- 7 months ago
Keith Holmes tries to regain the WBC Middleweight Title from Hacine Cherifi who took it from him the year before on Showtime Boxing
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00:00The Italian's proud.
00:01As long as I make you proud, Pop.
00:03Rocky Marciano, a Showtime original picture,
00:06premieres Saturday, May 15th.
00:09Showtime Championship Boxing
00:10takes you to Washington, D.C.
00:12for a capital punishment doubleheader.
00:15Last October,
00:16super lightweight Sean Bay Mitchell
00:17proved he was the best in the world.
00:20But now, he's gotta prove he's the best
00:22in his neighborhood by facing rival
00:24homeboy Reggie Green.
00:26Plus, Keith Holmes lost his middleweight
00:28title in France to Haseem Sharifi.
00:30But now, in his hometown, he seeks revenge
00:32from the Frenchman, Céla Gare.
00:34Don't miss this championship doubleheader
00:37next on Showtime,
00:39America's number one boxing network.
00:43Good evening, everybody.
00:44Steve Albert from ringside at the MCI Center,
00:47just seconds away from three highly anticipated
00:49championship bouts.
00:50Let's check in on Sean Bay Mitchell
00:52as he prepares to defend his WBA
00:54super lightweight title
00:56against fellow Washington-area product
00:58Reggie Green.
00:59Reggie Green, with both fighters saying
01:00they're ready to put on a show
01:02for the hometown crowd,
01:03promises to be an outstanding night
01:05of boxing from our nation's capital.
01:07Showtime Championship Boxing
01:08is next.
01:10Tonight, three fighters from our nation's capital
01:31are declaring their own bill of fights
01:34in a Showtime Championship tripleheader.
01:37Mark Tusharpe Johnson is out to prove to his homeboys
01:40there's nothing dull about his career
01:42as he goes after the IVF junior bantamweight title.
01:45Some people love ice cream and cake.
01:47I love fighting in my hometown to watch the D.C.
01:50Keith Holmes lost his title in France,
01:53but now it's bonjour rematch
01:54as he plans to bring the WBC middleweight title
01:57back to his hometown.
01:59It's not going to be no viva la France tonight.
02:02And WBA super lightweight champion
02:04Sean Bay Mitchell has beaten the best in the world,
02:07but now he's got to beat the best in the neighborhood.
02:10Reggie Green.
02:11I got the belt in the beltway,
02:13and no one's going to take it from me.
02:15It's a world title tripleheader
02:17from Washington, D.C.
02:19next on Showtime Championship Boxing.
02:22There's no place like home.
02:23I'm going to take it from me.
02:51tonight the unmistakable sites of our nation's capital provide an awesome backdrop to a full
03:19night of big-time boxing we come to you live from washington dc for a world championship triple
03:25header with a major emphasis on hometown flavor and certainly on paper all three promised to be
03:31competitive at the least and possibly explosive our main event features a good old-fashioned
03:35neighborhood rivalry as shambay mitchell defends his wba super lightweight title against reggie
03:40green in addition you'll see the long-awaited rematch between frenchman has seen sharifi and
03:47other homegrown products keith holmes for the wbc middleweight belt and if that's not enough it'll
03:53be hometown favorite and number one contender mark johnson versus the number two rated ratana chai
03:59vorapin of thailand for the vacant ibf future phantom weight crown enthusiastic crowd expected here at
04:07the state-of-the-art mci center in the heart of downtown washington dc this is of course the home
04:12for the nba's washington wizards and the nhl's washington capitals both with seasons to forget
04:19unfortunately this evening basketball and hockey make way for the first boxing event ever in this
04:24arena and it's an impressive debut with three world championship belts on the line
04:29hello again everybody i'm steve albert welcome to washington dc and let's get right to it as i bring
04:39on my ringside partners first the fight dr ferdy pacheco and ferdy first let's talk about the main
04:43event mitchell versus green shambay mitchell not only looking to establish himself as the best in dc
04:48but the best in the world at 140 well he may well be the best in the world but in order to get there
04:52he's got to go through green not an easy task and know each other they're boxed with each other in the
04:57gym and so forth not an easy fight for him and in order to really be considered he should look good and
05:04he should be green both things i think he will accomplish tonight all right let's move over to
05:08our other ringside partner bobby chez talk about the co-feature the rematch between has seen sharifi
05:13and keith holmes what happened in that first fight was it simply an off night for holmes and do you
05:17foresee a different outcome tonight well steve quite clearly it was not the keith holmes we're used to
05:21seeing it was not very typical of how he boxes the jab wasn't working he seemed to tire prematurely and
05:26he never made sharifi pay on his way in sharifi just walked him down was it an off night maybe or did
05:31sharifi imposes will implement a better strategy to carry it out keith holmes has had a chance to go
05:36back to the gym look at the mistakes make the adjustments but now he's got to carry it out where the
05:40title stays in france well many subplots to that fight we'll get into that later now in addition to
05:46those two world championships we'll bring you a title fight recorded earlier tonight you'll see
05:50another hometown favorite that's mark two sharp johnson the former ibf flyweight champ who moved up to
05:56fight ratanachi voripin of thailand for the vacant ibf junior bantamweight belt we'll also watch with
06:01interest tonight's boxing experiment of open scoring is it a viable alternative to the existing system
06:07or simply a knee-jerk reaction to the recent holyfield lewis controversy for more on open scoring we welcome
06:14andrea joyce filling in for jim gray andrea all right thanks steve you know in the big picture the goal
06:20of open scoring is uniformity to make sure all the judges are seeing the same fight so it's a little
06:25bit ironic that the three sanctioning bodies here tonight could not agree on one system for open
06:31scoring so here's what's going to happen and this is what you will see in the wba fight the scores will
06:37be announced after every single round but in the wbc and the ibf fights only cumulative scores will be
06:44announced after the fourth and eighth rounds and at the end of the fight one constant during all three
06:49fights the judges will not be identified by name they will simply be referred to as judge a judge b
06:55and judge c and joining me now from the dc boxing and wrestling commission commissioner michael brown
06:59you had worked so hard it's a tough political battle for you to get this passed here why do you think
07:04it's such a good idea well first of all the reason why it's oh it's always a tough battle anytime you're
07:08trying to make change and take bold steps there's going to be some risk and there's going to be some
07:13political issues but we did the best we could do to make sure that we wanted to give fans the option i think
