The main event was a bit of a letdown tonight on ESPN Friday Night Fights, I expected more from Don “Da Bomb” George against David Lopez, especially in his hometown of UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois. The card was live from the UIC Pavilion and it was a solid turnout from a Chicago crowd that has been raising their fight town cred as of late.
Lopez was supposed to be a win for George, but he was also supposed to put up a higher punch output percentage. The first round was pretty telling as George flung his jab out there only to set up his massive right hand and he landed that right hand towards the end of the first and it shook Lopez.
Lopez just didn’t let go of his punches enough, but George started to slow down later in the fight and Lopez took advantage to some degree. Still, George did enough throughout 10 and Lopez’s moments were scarce.
It seemed like the decision was inevitable, but the judges had other ideas and the trend of bad decisions would continue with the scores of 97-94 Lopez, 96-94 George, and 95-95 for a split decision draw. The draw was controversial, but in reality George didn’t do what he was expected to and that worked against him, like it does most.
Cintron draw Granados SD10:
It had been 16 months since Kermit Cintron last stepped into the ring – a one sided decision loss to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez and it was unclear if we’d ever see him in action again. Well, Cintron returned tonight on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights in a fight against Adrian Granados. This was supposed to be a soft touch of sorts for the veteran Cintron, after all, the 10-round co-feature was the first 10rounder of Granados’ career and he had only gone the distance in an 8 round fight twice his entire career.
It was anything but a soft touch for Cintron, who got all he could handle from Granados. The fight was fairly competitive and somewhat entertaining as Cintron seemed determined coming into the fight, but it was Granados who began to outwork his opponent, utilizing movement and angles.
Granados was keeping Cintron honest with his awkward style, but Cintron capitalized on his openings as Granados left himself exposed coming forward. One of those times came in the 4th as Cintron landed a right hand off of an exchange, the punch clearly hurt Granados. Cintron began to fall into a rhythm as he busted Granados’ nose open, a cut that he’d have to deal with for the remainder of the fight.
However, Granados would regain his composure and built his momentum back up. Both fighters had their moments down the stretch, Granados more often and Cintron’s a bit more meaningful. It was strenuous trying to find even a glimpse of prime Cintron, Granados was just better at doing what he does and that’s keeping a fighter’s offense in check with a busy and unusual attack.
In the 10th round, a round Granados had never seen prior to tonight, Cintron was badly hurt as he desperately tried to stay on his feet. Granados had put an exclamation on a fight that he controlled, but the judges weren’t impressed and they turned in scores of 96-94 Granados, 97-93 Cintron, 95-95 for a split decision. The controversial decision was the theme of the night, but Granados deserved the win more in comparision, that said, no bad decisions should be tolerated. Cintron holds on to the thin string that is his career and the saddest realization isn’t the fact that bad decisions are part of the sport, it’s that we will be forced to suffer through Cintron’s career some more.
