Good (Lucky) Night for the Locals
Dateline: 02/20/99If you’re a believer that the fighter who lands more punches during the course of a fight should be awarded a decision from the judges, then last night’s edition of the Friday Night Fights on ESPN2 was definitely NOT for you. If, on the other hand, you find yourself rooting for whichever fighter resides closer to the site of the fight and has greater support from the crowd, then the results from the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, NY would surely have been to your liking.
Stony Point native ‘Irish’ Joe Hughes (17-1, 10 KO) was awarded a majority decision over Iowa’s Jim Crawford (29-2, 12 KO) in their 10-round light heavyweight brawl despite being knocked to the canvas twice in the ninth round (only the second knockdown was actually scored a knockdown -- another break for Hughes). Hughes fought well in the bout’s middle rounds and demonstrated great toughness in surviving to the final bell, but threw 107 fewer punches (629-522) and landed 176 fewer (312-136) than his opponent. Yet when the scorecards were read, two judges had Hughes winning by scores of 96-93 and 96-94 (only Julie Lederman had Crawford winning, 95-94). While the partisan crowd enthusiastically applauded the gift decision handed to the local fighter, Crawford simply shook his head and left the ring -- heading back to Iowa with only his second loss, despite have outlanded his foe by a greater than two-to-one margin. It’s good to be the hometown hero.
In the main event, Port Chester native David Telesco (21-2, 17 KO) may have moved a step closer to a long-sought fight with Roy Jones Jr., but he didn’t make much of a case for actually being ready to upset the best fighter in the world. Despite having only three days to prepare (when scheduled opponent Eric Harding was scratched due to strep throat), 37-year-old William ‘Bo’ James (22-9-1, 11 KO) gave Telesco all he could handle. James, a natural middleweight, couldn’t match the punching power of the stronger Telesco but was never in real danger and counter-punched with increasing effectiveness as the fight wore on. Watching the fight from ringside (and forgetting the hometown factor), I thought the decision could have gone either way. Telesco, who landed 75 fewer punches than James (266-191) despite throwing 108 more (593-485), won a unanimous decision, 97-93, 97-93, 96-94. The fight was close enough that I didn’t have a problem with the result, only the margin of victory. James, like Crawford before him, gracefully accepted the inevitability of the decision. While Telesco hopes for a big payday with Roy Jones, James returns to his job as a Newark firefighter with another loss on his record, despite having landed the greater number of punches. Again, it’s good to be the hometown hero.
Also: Curtis Barker (7-0-2, 4 KO) was unimpressive, but remained undefeated, in fighting to a split decision draw with Levan Easley (11-4-2, 4 KO) in a 6-round middleweight bout.