07:17that's what this is all about to give the fans and the boxers a chance to see how scoring is done
07:22and if it comes up at the end of the day that nobody likes it then we don't have to do it anymore
07:25but i think more importantly washington dc is the leader of the free world and we should lead in this
07:30boxing experiment as well and we're going to do that if this is supposed to make the judges more
07:34accountable wouldn't it be better just to name the judges during the fight certainly but we're not
07:38holding the names and we're we're announcing the names after the fight and we just think during the
07:42fight just for the sake safety of of doing the kind of things so keep things coordinated we thought it was
07:47important not to really name them till after the fight so the judges will be available to the media
07:51and all those kind of things after so it's not like we're trying to hide them from anybody
07:54theoretically this would create ultimately a more fair atmosphere for the boxers but are you surprised
07:59that none of the guys we've talked to like the idea at all in fact they hate it well again change is
08:03tough for people status quo is tough when we're trying to open the doors now to make to give again
08:08the fans the option and that's what this is all about if we can give the fans the option then maybe
08:12they determine because we've gotten a lot of phone calls since the fight last month to say hey wait
08:16a minute can you change the system and we said well let's give it a shot and again if it doesn't work
08:20we don't have to do it anymore this is not written in stone this is just about again giving the fans
08:25the option if the fans feel that they're safe they're going to because boxing is the best sport in the
08:28world and we need to keep getting more and more people involved in it we will see how it works and if
08:33you didn't get that message the point is this is just an experiment we cannot make that
08:38any more clearer it is not permanent and steve it's safe to say that you may see variations of
08:44this in the months ahead back to you all right andrea very diplomatic after all we are in dc i have
08:50to ask why experiment though at this level with three world championships on the line i feel well
08:56it's because this is a knee-jerk reaction a quick fix to boxing's recent worldwide uproar bottom line
09:01boxing is looking to eliminate the perception of impropriety instead they're eliminating the drama in the
09:07sport you want to improve boxing take the judges out of the hands of the promoters and if you really
09:12want to raise the level of scrutiny announce the judges names attached to the open scores i think open
09:18scoring only exacerbates the problem rest assured we'll get purdy and bobby's take throughout the
09:24telecast now on the subject of scoring as usual for you showtime subscribers with internet access we
09:30once again invite you to judge every round online of the sharifi holmes and mitchell green bouts log on to
09:36showtimeonline.com and link to the boxing area once there you can vote for the fighter who you
09:41think is winning the round your entry will be added to those of other participants and instantly update
09:46the scoring web page the results will also be announced and shown here live on showtime during
09:51the event due to time zone considerations tonight's voting will only be available to showtime subscribers
09:56viewing our east coast live feed of course your voting is for entertainment purposes only and will not
10:03influence the outcome of the fight once again the web address is showtimeonline.com again the web address
10:10is showtimeonline.com
10:15all right let's get to the action sharifi holmes to the wbc middleweight championship
10:21they were supposed to fight the rematch back in february but sharifi pulled out with a back injury
10:26holmes felt it was just a lame excuse to put it off but sharifi feels hey when it comes to excuses
10:33holmes is the undisputed champion of the world
10:39a couple of weeks before the fight i had got sick with the flu so i had to take off and train
10:44and so i really wasn't up to par but me being the warrior that i am i you know i love the fight
10:51and you know i took the fight anyway he's tired steve the fatigue the pace and sharifi's question
10:58i fought the fight that you know got me through i felt as though i did enough to win but i didn't
11:03you know that's how the fight go but and the winner and new i was so happy to fight for a world
11:10championship title and at the end of the fight when i was the new world champion
11:18i realized that i accomplished my childhood dream it make me laugh when home say he was sick
11:28if i lost the fight i blame myself i don't blame anybody else
11:35i throw more punches than him um that's why i believe that everybody will watch the same fight
11:42understand that i was the winner holmes can have all the excuses in the world but if he loses to
11:50this man has seen sharifi again and here in his own hometown the excuses don't mean a thing as sharifi
11:56awaits his first professional fight in the u.s he said he's got more than just homes on his mind his
12:02wife is about to give birth to their second child so he's anxious to get this done and head back to france
12:08and he's got more than just one of the guys in the u.s bobby ches let's get your keys to victory well
12:12steve for sharifi he definitely has to close the gap he has to get on the inside when he gets there he
12:17has to push in there with big hard body shots and then stay busy he out hustled keith holmes last time
12:23and that's what got the job done for him here you see him he's a shorter fighter shorter arms he has to
12:28keep that gap tight stay inside he wants to neutralize keith holmes arms by staying inside when he pulls out he
12:34doesn't pull that far he makes a very small move there you go not a big gap just enough so he can
12:40fire and keith holmes still compromised he throws a double left hook straight right hand scores on
12:46holmes fires at the right there pulls back inside closing the gap once again
12:52where keith holmes is a little different he wants to establish a great jab effective jab
12:56a good counter right hand he got a great left right hook and come forward and press the fight push hasi
13:01back not let him press the fight here again the taller fighter is keith holmes shorter fighter
13:07hasim sharifi he wants to open that gap up create some punching room and space here as he does so with
13:12the left left uppercut sharifi goes back to fire right hand but he's beaten to the punch now that big
13:18zone there he is in the wheelhouse of keith holmes this is his power zone the long range shots and the
13:23right hook beats sharifi to the punch hits him on the chin down he goes that's where keith holmes needs to
13:29be he needs to keep jury free be able to bounce back from that ninth round knockdown to win the
13:36challenger and once champion keith holmes the man he beat a must win situation or he could probably say
13:43goodbye to big payday fights with william joppy and bernard hopkins he had absolutely no focus in
13:49that first fight wasn't himself blamed it on the flu he was just outworked out hustled allowed the smaller
