The Scorecard Treatment: Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam vs Avtandil Khurtsidze - Fair Cards in Paris?

Corey Erdman gives the recent middlweight clash between Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam and Avtandil Khurtsidze the scorecard treatment.

A bit of controversy has been brewing in the boxing community surrounding the October 30 interim WBA middleweight title bout between Hassan N'Dam N'Jikam and Avtandil Khurtsidze. Of course, since N'Dam is from France and the fight took place there, the natural, and very fair reaction is that some home cooking was on the stove. However, as you'll find in the fight, it is an extreme version of a bout between a pressure fighter and a mover, which really makes one think hard about what is actually taking place in the bout when scoring it.

Was N'Dam running? Was Khurtsidze too open to getting hit when coming forward?

What folks want to know is: Was N'Dam given preferential treatment at home, or was the decision fair?

Round 1

An excellent pace is set by a hyper-aggressive Khurtsidze, who is not your typical pressure fighter. Rather, he's cut from the Michael Katsidis and younger Jorge Arce cloth, blessed with footspeed to enhance his pressure. N'Dam is also not your typical gifted boxer, and has always been very willing to take chances and commit to his punches--something he does in excess in the opening stanza. Khurtsidze gets in some solid body work early, and lands a pair of thunderous sweeping left hooks, and a big overhand right as the round winds down.

10-9 Khurtsidze

Round 2

Khurtsidze has N'Dam moving frantically around the ring, but the Frenchman's athleticism allows him to throw in combination while on the move. If not for a big flurry with a minute left that buzzed Khurtsidze, the challenger would have taken the second stanza as well. At this point, it appears that the pace will be one the hometown favorite struggles to maintain, and not the visitor.

10-9 N'Dam

Round 3

N'Dam has a bad habit of dropping his hands and crossing his feet as he "rounds corners," so to speak, when he is circling the ring. This nearly costs him dearly on two separate occasions, as the Georgian whacks him with both a right and a left hook, buzzing N'Dam both times. Most impressive however, is Khurtsidze's head movement, which negates some of the flurries off the ropes from N'Dam that were landing earlier.

10-9 Khurtsidze

Round 4

For the first time, it is apparent that N'Dam is making Khurtsidze move, not vice versa. N'Dam begins to get off first by pot shotting as Khurtsidze is gearing up to dive inside, and controls the round wonderfully employing that strategy. He visibly gains confidence as the round closes.

10-9 N'Dam

Round 5

The more careless N'Dam is with his hands, the better he appears to get. The champion is carrying his gloves at his waist, but he continues to get off first, and is no longer panicked as he controls Khurtsidze's aggression. Khurtsidze does catch his opponent with hard shots twice however, once again, as N'Dam stumbles near a corner.

10-9 N'Dam

Round 6

Khurtsidze is closing the gap on N'Dam again, but the champion is still throwing early and just as often. N'Dam lands more punches overall, but Khurtsidze's are more devastating, and it is the challenger arguably pressing the issue here. However, despite the pressure, he is eating more punches, so he can't be given the nod on defense. Sounds like the formula for an even round.

10-10 Even

Round 7

Outside of a few whipping uppercuts that N'Dam throws (and lands), he is essentially avoiding his opponent, and flicking a few jabs out to remain active. Khurtsidze likely lands more punches in this round, and makes them all count, including a pair of solid flurries along the ropes. For a fighter with an almost laughable height disadvantage, he has managed to close distance to the point that the disparity is almost unnoticeable.

10-9 Khurtsidze

Round 8

A bit of a twist, as N'Dam finally gives in and plays Khurtsidze's game, exchanging punches in the center of the ring, and gets the best of him. The champion's fast hands allow him to throw in a larger volume than his foe, and some smart body work during the exchange really turns the tables.

10-9 N'Dam

Round 9

N'Dam looks exhausted, but because he's moving slower, he is actually planting his feet a bit more often, and gets leverage on his right hand for the first time in the bout. Because of that, he lands two huge right hands, including an uppercut to put an exclamation mark on the round in the final 30 seconds. Khurtsidze's punch output isn't enough to win him rounds right now.

10-9 N'Dam

Round 10

It is very apparent that Khurtsidze's movement is slowing down, and he isn't firing combinations when he gets inside, which can be chalked up to fatigue. On top of that, his head movement has waned, which gives N'Dam the confidence to throw likely his only two straight right hands of the round, both of which land flush in the first minute of the round. N'Dam spends three minutes walking around the ring, hitting the ropes and spinning or flurrying off without getting hit. Near flawless round for N'Dam.

10-9 N'Dam

Round 11

Khurtsidze gets his tenacity back, uncorking hard combinations to the body when he gets N'Dam on the ropes, but the Frenchman is now far more committed to responding, visibly outlanding his opponent throughout the round. For a 20-second period, N'Dam actually backs Khurtsidze up, no doubt a rare sight.

10-9 N'Dam

Round 12

Khurtsidze's pressure mounts, but N'Dam does something he likely should have done more often in the fight: Consciously avoid the ropes. Because he doesn't get caught backed up, N'Dam doesn't allow Khurtsidze, who is in perpetual motion, to plant and throw punches. Because the Georgian is moving so quickly, and is fighting a much taller fighter, he has no option but to lunge and open himself for a counter if his feet aren't planted.

10-9 N'Dam

Judges' scorecards: Mikael Hook 117-111 | Pierluigi Poppi 115-114 | Erkki Meronen 115-114

Corey's scorecard: 117-112 N'Dam (8-3-1)

This fight will tell you a lot about a judge's scoring habits. Khurtsidze's constant pressure and quick pace can sometimes cloud the actual occurances within the round. One argument when it comes to Khurtsidze and other hyper pressure fighters is that because their opponent is reacting to their movement, that they cannot possibly be the ring general. To generalize, judge's who enjoy pressure fighters can essentially hand two of the four criterea per round to said fighter automatically.

In this bout, Khurtsidze was always moving forward, but wasn't always accomplishing anything. If you are dictating the geography of the fight, but getting hit more often, are you really the general of the ring? Once N'Dam started to heat up, he was leading Khurtsidze where he wanted him to go, landing, and moving. So even though he was moving backward at a very fast pace (because his opponent essentially jogs forward throughout the fight), he was still dictating the terms of the fight.

Still, a gut-check win for N'Dam and a welcome rematch if it is made.

Corey Erdman is a host and producer at SIRIUS 98, and a freelance boxing writer formerly of The Sporting News' The Rumble. Follow him on Twitter: Corey_Erdman@Twitter

If you haven't had a chance to check out the fight...