CBS Sports Net showcased a card live from the Grand Casino in Hinckley, Minnesota. The televised feature pitted rising undefeated junior middleweight prospect from Australia Dennis Hogan versus Philadelphia’s Tyrone Brunson.
In the first round of a scheduled 10, Hogan had trouble initiating his game plan from the start and it was actually Brunson that looked like the showcased fighter. Brunson was coming into this fight with two consecutive losses and with only one win in his last five fights.
Brunson moved well and was allusive enough to not stay in Hogan’s wheelhouse, but Brunson wasn’t hurting Hogan. However, he was landing clean shots, the kind that win rounds, the kind that make an impression on the judges even if they don’t fully earn your opponents respect.
Hogan stayed coming in clumsy and couldn’t cut off the ring to save his life, or the round. As Brunson starting settling into his own, it was clear that Hogan didn’t have the answers. Hogan was clumsy and impatient, Brunson was patient but resourceful. The Philadelphia fighter established the tone of the fight and even after a decent 5th round from Hogan, it was Brunson that was up on the scorecards.
Brunson was doubling up the jab, fainting, and sidestepping his way to a win, while Hogan couldn’t make the necessary adjustments through round 7.
Hogan was never completely out of the fight however, and he kept it competitive even if he wasn’t putting his stamp on rounds. There were a few very close rounds that would’ve come down to personal preference on a judge’s scorecard. Do you like a guy moving forward or the guy moving and boxing?
Hogan landed some pretty solid shots late in the fight, but never fully earned Brunson’s respect. It was a shame that Hogan never committed to opening up more early on in the fight because it seemed as though Brunson didn’t have the power to severely hurt Brunson, let alone alter the forward aggression.
Despite Brunson’s perceived lead on the scorecards, his trainers were not convinced and told their fighter that he needed the knockout in the 10th and final round.
Brunson ignored the advice and continued to box beautifully as he had in the previous rounds. However, he may have gotten a bit complacent at one point in the 10th and he paid the price for it when Hogan landed an overhand right that seemed to have its effect on Brunson. Hogan closed the round with another big shot, but it appeared a little too late to effect his chances of winning the fight, even if he finally stamped out a round for himself.
The fight went the distance and the judges’ scorecards read 96-94, 98-92, and 97-93 all for Dennis Hogan, to give Hogan the unanimous decision. It was a bit of a surprise to see the scores, even though some of the rounds were close. Still, Hogan did not win by the margins of two of the judges’ scores.
It was a bit controversial, but Hogan (20-0-1) continues his winning ways.
In the post-fight interview, Hogan dismissed my notion that Brunson couldn’t hurt him by claiming he’d felt the power early on in the fight, which is probably why we didn’t see him press.
“Tyson was a very hard hitter, I felt a bit of power there in the 3rd round. Even though I knew I was okay with that power, I still wanted to avoid it for the rest of the fight. I just boxed cagey enough. Tyson demanded respect and I gave it to him,” Hogan told Steve Kim in the televised post-fight.
Thaboxingvoice.com scored the fight 97-93 for Brunson.
