that...

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