On a night of controversial scoring, no decision may have been as fraught as Dan Ige’s win over Edson Barboza. It looked like Barboza had Ige hurt badly in both the first and second rounds. Rounds where Ige did damage of his own, but didn’t clearly dominate any part of the fight. Still, judges saw the scores his way and he walks out with a top-flight name on his resume. Ige has steadily improved his power/pressure boxing game, and it’s put him on a nice run of success following a debut loss to Julio Arce. Whatever fans may think of it, picking up this kind of victory should get him a high quality name opponent next time. Maybe someone like Clavin Kattar, or Josh Emmett if he’ll be ready to fight anytime soon. In fact, rumor was that Emmett was supposed to be the original opponent for Barboza, before Ige stepped in. So, why not give Ige that fight next time around. Josh Emmett vs. Dan Ige would be a guaranteed slugfest. SONG YADONG
