Had just safely arrived back at home base Melbourne, Florida … had done the old ‘Hoya
reverse fox trot to avoid the expected wrath of Hurricane Frances - and the
bleep never laid a glove on me.
Already knew it was Brewster and Spinks retaining respective baubles, got it
from my favorite lady fite expert and editor Elisa Harrison. Still, was curious
enough to see for myself what we had in the Brewster-Meehan affair.
First Spinks, by convincing decision win over a faded but gallant Antonio
Gonzalez … the southpaw son of Leon had too much of everything for his aging
adversary … youth at age 26 vs. age 33, height and reach coupled with much
superior speed and movement.
Helped that Cory is at top of his game while Gonzalez is on wrong side of the
slope and what we got was pretty much preordained - a Spinks walk in the park
unanimous decision win.
Then the main event with Lamon Brewster facing sparring partner Kali Meehan …
and let me preface any unintended nastiness by first conceding, in my humble
opinion, both fighters come across as nice guys.
Both did their best to take the other guy out … each checked the out of ring
friendship at the front window - they also clearly displayed the shortcomings
with the today system of multiple ( WBA, WBC, IBF, WBO ) "world champions."
The action was spotty … still, there were moments when both absorbed some power
punches … first one then the other … it just wasn’t quality stuff.
Brewster with better skills when in the mood … showed a nice left-hook during
them on-off again late stanza flurries … Meehan less polished and amateur in
style but did come close to upsetting the apple cart in a big candle eight.
My battered and stressed alleged brain had it all square at 115-115 … scored
rounds six and twelve a standoff - but the story is not in the scoring, but
rather the money-grabbing system, that allows "sanctioning bodies" to reduce the
value with its respective house fighters vying for the cherished hardware.
This WBO strap went from a Wlad Klitschko to a Lamon Brewster, and as close as
it gets to a Kali Meehan … and post-fite ring interview saw the big "DK"
prepping us for a possible Brewster - Holyfield pairing.
But, keep the faith guys and dolls … as an old melody once went "Remember
there’s always tomorrow" - as in Miguel Cotto vs. Kelson Pinto.