13:57sharifi to get inside and impose his will unrealistically holmes fought the final round as if
14:03he was a head on point staying away from sharifi and ferdy had he known the score like he will tonight
14:09it could have been a different story a different story if he had it in his gas tank but it seemed to
14:16me he was jet lagged it seemed to me he was like walking in mud it's what happens to you when you don't
14:21get enough wrestling across time zones i don't think that's going to happen here he's here he's wide
14:26awake he's not got the flu tonight should be a different story with sharifi and to the surprise
14:32of many sharifi able to snatch the belt from the seemingly superior holmes but sharifi was undaunted
14:40he even came back from that knockdown became the third middleweight champ in france's history the
14:45first in 60 years since edward today stunning holmes with his strength and conditioning one of four
14:50current world champions from france and one of two frenchmen to beat an american for the title bobby
14:56is this guy for real well steve there's a saying in boxing that you're only as good as your last
15:00performance or at least your last big performance based on that he's at least partially for real
15:04because he took the middleweight championship of the world even before that he challenged for the
15:07super middleweight championship became a decision loser so based on his accomplishments he's at least
15:12partially there he wins tonight he vindicates himself if not he gets knocked down a couple of pegs
15:16so he's partially for real at least let's check the numbers as we go to the tail of the tape sharifi a
15:25year older than holmes while the weight is nearly even holmes has the advantage in height and reached
15:30three inches taller and a big seven inch reach disparity didn't help in the first fight let's
15:35check the key unified rules for this championship fight no standing eight count no three knockdown rule
15:40a fighter cannot be saved by the bell in any round if an accidental headbutt occurs before the end of the
15:45fourth round the fighters ruled a technical draw if it happens after the end of round four they go to
15:50the scorecards so here at the mci center in washington d.c getting ready for the wbc middleweight
15:56championship the rematch between haseen sharifi and keith holmes we're set for the introductions
16:01from our ring announcer jimmy lennon jr ladies and gentlemen a very good evening to you and we welcome
16:08you to the beautiful mci center in their boxing debut here in washington dc our nation's capital
16:15we have a big night of action coming away and it's all brought to you courtesy of don king productions
16:21this bout coming away is sanctioned by the world boxing council the president jose suleiman supervisor
16:28mario latraverse along with the washington dc boxing commission the chairman is dr arnold mcknight
16:34introducing to you our judges scoring this world title bout from ringside from offringen switzerland
16:41we have franz marty from birmingham england we have terry o'connor and from tokyo japan masakasu
16:48uchida introducing our referee in charge of this bout from cherry hill new jersey frank cappuccino
16:56all right fans here we go 12 rounds of boxing a rematch for the wbc middleweight championship of the
17:06world introducing to you first the challenger on my left fighting out of the blue corner wearing light
17:13blue trunks with navy trim he is fighting out of and representing his home of washington dc
17:21his weight 159 pounds his record 33 wins two losses with 22 wins coming by way of knockout he is
17:32currently ranked the wbc number four middleweight contender who tonight is attempting to regain his
17:38title here is the former wbc middleweight champion of the world introducing keith ho
17:53and his opponent across the ring is the defending world champion on my right fighting out of the red
18:00corner wearing black trunks joining us all the way from leon france he weighed in at a ready
18:07151 158 pounds with a record of 26 wins two losses and one draw he has 17 wins coming by way of
18:16knockout tonight he is making the first defense of his title here is the defending wbc middleweight
18:23champion champion of the world introducing haseen chile fee
18:34once again a referee in charge frank cappuccino now to give instructions 12 rounds of boxing in this
18:39match of UFC in the feudal luis rematch for the wbc middleweight title keith keith keith
18:57good evening gentlemen i see both trunks are high i will call the low blow
19:02both you understand i want you to protect yourself at all times
19:06this is a championship bout I expect you to conduct yourself as a championship both
19:13of these touch gloves let's touch touch gloves I leave it with you
19:26first fight fought at a tremendous pace amazing it went the distance but Holmes seemed surprised and
19:32confused Keith Holmes thought his speed and movement would be enough in the first fight however
19:38his biggest downfall was probably himself lack of concentration the keys to Sharifi's first victory
19:44conditioning will to win he just flat out gutted Holmes consistently more effective on the inside
19:50he took the fight from Keith Holmes as simple as that this is the WBC so they'll reveal the scores
19:58after rounds four eight and naturally twelve although these are the running scores of the
20:03judges the scores aren't official until they are announced at the end of the fight sort of like
20:08at a horse race here we go round one scheduled for twelve rematch WBC middleweight title
20:15Sharifi in the black trunks Holmes in the powder blue
20:22Sharifi intends to do the same thing he did in the first fight he told us stay inside press
20:27home fight close because Holmes is taller bigger has the longer arms and just out hustle home
20:33you know the effect of those trucks that he's wearing makes him look even longer longer and bigger
20:37and taller you know he looks so tall compared to Sharifi who's got a reasonable size trunk
20:43well that size may may change something but Sharifi whittled him down last time to his size you know
20:50right now Keith Holmes is a little more tentative than I suspected he knows he has the power to drop Sharifi
20:54he did so in the ninth round the first fight Sharifi though has to press the fight you would think
20:59that Keith Holmes might want to set him up catch him coming in but Sharifi cannot win this going back
21:03it would be who Sharifi to get into a street fight with Keith Holmes
21:10well he certainly looks like he's willing to do that well he's got he's got street fight written on his face
21:15low blow there by Holmes being cautioned by frank cappuccino construction so high on both guys it's almost ridiculous
21:22cappuccino uh frank talked about it holding the instructions when i say break i want you to break
21:30home said he feels more lateral movement and more banging inside will be the difference in the rematch
21:37he said he feels great as opposed to the first fight when he
21:39he said he had the flu well right now he's not really making sure if you pay that much
