The $2k #TarverCunningham Throwdown came to an end this week. If you are new to Fantasy boxing learn how to play here.

After missing out in the last two games, Throwdown Fantasy regular LeftJabWriteCross is back on top of the podium after winning the $2K #TarverCunningham Throwdown and pocketing the first prize of $400.

Leftjabwritecross, who was also the big winner in the $4K #CottoGeale Throwdown and $2K GGG Throwdown games, scored a game high 398.1 fantasy points to edge out fellow gamer Boxeo who owned five of the six teams that were tied for second place at 380.7 fantasy points.

Common Denominators 

Expensive Picks are Big Scorers If you take a look at their 5-man teams, both LeftJabWriteCross and Boxeo picked three common fighters: Lucian Bute, Abraham Lopez and Dmitry Mikhaylenko.  All three fighters were favored against their respective opponents, hence giving both fantasy boxing players three sure winners on their teams. Picking these three was slick. None of them were priced above $5,200 and two were the least expensive favorites in the entire game: Mikhaylenko at $5,200, Lopez at $5,200 and Bute at $4,800. All three had KO capability, having a combined 67.6% KO ratio (48/71) and they all proved that with KO wins. The trio combined to score a staggering aggregate of 273.9 fantasy points to put their owners on course to win the game. However, what would separate them would be their final two picks.

With their remaining $10,100 in fantasy salary, both LeftJabWriteCross and Boxeo went opposite poles with their final picks. Conventional wisdom tells us that the more expensive picks should be the better fighters who have the better chance of scoring big fantasy points. True to that saying, Boxeo picked $5,600 Sergiy Dereveyanchenko as his fourth team member. Derevyanchenko was the second most expensive fighter in the game and in picking him, Boxeo had to complete his quintet with an underdog. He picked the best underdog in the pool, Antonio Tarver who sold at $4,200. Now Tarver was a huge -$1,300 salary underdog at Throwdown Fantasy, but in the real world the odds weren’t that lopsided against Tarver. In fact, many experts felt he had the edge over Steve Cunningham.

An All-Favorite Team 

On the other hand, LeftJabWriteCross opted for a different strategy and that was to complete his team with two more favorites, even if none of them were the Top 3 most expensive fighters in the game. But his choice of Kristopf Glowacki  ($5,000) and Eleider Alvarez ($4,900) weren’t easy to make. Glowacki was challenging WBO champion Marco Huck, whose title reign was then third longest behind Wladimir Klitschko and Floyd Mayweather Jr. while Eleider Alvarez was just a + $200 salary favorite against Isidro Ranoni Prieto, a then undefeated yet virtually unknown commodity who was a live underdog. But Leftjabwritecross took his chance on these two slight favorites and it paid off.

Could Have Been Magic, Man

The Tarver-Cunningham bout was really close and it could have gone either way. Conspicously, none of the cash winners of the $2K Throwdwon had Cunningham on their teams, meaning the site’s cream of the crop didn’t find him worth risking the $5,500 price tag. Instead, a number of them gambled on the underdog Tarver. Look, had Tarver won and gotten and additional 25 decision points for the victory, Boxeo’s aggregate total would have been 405.7 or 7.6 points better than the winning score of LeftJabWriteCross. Unfortunately it didn’t end up that way. While a draw leaves no loser inside the boxing ring, it doesn’t earn your fighter any decision points in fantasy boxing.

Different Strokes for Different Folks 

They say that different folks have different strokes. That appears to be the story of how this game was won. While Boxeo opted for four winners and hoped for an upset with his final pick, LeftJabWriteCross settled for five salary favorites. In the end, the fantasy salaries proved to be correct in predicting the winners although it was the split draw on the Tarver-Cunningham fight that really made the difference in the #TarverCunningham Throwdown.

Ready to play again? The #SantaCruzMares Throwdown games are already up atwww.throwdownfantasy.com

Pick your team now and be our next Big Winner.