Results and analysis: Berchelt, Corrales, Barrera win on HBO Boxing
Miguel Berchelt and Takashi Miura may not have delivered the fight of the year some were anticipating, but they certainly turned in a great fight. From the beginning, it was clear that Berchelt was the superior boxer, as he used combinations, handspeed, and nice angles to land more shots. But Miura never gave up, staying in the fight throughout. As Berchelt worked both the body and the head, Miura would constantly move forward, never showing that he was hurt. The heavier puncher, Miura kept going for the big left hand KO, either to the head or the body. Those lefts landed clean and staggered Berchelt a few times, but he showed his chin and his heart and stayed in it. Very good fight overall.
The night’s semi-main event saw Jezreel Corrales take on Robinson Castellanos in a title fight. It was a weird fight at times, but turned out to be an excellent fight overall. Corrales went down twice in the 4th, Castellanos went down in the 7th, and we were heating up for a great final few rounds when unfortunately an inadvertent headbutt led to the doctor calling things off in round 10. Judges rendered their decision for Corrales via majority decision. Great fight, inconclusive ending - seems like a rematch is a must.
In the broadcast opener, Sullivan Barrera survived an early scare to take a clear decision win over Joe Smith, Jr. Smith had early success, putting Barrera on the mat in round 1, but aside from that moment, this one was dominated by Barrera, who was simply the superior technical boxer, plain and simple. With this win, Barrera may have earned himself a fight with Sergey Kovalev.
This was a strange night overall as well. Smith vs. Barrera was announced as 12 rounds, and all fight it was presented as 12. Then, during the 10th, the announcers were told that at the last minute, the two camps had decided to make it a 10 round fight. So 10 rounds it was. Later, the break between rounds 6 and 7 of the main event was extended so that the referee could fix his bowtie. Add in the headbutt stoppage and you’ve got just a strange set of circumstances all night.