21:45as Sharifi charges and leaps in with shots i think he just stuff the jab establish that and fire off it
21:53actually nothing much to tell between either fighter right neither one is impressing at all
21:59they're just doing what they got to do to get through this first round but there's nothing impressive
22:02going on Sharifi is a feisty guy yeah he stands up to almost everything that's dished out
22:09he looks older than 31 that's for sure
22:12and he's not concerned about fighting here at home's hometown he said hey you can't be any worse
22:17than in england that's tough he said yeah he said the english fans stand by their fighter
22:22really really well and he said the other thing is he's got to eat in english restaurants
22:27and that's a terrible drawback for a french fighter you always have a way of capturing it
22:34oh nice hook you see that little hook that that combs just threw he's got to make sure if he pay
22:39coming in can't let him just walk in was that good get him loose get that right inside they're
22:45getting a little street nasty cappuccino won't take that long he's a great referee
22:50one of the best from cherry hill new jersey the bell
22:54our translator faustin sango yes okay stay away stay away from him
23:09try to stay away from him don't go too close i didn't hear the 10 second thing
23:18he said you're back bang it hard okay coin for coin i said cognac bang him
23:25all right let's take a look at sharifi catching holmes uh he missed just then and holmes caught him
23:45real good uh that was the opposite of what we had said he got hit that was that that was a little hook
23:51i referred to bobby it was amazing yeah it was one of the only few punches that holmes actually did
23:57sharifi i think barely won the round but he was the effective aggressor and landed a few more shots
24:01you know bobby i don't like even rounds i gave that an even round and i don't like it
24:05well about the flashiest thing you can say about that round may have been sharifi's ponytail
24:10oh home home settling down on his punches bobby well he was he meant to do some damage with a couple
24:16of those yeah that was home run kind of swings i don't know if that was low ferdy i think that was
24:22in the uh no it isn't on the belt line i think it was good it is it is good but i mean you know it's
24:28it's below the belt but the belt's too high
24:37stop sharifi predominantly a straight-up european style but what sets him apart from other french
24:42fighters a lot more aggressive less of a boxer something a good left hook there it is followed
24:49up by a right oh that's and there's another left hook combinations by sharifi that are scoring
24:54keith holmes have been working a pretty good jab right up until he got hit with that double left
24:57foot something i found incredible in the corner of sharifi as our translator translated they said stay
25:03away from him don't crowd him i think he's got the crowd is when he's doing the most effective work
25:09sharifi comes in close and crowds that's where his work is break that's where this fight is come on come
25:14on come on but sharifi is a fairly good target and he also at times punches wide as you just saw
25:21leaving himself open i'll tell you what he what he does that i don't like is his legs end up parallel
25:26like if he gets hit after he throws a few he's so far out of balance he squares off yeah he squares off
25:32he's gonna go right on his dump if if he squares off like that in front of holmes he gets hit he doesn't
25:38have good control of his legs no balance it's like a wind-up doll though he just never stops coming
25:43forward as you can see instead of sliding in he's walking in right one foot right there then you cannot
25:48do that step back all the way back catch you in that walk and you'll be sitting down started uh
25:53getting some publicity and scoring points when he lost a close split decision to englishman robin
25:59reed prior to holmes everybody thought he was going to get massacred in that fight but his stock went
26:03up and then the victory over holmes surprised a lot but he ain't pretty but he's effective hey this is
26:12fighting he's fighting he's not playing a violin he's not pretty but he's getting his punches off
26:17all right here's cappuccino not liking the way they clinched
26:24oh jab doing a little bit better then bobby right now the jab is working keith holmes using
26:29his height and his reach leaning out of the way as sharifi misses tagging him making him pay you have to
26:35make a man pay when you miss oh holmes with a straight left hand but it's ah brick it left
26:41sharifi unfazed no but he came back punching like a wind-up doll like you say like women boxes just
26:47flailing and it didn't do anything like right there it didn't do anything for me he's not hitting anything
26:52all that flailing was nothing
26:57that's what holmes was claiming he did often in the first fight hitting after the bell
27:01that's what's going to do he's not hitting after the bell saying sharifi is a dirty fighter
27:10please please come on man you gotta work your jam you gotta get off with your jam okay you're waiting
27:17too long okay you know you're moving down just a little bit but keep your jab in front of you all
27:24right one hand side you gotta rip all right let's take a look at this left hook by sharifi now as he's
27:29getting punched silly by that jab he comes in with a left hook which goes way over the head it really
27:34didn't land and there's the good hook right then just then was a good hook
27:40bobby ended around there you know it's not i don't think it's really dirty i think it was just very
27:44close to the bell you know a little love tap little kind of hey take that with you back to the corner pal
27:49yeah it wasn't hurt but it you know not necessary after the bell i don't think you'll like it too much
27:54once you get hit an open shot like that after that first fight holmes accused sharifi of hitting
28:00after the bell of lacing him of hitting below the belt and sharifi accused holmes of dirty tactics as
28:07well particularly below the belt i really don't think sharifi does anything intentional i think what his
28:12style is is we call it junk fighter it's a nice straight left by peep sharifi walking right into
28:18that and smiling boy holmes is throwing fire holmes the southpaw but started out a right-hander here are
28:26right uppercuts though by sharifi two double yeah double right up two people right up for homes right
28:31i see this is the pace i don't think keith is prepared to keep for a long fight and this is what
28:36i've seen sharifi once holmes came out smoking but boy sharifi put out the fire in a hurry with
28:41two hooks does this look familiar yeah well they fought like tigers last time it looks like we're
28:46gonna have it again the first fight was at a tremendous pace as i mentioned and this one is
28:55picking off where the first fight left off but at least holmes looks like he's awake in this one last
28:59time he looked like he was sleepwalking i mean you know here he looks like his mind is fully turned on
29:06right stop yeah he was looking all over the place during that fight even at us and you know he's not
29:14going to learn anything there i found it odd that he did some staring off into space looked at us looked
