If you're the type whose entertainment usually comes out of a ludus, or enjoy watching lethwei, bear-baiting, or municipal politics, then this is the fight for you. After Iwan Zoda's loss to Kokietgym last year, (also worth watching-both fighters acquit themselves admirably, and there is some fantastic head movement out of Kokietgym) Zoda has improved substantially, especially in terms of punch placement, accuracy, and a more-useful shoulder roll. Add that to an underprepared but iron-willed Kokietgym, the worst corner since Tim Lane, and a referee that should not only be fired but pilloried, and you have all the ingredients of a stomach-turning seven round beating. A shame, because the first five rounds were quite good. Kokietgym's crafty head movement and over-the-shoulder left straights were on full display, while Zoda's use of 'tapping' jabs to erode Kokietgym's lead hand placement and reaction time was spot-on. As soon as the bell rang for round six, all of that disappeared. Zoda backed Kokietgym against the ropes and brutally beat him for an entire three minutes. And then an entire three rounds. And then another four rounds after that. A few times, Kokietgym returned some flailing hooks that Zoda decided to not even respect enough to defend. Near the end of round 12, a battered Kokietgym attempted some kind of bizarre WWF rope-assisted right cross, snacked on yet another left hook, and either suddenly quit, was knocked out, or tripped over his own feet and decided not to get up. TKO for Zoda.

Depending on the amount of violence you can stomach, this is either a fantastic reminder of the importance of conditioning in a 12-round fight, or an oversight all the more disgusting for the amount of people who participated in it. I'm leaning towards #2.

Image Credit: Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons