Issouf Kinda VS Jeremy Bryan - Second Slagged Fight Of The Night

This is contested just breaking into the welterweight division, though they're both presumably light welterweights.They're only one pound over the light welterweight limit. Early in the fight it's obvious the skill level has had a big increase with these two by a significant margin from the opening match of newbies. There's a lot more veteran guile and authority on display from both fighters, though it quickly becomes evident that it's no more or less crowd-pleasing.

In round two, Kinda is warned for a low blow and Bryan takes a very short allowed break. There's a caution by the ref to watch their heads after a clash in round three. Teddy says Bryan was cut in a head clash two fights ago and that Kinda has both won and lost via technical decisions after head clashes stopped the fights early. Kinda is cut tonight after the head clash, it seems and the ref makes note to the commission that it wasn't via punch.

Joe Tessitore says there's a small cut above the left eye of Jeremy Bryan in the fourth round. Teddy narrates a replay of several head clashes and explains why their tendency to fall in with punches leads to it. Teddy says Bryan wants to be aggressive but he doesn't know how. It has been somewhat ugly. Mostly, I feel the fight reflects that these guys are on the same overall level. But I have no problem with the scores. Jeremy Bryan gets a close UD and it's clear it means a great deal to him. Congratulations to Bryan on the win. It was a tough night and it won't be nice to hear the commentary they received when they see it back, and they both got a little bit banged up and kept doing their best.

During the match Teddy Atlas makes a specific point of saying that the main event will be good in hopes that disgruntled fans will stay tuned. Not a good sign for these fighters. They're giving it their best. It's not a good clash of styles. They can only do what they can do. Joe Tessitore goes so far as to put down the co-feature as "under-delivering". That's too bad. Not really wrong but too bad. It seems like a big shame for the fact that all four fighters on the card so far seemed to have done the best with what they had. It's just one of those nights. But without better management and a bigger budget from ESPN, this is what we get. They just don't treat boxing with enough attention or financial support at ESPN. That's the bottom line there. There's a reason why we get this on ESPN2.

America treats boxing like number two, compared to the way it used to. Some say it's a result of all the talent from other countries taking away public interest in the money country. With Floyd Mayweather Junior, Andre Ward and Tim Bradley out there, I think that's pure bunk. It's promoted badly and regulated horribly. And treated like it's managed-just as badly. We can get better cards on ESPN(2), guys. Come on. Your own commentators know you're not getting the best, even by your own minor league standards. You don't have to be HBO or Showtime to do better than this. And you don't have to have super stars to pick more entertaining or higher level matches either.


Teddy Atlas' unofficial scorecard:

Total score: 77-75, for Bryan

Bryan Rounds: 1, 2, 4, 7 & 8
Kinda Rounds: 3, 5 &6




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Basement Gym Boxing