29:18around no one's going to help him yeah and here is one place where you want maximum concentration in a
29:25boxing ring and oftentimes when you fight in front of your hometown fans some might think it's an
29:31advantage but oftentimes to a fighter bobby you know this it can be a distraction you know it really
29:36can depending on the amount of pressure you put on yourself and i think it's individual for every
29:39fighter some will try and do things to impress some will go for a knockout to impress and get out of
29:44their game plan and that is just not smart some rise to the occasion get psyched by the crowd and
29:48others it's like up get psyched out too much pressure
29:55tarifi just keeps coming forward battling he's working well on the inside and keith has not really put any
30:00sting on his shots except for the very early part of the round like there he took three shots not real
30:05hard but no real fire back one at a time that was uh what they call a shoe shot right in this corner
30:11keith holmes was told use that jab why aren't you using that jab and that's the first fight same thing he
30:16didn't use it really he's doing exactly what he said he did and it's got to be a jab that hurts it
30:22can't be just up here i touched a jab it's got to be a popper and he's not doing it so far not doing it
30:28there's a little bit of blood on the forehead of frank sharifi i don't know where it came from
30:33well when you have a southpaw and a conventional fighter heads tend to collide feet get tangled and
30:39perhaps that's what happened upstairs every once in a while homes changes from left to righty it
30:47doesn't help him but i mean he should stay right where he's at more side side movement by sharifi here
30:53in the rematch than we saw in the first fight round three of the books let's go to andrea joyce andrea
31:06all right we're back in the dressing room with shambay mitchell this is an unusual night for you
31:10because of the open scoring you will know exactly where you stand after every single round how might
31:15that affect you in the ring how might it affect your strategy um it's not going to strike my um it's not
31:20going to you know make me make any difference anyway because um i don't expect to use the judges
31:25tonight all right you uh you were not totally dominant in your first title defense back in february
31:31you hurt both hands what will be different tonight um working on speed and throwing everything from my
31:36shoulder i'm in much better shape this time so okay best of luck back to you guys thank you andrea
31:44mitchell will be fighting a puncher all right i think there's a button here we're going to try to
31:50find it if we can i mean we all three of us missed it i mean because i didn't see that and there's a
31:54little blood on the forehead yeah yeah they did meet a little blood on the forehead i don't see any
32:01big cut or anything right right now so round four the cut opening above sharifi's right eye in round
32:09three it doesn't appear to have caused him any problems thus far and he comes roaring back in
32:16you know the bobby it's like a fighter who knows how to fight very well trying to put some order
32:22on on a really rough junkyard fighter let's just get him down he can't get a break stop they have
32:28fighters like this every once in a while they call him a junk fighter because he throws things from so
32:31many angles and it's just incredible the online scorers on the internet have sharifi up two rounds to one
32:37i agree with him steve none of us are official
32:44i have this exactly even because i gave the first round even and then they divided so stop stop break
32:53here in the wbc the fans in the arena will get to know the score after round four
32:57but that is not official as well it's official after round 12. wba the only sanctioning body who
33:07will reveal scores after every round we'll get that with the mitchell green card when you fight a guy who
33:11doesn't punch from an orthodox you know stance and throws from unorthodox angles and awkward walking
33:17this way and that way and under and over you can't have a stereotypical counter you can't set up your
33:22counters evenly you have to just fire from where you are it makes it difficult to adjust sometimes
33:27yeah that's what i was trying to say at the beginning to impose order on this you can't right this guy's
33:31not coming from all angles so you got to just fight like like he fights whenever he comes in from all
33:35angles firing i don't i just can't understand why that jab isn't hard on the part of all because he's
33:41landing he's got long arms i completely agree ferdy he needs to stuff that once in a while make him pay get
33:46his head up here take it off with the left hand boom nice body work see but when they stay that close
33:56he has a hard time being too effective here he lands a few steps around but he lets sharifi unload on
34:00inside afterward well this guy should step back and let it fly home should step back and let it
34:07break a good combination as he stands keith holmes continues to be no no no no confounded confused by
34:18this french fighter
34:23now you see what bobby said at the top of the show is happening right now as right sharifi gets close
34:29that's his right come on he doesn't want to get out that's where he wants to be and the other guy's
34:34letting him so your keys to victory are exactly happening for sharifi right now he's getting in
34:38close and the other guy's left now there keith holmes made him pay to come in that's what he has to do
34:46a little more regularly and that was the other key stand stand back and get some distance and let fire so
34:51in one little instance right i'll both your keys come true
34:54and that is the end of the fourth round the score is forthcoming
35:05come on man you gotta get going you gotta get going now no you're ready now
35:11when you're ready you've got news good and you're ready now now start working with that straight left hand
35:17and coming back with that white hook okay you hear me get the jab right there in front of him
35:23then keep the jab in front of him okay you gotta work the body just a little bit more once you get
35:28on the inside yeah don't get lazy don't get lazy okay hold on hold on hold on you don't know what you
35:35use his head all the time bro all right give me a little grease let me take care of the rig yeah you guys take care of the rig
35:42you can hear the complaints raging from the keith holmes corner that has seen sharifi is using his
35:53head head butting him dave jacobs long time trainer in the sugar ray leonard corner claude bozier also
36:00over there so here we go into round number five they're announcing the scores to the crowd and we'll pass it
36:08on to you momentarily as soon as we have it tabulated but you can hear by the reaction who's ahead
36:21i predict there's going to be a split here in those scores watch that head man it's a very close
36:25right you can see it either way
36:36colin said he needed more side to side and more banging inside to make the difference between the
36:43first and the second fight lost the first fight by unanimous decision long break hesitated far too much
