Jimmy "The Dream" LeBlanc used a strong attack to stop Josh Rupard in the fourth round. LeBlanc did a very effective job in parrying the bull rush of Rupard. Rupard suffered a bloody nose two minutes into the bout. Rupard is now 2-1, two KO's. LeBlanc is 13-22-4, five KO's.
Phil Jackson taking on...and knocking out Anthony Pietratonio. Body shots did the damage as Jackson stops his opponent at 2:59 of the first. Jackson is now 8-1, seven KO's. Pietratonio is now 7-10, six KO's.
Up next, the rematch between Renaldo Gaines and David Warren Huffman.
This is the type of fighting that
ReplyDeleteLeblanc is capable of.
The guy should stop laying down for people like Lange and of all people Perry Ballard.
Yeah he was solid and he looked better than last time
ReplyDeleteLets not start jumping on the Leblanc bandwagon yet, the kid he beat was a scrub. Lets be honest: when your fighting someone with a 2-0 pro record (with a losing amature record as people told me), it is important to see who they beat. Rupard's opponents had a combined record of 0-11, ALL those losses by KO (many in the 1st round). Therefore, its safe to say that up until the Leblanc fight Rupard had yet to fight a live opponent.
ReplyDeleteLets see how Leblanc looks in his next fight. He can certiantly take some confidence away from this fight, BUT considering his opponents ability and skill level, it won't be much.
As for Rupard...not impressed. Limited to no head movement, limted power and speed, low fighter IQ, and too old. You could see how lost he was once he figured out that Leblanc wasn't going to lay down after the first 60 seconds. Tough aint enough!
All in all, great and exciting card. Had a great time taking my youngest son there. Can't wait for the next card. And good luck to Dusty Harrison, I think he fought a OK fight, definately a learning experience. As he gets older, and his power starts to come out, I think he will be just fine.
That so-called "scrub" will scrap your opinion. Lets be honest: Leblanc was a last minute sub in the fight where Rupard didn't back down. Rupard shouldn't have taken the fight, and Leblanc shouldn't have fought someone who's not as experienced just to gain false recognition. Rupard was ready to be tested, possibly prematurely, and surely those points you mentioned need to be addressed. All in all, I say he's got balls for taking this fight.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Leblanc shouldn't have fought someone with Rupards experience, even with short notice. The advantage in experience/skill was clearly on Leblanc's side.
ReplyDeleteThat is what I was referring to in my post: that this win for Leblanc wasn't as impressive at it seemed.
And I am sorry for calling Rupard a scrub, anybody who is willing to fight, regardless of the reason, deserves some level of respect.
But having "balls" is, sometimes, a bad thing in this sport; especially when raw athletisim is lacking. Heart can only get you so far. When he starts to fight people who can PUNCH, and who can move, and most importantly WANT TO FIGHT AND WIN: Some of the mistakes he makes will result in clean KO's, and cuts. And in my opinion, when a fighter starts to get KO'd and hurt in fights, they lose the confidence that made them dangerous. We call that "kicked puppy syndrome", and the 2 people he fought before Leblanc had that.
Matching fighters is a tricky business. Especially when you don't know what you have (thats why the amatures are so important: they let you know what type of fighter you are, and what you should work on, and avoid). You feed you fighter too many lions when he is fresh, he gets "kicked puppy syndrome". You feed him too many 'kicked puppies' the lions eat him quick. Hopefully, they work on his faults, and he continues to grow, but at 32, its difficult. But with hard work and brains, anything is possible. Good Luck!
I agree that Leblanc shouldn't have fought someone with Rupards experience, even with short notice. The advantage in experience/skill was clearly on Leblanc's side.
ReplyDeleteThat is what I was referring to in my post: that this win for Leblanc wasn't as impressive at it seemed.
And I am sorry for calling Rupard a scrub, anybody who is willing to fight, regardless of the reason, deserves some level of respect.
But having "balls" is, sometimes, a bad thing in this sport; especially when raw athletisim is lacking. Heart can only get you so far. When he starts to fight people who can PUNCH, and who can move, and most importantly WANT TO FIGHT AND WIN: Some of the mistakes he makes will result in clean KO's, and cuts. And in my opinion, when a fighter starts to get KO'd and hurt in fights, they lose the confidence that made them dangerous. We call that "kicked puppy syndrome", and the 2 people he fought before Leblanc had that.
Matching fighters is a tricky business. Especially when you don't know what you have (thats why the amatures are so important: they let you know what type of fighter you are, and what you should work on, and avoid). You feed you fighter too many lions when he is fresh, he gets "kicked puppy syndrome". You feed him too many 'kicked puppies' the lions eat him quick. Hopefully, they work on his faults, and he continues to grow, but at 32, its difficult. But with hard work and brains, anything is possible. Good Luck!
How about Renaldo Gains coming in 6lbs over weight
ReplyDeleteMaybe that was an indication of how serious he took this fight? When you come in over weight it usually means two things: you didn't train (either because your lazy, or over confident), or your too big for the weight class. I think the fight result answered that question. However, he may have learned a valuable lesson, which may help him in the future. I think the next fight, for all of the fighters that lost, will tell us alot about their mentality, and skill level.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, I think the way these fighters are matched up in their next fight will tell us alot about what type of future they'll have in this sport. If they have skills, and their trainers have confidence in their abilities, they'll be matched with a live opponent. If not, I think you'll see alot of 0-6 fighters filling their dance card.