ESPN's Friday Night Fights: Raymond Joval VS James McGirt Jr.

ESPN's Friday Night Fights: Raymond Joval VS James McGirt Jr.
ESPN Broadcast: Friday Night Fights

Date: July 25, 2008

Place: City Center, Saratoga Springs, New York, USA

Division: Middleweight

Rounds Scheduled: 10

Fighters:

James McGirt Junior:
Record: 18-1-0 with 9 kayos
Hometown: Brentwood, New York, USA
Height: 6'1
Weight: 160.5 lbs
Age: 25

*Son of the great Buddy McGirt, fighter and trainer. Coming off of a kayo loss with Carlos De Leon Junior. McGirt's a southpaw.

Raymond Joval:
Record: 37-4-0 with 16 kayos
Hometown: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Age: 39
Weight: 162.5
Height: 5'11

*1992 Olympian. Former IBO Middleweight champion. Never knocked out. He has a win over Sam Soliman and a loss to Fernando Vargas.

BE's round by round scoring and breakdown:

Our Referee: Eddie Claudio

Round 1: for McGirt: McGirt lands the first good shot. A stiff one-two. McGirt stumbles Joval. I believe it was his punch not just a stumble. McGirt looks stronger. Joval slips and it is rightly ruled no knock down. McGirt is fighting like the bigger man against the very experienced veteran and backing him into the ropes. Joval is looking timid now.

Round 2: for McGirt: Joval finds McGirt's body well but the ref says it's low. It didn't look bad to me. I'm impressed by McGirt's confidence and willingness to let his hands go from a safe range. McGirt flurries on Joval towards the end of the round in case the judges had any doubt. I doubt they did.

Round 3: for McGirt - a 10/7: Joval is trying to come in now like he thinks he's felt McGirt's best and can't be hurt. Maybe a futile move. McGirt immediately asserts control and rocks Joval. He puts Joval down seconds later with a terrific right hook from far too close a range to not be effective. Joval is rocked again by a straight left hand and gets smacked to the canvas again a moment later. Joval lands a great right hook but he's still not recovered. McGirt wants to knock him out it seems. Joval survives a round that would break a lot of fighters' spirit.

Round 4: for McGirt: He sets up his straight shots with a jab doing a nice one-two like the current champ, Kelly Pavlik and about as consistently too. It's really a professional way to go. Impressive. Those one-twos are really rocking Joval back. Raymond Joval is clearly trying but there's not a lot he can do it seems to tip the rounds in his favor.

Round 5: for McGirt: Joval is warned for low punching. I'm not seeing that they're badly low. McGirt is adjusting his waistband like it was knocked upwards but I'm not seeing the low blows he's supposedly taking. They can't be that blatant. McGirt isn't as powerful in this round but the punch output may have tired him. If he did take low blows, it may have slowed him too. Joval is trading more. Atlas says the taller McGirt is giving up his height a little bit by crouching now. I see it. Still a round for McGirt though he is slowing.

Round 6: for McGirt: McGirt is rocking Joval several times at the start of the round. Joval looked like he wanted to try a veteran head butt there to stay in it. I'm not accusing, I'm just saying that's what it looked like. Raymond Joval is still fighting back. He's making the round competitive and trying to come forward and land. He wouldn't be if McGirt weren't still giving up his height like Teddy marked. He may have McGirt hurt a bit. Joval looks really enthused by McGirt's state but I don't think he's actually hurt. He's a little punched out though. I think because of the earlier rocking of Joval, McGirt must take the round but it was damn close. McGirt hopefully will get the right instructions from his corner to fight tall again and work that one-two again that he was so very successful with.

Round 7: for Joval: Joval wants to fight. He's not fighting like the beaten man and he may've won the last round on a lot of cards. He almost got it on mine but I couldn't ultimately decide for him considering the initial stunning he seemed to have at the beginning. This coupled with that thought that he didn't have James McGirt hurt like some may've thought. They stop to get a mouthpiece back in McGirt. Joval is winning this round for sure. McGirt flurries a bit. Maybe too little too late for this round. The ref tells Joval if he sees another low blow he'll take a point. I just don't see it. I give that round to Ray Joval. Maybe he's trying to get dirty to survive and get a win but veterans do that. Sorry. You don't have to like it but there you go. I didn't see the low shots but as I said, it did look like he attempted a butt earlier.

Round 8: for Joval: Ray tries to hold and hit a bit and does. He is shooting to the body a lot but I think he's aiming for the body, not below. He's really looking game. Teddy scored the last round even. McGirt has never been past eight rounds, says Joe Tessitore. Okay, now I see a punch from Joval getting too low but caught by McGirt's glove. I think Joval is getting this round too. McGirt has completely abandoned everything that worked for him in the initial rounds. He looks tired too with little steam on his punches. Their power looks almost equal now. I give it too Joval. I can't see him knocking McGirt out and I can't see him making up for that 10/7 round either. He's still doing what a real fighter does though and competing until it's really over.

Round 9: for Joval: Buddy immediately in this round looks to have his second wind but Joval has already got his confidence and legs back for several rounds. He's knocking McGirt around a bit too. Joval is sneaking some really solid punches in there. He's a pro. McGirt tries to flurry here and there but he's been most effective with solid powerful one-twos and he's not doing that. Joval's will and experience are showing. McGirt starts to bounce on his feet a bit now. Everything McGirt lands in this round is returned from Joval. He is landing but he's taking a bit more in the process with this crouching. He's going to kick himself when he watches the fight later for that.

Round 10: Even: I don't see Joval closing the gap even with a really spirited performance in the later rounds. Joval is not stupid. He doesn't want McGirt to get that range he had earlier that let him load up with all his strength and he has been right in there starting a bit in round six and staying ever since. I score the last round even. They're really looking equal in this round and if this were a 15 rounder like the old days...it might very well be Raymond Joval's fight. Too bad for Raymond Joval.

BE's scorecard: With one 10/7 round for McGirt and one even I call 3 rounds to 6/97-92 for James ''Buddy'' McGirt Junior.
Teddy's Scorecard: 96-93 for McGirt.

The Judges' Official Scores:

97-91
99-89
99-89 for the winner by unanimous decision Buddy McGirt Junior.

Note on the scoring: Joe Tessitore says Ray Joval got absolutely no credit for his fight and Teddy agrees that it is bad judging taking away from the sport. They both agree that McGirt won the fight and it is good that he got the decision but that the scoring was absolutely rotten. I agree. The right man won but a 99-89 score is really hard to justify.

BE's bottom line: Ray Joval probably gave Buddy McGirt Junior a lot to think about. You don't fight an experienced former champ like that at his stage in his career without taking something useful away from it. He still did a good job and came away with a clean victory albeit with questionable scoring. Ray Joval will hopefully be looking for permanent retirement this late in the game. He has nothing to be ashamed of in his fight but I think it's time to recognize that his abilities are faded and even though he has had an iron chin, he can now get hurt by guys who don't aren't even the heaviest hitters at middleweight. It was a good fight but Joval is 39 years old. Better safe than sorry.