Both Danny Green and B.J. Flores went into their cruiserweight fight Wednesday with credibility problems: Danny Green because his last fights was so questionable that some bookies now decline to post exotic betting options for his fights; Flores because he’s talked some big talk and landed a gig on ESPN, without ever having done much.
Each man needed the other. Green leaves their bout with his reputation partially restored. Flores will have to return to America to face the same questions as before. He came and fought a tough guy in Green, but never managed to pull the trigger.
The fight itself was the reverse of what was expected. It was the American who pressured throughout the fight, not the Australian. Green, an underrated boxer, was happy to wait on the ropes to counter Flores and work his jab in centre ring. Flores basically lost the fight by bouncing around in front of Green when he was on the ropes instead of throwing punches.
Even in the final rounds, when he clearly needed either a knockout or some knockdowns, Flores seemed happy to bounce to a defeat. When the scores were read, they revealed an unsurprising UD to Green, by margins of 117-112, 118-110 and 118-111. Probably a bit wide, but neither man landed much, so it was a difficult fight to score. I had it even through six, with Green pulling ahead in the late round to win 116-112.
Green’s a legit threat at cruiserweight, but won’t have many big options once the cruiserweight super six begins next year. No doubt he won’t want to leave Australia either – the money is too good. So he’ll probably be looking at fighting David Tua victim Shane Cameron, who won his fight on the undercard.
As for Flores, who knows? I guess he’ll probably go back to fighting cruiserweight boxcar Joes/Mexican roadsweepers for a while. Fighting like he did tonight, I can’t see him ever making the step up.
