Tag: Canelo Alvarez

Sweet Science Snippets

Bronze Bombed And King Konged

Deontay Wilder answered a lot of questions on Saturday night, some good, some bad, completely depending on how you process the answer.

The Champ showed he can take a shot or two from a big puncher and survive. This had been kind of the elephant in the ring. (See what I did there?). He was hit flush by Ortiz and was almost out in the 7th but if his jaw was as advertised, he would not have survived.

He showed that he had heart. This had never really been questioned to this point in his career; however, what we did not know is how he would handle true adversity, or insert the overused boxing idiom here, “deep waters”. We found out that he would go out on his shield if that’s what it took.

Now the bad. I’ve never been a fan of Wilder’s footwork, but you know what, it works for him. His boxing skills are not as polished as some of the other bigs, but again, you know what, it works for him. He was a relatively late starter to the fight game and that said, this dude continues to learn many things from every fight and gets better.

When you have the type of punching power that the Tuscaloosa, Alabama native has, you can do what works for you, critics be damned. Will it catch up with you against the right opponent? Sure, but so will your skills even if they are polished. It’s about facing the wrong opponent with the right style to make you pay. Forty times in a row he has not met that opponent.

Current Status……..Can Krusher

Will Sergey Kovalev ever be relevant again? Why Mikhalkin? Why Shabranskyy? We know Kovalev can dominate the lower tier fighters and it’s understood that a tune up fight was needed after the two Ward losses; however, when you’re considered one of the best, you need to fight the best.

Let’s take a deeper look here as we may have witnessed signs of Mr. Kovalev’s decline for years but were afraid to admit it.

Back in 2014, he rocks Bernard Hopkins in the first round but can’t stop his 49-year-old opponent. Ok, I know, I know, Hopkins is a legend but at 49 he went the distance with then, arguable a top 5-7 P4P fighter in Kovalev landing counter right after counter right keeping Kovalev honest to the distance.

Rewatch his first fight with Jean Pascal in 2015, he was touched repeatedly and cleanly. Had Pascal packed a wallop, Kovalev would have been in deep trouble that night. Granted, Kovelev stops him in the rematch but as a P4P fighter, he should have taken care of business the first time. What about his fight with Isaac Chilemba a year later? That was the best damn Chilemba we’ve ever seen, or was it due to his opponent?

Now the Andre Ward debacles. Yes, he put Ward down early in the first fight but he lost the fight. For several months afterwards, he took to social media with posts/tweets about how he would do this and that to Ward in the rematch. Not only did he not back it up but rather, he was dominated and stopped.

The signs have been there all along, we just have not been receptive to them?
Go Vegetarian, All The Cool Kids Are Doing It…

Not exactly what we need going into one of the most highly anticipated rematches. A few days ago, it was reported that Canelo Alvarez had failed a voluntary drug test. Confirmed by Golden Boy Promotions, Alvarez tested positive for trace levels of Clenbuterol, a product of contaminated meat. It is alleged that the meat is from mexican cows. VADA will continue to re-test and test Alvarez leading up to his May 5 rematch against Genady Golovkin.

This will lose its effect as the days and weeks lead into the fight; however, should Alvarez win, or worse, win in dominating fashion, this will rear its ugly head as soon as the fight ends, mooooooo.

Canelo Tests Positive For Banned Substance

Knuckle Up….The Venue Is Set

The venue is now set… T-Mobile Arena Las Vegas..buckle up/knuckle up.. May 5 is coming.

Snippets On Arguably The Hottest Topics In The Sweet Science

gossip

 

Cinnamon Power

On Saturday night, Canelo Alvarez (46-1-1 32 KO) was disciplined and calculated in his unanimous decision win over Miguel Cotto (40-5 33 KO) to capture the WBC strap. He pressed forward for most of the fight and used his size advantage to walk down Cotto, stunning him on more than one occasion.

The difference in power was evident. Canelo was walking through most of Cotto’s bombs whereas Cotto was visibly bothered by what he was receiving.

It wasn’t a secret that for Cotto to be successful in this fight, he would have had to box brilliantly.

The scores, 119-109, 118-110, 117-111 would lead you to believe that he had trouble doing just that. On the contrary however, while there is no argument here that Canelo was a UD winner, Cotto surely did enough to win more than one or two rounds.

Standing-8 scored the fight 115-113 Alvarez. Yes there were several close rounds but Cotto’s movement, defense, and counter-punching should have been given the benefit in those rounds.

Talk is heating up for Canelo and Gennady Golovkin and it could be as early as May….on Cinco De Mayo weekend.

 

Rigon-Doh!!!!

Guillermo Rigondeaux (16-0 10 KO) is one of the top fighters in the game but his performance on Saturday night looked more like a sparring session. The “sparring partner” in this case was opponent Drian Francisco (28-4-2 22 KO).

Rigondeaux landed less than ten punches a round and looked a bit rough in his usually fluid movement. He took the fight on short notice and had not fought for almost a year so I guess there are excuses to be found.

Rigondeaux was never in jeopardy of losing the fight but for a fighter who has struggled to gain fan appeal due to his defensive style, this performance was an epic fail.

Why We Love Boxing

Boxing sometimes parallels the metaphors of life. On Saturday night, Francisco Vargas (23-0-1 17 KO) was slowly losing his fight with WBC super featherweight champion Takashi Miura (29-3-2 22 KO). The bruised and worn challenger refused to quit. As in life when your back is against the wall and the odds seem stacked against you, you either rise to the challenge or fail.  

Miura had dropped Vargas in round four and had continuously battered him. Vargas was also giving as good as he was getting but seemed to be wearing down.

Miura again had Vargas in trouble at the end of the eighth and it seemed Vargas would be in big trouble in the ninth.

As the bell sounded to start the ninth, Vargas, with his right eye shut and protruding from his head, found a way with the odds against him.  Vargas dropped Miura with a monster right.

Miura was hurt bad but got to his feet as Vargas landed a brutal combination causing referee Tony Weeks to jump in and stop the fight.

Although there had to be a loser, they were both winners, two warriors giving their all for the love of the game.

 

Southpaw Has A New Name And It’s “Z-U-R-D-O”

Gilberto Ramirez (33-0 24 KO) is a rising star in the super middleweight division and has secured a title shot after his unanimous decision win over Gevorg Khatchikian (23-2 11 KO).  He is now the WBO’s mandatory challenger for Arthur Abraham’s strap after Abraham’s defeat of Martin Murray on Saturday (see below).

Hector Zapari and Zapari Boxing/Promotions have brought Ramirez up at an excellent pace slowly raising the level of competition with each fight. On the journey to his title shot, they have matched him with tough solid opponents who have challenged the young kid by putting him in uncomfortable situations forcing him to find a solution. He has passed every test and each fight he looks to be getting better and better.

Ramirez is 6’2 with a 75” reach but looks even bigger in the ring. So many things to like about Ramirez, how he destroys the body, throws nice combinations with unique punch selections, and is always in attack mode looking to end things. I still remember the uppercut from long range that he knocked out Junior Talipeau with, a thing of beauty.

As he moves forward, he would benefit from using his physical advantages a bit more. He tends to fight small and not use the jab consistently. With his dimensions, a paralyzing stick would be a massive weapon. In addition, although he has a solid beard, a tighter defense to guard against those overhand rights would serve him well.

Canelo’s win over Cotto has catapulted him to Mexico’s favorite darling but Ramirez may very well be giving him a run for his money very soon.

Always A Groomsman, Never The Groom

Murray can’t catch a break. He has won the intercontinentals, the silvers, the commonwealth’s, but just can’t seem to capture the World. Well, unless it was the interim title that is.

On Saturday, he lost out on the WBO super middleweight strap to Abraham by split decision, 115-112 112-115, 111-116. Murray started well but couldn’t sustain his effort throughout although he  landed some telling shots which were few and far between. In addition, he was deducted a point in the eleventh for using his shoulder which seemed to eliminate any momentum in the final two frames.

So, Murray again loses out on a chance at a World title. He has three losses and one draw in his career, all in World title fights.

 

BREAKING……The Heavyweight Champ Is Fighting!! The Heavyweight Champ Is Fighting!!

“I can lick any sonofabitch in the house” quipped John L. Sullivan in the late 1800’s. He was a bad man, the heavyweight champion. There was a time when the world stopped when the heavyweight champ was fighting, times have changed.

A casual most likely would have known that Canelo v. Cotto was happening last Saturday but doubtful they would know about the week’s heavyweight tilt.

