WFC 45 Review (Boxing)

 

Cole Crumpler Vs. Antonio Gonzales
We thought this was a pretty entertaining fight. This is the second time we’ve seen Cole Crumpler at the Belle of Baton Rouge and first time we’ve had a chance to see Antonio Gonzales in the ring. While Cole Crumpler did dominate throughout the fight there were spots in the fight that Antonio Gonzales made the fight a lot more interesting and made the fight a rough and rugged affair which I think helped him take a round (in particular the first and possibly the third). Throughout the fight Gonzales was able to eat a lot of what Crumpler was dishing out and put on pressure and made it difficult for Crumpler to finish off the fight with a bang. Overall I think Gonzales should of let his hands go a bit more in the end and knowing how they judge fights I think that was the reason why Crumpler got the W.
Cole Crumpler by Decision
 

Samotheous Parker Vs. Lanny Dardar
The next fight on the card is the fight we thought was the closes fight of the night. We’ve seen Sam Parker fight a few times at the Belle and thought  he’s shown improvement after every fight. Unfortunately for him the judges haven’t seen it his way in his last 3-4 fights. Both of our correspondents scored the fight a draw with Sam winning the first two rounds and Lanny winning the last two rounds. We thought in the early rounds Sam used his jab pretty effective, used effective pressure while still moving, and setting the tone. In the second half of the fight we saw Lanny controlling the pace of the fight and taking control of the fight. Obviously the judges saw it differently and gave the fight to Lanny.  It was a close enough fight to where we didn’t think it was necessarily a robbery.
Lanny Dardar by Decision
 

Chris Singleton Vs Lowell Brownfield
Up next on the card is the return of Belle of Baton Rouge mainstay Chris Singleton. This fight was added to the card after the card was announced. Chris has shown his ups and downs in the ring since he’s been in the Belle. One thing you have to give him credit for is that he stays in boxing shape and seems to be dedicated. This was one of Chris’s more one sided matches since his early fights at the Belle of Baton Rouge. We would like to see Chris let his hands go a bit more and tend to get guys like this out there a lot quicker because we think he has the ability to do so. Even so Chris got the victory with a 5th round TKO.
Chris Singleton by 5th Round TKO
 

Kennan Hickman Vs Harris Tucker
In probably the fight of the night we got two big heavyweights going at it in Kennan Hickman Vs Harris Tucker. We found the fight to be entertaining with Kennan landing the more heavier shots but Harris Tucker moving quick on his feet landing shots in between while trying to avoid the bombs from Hickman. The controversy came in the 4th round when the referee inexplicably stopped the fight. We didn’t think Tucker was in enough trouble to stop the fight. While we did have Hickman up in the fight at that moment it was still anybody’s fight. Big ups to both fighters for putting on a show.
 
Kennan Hickman by 4th Round TKO
 

Justin Thomas Vs Bill Bailey
Justin Thomas aka JT is another mainstay at the Belle of Baton Rouge and we’ve had the chance to see him fight multiple times. This fight vs Bill Bailey was one of his most solid efforts. He stayed patient (even too patient sometimes) picked his spots, and boxed a clean fight. One thing that I think Justin has that he doesn’t use enough is his body punches. I think he could be a pretty effective body puncher if he would commit to it a bit more. He won this fight pretty handily but just like Chris I think JT could of got him out of there early in the fight. One major disadvantage that JT has is that all of his fights are on youtube for his opponents to view while some of his opponents don’t have any fights on tape. Even so JT did what he had to do and got the W.
Justin Thomas by Decision
 

Travis Scott Vs David Lujan
Of all the fighters to come through the Belle of Baton Rouge Travis has shown to be one of the sharpest (with Bodyshot Brock & Eric Walker being the other) boxers. He’s shown to have a lightning fast jab, use the ring, show some footwork, and punch in combinations. In this fight he put it all together. If Travis only punched with a bit more power he’d easily be on the next level. In this fight he pretty much dominated David Lujan. This was borderline punching bag status. Travis showed that he could bounce back after a tough loss and fight an effective fight. Wasn’t much to it other than Travis giving him a bit of everything in this fight. He even stopped his man in the 4th round. Good performance by Travis.
Travis Scott by Decision
Overall it was an entertaining fight and we hope to be back for both WFC 46 and 47 at the Belle of Baton Rouge.