According to Andreas Hale of FightNews.com, It was a battle of quality versus quantity at The Joint inside of the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and neither was able to get the upper hand.
Martin Scores with over hand right Photo by Chris Cozzone
In the main event of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights, Teon Kennedy’s higher work rate and Chris Martin’s sharpshooting led the judges to a stalemate as the ten round super bantamweight bout was declared a majority draw. Although judge Al Lefkowitz saw it in Kennedy’s favor 93-97, he was offset by judges Dave Moretti and Robert Hoyle who both saw it 95-95. You couldn’t really complain about either fighter having the upper hand any way you looked at it.
Kennedy (17-1-2) started out strong has he pressured Martin into the ropes and threw punches in bunches when the two were in close quarters. Early on it appeared that Martin (23-1-3) was content with sitting in the pocket and cutting loose a few crisp combinations in between lulls in Kennedy’s assault. It was not only difficult for the judges to figure out who had the upper hand, it was difficult for the fans as well.
Depending on what your taste was, you either sided with Kennedy’s punching volume or Martin’s more telling blows. Scoring was like splitting atoms depending on who you asked as the judges only agreed on the third and fifth round going to Kennedy. Outside of that, it was a mixed bag as the two combatants continued with their constant ebb and flow war waged between the ropes.
Martin scores to the body Photo Chris Cozzone
Martin began to mark up Kennedy’s face as he put his foot on the gas and ripped Kennedy with power shots in the sixth. Despite what appeared to be his best round, only two of the judges gave him the round. It was a close fight that could have been blown wide open had referee Jay Nady ruled a grazing left hook that appeared to clip Kennedy on his way to the canvas a knockdown. Instead, it was ruled a slip that could have swung the pendulum in Martin’s favor on the scorecards.
An entertaining 10th round say both fighters let their hands go as fight fans cheered them on in appreciation. Martin landed a hard left hand but Kennedy again wouldn’t go away as he tucked his chin to his chest and continued to throw punches and kept Martin from launching into a full scale attack.
When the final bell sound, both fighters raised their hands and it was hard to argue which was wrong. Although the crowd booed the decision, it was fitting for such a closely contested contest.
