It was 100% a genuine knockdown in the first round. A crap one from Taylor being caught off-balance, but a genuine one nonetheless. Definitely not a slip. Not sure why the ref got it wrong, but get it wrong he did.
As for the holding. Meh. Less sympathy. Cameron is significantly the bigger fighter. If she wanted to fight inside, she should have been able to outmuscle Taylor and get on with it. A lot of time she was complaining about holding, Taylor didn't even have hold of her arms.
As for her best work being done on the inside, Cameron's best work was her long jab. Unfortunately for her, Taylor figured it out for the second fight and made the necessary adjustment. In the exchanges throughout the fight Taylor tended to have the last word, including when it was inside fighting. Don't think Cameron can have too many complaints about the scorecards -- looking at the cards, even if the first round was switched to 10-8 in Cameron's favour with all three judges, it would still have been a win for Taylor. Crucially, she landed the cleaner punches.
As for the holding. Meh. Less sympathy. Cameron is significantly the bigger fighter. If she wanted to fight inside, she should have been able to outmuscle Taylor and get on with it. A lot of time she was complaining about holding, Taylor didn't even have hold of her arms.
As for her best work being done on the inside, Cameron's best work was her long jab. Unfortunately for her, Taylor figured it out for the second fight and made the necessary adjustment. In the exchanges throughout the fight Taylor tended to have the last word, including when it was inside fighting. Don't think Cameron can have too many complaints about the scorecards -- looking at the cards, even if the first round was switched to 10-8 in Cameron's favour with all three judges, it would still have been a win for Taylor. Crucially, she landed the cleaner punches.
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