Robinson plays spoiler in draw with Kavaliauskas

By Justin Hackman

31/03/2019

Robinson plays spoiler in draw with Kavaliauskas

 Ray Robinson D10 Egidijus Kavaliauskas... In his hometown of Philadelphia, Ray Robinson (24-3, 12 KOs) fought the more-highly touted Egidijus Kavaliauskas (21-0, 17 KOs) to a draw, a result that could cost Kavaliauskas an expected WBO welterweight title shot vs. Terence Crawford.  Kavaliauskas spent the first two rounds of this ten rounder trying to figure out how to close the distance against Robinson.  Robinson’s legs were active enough and his head elusive enough to keep Kavaliauskas from doing much damage.  However, Robinson’s feet got a bit heavier over the course of the next few rounds (or perhaps he knew he couldn’t win the fight moving away all night). Kavaliauskas took advantage and closed the distance on his opponent, landing mainly grazing blows, to the head and body, finding Robinson consistently with his back to the ropes.  While Robinson’s defense remained sharp enough to get through the middle rounds, however, it appeared that Robinson needed to do something drastic to nullify Kavaliauskas’ mounting pressure.  That moment never came though for Robinson as Kavaliauskas’ pressure only increased for the remainder of this fight.  However, while he was consistently the aggressor, Kavaliauskas was far from putting on an offensive show.  In fact, his lack of effective aggressiveness was the story as this one went to the scorecards.  Official scores read 97-93 in favor of Robinson, and 95-95 twice, yielding a majority draw. Source: ESPN