36:49you can see him set set step back hesitate set hey knock that off there let it fly he missed but he
36:54let it fly he's there let it fly again it's almost the same holmes we saw in the first fight with the
36:59exception that he has more energy more determination he has some kind of a plan i mean he's trying
37:05in the other fight he was reacting stop break
37:20as tall as he is holmes and when he puts his foot forward and leans back it's awfully hard for a short
37:26guy to come in and punch him yet sharif he's able to move in because holmes is not firing the job jab and
37:33not stuffing uh him as he comes in all right let me give you the scores through four judge a has
37:44it 40 36 for holmes right judge b has a 39 37 for holmes but how about this judge c has a 39 37 for
37:54sharifi so right even though the rounds were pretty close i could see 39 37 swings one way or another
38:01off of it being even which i have at 38 38. a major uh difference in opinion there our viewers at home
38:11largely agreed with judge c with sharifi ahead well let's get back to the fact that this is heating up
38:18sharifi keeps coming and holmes although he's getting away things should be fighting like that and counter
38:25counter punching just like that break break and that exchange watch your head what you got
38:37cappuccino showing he's bilingual he's spoken italian wrong language but good try frank watch your cappuccino
38:45good try frank watch your head what you got out another tough round to score with sharifi coming on
38:55the end fighting continues
39:01all right following the fourth round this was the round by round tabulation
39:08again no names attached to the scores but you saw judge a and b
39:11going homes his way and sharifi favored by judge c you know judge c you see judge c judge c has clearly got
39:22the first three one way judge a shutout you know judge hey just doesn't uh see sharifi doing anything
39:30i would think it would be impossible not give sharifi at least two of those rounds b and c are exactly the
39:35opposite you know what that's too complicated to worry about b and c is one around one round flip which is
39:41not a big deal in one of the close rounds but judge j not giving any credit at all to sharifi i find that
39:47to be hard hard to accept two points one way four points another way six different there's the cut
39:52there's the cut on you see the cut on his brown that's more important than the score right now
39:57because we got a fight going on here and this is up for the taking this is round six scheduled for 12
40:03for the wbc middleweight title hasin sharifi comes into keith holmes house to try and retain the belt
40:11remember something sharifi's been pressing the entire fight although he's not won every round
40:14you have to be an effective aggressor in the rounds that he's effective he gets those rounds
40:18when he's winning and landing the punches and outscoring the rounds he's coming forward and getting
40:22beat clearly they're homes rounds but there's only one aggressor in this fight right now
40:26so you know that has to leave somewhere well hopefully to close out the discussion i got a 39 38 which
40:34is very close and after the fifth round 48 48 so to me we're looking at an even fight let's go back and
40:40watch the fights holmes opening up a bit bouncing right hooks off the head of sharifi who holds on
40:49i think one of those shots in the ear of the temple shook sharifi a little bit yeah he held on he
40:53definitely held on he didn't look to break it rattled him well something better because holmes just
41:01keeps putting his shots in and sharifi keeps coming now holmes extending the jab
41:08which is good strategy try to set up the big left but holmes with a good right as well as we've seen
41:15before in the past looked so good when he when he beat quincy taylor for the wbc middleweight title a few
41:23years ago
41:28crowd getting behind holmes nice shot right to the sternum right to the breastplate
41:37that'll shake your lungs up a little bit well sharifi felt the effects of that one
41:44holmes going to the body and to the jaw home scoring nicely here in the sixth round but
41:49sharifi coming in with inside uppercuts is just moving the head back home so he's getting it
41:54there you go two insider by by sharifi this guy's like an old-fashioned fighter he just keeps the
42:01momentum going and what keith holmes has to do sit on him away from the leap with one of those shots and
42:06time him
42:11nice left hook right there by sharifi see keith holmes thinks that sharifi's going to stop after
42:15one two or three and this guy throws four five six maybe even seven not hard but they're there
42:20and they land
42:24sharifi is in such excellent condition you can just see it in the first fight i questioned if
42:29he'd be able to hold the pace and sure enough he held it so i have no reason to question it now
42:34but again it's a big big pace final 20 seconds of the sixth as the pace quickens again and sharifi doing
42:43most of the action
42:47but back comes holmes and back comes sharifi with a right cross
42:52sharifi's aggressive he's pushing he's punching he's coming i mean hard hard to judge his rounds boy he is
42:57not just a heartful yeah let's go inside the ropes with bobby chez gets some insight into what's going
43:05on here well here's a terrific look of how hasin sharifi keeps this gap not only closed but zeroed up he
43:11gets inside on keith holmes and he works here he blocks his shot he stuffs an uppercut another one he
43:16steps forward again keith holmes trying to get away move out more from the other side inside stuffing
43:22the punches not letting keith holmes get any power and firing two three four shots
43:27covering up again up the middle around the shots two three walking keith holmes backward
43:33getting in with his punches be being an effective aggression
43:42faustin sango our interpreter go ahead go ahead go after him chasing
43:52don't throw yourself on him go after him that's the difference between
43:59and sharif said would you mind defining the difference between that i missed that in gym class
44:05throw yourself at him and go at him john mark perrineau in the corner of has seen shirifio also
44:11manages and trains the cruiserweight champ abris to yozo another frenchman who beat an american for
44:17the title beat nate miller the home viewers see it this way very close well that's exactly i got it
44:28very close i have it also very close i have a slight edge to sharifi but i do 58 to 57 he's out hustling
44:35him he's just out working him and he's out scoring and that has to be something said for that bobby if
44:41the fans at home are listening to you and listen to your definition of an aggressive fighter that's
44:46what you see here he's aggressive but he's landing aggressive and not landing you're not getting the
44:51points this guy's aggressive and landing you got to give him no clearly because he's aggressive every
44:56round he doesn't win every round because some rounds he gets beat to the punch he gets counted on
44:59but here he's walking in and he's slamming blocking where he has to but still working
