To say it was a relatively slow weekend in combat sports in comparison to the past few weeks would not be an overstatement. Fortunately things pick up with two of the biggest and best fighters in MMA and boxing respectively as Georges St. Pierre and Manny Paccquiao will each be in action in the upcoming weekends. As for the past weekend, after the unfortunate canceling of the scheduled fight between Abner Mares and Joseph Agbeko fell off it was downhill from there. Not alot to talk about but at least 3 things stood out for me.   The Good – Vic Darchinyan: The Raging Bull has had an interesting and always entertaining run over the last few years with it’s share of ups and downs. Matched up against Yonnhy Perez in the second round of Showtimes Bantamweight Tournament it seemed to myself that Darchinyan may be the odd man out after a loss in the previous round to Abner Mares, albeit by split decision. The reason for my doubts, aside from his age, 35, which it’s rare you see a lower weight class fighter have success as they get older as their smaller frames make them less durable. The other reason for my hesitation on Darchinyans chances against Perez was both had faced Mares and Agbeko previously and Perez had fared better than the Vic. For his part my only worry for Perez was if the accumulation of distance fights he’d been in his previous 4 bouts would have a debilitating effect on him physically.

  What a great weekend for boxing fans as we had more exciting fights and upsets. Not much MMA to speak of as it was a relatively uneventful weekend for the sport but as a fight fan I more than got my fix of regulated violence.   The Good – Victor Ortiz vs Andre Berto: Much like the previous weekend where Erik Morales put on a better than expected performance in a fight of the year candidate against Marcos Maidana, Victor Ortiz did the same with by far his best performance to date against WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto. Heading into this fight I didn’t give Victor much of a chance after his dissapointing performance in his previous fight against Lamont Peterson which ended in a draw and was puzzled why he was getting a shot at Bertos title. Berto is a fighter who I’ve said has taken the path of least resistance ever since his close fight with Luis Collazo and assumed he was trying to hand pick another opponent in Ortiz. Of course I’d be remissed if I didn’t mention the continued doubts of Ortiz stemming from his loss to Marcos Maidana and his post fight comments that had many claiming he was a quitter and had no heart.   From the first bell Victor Ortiz was the aggressor and imposed his surprising size and srength advantages against the champion. Ortiz struck first dropping Berto which referee Michael Ortega ruled a slip. Undeterred Ortiz kept going forward unloading with rights and lefts and hurt Berto and got an official knockdown late in the first. Ortiz was going forward in the second round only to be caught by a right from Berto that briefly put the challenger down. Two rounds in and two knockdowns it appeared this fight could [...]