GRADES: LEIGH WOOD, JOSH WARRINGTON, GILBERTO RAMIREZ, JOE SMITH & MORE

By: Jay Calderon

So, some decent action on both sides of the pond, with everything from a world title bout to a crossroads encounter taking place this rather active weekend.

In Sheffield, we saw Featherweight titlist Leigh Wood pull another victory out of the fire when he stopped Josh Warrington at the tail end of the seventh frame. We also saw Terri Harper and Cecilia Braekhus settle for a draw on the under card.

In the States, former Middleweight titlist Gilberto Ramirez pounded out a decision win over former Light-Heavyweight titlist Joe Smith, Jr.

So, without much more ado, let's hand out these Grades:

LEIGH WOOD
GRADE: B+
RESULT: DEF. JOSH WARRINGTON, 7TKO (FEATHERWEIGHT)
Had I graded Leigh Wood based on the first six rounds, he wouldn't have been within sniffing distance of a B+. However, when you have power and continue to throw those hands, good things can always happen.

Wood, for the better part of three years now, has continued to prove that very idea, and he did so dramatically (once again) against Josh Warrington. Still, considering the mostly sluggish performance, it appears as though Wood moving up to 130 pounds might be unavoidable at this point.

JOSH WARRINGTON
GRADE: C-
RESULT: LOSS TO LEIGH WOOD, 7TKO (FEATHERWEIGHT)
Well, it all started so nicely for Josh Warrington. For the first six frames against Leigh Wood, Warrington looked smoothly on his way to his third reign as a world titlist.

Then, Leigh Wood did what Leigh Wood does, which is to say he ended matters suddenly and in an instant. Unfortunately for Warrington, that might have been his best chance at recapturing former glory at 126 pounds.

TERRI HARPER
GRADE: C
RESULT: DRAW WITH CECILIA BRAEKHUS, 10MD (JR. MIDDLEWEIGHT)
It's difficult to give anything more than an average grade when you consider all of the circumstances heading into Terri Harper vs. Cecilia Braekhus.

Historically, Braekhus is the better, more accomplished fighter. However, she's also the older fighter, facing the faster-handed Harper. Still, while fresher, Harper was also much smaller and seemed to fade (possibly from carrying the extra weight) down the stretch.

Maybe Harper should be docked more for settling on a draw when you entered the bout as the heavy favorite; maybe Braekhus should have done better as the more experienced, bigger fighter. Regardless, both don't suffer a loss in a mostly uneventful outing. A draw seems reasonable, and so does a C.

CECILIA BRAEKHAS
GRADE: C
RESULT: DRAW WITH TERRI HARPER, 10MD (JR. MIDDLEWEIGHT)
Read Terri Harper.

GILBERTO RAMIREZ
GRADE: B-
RESULT: DEF. JOE SMITH, JR., 10UD (CRUISERWEIGHT)
While the score cards may have been rather wide in favor of Gilberto Ramirez, his victory over Joe Smith, Jr. was relatively close. That said, Ramirez likely did do enough to win, and came into the fight below the limit. So, that's always nice.

The question is how well Ramirez will do at 200 pounds going forward considering 175 seems out of the plans. While he started strong, Ramirez seemed to wilt a bit towards the latter half of the contest. Regardless, decent enough grade for a similar performance.

JOE SMITH
GRADE: C
RESULT: LOSS TO GILBERTO RAMIREZ, 10UD (CRUISERWEIGHT)
So, Joe Smith, Jr. likely deserved a slightly better set of score cards for his loss to Gilberto Ramirez. That being said, even in a perfectly fair world, he likely still came up short for the second time in as many fights.

Smith took a bit too long to get going in the match up and just didn't have enough time to catch up or change the fight with the right combination of shots that could have ended matters later on. Unfortunately, might be the last time we see Smith in a winnable, high profile encounter.

LINKS:

- SCHEDULE & ODDS

- RESULTS

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