In this light heavyweight bout Marcus Browne 4-0 [4 KOs] was being nourished with the pugilistic meal known as Carlo Caudillo 7-6-1 [5 KOs]. Browne is a monstrous southpaw of 23 years, being brought along as prospects generally are, easily.
Caudillo is a 37 year old karate fighter who has traveled the world on the karate circuit. Browne was the 5th consecutive fighter he has faced who was undefeated. The announcers questioned his management. I do not. Caudillo is boxing for money. As the color commentator said, “He might be the better fighter, just not in this sport.”
Caudillo is plying the dangerous trade of the boxing opponent. In order to ply it lucratively he must have at least a 50/50 record. He probably built the winning column of his record against tough guys from his home town. There is no money in that. But that win column is what gets him a payday in the U.S. against prospects.
As a boxer he is not handled well. When the commentator asked him how he would fight Browne—Browne being a southpaw—he admitted that he had not been told that Browne was a southpaw until that very moment, and that he fought southpaws and righties the same way!
Predictably enough Caudillo was worked over and almost stopped in Round 1, and was stopped with a lead left to the chin 1 minute into Round 2.
The interesting aspect about this fight was seeing how an unconverted karate fighter fares when he is only permitted to punch. For Caudillo did not box. He fought as a point karate fighter without the benefit of kicks. He bounced around on both toes out of a wide stance, denying himself any hope of punching leverage. He also never jabbed, nor had his lead hand in a position to jab.
If you are working on converting from karate to boxing, or integrating boxing into your karate, watch this bout as a primer on what not to do, and what happens when you do it anyway.
