by James Slater: Irish boxers are going through a pretty torrid time just recently. First, back in February, the exciting and also world title-bound John Duddy was involved in an absolute war with the little known Walid Smichet – a fight that saw the middleweight from Derry, Northern Ireland busted up, more than a touch exposed and lucky to get the points win..
Then, the following month, another middleweight in hot prospect Andy Lee from Limerick, Ireland was shockingly stopped by underdog Brian Vera in seven rounds. And now, last night, previously unbeaten light-middleweight James Moore of County Wicklow in Ireland was also upset by an underdog in Gabriel Rosado – losing a unanimous decision over eight rounds. This result makes three Irish fighters in total who have recently been either defeated for the very first time or exposed on the main stage. Talk about a bad spell.
There is, however, some good news. Firstly, John Duddy gets back in action later this month and will hopefully have learnt from his punishing fight with Smichet. And Andy Lee is also coming back with a confidence restorer next month – hopefully he will have made some adjustments to his game in the meantime also. As for James Moore, he feels he was not beaten fairly at all. Not only does the fighter disagree with last night’s unanimous verdict of 78-73, 77-74 and 76-74 that went against him, but he has a number of people who agree with him.
The fight was a bout that had its share of drama, and in the 4th round Moore was stunned, while in the 5th he was knocked down. The Irish man fought back well in the final three rounds, and expected to have his hand raised when the verdict was announced. ESPN commentator and scorer Teddy Atlas, for one, also felt Moore won the fight.
Speaking after the fight, a distraught Moore was convinced the decision had gone to the wrong fighter.
“That judge has to be blind,” said Moore while talking about the judge who scored the fight 78-73 (giving Moore only two rounds). “I just don’t get it. He [Rosado] was fighting only 20 to 30 seconds a round. I believe I landed more punches in each and every round. When I first heard the scores I was certain that I won because I landed so many more punches.”
Moore may have a point and hopefully a rematch with the gutsy Rosado will clear up matters. Still, despite last night’s verdict being a debatable one, one thing is clear – the fighting Irish have had a bad spell of luck these past four months or so.