This Saturday WBA, IBO, IBF and WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko (64-3 53 KO) will face Tyson Fury (24-0 18 KO) for all the hardware sans the WBC.

Fury will actually have both a height and reach advantage which could make things interesting. He’s generally plodding in his approach and if memory serves he was floored by cruiserweight turned heavy, Steve Cunningham. Granted Fury won by stoppage but if Cunningham’s power stunned him, a Steelhammer will be big trouble.

Let’s just hope Fury’s best act against Klitschko wasn’t his impersonation of Batman.

 

Quick Peek At…Canelo v. Cotto

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A classic Mexico vs. Puerto Rico slugfest. Former WBA/WBC World super welterweight titlist Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (45-1-1 32 KO) will knuckleup with “former” WBC world middleweight titlist Miguel Cotto (33-2-1 24 KO) this Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas at a catchweight of 155.

Cotto, the “former” holder of the strap because the WBC announced this week that they would strip Cotto of the belt. Cotto apparently was having difficulty “complying with the rules and regs”,,,,aka he allegedly didn’t pay a $300K sanctioning fee. The timing stinks but such is the politics of boxing.

What now? If Alvarez wins the fight, the belt is his along with the title of lineal champ. Cotto would retain lineal champ status with a win but would not be the WBC champ, that would go to WBC interim champ, Gennady Golovkin. What a surprise.

Tape Tales

Cotto-     Age- 35   Height-5’7   Reach-67”

Alvarez-  Age- 25   Height-5’9   Reach-70.5”

Last 3-

Cotto-(3-0)

6/6/15 W- TKO 4 Daniel Geale,

Against Geale, Cotto was calculated in his attack. He worked the body and landed hard shots from the opening bell stunning Geale early and ending things with a big left hook in the fourth.

6/7/14 W- TKO 9 Sergio Martinez (Corner Stoppage before the 10th),

Cotto knocked down his battle worn opponent three times in the first en route to a dominant performance. It was clear that Martinez was not fully recovered from his knee injuries/surgeries but regardless of that, Cotto looked explosive.

10/5/13 W- TKO 3 Delvin Rodriguez

A strong body attack to start the fight, an overhand right-left hook combination to stagger Rodriguez at the end of two, and a big left hook causing the referee to stop the fight in the third. This was Cotto’s first fight with Freddie Roach and the springboard for a partnership that has reenergized the only Puerto Rican fighter to have won four titles in as many weight classes.  

Alvarez- (3-0)

5/9/15 W- KO3 James Kirkland,

The Mandingo Warrior chose to attack Alvarez the only way he knows how, straight forward. He was dropped in the first but to his credit, recovered and had moments in the second backing Alvarez into the ropes and swinging away. In the third round, Alvarez landed an uppercut dropping Kirkland and then finished him moments later with a brutal overhand right.   

7/12/14 W- SD Erislandy Lara,

This decision was arguably inaccurate. The scores for Alvarez that is, like the 117-111. Standing-8 had this fight 8-4 Lara. See Standing-8 article titled “Officer I’d Like To Report A Robbery, Weighing In On The Lara-Alvarez Debacle” for complete analysis.

3/8/14 W-TKO 10 Alfredo Angulo

It’s “Perro” so you know you’re going to get a dogfight against a pitbull, albeit this one with no defense or speed. Alvarez used his superior speed and movement to batter Angulo from pillar to post swelling up his face (who doesn’t?) and stopping him in the 10th.

Common Opponents May Provide A Bit Of Clarity-

Floyd Mayweather-

Cotto was one of Mayweather’s most competitive fights and closer than the scorecards indicated. Cotto executed a decent defensive gameplan and utilized his jab while working the body and landing more punches on Mayweather that had been seen in some time. Mayweather clearly won the fight but Cotto was highly competitive. Against Alvarez, the Mayweather speed was way too much. Mayweather took a few rounds to study his opponent and then dominated him the rest of the fight.

Shane Mosley

They got Mosley at much different times in his career. A close fight with Cotto in 2007 when Mosley was 36  and a lopsided loss to Alvarez when he was 40.

Austin Trout-

A southpaw fighter with movement was trouble for Cotto winning a lopsided decision, and although he lost by unanimous decision to Alvarez he was generally in the fight until a seventh round knock down. Interesting to note is that Trout was buckled badly by the shot but was able to make it to the twelfth round.

