Spoke with the manager of Carlos Gongora, Mike Criscio, he says Gongora got the Akhmedov fight on 3 weeks notice, was back home in Ecuador, had to come down from 190 to 168 pounds, and they still managed to get the win. Says they will be signing with Matchroom— Ryan ******** (@ryan********) December 20, 2020
Still haven't watched the fight...
Sad I missed it, but it sounds exciting so I'm pumped to watch it.
So rarely do I miss fights these days but this one came on earlier than expected. That or I wasn't paying close enough attention.
Gongora’s uncle is Segundo Mercado. He fought Bernard Hopkins twice, arguably beat Hopkins the first time, dropped him twice too. It was scored a draw.
Really good fight if you haven’t seen it.
Hopkins whooped him in the rematch though.
I'd green you but it looks like you're on re-charge... you're like a trove of interesting tidbits, man. It's now got me thinking whether Carlos' stylistic similarities to Hopkins are more than coincidental.
Very impressed with Gongora, came in short notice and had the judges against him, survived an early scare and showed how it's done, composed, patient, accurate... made me a fan.
And yeah, liked Chris and Gabe on the commentary too.... hard not to like Gabe TBH, the fighters' fighter, but I liked Algieris insight and insider anecdotes too
Matchroom should give Gongora some type of 3 fight deal. There have been so few GOOD Super Middleweight fights lately I was really glad to see a fight like Akhmedov vs Gongora. Plus Gongora is small and has campaigned at 160 too so there are good fights for him out there.
I think this would be the plan if DAZN has back to back day fights. PBC or Showtime and ESPN wouldn’t have same commentary on b2b days. I too enjoyed Algieri. Seems like I’m watching a PBC show.. lol. The Gongora Akhmedov I’m replaying now. Didn’t realize the Ecuadorian was a 2 time Olympian.
Gongora’s uncle is Segundo Mercado. He fought Bernard Hopkins twice, arguably beat Hopkins the first time, dropped him twice too. It was scored a draw.
Really good fight if you haven’t seen it.
Hopkins whooped him in the rematch though.
Yeah I really liked the commentary last night
They actually just commentated on the fight and left gaps in the commentary.
If there’s one thing that I dislike about commentary on a lot of broadcasts is they talk way too much and will spend literally half the round talking about another topic and not the fight.
Usually unknown Olympians are gems. I remember being amped for Lara vs Gausha couple years ago... turned out to be boring.... but that experience even showed up against Lubin. I think the X Factor is that an Ecuadorian like Gongora would be more ruggid and street hunger than Gausha. Cause Gongora was in that fight to bang too as we saw him smiling at Ali. Gongora reminds me a bit of the Cuban Welter Ugas
Dude put me in mind of a southpaw Hopkins, not a banger but with that sneaky hurtful power from angles when he needs it, cerebral dude, patient and knows his craft. Even the way he moved, his shot selection and his footwork reminded me of Hopkins, dudes very similar build and size too.
But for sure the dudes hungry... I mean probably literally if you read anything about how things are in Ecudaor right now, but he took this fight on a coupla weeks because he needed the money, but also seems to be genuinely driven and has absolute belief in his ability.
And I don't think this is just a case of Akhmedov just being a bit shit either, although he ain't particularly creative, this was an educated beatdown... just really glad Gongora got the stoppage cos he was on his way to being robbed.
Very impressed with Gongora, came in short notice and had the judges against him, survived an early scare and showed how it's done, composed, patient, accurate... made me a fan.
And yeah, liked Chris and Gabe on the commentary too.... hard not to like Gabe TBH, the fighters' fighter, but I liked Algieris insight and insider anecdotes too
Agreed. They should actually let Rosado comment more during fights, he and Algeri articulate very well, simple and understandable. Most fighters know the game well but can’t convey/articulate well.
Rosado and Algieri honestly seemed like a step up from the normal DAZN commentary
I was thinking the same thing. I think algerie and rosado are great additions especially when paired with the right person for commentating.
Gongora put a beating on G's guy.
Wow I'll have to watch that. That guy he beat always looked solid.
Just furthers my theory that usually when you are from a nothing country in boxing, you get no love. Not a lot of money in touting fighters from Ecuador. At least Kazaks have GGG to give them a shot.