In an upset, bantamweight “Magic” Mike Plania (24-1, 12 KOs) won a ten round majority decision over WBO #1, IBF #2, WBC #7 Joshua “Night Night” Greer Jr. (22-2-1, 12 KOs) on Monday night inside “The Bubble” at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Plania dropped Greer with a lead left hook in round one. He floored Greer again with another hook in round six. Greer came on late, but it was too little, too late. Scores were 94-94, 96-92, 97-91. Plania was the first Filipino to fight since the COVID19 lockdown. Greer was a 3:1 favorite.
Unbeaten welterweight Giovani Santillan (26-0, 15 KOs) took a controversial ten round majority decision over former WBC lightweight world champion Antonio “Tony” DeMarco (33-9-1, 24 KOs). DeMarco’s pressure and workrate seemed to be enough to earn him a win, however, judges saw it 95-95, 96-94, 96-94 for Santillan, who was a 4:1 favorite.
Unbeaten super welterweight Bobirzhan Mominov (11-0, 8 KOs) hammered out a six round unanimous decision over Cameron Krael (17-16-3, 4 KOs). Mominov was deducted a point for a rabbit punch in round six. Scores were 57-56, 58-55, 58-55.
Heavyweight Hector Perez (7-2, 3 KOs) topped Juan Torres (5-3-1, 2 KOs) over six 60-54, 59-55, 59-55.
Unbeaten super middleweight Nikoloz Sekhniashvili (6-0, 4 KOs) swept past Isiah Jones (8-2, 3 KOs) over six 59-55, 60-54, 60-54.
Not a bad card. The co main events seems to be the show stealers lately but this main event was a decent bout. Greer tried but too deep a hole to climb out of.
Ok. So Joshua Greer lost a decision to a very underrated boxer. Big fucking deal.
He got off the canvas fight to lose a majority decision. That to me is a winner. His stock went up. Not down, in my eyes. And guess what folks. He might win the rematch.
A guy like this deserves to win a world title.
Got off the canvas, twice.
Sorry for the typo.
Neither of these fighters is near good enough to fight with the top of their division…they both need a lot more development…if they fight the best now they will both get destroyed…take time with them and develop them properly
I thought Greer fought the wrong fight plan for the first 7 rounds. He was giving Plania too much room to land his whiplike left hook. Although the announcers thought he was doing well with his box and move tactics, I didn’t think so. He wasn’t hitting Plania with anything solid while Plania was landing the heavier blows.
Once he began backing Plania up and started landing combinations, he had a lot more success. Even then, he often moved in too close and smothered his punches with Plania grabbing him at every opportunity. He should have given himself a little more room to land those combinations. The last three rounds was a combination of a more aggressive Greer and a Plania that was getting a little tired. He probably realized that he was winning the fight and played it safe by moving backwards.
That was a well-deserved victory by Plania. He looked like the bigger man (framewise) and was also the harder puncher. I gave him the first 7 rounds, so the score should have been 97-91 or 96-92, and not the ridiculous 94-94 score given by one judge. Greer was understandably cautious during the early rounds, especially after he hit the canvas in the first round. However, that was not the type of performance I expected from a No. 1 ranked fighter going for a title shot.
Back to the drawing board for Greer and on to bigger and better things for Plania. I wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch, but Plania should be setting his sights at a title shot and not looking back
wards.
I thought the fighter on the card that showed the most promise is Bobirzhan Mominov. He showed a versatile arsenal of punches and hit really hard. He also moved his head and wasn’t easy to hit. I liked him a lot better than Nikoloz Sekhniashvili, who was predictable in his attack and tried to knock out his opponent with every punch. He will have trouble with the better fighters in his division.
There are some promising fighters, many of them experienced fighters from countries in the former USSR. Of the ones I saw last night, Mominow would be my choice to rise to the top.
More than anything, this card showed the incompetence of the judges. From the DeMarco disgrace to one judge calling the Greer-Plania fight a draw, it was pathetic.
Where was his pillow when he needed it?
Not a shock win for me. I had Plania down to win this since it was announced. He gave Juan Carlos Payano problems when they fought and Greer is overrated and has been gifted some close decisions already. Plania floored Payano and I could see him doing the same here. I also thought DeMarco was going to upset Santillan but he didn;t get the decision in that one.