You need to watch it again but this time, open your eyes.
Please note, I don't mean any of this as a knock on Warren. He's looked spectacular considering these were his first two fights against very tough opponents. I just meant that this specific fight, he didn't do enough to win.
Warren controlled the fight. Scored the take downs and pretty much nullified kids strikes. I dont see how the decision wasnt unanimous.
Besides youre not giving credit to warrens chin. It wasnt just heart, the dude was eating those blows and smiling.
Warren deserved the nod imo
"You can't just take a guy down and hope he doesn't get up."
He didn't have to hope, because he made sure of it. Kid was the one hoping for a standup.
"Well, he was often on top of me, and I was under him, so I thought that that can’t be good. A loss is a loss, right?” Yamamoto said with a wry smile. “He was a good wrestler, more so than I’d expected. My arms were really tired just in trying to keep up with him, so I think my inability to score punches led to my loss."
Incredible fight! I don't know if I've seen a faster pace.
Mad Xyientist - I agree with the entire OP
I would have given it to Kid based on how he was repeatedly landing hard counters when Warren tried to close the distance, but yeah, it was pretty close. Kid's long layoff plus his lack of offense from the guard meant he was pretty much gift-wrapped for Joe
First i could see the decision going either way, but i had Warren winning as I watched.
Here's a couple of things:
Did Kid get a yellow card and does that count against you in scoring?
Kid was unable to damage Warren AT ALL, but Warren bloodied and swelled up Kid's face, IIRC the Japanese score for damage.
Overall Kid may have outstruck Warren standing (I'm not sure of that), but Warren controlled the grappling aspect. I felt they both were trying to end the fight by what they threw standing so that was even.
IMO dec Warren even without a yellow card.
warren deserved the nod, but it was a close fight and makes all those "kid is washed up" threads seem ridiculous.
orcus - "You can't just take a guy down and hope he doesn't get up."
He didn't have to hope, because he made sure of it. Kid was the one hoping for a standup.
"Well, he was often on top of me, and I was under him, so I thought that that can’t be good. A loss is a loss, right?” Yamamoto said with a wry smile. “He was a good wrestler, more so than I’d expected. My arms were really tired just in trying to keep up with him, so I think my inability to score punches led to my loss."
Yup.
Remember, kids, it takes 2 to Tango in any range of the game and Kid was Guard n Tardin a helluva lot more than Warren was Lay n Prayin.
Im a Kid fan, i know what he went thru to get back to fight shape but still very disappointed in his guard abilities and even effort. I wasnt exepcting gogo's but he coulda at least postured to standup or something........anything!
super chin - warren deserved the nod, but it was a close fight and makes all those "kid is washed up" threads seem ridiculous.
Yeah, its way too early to say he's washed up but it is worhy speculating if he's past his prime.
Wasa-B -super chin - warren deserved the nod, but it was a close fight and makes all those "kid is washed up" threads seem ridiculous.
Yeah, its way too early to say he's washed up but it is worhy speculating if he's past his prime.
rusty maybe, but it's way too soon to say past his prime. he's pretty young and hasn't been in too many wars. if he keeps looking bad, maybe then that speculation isn't premature.
Agreed with the OP
homegrowncone - No, Warren won the fight. Kid may have landed a handful of shots (that apparently did nothing) but Warren dictated the pace of the fight, where it took place and did damage of his own.
Just the fact that Joe got the decision in the city of Japan over arguably the most popular fighter on the card makes it exceedingly obvious he must have won.
Yes, Japan is a great city.
So who really thinks Faber or Brown couldn't do really well against Kid? Funny all those people don't show up to this thread.
good thread
i was surprised with all "joe bullied kid" nonsense. it was in fact an incredibly close fight. joe pressed the action and kid lacked the fire he normally has so it may have seen more one-sided to some.
imo he wasnt bullied at all. most of the fight kid actually controlled the fight by keeping it standing and causing disengagement from the clinch to striking range. joe was just the one coming forward. the big disappointment, but no surprise actually, was kids inactivity from his back. if he was a little more active there and also avoided the very last takedown, then he definitely deserved the decision.
but this fight was a terrible matchup for him. i couldnt understand why people thought joe was the easy path for him!!!
C'mon how do people argue that Warren did more damage? Just based on facial lacerations? Warren landed nothing clean that fight, he did land some strikes in the clinch, but Kid landed all the clean effective strikes in this fight.
It's not often that Kid faces a superior wrestler, I think he was a bit surprised in there. He still did a good job avoiding damage on the ground, he just should have done more to get back up to his feet and take more risks in his guard, I don't think Warren was going to be able to do much to him besides hold him down anyways.
Warren was impressive for his 2nd fight against someone like Kid, but that's a lay and pray style he was using. I don't fault him for using it, but at no point did he ever attempt to end that fight.
I was shocked when the announcers felt Warren won the fight and even more surprised when the judges gave him the decision.
Kid will look better next time around. He just wasn't sharp and his timing was off after being out of action for so long. It's always a dangerous fight your first fight back after such a long layoff. Physically, he looked fine aside from not fighting with as much intensity as he usually does.
Warren was amazing!
I don't even think it was a close fight. Kid's punches weren't hurting or damaging Warren.