Latest Boxing News – Foreman Decisions Moore

By Boxing News - 12/14/2008 - Comments

foreman4322By Chris Williams: Undefeated light middleweight contender Yuri Foreman (27-0, 8 KOs) defeated Irish prospect James Moore (16-2, 10 KOs) by a dull 10-round unanimous decision on Saturday night to defend his little known NABF light middleweight title at the Boardwalk Hall, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The final judges’ scores were 99-91, 100-90 and 99-90. Foreman, ranked #4 in the World Boxing Association, #6 in the IBF and #8 in the WBC, ran throughout the fight, playing a game of tag and you’re it with Moore, 30, and making the fight as dull as you imagine.

Foreman, 28, from Belarus and now living in Brooklyn, New York, fought as he usually does, jabbing, pot shotting, clinching and running constantly. In other words, he had his track shoes on and spent a good portion of the fight using lateral movement against the slower Moore. The style of fighting was horrible to watch, yet it proved to be quite effective against the one-paced Moore, who seemed incapable of adjusting to Foreman’s lateral movement.

Moore, originally from Ireland and now also living in New York, stalked Foreman constantly in the fight, but was unable to catch up to him very often. Having been accustomed to fighting opponents that stand directly in front of him, Moore was unprepared for an opponent like Foreman, who ran at even the faintest hint of an attack from Moore.

With Foreman constantly hitting and then retreating, Moore was at a loss for what to do to compensate for this style of fighting. Neither going to the body or head seemed to work, because Foreman was too quick and would bounce away before Moore could land his slower punches.

It was easier for Foreman, because he doesn’t ever load up on his punches and instead focuses exclusively on fast shots with his mind geared immediately for retreat after the punches are thrown. Ranked #10 in the WBC, Moore didn’t have the foot speed needed to go after Foreman and chase him down.

As such, the fight became boring an almost unwatchable after a few rounds, because it seemed more like playing tag and you’re it rather than a true boxing match. Perhaps if Foreman had been put in with a formidable opponent with similar skills, like, say, Sergio Martinez, then maybe the fight would have been watchable, but then again, Foreman would have probably been badly outclassed by Martinez, almost as bad as Moore was against Foreman.

In rounds one through three, Foreman jabbed frequently, dancing, moving from side to side laterally and retreating whenever Moore would attempt to attack. Foreman landed a lot of lead right hands, often failing to use a jab before throwing his rights. His corner pleaded with him to use a jab before trying to throw the right, but Foreman proved incapable of following their advice and continued to fight in this pattern for the remainder of the bout.

It didn’t matter, because Moore was too limited to take advantage of Foreman’s predictable style of fighting. In rounds four through six, Foreman continued running way too much, boring the crowd and causing many of them to boo due to his defensive style of fighting. He bounced often, landing jabs and right hands but nothing thrown with power.

For his part, Moore continued to miss punches and was too slow to cut off the ring on the constantly fleeing Foreman. The running and chasing continue in rounds seven through nine. Moore started finding better luck in catching Foreman in rounds eight and nine, making the rounds close. Still, Foreman was able to land much more often and had little trouble with Moore.

In the 9th, Moore was cut over his left eye after getting hit with a flurry of shots from Foreman. In the 10th, Moore landed a couple of good right hands, but that was about the extent of his damage. Foreman, like in the previous rounds, ran, ran and ran, stinking up the joint until the very end.



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