Creator Clash 2 ran Saturday at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida, and was better than ever, capped off with a victory for Alex Wassabi over Ian “iDubbbz” Joma to close the event by unanimous decision.
I enjoyed hanging next to Jay Velez of Blood, Sweat & Boxing this time, which was undoubtedly another raucous event.
From the onset, Wassabi (1-0) had the hand speed and reach advantage, and, in the opening two rounds, he used that to his advantage as he could wait on Idubbz (0-1) and simply counter. The third showed the best round of the fight for Idubbz as he was able to press with the first shot in and get away from most of the return fire. This was the process throughout this fight, and the biggest takeaway was that a 38-38 scorecard was overruled by 39-37 x 2 in favor of Wassabi.
Much like when I attended last year, these were five, three-minute round amateur bouts except for the main event, which was an official fight that landed on Boxrec at super middleweight as a four-rounder.
Is Canelo on the radar?
Well, once again, his ring attire designer was in the building as he designed 16 of the 24 outfits in the ring on this night. Well over 16,000 folks were on hand to witness the latest installment of influencer boxing, most seeming to dig chants of “twist his dick.”
And the twisting was off and running.
Former WWE wrestler John Hennigan took on fan-favorite Harley from Epic MealTime in the co-main event and came to wreck shop. Hennigan knocked Harley down with a right on the chin to close out the first round. Harley was able to get up, and the fight continued. Hennigan’s strategy looked smart, letting Harley tire out against the ropes. This worked to perfection as a visibly worn-out and gassed Harley was dropped again in the second and immediately in the third round to get the stoppage win. Thirty seconds of round three was the official time.
The fight card opened up with Jack Manifold getting the first victory of the night, winning over Dakota Olive by a unanimous decision (49-46 x 2, 50-45). Manifold could land anything he threw, including an overhand right featured prominently.
Jaelaray was up next against Abelina Sabrina, lots of clinches here. Always fun to see a new but old boxing tactic in these fights. Jaelaaray had a size advantage and used that with her reach to outmuscle Sabrina.
The crowd was lively for the whole card, which was made known once Dad popped up on the jumbotron heading into the ring to take on AB. Dad came with a bull approach attacking the body, and after one round, AB could not continue, giving Dad another impressive stoppage in these events.
He later called out Seth Rollins and TripleH of the WWE for a contest. Let's see if that develops.
Mika Midgett and Alanah Pearce were up next in what it took a split decision, but Alanah Pearce got the streak of those fighting in the red corner on the board with a close, tactical chess matchup up until that point.
Late call-in William Haynes needed three weeks to stop Chris Ray Gun on short notice at 1:50 of the second round. Haynes was the longer and rangier man in the ring and played a massive part in the stoppage.
Myth took on Brett Hundar, and this contest was over as fast as it started as Myth sent Hundar down with a right to close out the first round. Hundar got to his corner once the bell sounded, but the ref waived this one over shortly after.
Yodeling Hailey took on Marisha Sharpe, and Haley looked better than she did against Justamix last time. It was a spirited scrap between the two, which saw the output picked up as both were tiring in the later rounds. A unanimous decision gave Haley Sharpe the nod following the contest.
“I want Krispy Kreme” was Haley's first words following the victory. Something everyone at the arena was willing to get behind.
Jarvis Johnson and Arin Hanson didn't have any feeling-out round here as they both came out firing in the opening round. The refs let them fight for an amateur bout, but the ref missed a knockdown that sent Johnson into the ropes in the second round. This moment was inconsequential as Hanson momentarily landed a shot that turned a spent Johnson around at 52 seconds of round two, stopping the contest.
“It felt pretty fucking good, man,” said a victorious Arin post-fight following the stoppage.
Michelle Khare-Andrea Botez was a matchup where you could see that the skill level increased as the night went on, and Khare showed some great movement and a solid combo attack leading to 49-46 on all three scorecards all in favor Michelle Khare.
Ethan Nestor of Cranky GamePlays scrap against Leowhart seemed to end as fast as it started. Nestor sent down Leowhart in the 3rd with a flurry of shots, and Leowhart was ruled unable to continue, stopping the match.
