FIGHTS: The Infamous Kimbo Slice hits 4-0 with KO win over Green

by Bowie Ibarra

Springfield, MO was the location of Kimbo Slice's latest victory over MMA fighter Brian Greene in a boxing rules match.  It was clearly an exhibition bout, considering Green was fighting his first ever boxing rules match and took the fight on three days notice.  But he put up a fight in the scheduled four round fight.

People are making the claim that the fight was fixed.  It's boxing.  Money is involved.  I could see how people might think that.

However, I don't think so.  Here's what I saw.

That's shot number three.  It was not a one-punch knockout.

Round one found both guys starting fast, swinging punches wild.  Both guys were connecting, with Kimbo landing lots of power shots to the body early.  Let me tell you, shots to the body suck, sometimes even worse than the head.  Green's mouth was wide open, and he was consistently keeping his hands down.  He was also clowning around during the match, showboating with open arms.

Round two found both guys significantly slower with their punches.  Kimbo has been known to have a low gas tank capacity, and it was on display here.  Kimbo was once again working the body while Green was headhunting.  There was even a moment in this round when Green had Kimbo on the ropes after a good hit.  But he couldn't bring Kimbo down.  Both guys were breathing hard, chins up, with Green finishing hard.

The third round found both guys slowed down even more, with Green being more aggressive.  Green was still headhunting, while Kimbo was still chopping down the tree with body shots over head strikes.  Then, Kimbo started moving some punches to the head, knocking out Green's mouthpiece, one of tell-tale signs of exhaustion.  After putting the mouthpiece in, Green slipped striking Kimbo, stumbling to the mat.  Another sign of exhaustion.  Without much left in the tank, Green let it all hang out with wild punches, including a (goddamn you, Green) 'Superman' punch.  Kimbo knocked Green's mouthpiece out again.

The fourth and final round found both dudes slowed down even more, with the punch numbers much lower.  Kimbo, however, seemed to have more spark in spite of being completely gassed as well.  So the KO came in the last seconds of the fight.  And though people think it was some kind of miracle one-punch knockout, it was actually three shots:  a left uppercut, a right cross, and a left uppercut.  Lights out.  It was not just a single glancing blow.

Here's the thing.  In a fight, when you're completely exhausted, this is the kind of knockouts that happen.  They're even more likely when the dude keeps his hands down and mouth wide open.  And considering his body was getting worked over by Kimbo from the opening bell, he was done.  His body cashed him out on the three punch combo.  And that's the key to winning boxing matches: stringing combos together.

The dude Green is a warrior through and through, but he's not a boxer.  Considering Kimbo has had more time training as a boxer, that small advantage pushed him through to the end, IMO.  Let's face it, the dude had three days to prepare.  That's only three days of shifting your mindset, training, and fighting style from one with lots of offensive options to a specific offense with various combinations to become proficient in.  Boxing and the use of hands in MMA is distinctly different than the use of hands in boxing.

Was it a great fight?  It was alright.  There was action and it was fun.  I would have paid $15-$25 bucks to show up to it.  But it's not going down in the annals of Boxing history as one of the greatest ever.

But it was a good example of how the better boxer with just a little more skill and knowledge of the sport will take the victory when both competitor's gas tanks are on empty.

==============

Bowie Ibarra is the author of the 'Down the Road' zombie horror series from Permuted Press and Simon and Schuster.  His upcoming book, "Pit Fighters: Baptism by Fire", is a combat-sport themed book featuring a Mexican luchador who crosses over into MMA.

Please leave comments below with your thoughts.  I like hearing what others think.

Follow ZombieBloodFights.com on Twitter @wingback26

Join the official ZombieBloodFights.com Facebook group.

Subscribe to the official ZombieBloodFights.com YouTube page for book trailers and other mischief.

You can network with Bowie and learn about all of his Tex-Mexploitation books at his personal website, ZombieBloodFights.com.