Boxing Results: Mike Plania beats Joshua Greer Jr.

By Boxing News - 06/17/2020 - Comments

By Aragon Garcia: The lightning-quick Michael Plania ruined the title hopes for Joshua Greer in defeating him by a 10 round majority decision on Tuesday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Plania (24-1, 12 KOs) knocked the 26-year-old Greer down twice in the fight in dropping him with a pair of left hooks in rounds one and six.

Greer was hurt in round one when Plania caught him with a blistering fast left hook that dropped him on his backside. When Greer got back to his feet, he looked stunned.

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The fight was one-sided through the first six rounds, but Greer did an excellent job of making an adjustment beginning in the seventh to take action to the inside. Greer fought well in the last four rounds of the contest, and he forced Plania to tie him up and move to keep from getting battered.

The judges scored the fight 96-92, 97-91 for Plania and 94-94. Boxing News 24 had it 97-91 for Plania, who dominated the action with his speed, power, and pressure. Whatever chance that Greer had of winning the fight, it went out the window with him getting knocked down two times.

Image: Boxing Results: Mike Plania beats Joshua Greer Jr.

“I thought I could knock him out after the knockdown in the first round, but he was tough and adjusted his strategy,” Plania said after the match. 

Plania wasn’t able to get to Greer often enough in the first half of the fight for him to knock him out. Greer did a excellent job of moving along the edges of the ropes to keep Plania from landing his hard shots.

What’s interesting is Plania used the same approach in the last four rounds with their roles reversed after Greer made adjustments and took the fight to the inside.

Surprisingly, the 23-year-old Plania came into the contest as the underdog. This writer reviewed his past fights and felt he would win with no problems, and that proved to be the case. Greer is a good fighter, but he showed tonight he’s fast or powerful enough to beat speedy guys like Plania.

With that said, Greer still could have won the fight if he had fought the entire match on the inside. Against Plania, who doesn’t have a great inside game, that style would have worked. In a rematch, you would have to favor Greer, but there probably be a second fight between them anytime soon. Plania will move on and look to get a title shot for himself.

Greer went into the defensive mode after being knocked down by Plania in the first. Instead of pushing the fight, Greer circled the ring, throwing jabs, and not letting his hands go the way he needed to for him to have a shot at winning.

Out of frustration, Plania would bang his gloves together to let Greer know that he wanted him to stop moving and engage. Greer ignored Plania and continued to fight defensively.

Image: Boxing Results: Mike Plania beats Joshua Greer Jr.

After the second knockdown of the fight in round six, that’s when Greer seemed to realize that he needed to change things up and go for broke. In the seventh, Greer went to the inside and began to throw a lot of shots that Plania couldn’t keep up with. The punches were nonstop from Greer, and Plania was getting beaten up in the seventh and eighth rounds.

In the ninth, Plania changed things up by getting on his bike and moving around the ring. Greer was less effective in this round because he couldn’t get to the inside often enough to land his clubbing shots. Plania was able to catch Greer with hard punches when he would come forward. When Greer did get in close, Plania tied him up in a clinch to keep him from throwing.

Rounds nine and ten were close because Plania landed the much harder and cleaner shots, but Greer was a little busier. Moreover, the way that Greer was the one doing the pressuring is what impressed the judges.

This must be a disappointment for Greer in losing the fight because this defeats throws off his goal of fighting for a world title. Plania might have done Greer a favor by beating him, considering he showed that Greer isn’t ready to take on IBF 118-pound champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue or WBO champ John Riel Casimero.

If this had one of those champions in the ring with Greer tonight, he likely would have been knocked out. Unlike Plania, Inoue and Casimero know how to fight on the inside, and they’re nearly as dangerous in close as they are from the outside.

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The final punch stats

Greer landed 96 of 426 shots for a connect percentage of 23, according to CompuBox. Plania connected 119 of 451 punches for a 26% connect percentage.

The stats don’t tell the whole story, unfortunately. The punches that Plania landed in the fight were considerably harder, and landed a lot cleaner than Greers. Even in the rounds that Greer won in the second half of the match, Plania was still connecting with the bigger shots.

Greer won those rounds with his punch volume in close. Coming into the fight, that’s what Greer was known for. He’s a guy that could throw an enormous amount of shots to wear down his opposition in close.

Image: Boxing Results: Mike Plania beats Joshua Greer Jr.

Tonight, he went away that style in the first six rounds, and it cost him the fight. But at the same time, it’s quite understandable why Greer didn’t want to stand in front of Plania and try an beat him by out-punching. Plania’s power shots were too hard for him to stand and trade.

“I think Greer underestimated me,” said Plania. “He kept saying ‘Night night,’ but tonight, it was a magic time.”

Greer did well in coming back late in the fight in moving in on Plania to force the action on the inside. Plania was grabbing Greer constantly, not letting him throw his shots.

Greer was reacting to the holding by sticking his head into the face of Plania, and hitting him low occasionally. He looked desperate in trying his best to score a knockout. If Greer had more punching power, he would have had a chance to win this. He’s just not a puncher, and that kept him from getting the victory.