Video: Quade Cooper knocks out Barry Dunnett

What a con. Pitty anyone who paid to watch SBW And Cooper. It’s the Aussie version of WWE!

Don’t think you can draw any comparasions to Quade’s boxing and his rugby defence. Two entirely different beasts in my opinion. As far as his boxing is concerned, Quade wouldn’t be too much of an opponent for most heavyweight amateurs I know in South Auckland. He got a lucky one away this time that ended the bout, but a boxer Quade is not. His promoter can feed him all the easy match ups in the business (they get paid too y’know!!), but the day that dawns that Quade is matched up with a seasoned fighter with any class at all (dozens of them in Samoa and Tonga) will be the day that Quade’s boxing career is over. And I say this as someone who has a lot of time for Quade as a rugby player.

First fight with really bugger all training, not so bad. Gotta keep those gloves up son…

(I watched the whole card and already wrote this up elsewhere, so here goes:)

Cooper proved he can be fast and athletic across multiple sports. But wow, does he need some more training. His head was so high he looked like he was trying to look over a fence, and his hands were so low he looked like he was trying to tie his shoes (QC — your left should be closer to your head, not your knee). Because of those low hands, Dunnet tagged him with an overhand right that was way more trouble than it should have been. Don’t look away from the punch, move toward it so if it connects before it reaches maximum velocity, and use your hands to catch it before it catches your dome. That can be learned, but it takes practice, and some new fighters never get it. (Brock Lesnar in the UFC never, ever, ever figured that out and he turned from punches, which is what made him such an easy striker’s target.)

But Cooper’s jab is snappy and stiff, and when he used it, it was effective. If he fights again, he should double up his jab; it’s a hard jab, and can create more openings for him. The right that knocked out Dunnet was thrown with complete commitment; if you saw the replay, Cooper followed through completely on the shot and was looking down at the mat after he connected. He threw it all into that shot. If he keeps it up, and focuses on developing some real defense and some less telegraphed footwork, he’ll be serviceable. But he’ll need development if he’s going to fight someone with more than a desk-conditioned body.

SBW’s match was strange all around. The announcer got his name wrong, twice. They didn’t play any walkout music for him, and he was the only fighter that happened to. That meant he could hear the full disdain of the crowd. After the fight, the didn’t turn the volume on the mic when he was interviewed, so nothing could be heard. And those weren’t the weirdest parts.

As for the 12 vs 10 rounds, here’s what’s up: The WBA is investigating if this ever should have been a sanctioned bout or if it was incorrectly sanctioned. Every title fight in the WBA is for 12 rounds. However, this was for the WBA International Heavyweight Title, which isn’t an officially recognized belt, so it could be a 10 rounder. And therein lies the problem. SBW was told and prepped for a 10 round fight. The time keeper knew that and one of the judges did. Everyone else assumed it was 12 rounds because of “WBA” and “Title,” but didn’t check the fine print. Botha’s promoter even found out before the fight that it was a 10-rounder, and he admits he didn’t tell Botha, which A.) shows a measure of arrogance, and B.) is grounds for Botha to get a new promoter.

SBW has improved miles beyond where he was with Clarence Tillman; he’s keeping his chin down, his hands are up more, his movement around the ring is more fluid, and he proved he can stick to an effective gameplan (tying Botha up every time the White Buffalo rushed in to close distance).

What he also showed is that he had no business being in there with such a crafty, seasoned and nasty opponent. Williams looked out of sorts and confused by some of Botha’s tactics, few of which were legal — which added to the weirdness. When he tied up Botha and the ref stepped in to break them, Botha would stand on SBW’s feet and push, knocking him off balance and creating openings. (Lesson: watch your footwork — don’t let your opponent dance on them.)

When they were tied up and the ref wasn’t in position, Botha kept throwing his “buffalo horns,” double-punches to the back of the head. Botha admitted this, and said he was watching for when the ref couldn’t see so he could throw them. The big gloves hit the back and along the ears, knocking off the equilibrium (Botha used this to some effect against Tyson). Not exactly a legal tactic, but one SBW kept letting him get away with. (Lesson: When backing out of a break, keep your gloves up to block something coming in.)

The most egregious tactic, though, were the multiple shots Botha threw on the break. SBW’s corner was complaining about that all the way through the fight, but the first one that caused real damage was in the 9th; the ref stepped in to break them up, Botha turned towards SBW’s corner and stuck his tongue out at them, and then threw an overhand right over the ref while the ref was still trying to push him back and landed cleanly on SBW’s temple. That knocked him dizzy, and was so blatant the ref took a point. Williams showed his conditioning and some honest guts in being able to hang on for the rest of the fight — and Botha used the shot off the break again in the 10th to nearly finish Williams off. The ref also took a point away from Williams at the end for hanging on. (Lesson: Protect yourself at all times, especially against a nasty old coot who isn’t looking at you when he throws his most effective punch.)

Botha and his camp were arrogant and never took Williams seriously, and deserved what they got. A promoter who decides not to tell his fighter how long the fight is isn’t a professional. If Botha was as good and confident as he assumed, he should have put SBW away by the 7th or 8th.

Williams looked lucky. His jab is excellent and he marked Botha up in the early rounds, and he has a hard right. He also showed a decent chin, and by about the 4th or 5th showed he wasn’t afraid to trade with Botha — which is huge. You actually saw SBW grow as a boxer during the fight.

But he now has to learn to put combinations together and just not settle on that 1-2 (Botha was telling Williams during the fight that he was telegraphing his punches). He also has to learn those lessons from above — footwork, covering his head when tied up, and always protecting himself. Those lapses made it a much closer fight than it should have been. But given the other weird elements surrounding this fight, and the hostility of the crowd, I wonder if SBW will actually be interested in putting his rugby career at risk for a hobby neither he nor the fans seemed to enjoy.

That said, Williams said if there’s a rematch, he wants to do it in Cape Town. Williams recons he has more fans there than Botha does, and probably more than in Brisbane.