
They're both huge, both young (26) and it was the first time we've seen Jones struggle. The web is full of people calling the match fixed and misjudged and all that nonsense but to my eye, Jones won it. Even if he wasn't the champ, he won it. But this could be the start of a great long term rivalry.
Gus probably won the 1st and 2nd rounds. The 3rd was debatable. Jones won rounds 4 and 5. Gus almost got finished in the 4th, another 30 seconds and he was done. I think round 4 might have been the only 2 point lead round. And while I gave the 2nd to Gus, Jones did get in a pretty solid head kick to Gus in round 2. I would have scored, 1 point to Gus for each of 1-3, 2 points to Jones for 4, and 1 point to Jones for 5. So I would have had it a draw.
The judges scores were 48-47, 48-47, and 49-46. Whomever said 49-46.... bad judging.
But overall, there are rules of thumb for these matches.
1. To beat the champ, you must BEAT the champ.
2. Don't leave it in the hands of the judges.
3. Finish with momentum.
Jones hung tough, came back, won it. He earned his stripes last night. But the big point is: REMATCH!!!!