45:04sharif he's so busy look how many punches he's throwing it's non-stop no let up relentless
45:10he's got to be tiring holmes out well holmes is starting to look bewildered like he did in france like
45:15wait a minute when's this guy going to stop this so i can start fighting he's only reacting and
45:20badly he's he's not reacting as fast as sharif he's putting those punches in
45:26that's the halfway point of this championship fight see there are two clean shots a left and a right
45:31and shrievy threw four more after without a response back from keith holmes four more shots
45:36after the double that landed well he better think of something to do rather than let let this guy
45:42stay close to him back up jab move show him some motion nice right hook by keith look like he was
45:48trying to set that one up another one he unloaded he hurt sharif
45:52he's coming back right hook he hurt sharif is in trouble
45:59smothering sharifi keith holmes with the garage
46:07that's it it's all over just like that sharif protests and keith holmes dives to the canvas
46:15in celebration i think the stoppage was premature there wasn't too much being offered in the way of
46:21punches from sharif but the punches hitting him were not that clean i think it's a little premature
46:28another 10 or 15 seconds could have been very bobby bobby you know i'm for every premature but you
46:33know what i agree with you i do not think that was exactly right he didn't show signs being that hurt he
46:39still had combat in him he wasn't getting hit that much his legs were under him his head was not
46:43snapping back wildly well that's a little premature let me say i don't i don't care what the final
46:49result because i think the final result would be he's on the way to get knocked out but but still he
46:53deserves the chance for the championship he deserves the chance and if there was a standing eight count
47:00that probably would have happened but there's no standing eight out in this fight wbc rules unified rules
47:07for that matter and you can see as hasin sharifi paces around he is very bitter at that stopping and he
47:15may have reason to be well questionable yeah i mean i'm certainly one of the the leading
47:23exposed to stopping early but this is not stopping this is stopping a little too a little bit he would
47:29have ended up out on his back so it ends here in round seven a technical knockout for the once
47:36and new champion keith holmes reclaims the title you know even after the fight was stopped immediately
47:43sharif reacted and said why what are you doing what are you doing i'm okay sure he was dazed sure he was
47:48hurt but i don't believe he was on the verge of serious injury he was holding his hands up his legs
47:54were under his legs were under him and i think it was a premature stoppage but i'm not the referee wasn't
47:58my call and i i couldn't see his eyes from here i'll tell you what i wouldn't mind seeing a rematch i mean
48:04they fought two two times one went one way one went the other that's a darn good fight that was
48:09even hey can we go back can we go back to paris to do it that's what i was thinking i was just thinking
48:14that all right let's take a look at it so see if bobby and i were right and all right now he gets hit
48:21here the first one on the high up on the temple i don't think that doesn't work as they as they're
48:26rolling the punches start coming there's the hooker that's a good hook now he is in a little bit of
48:32control that's a great punch right hand punch there that's a great punch another right hand punch there
48:37my left hand that no no it's right at this other right and yeah he is getting hit
48:44minute now here's where it looks like he is falling back but he continues to have his feet under him he's
48:49swaying he's got back and forth he's got his arms out but the problem was that he's not punching and
48:55that's where cappuccino can basically unanswered punches goodbye and he's gone it's very very close i mean
49:01you know yeah clearly as we take another look at it unanswered punches was probably the factor that's
49:06that's a fact keith holmes hurts him right there with that right hand of the temple nice right hook
49:10the same punch that dropped him back in paris or in leon whichever it was in france and he is wobbly
49:16he is dazed he tries to tries to at least cover himself but he doesn't offer up any offense he doesn't
49:21offer up anything but a passive type defense i for i for one would like to get one little thing in
49:27wherever that question of judge was concerned with frank cappuccino i'll take frank cappuccino's
49:32opinion because he's in there next to the fighter we're not so i'll go with frank cappuccino
49:36i withdraw my objective it's okay so you're changing your i am i just looking it on tv i
49:41changed you can see it he didn't answer the no and no unanswered punches unanswered punches 28 we
49:48counted 28 unanswered 28 i would venture to guess no more than eight landed that's that's my contention
49:54that's where i still hold my minor objection frank cappuccino excellent referee any event a very
50:00controversial conclusion let's get the call from jimmy lennon jr ladies and gentlemen we have the time
50:10of two minutes 13 seconds of round number seven our referee in charge frank cappuccino stops the
50:16contest the winner by way of technical knockout he is the new wbc middleweight champion of the world
50:25keith holmes well the judges were not in complete agreement of this bout in any round
50:32as keith holmes is the 14th middleweight champion to regain the title now in a group that includes
50:39sugar ray robinson tony zale gene fulmer dick tiger emil griffith and his arch rival william joppy he
50:47returns to the throne able to avenge his loss to hasin sharif he does it here in his own backyard
50:53and turned about his fair play since he lost the belt in sharifi's home of leon france now 34 and 2
51:00with 23 knockouts sharifi drops to 26 three and one holmes victory certainly generates renewed interest
51:07in a possible showdown with joppy and perhaps a fight with bernard hopkins
51:17coming up next our main event the wba super lightweight championship hometown hero shambay
51:23mitchell puts his title on the line as he faces another local product reggie green
51:32we'll go backstage live into the dressing room of reggie green from nearby clinton
51:38maryland maryland rated number three he's a good puncher comes off a victory the day before shambay
51:47mitchell had his difficult fight with pedro saiz and very smartly reggie green sparred with saiz
51:56in preparation for this fight standing by in the ring is andrea joyce and
52:01all right keith congratulations how different of a fighter were you tonight compared to that night
52:08back in may in france well first of all let me thank god the creator of heaven and earth and all
52:13my brothers and sisters in demona israel i was different tonight because i had my energy going
52:18over to france on only five to six days notice i mean well it wasn't noticed but that's only time i
52:24had over there i really didn't get acclimated had a lot of jet lag and i want to thank don king for
52:29for giving it back to me, giving me the opportunity to win it again.
