Sunday, June 5, 2016

Craig Baker vs. Steve Lovett

Lakeland Events Center, Lakeland, Florida, June 12
TV: Bounce
By Peter Lim

This intriguing cross-town match-up between two Houston area light heavyweights is as dead-even a match-up in actuality as it is on paper. The winner propels himself from prospect to contender while the loser takes a U-turn back to the proverbial square one. Being from the same Houston area, they have sparred before so neither will be too much of a mystery to the other.

Both boxers favor using jolting jabs to set up potentially lethal right hands and both will find a measure of success deploying that mode of combat against each other. But Lovett, at six-foot-two, sports a slight height advantage over Baker, which ultimately tips the balance of the fight. Lovett is first on the trigger just a tad more often enough to eke out a split decision win. 

Afterthoughts:
It's almost inconceivable to me how Lovett was so flawless for the first five rounds but unraveled so completely like a ball of yarn in the second half of the fight. Kudos to Baker for hanging tough and making the right adjustments.

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