Alfonso Gomez-

Both Cotto and Alvarez walked through and stopped Gomez, Cotto in the fifth and Alvarez in the sixth.

Lovemore Ndou-

Lost to both fighters by UD. The loss to Alvarez in 2010 was lopsided but much closer against Cotto, albeit six years earlier in 2004.

 

What Does It All Mean?

Cotto is in deep for the first time since 2012. Take nothing away from Cotto, it’s just hard to gauge exactly where he really is this point in his career. Against Geale he was facing an opponent who is usually tough-as-nails but was gaunt/parched at the weigh-in and then as he entered the ring, an overhydrated mess with no zest, easy work for Cotto. Against Martinez, damaged goods of a fighter who was one fight away from retirement, easy work for Cotto. And Rodriguez, a tune-up fighter they wanted, a tune up fighter they got, easy work for Cotto.

Yes, Roach has made a difference but we get our first real look at a credible test on Saturday night. Cotto’s speed is what will keep him in the fight. He has the ability to stick and move and land those trademark left hooks to keep Alvarez honest. If he boxes more than brawls he can steal rounds and frustrate Alvarez similar to what Erislandy Lara did.

While Cotto doesn’t possess the southpaw tactical brilliance of Lara, he has improved his movement and combination punching under Roach’s tutelage.  The thing is, Alvarez can be hit, his defense is average at best so Cotto will have openings if he can exploit them. Cotto historically works the body extremely well and if he can be successful against his bigger foe, he will possibly take some sting out of Alvarez’s big punches down the stretch.

No secret here, the young lion will look to throw punches with bad intentions and walk down his opponent. He will have both a height and reach advantage and is ten years younger. Alvarez will work behind the jab to set up his power shots. If he can cut off the ring and limit Cotto’s movement, he can inflict damage as he backs Cotto up forcing him to work off his back foot. Alvarez will need to be wary of the sneaky left hook that Cotto has thrown with great success in his career. Look for Alvarez to work the body early and often in an attempt to weaken the elder statesman. Kill the body and the head will fall.

And The Winner Is………..

The bet here is that Alvarez will respect the old hand and know that if he allows Cotto to box, move, and steal rounds he could be on the short end of a decision. That said, the feeling here is that youth will be served. Alvarez will walk Cotto down and work him to the body while making him feel every punch to the head. Cotto will have moments because, at times, Alvarez gets sloppy with his defense; however, because Cotto will be cognizant of what is coming back in return, those moments will pass quickly.

Alvarez will start quick and from the opening round will break down the game future hall of fame fighter stopping him just short of the championship rounds. Cotto will go out on his shield like the true warrior he is.

Get ready for the build up to Alvarez v, GGG.

 

 

 

Snippets On Arguably The Hottest Topics In The Sweet Science

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Desert Stormed

Timothy Bradley (33-1-1 13 KO) wore down a poorly conditioned Brandon Rios (33-3-1 34 KO) and stopped him in the ninth on a series of body shots.

Bradley looked amazing, snapping straight right hands while exhibiting some of the best lateral movement he’s ever displayed. In addition, his defense was solid, hand speed elite and he utilized a side step-hook to the body combo beautifully on a few occasions. 

Rios landed a few shots with more than one getting Bradley’s attention but did little else. 

Bradley started to sit down on his punches in the seventh and in the ninth, buckled Rios to the canvas with a body shot. After Rios got up, Bradley attacked landing a hook to the body dropping Rios a second time. This time, Rios stayed down on a knee and waited to be counted out.

Bradley’s  speed was way too much. Rios will always find difficulty with lighting quick opponents.

No surprise really. Yes Rios had looked good defeating Mike Alvarado in January but Alvarado by his own admission was grossly unprepared and shouldn’t have been in the ring.

Before that, Diego Chaves gave Rios a tough go and and Manny Pacquiao flat out dominated him.  The signs of Rios’ decline have been present and the issues of his weight loss/gain only added to the problems.

Apparently, after barely not making weight then making it, Rios entered the ring on fight night in excess of 170. You could see the sluggishness impacting him each passing round as his rehydration plan backfired. After the fight Rios indicated he would retire.

Time for a public service announcement- alphabet soup, please get together and discuss the feasibility of same day weigh-ins or mandating limits for appropriate weight levels through rehydration.