52:31He's a great promoter.
52:33I don't care what y'all say, he gives a brother a chance.
52:35Beyond the physical problems that you had in May, though,
52:38what did you learn from that first fight that helped you tonight?
52:40That it taught me that I'm a great boxer and great puncher,
52:47and to always be prepared for any fight, wherever I go,
52:52any place in the world, I'm going to be prepared the next time.
52:55Keith, we're going to show you the end of the fight.
52:57Here is when the fight stopped. Take us through it.
53:00Well, first of all, I caught him with a good shot, and it shook him up.
53:03I knew the combinations was getting to him, and he was throwing a lot of shots,
53:07but it wouldn't bother me. I was really trying to...
53:09He didn't confuse you at all?
53:11No, because I fought him before, and he told a lot of people on the radio,
53:14it's the same Haseem Sharif from France.
53:17So I said, okay, I'm not the same Keith Holmes.
53:20You know, I got my energy.
53:22I got my brothers and sisters and wife behind me.
53:24I got a newborn on the way. It's on. It's on.
53:28What about the future now? Any thoughts about unifying the title, Bernard Hopkins?
53:31Well, the man is right here, Mr. Don King.
53:34You know, whatever he say, he bring it to the table.
53:37You know, money talk, bullcrap walk, and I'm not bullcrap.
53:41All right, congratulations again.
53:44We're not going to Disney. Well, we're going to Damone, Israel, Africa.
53:46All right, we're going to bring in Sharifi, Haseem Sharifi, right now,
53:52with the help of an interpreter.
53:55The judges were not unanimous in their scoring on this one.
54:01And did you feel like you were doing enough to win this fight?
54:07It's true that I took some shots, but I believe the referee was very kind with Keith.
54:24What about the stoppage, his thoughts on that?
54:27Did he think it was stopped too early?
54:28That's what it looked like he thought.
54:30I believe the referee was very kind with Keith. He didn't count me. I didn't fail. I don't understand why he stopped the fight.
54:53It's true that I took a shot, but I don't understand why they stopped the fight, because I was still in shape.
54:57Does he feel like he deserves a rematch?
55:00Do you think you deserve a third fight?
55:05I want to offer a second fight to Holmes. I hope he will offer me a third fight, and if he wants to go home, I'll do it at home.
55:13I offer him a chance to fight for a second time. I hope he will be very kind to let me fight him at my hometown only.
55:19You can wait until after the baby is born.
55:26You can wait until after the baby is born.
55:42Okay, that hundred point call. You have to wait a little bit again?
55:47Okay, thank you so much. Let's take it back now to Steve.
55:51All right, thank you very much, Andrea. If ever a fight deserved a third get-together, this was it.
55:58Let's take a look at the scoring. This is now totally official.
56:04You can see the judges' names attached to the scoring. We'll total it up for you through the sixth round.
56:12Fifty-eight-fifty-six for Holmes, according to O'Connor.
56:15Uchida had it. Fifty-nine-fifty-five Holmes.
56:18And you see the difference there, as Marty had it. Sharifi had fifty-eight-fifty-six, heading into the decisive seven round.
56:24You know what? Either of the fifty-eight-fifty-sixes, you couldn't have an argument with because the fight was close.
56:28Each round was very close.
56:30In this type of fight, if you give every close round to a certain fighter based on you thinking that he just outdid him by a little bit,
56:36but I'll tell you that fifty-nine one way, the fifty-eight the other, it's just a big gap.
56:40We have to find a school or a method to just score fights.
56:45And the folks at home on the online had Keith Holmes ahead barely four rounds to three.
56:54And the man who made the big decision to stop the fight is standing alongside Andrea Joyce with Frank Cappuccino.
57:00Andrea.
57:01All right, Frank, tell us about the stoppage. What did you see?
57:05Well, what I've seen, I've seen 30 unanswered punches, and Hasim did not answer back,
57:12and he was getting hit too much, and in the proper places, too, he was getting hit,
57:17which a certain individual can be hurt. My first obligation is to the safety of the boxer.
57:25When I seen him, and I looked at him, and I stopped it, I felt, no way can I continue.
57:31Here's another look at it. I know you felt like you didn't need to see another look at it,
57:35but here it is. No question in your mind.
57:37No question in my mind. Uh-uh.
57:41No.
57:42Taking too many headshots.
57:46Not answering back. Not answering back.
57:49Hands dropped down. See how his hands dropped down?
57:54I have no qualms of what I did.
57:56All right, Frank, thanks so much. Back to you, Steve.
58:03That's why he comes back and fights again.
58:05All right, thank you very much, Frank and Andrea.
58:08A disgruntled Hossein Sharifi behind us, being interviewed by the folks from French television
58:14back to France right now. Very disgruntled.
58:16So is unification the key at 160?
58:20As far as Holmes is concerned, does it have the same significance that it used to have, Bobby?
58:24Well, you know what? Unification always has significance.
58:27There's one man, the man to beat, and who knows who that is right now
58:30while you're all fractured with titles and champions everywhere.
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