The Sweet Science
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 - Gene Bromberg
Yes fight fans, today was the day we’ve all been waiting for, the much-ballyhoold Boeree-Castello smackdown at Barry’s Boxing Center. According to a few handicappers I spoke to Melissa was the favorite among the punters, though the late money seemed to favor Liv. As I took up a spot along the apron and waited for the combatants to make their way to the ring I tried to decide once and for all who I thought was gonna win. But I didn’t have a coin handy to flip, so I tabled the question and waited for the contest to start.
Both fighters entered the arena to the Rocky theme, which either showed both Liv and Melissa have a taste for the classics or that there was only one tape awailable. Liv entered the ring first and whatever doubts anyone might’ve had about her focus or determination were erased right then and there:
Melissa entered soon after and after the two pugilists put their headgear on and mouthpieces in PokerRoad’s Joe Stapleton introduced them to the crowd, with Melissa getting her usual rowdy reception:
And with the introductions and instructions out of the way, it was time to get it ON:
The two fighters received some training before the bout and it showed–while their pugilistic form wasn’t the match of Floyd Maywether, they weren’t flailing about either. Liv and Melissa threw straight jabs and circled each other around the ring and traded short, quick punches. According to the tape Liv has three inches and five pounds on Melissa, but I didn’t think that would factor much into the fight. But it did–it seemed like Liv got the best from most exchanges because she was able to hit with full force while Melissa’s punches were a bit beyond full extention.
If the first round was a bit of a feeling-out time, in the second it seemed that Liv established that she was a bit bigger, a bit faster, a bit stronger, and she took control of the fight. And you could see in both their eyes that this was indeed a fight–they were throwing punches with bad intentions. It’s just that most of the really telling blows were landed by Liv:
When the bell rang at the end of Round 3 it came as both a bit of a relief (no one got hurt!) and a bit of a disappointment (hey, I was enjoying that!). And when the three judges were polled and they unanimously chose Liv as the victor, it looked like she was a bit relieved as well:
And then the two fighters congratulated each other for a good show, and judging from the shouts and cheers coming from the very vocal crowed they enjoyed it too.
Liv now holds an official 1-0 amateur boxing record (today’s bout was sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission) while Melissa falls to 0-1. Just a bit more importantly, Liv won $1,000 for the Marie Curie Cancer Trust, while Melissa raised $500 for the Hemophilia Foundation of Southern California.
Now if we can just get Liv into the ring with Phil Hellmuth…I’m thinking a big pay-per-view audience. Big.
Tags: 2009 world series of poker, 2009 wsop, boeree castello fight, Liv Boeree, liv boeree fight, melissa castello, melissa castello fight, rumble nowhere near the rio, world series of poker, WSOP, wsop fight