Back to our regularly scheduled program-

Take nothing away from Bradley, he did what he was supposed to do. It was a very strong performance, just needs to be kept in perspective. 

The partnership with Teddy Atlas is off to a rousing start.

The Return Of The King-Painting Masterpieces Fight After Fight

WBO Featherweight Champion Vasyl Lomachenko (5-1 3 KO) is six fights into his pro career and can already be included in the top pound for pound fighter discussions. Vasyl, meaning “king”, arguably the greatest amatuer ever is begining to breakthrough to another level in the pros.

On Saturday night in true “Hi-Tech” fashion, the Ukrainian dominated Romulo Koasicha (25-5 15 KO) before stopping him in the tenth on a flurry of punches culminating with a left to the midsection followed by a thunderous shot to the ribs. Game,Set, Match.

While Koasicha is not a championship caliber opponent, he is a solid pro and Loma made him look like a sparring partner.

Lomachenko’s footwork was sensational. He glides effortlessly to and from his opponent always in the position to counter or move out of harm’s way only slightly having to absorb anything in return.  That’s not to say that he won’t be willing to take one to give one as he showed against Koasicha.

Lomachenko landed 64 % of his power punches according to Compubox.

“I was having fun in there if I wanted to knock him out earlier, I would have.” said Lomachenko

A matchup with Guillermo Rigondeaux would be amazing and we may see the best Lomachenko yet. 

Lomachenko is a master technician in the ring and puts on a performances utilizing a skill set like no other fighter today. If you love the sweetness of the science,  Lomachenko’s your man. 

Monaco Masher

Ruslan Provodnikov (25-4 18 KO) stopped Jesus Alvarez Rodriguez (14-1 11 KO) in the fourth round in Monaco.

Who? Ya, I know, not really a household name facing the former WBO junior welterweight champion. Infact, out of fourteen fights, Alvarez-Rodriguez had only faced one fighter with a winning record.

In the fourth round, Provodnikov stunned Rodriguez with a big right. Sensing he was hurt, Provodnikov attacked with a barrage dropping Rodriguez. Provodnikov finished the job as Rodriguez got up, dazing him again with another right and then dropping him again with a left hook. The referee had seen enough.

This was Provodnikov’s first fight with ex-Bradley trainer, Joel Diaz since leaving Freddie Roach and we saw some glimpses of boxing from the slugger.

Ruslan turned boxer – puncher would be a scary thought, just sayin.

Ted Talk -Ideas Worth Screaming

“Are you ready for the fire? We are firemen. WE ARE FIREMEN! The heat doesn’t bother us. We live in the heat. We train in the heat. It tells us that we’re ready, we’re at home, we’re where we’re supposed to be. Flames don’t intimidate us. What do we do? We control the flame. We control them. We move the flames where we want to. And then we extinguish them.” -Teddy Atlas to Timothy Bradley

Christmas Early

Canelo v. Cotto under three weeks away, nuff said.

Snippets On Arguably The Hottest Topics In The Sweet Science This Week

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Where Were You?
Due to the importance of “the fight” for the annuals of the sport and the build up of the past several years it will be one of those “where were you moments” when recalling your exact location when the Mayweather Pacquiao announcement was made. Mayweather Pacquiao, May 2, MGM Grand Las Vegas. The journey was long but we will now finally see arguably the two best fighters of their generation square off.

Agreed, this fight should ideally have been made years ago but it wasn’t so get over it. This is boxing and if history has taught us anything it’s that things don’t always happen as they should. The alternative would have been that the fight was never made and then what, listen to decades of debate?  No thanks, this is good for the sport and for the legacy of both fighters. You still have the top P4P fighter in the game facing a top three P4P fighter.

Standing-8 was in Las Vegas.

Powered By G3
Gennady Golovkin (32-0 29 KO) was relentless in his 11th Round TKO defeat of Martin Murray (29-2-1 12 KO) in Monte Carlo on Saturday night. GGG bloodied and bruised Murray while dropping him three times in route to the stoppage at 2:10 of the eleventh.

From the opening bell, Golovkin did what he does best, attack, attack, attack. Golovkin cut off the ring and swarmed Murray. Using precise, accurate, and economical punches, Golovkin systematically broke Murray down throughout the fight by landing hooks to the body (some of which dropped Martin), and combinations to the head which included a few timely uppercuts.

