From the outset, Campbell’s unorthodox movement and footwork appeared to confound Casamayor. While most fighters are taught to get their lead foot to the outside in an orthodox vs. southpaw match up, Campbell alternated, darting in unpredictably before circling away to his right. In round 1, Campbell scored early with a jab-right hand combination that Casamayor responded to with a forearm to the face inside. But another annoyance for Casamayor was Campbell’s hand speed.
Headbutts entered the fray in round 2, as did a variety of right hands from Campbell - particularly to the body. And after more slight befuddlement by Campbell in the 3rd round, he pinned Casamayor to the ropes and whittled away at his body with thudding punches, slipping in an uppercut and right hand every so often. Halfway through the round, Casamayor found success in countering with his long southpaw left, but still had to weather the incoming to do it, and an abrasion on his left cheek was worsening slightly.
Between rounds, the HBO microphones caught a humorous exchange: Goossen instructed Casamayor to work more when he got Campbell on the ropes, before referee Pat Russell walked to the corner to warn against Casamayor using his head and forearms. HBO commentator and boxing personality Larry Merchant spoke moments later, saying, “Get the fuck out of here,” before narrating a slow motion clip of Campbell timing Casamayor with right hands.
Casamayor’s left hand was becoming more and more effective each round, but it wasn’t until round 4 that he found a way to land it without eating more Campbell right hands than not. The scrappy Floridian made Casamayor work for the round, however, and landed a number of sickening right hands to the body of the Cuban before the bell rang.
In the 5th, Campbell’s inexperience appeared to be hurting him, as he had few answers for the veteran tricks Casamayor brought; the hand-fighting and upper body movements that put Casamayor into position to land weren’t recognized, and Campbell was hit by punches he didn’t see. Campbell’s right hand stemmed the tide temporarily, but Casamayor continued his surge until the bell. Campbell upped his movement at the start of the 6th, though, and again frenetically bounced punches off Casamayor before being cut by a headbutt over his right eye. Casamayor seemed to catch up thereafter, dirtying up the action to his liking, but again while eating right hands to the body.
Campbell had all but stopped throwing the straighter right hand that he’d been effective with early in the fight, and Casamayor continued beating him to the punch and countering well with his left hand straight through Campbell’s arcing swings. With perhaps the first straight right he threw, Campbell sliced open Casamayor’s left eyebrow with a counter halfway through round 7, though the cut was ruled to be by a headbutt. Campbell blunted Casamayor’s offense with movement and his jab for the last half of the round, prompting Goossen to have Casamayor press.
The pace slowed in round 8, which seemed to favor Campbell’s jab and movement, but Casamayor trapped him and landed just enough left hands to seriously contest the round. In the 9th, Campbell’s first few attempts at landing his right hand were countered by Casamayor’s left, and Campbell was put on the defensive for sequences, though he was very much present with his offense as well. Casamayor’s hard left counters that were eye-catching, though, and erased some of the doubt that his quickly swelling left eye manifested.
Both corners urged their charges forward, demanding the final round for their respective fighters. Instead, both men appeared jumpy and unwilling to give up much ground, and both landed sniping pecks from the outside here and there. A volley from Casamayor halfway through round 10 briefly put him out ahead, but Campbell retaliated with enough right hands to swell Casamayor’s left eye even more before the final bell.
As the two embraced a few moments after the fight ended and souls flooded the ring, both expressed confidence in winning on the cards. But when the first score of 98-92 was announced, a look of incredulity fell upon Campbell’s face, and he deadpanned through scores of 97-93 and 96-94, all for his much more experienced opponent.
The Pechanga crowd apparently disagreed with the decision.