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This was round twelve of a classic fifteen round championship fight. The champ has hurt the challenger in previous rounds(almost as much as challenger has hurt himself), and he had a chance to put him away this round. But, this round was a draw, although the referee was clearly in the challenger's corner with the pattern and tone of questions.

Challenger's legs looked a little fresher, and both fighters landed some solid blows, took some punishment, and missed on a few.

The champ missed a few openings, but he'll exploit those in the later rounds. Challenger did get a cut over the "smell test" comment, and it will probably bleed for the rest of the fight. Overall, I think the champ should still be ahead on the scorecard at this point.

The ringside news hounds will try to keep the excitement building by pumping up the challenger, but their impact will be fleeting.

The rule in prizefights is always "you have to knock out the champ to win", and that didn't happen tonight.