Murray is one tough dude with a hell of a beard. He was game throughout the fight, and won a few rounds while having plenty of moments throughout the fight. Murray was able to land overhand rights on Golovkin and work his body but could not do so with any type of consistency due to Golovkin’s constant pressure.Murray landed some very sharp hard punches on Golovkin but simply could not hurt him.

It’s hard to find a negative after such a dominating performance but Golovkin’s defense was a bit porous. Going forward it may pose a problem against a heavy-handed opponent or a boxer/puncher.

Nonetheless, Golovkin looked amazing and upped his consecutive knockout streak to 19.

Boxcino- Time for the Bigs
The Boxcino heavyweight quarterfinals got underway this past Friday night, here is a recap of the tournament openers=

Donovan Dennis 11-1 (9 KO) vs. Steve Vukosa 10-1 (4KO)

Dennis knocked Vukosa down in the third and although Vukosa was able to make it to the bell, he was stopped in the fourth. Dennis dominated all aspects of the fight prior to the stoppage.

Dennis, the Davenport, Iowa native is probably the best pure boxer of the bunch with the quickest hands however he will need to tighten his defense up a bit as he has shown that he can be hit.

Said Dennis, “I took what I could get. I was patient. I was disappointed they stopped it. I had more to show. I’m just looking to get better.”

Dennis will now face the 6’7 Romanian Razvan Cojanu in the semi-finals because…….

Razvan Cojanu 13-1 (7 KO) vs. Ed Fountain 10-1 (4 KO)

Cojanu had his hands full against the undersized and less experienced Fountain. So much in fact that their fight was called a draw after six rounds causing the two combatants to have to fight a seventh and deciding round. Fountain had a chance here but was fatigued which allowed Cojanu to lean on him and do enough to win the round and as a result, the fight.

Cojanu said afterward, “I couldn’t see anything. I was fighting with one eye. Buddy (McGirt) told me to jab and it worked”

Countered Fountain, ” I fought hard, The ref didn’t help. I’ll see Cojanu again after the tournament.”
.

Andrey Fedosov 26-3 ( 21 KO ) vs. Nate Heaven 9-2 (7 KO)

Fedosov was dominating in his first round destruction of Heaven. Fedosov dropped Heaven with a left hook and although Heaven was able to get to his feet, he was hit by another left hook and stopped.

“Everything went to plan. Shorten the distance and use my power. That’s what happened.” Said Fedosov

Fedosov is undersized but his opponents should beware, Fedosov could be the sleeper in the tournament.

Fedosov will now face Lenroy Thomas because….

Jason Estrada 20-5 (6 KO) vs.  Lenroy Thomas 18-3 (9 KO)

Estrada and Thomas fought a pretty close fight, so close that they had to go to a seventh round tie breaker. Thomas did enough in the deciding round to take the victory but it really shouldn’t have come to that as he had controlled the fight with his height and reach and exposed Estrada as the last-minute replacement that he was.

Back To The Future

Al Haymon continued his old school approach inking PBC with CBS. (See article below)

Remember The Alamo

Canelo Alvarez had threatened to challenge Mayweather’s May 2 date but since “the fight” was made, he moved his fight against James Kirkland a week later to May 9 from the Alamodome in San Antonio.

Snippets On Arguably The Hottest Topics In The Sweet Science This Week

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Trilogy, The Lord of The Ring

Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios (33-2-1 24 KOs)  dominated “Mile High” Mike Alvarado (34-4, 23 KOs) on Saturday night from the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield Colorado to win  the WBO International Welterweight Title. Rios looked beter than he has in some time controling the fight from the opening bell stalking Alvarado and landing strong combinations to the body and head. Alvarado began the fight with  a tight guard almost as if he didn’t know what to expect from the first punch.  We got our anwser as he seemed stunned by the first shot he took. Round One to Rios in a landslide. In the second,  Rios continued to attack and was only slowed by a low blow that made him take a knee momentarily.  Alvarado was landing a shot here and there but mostly only in a defensive and desperate effort to keep Rios off of him. In between rounds two and three, you could hear Alvarado tell his corner that he was having trouble seeing.

In the third, Rios was landing hooks to the body and following them with uppercuts.  The uppercut would be Rios’ weapon of choice as he dropped Alvarado with a right uppercut that was followed by a few glancing blows, but it was the uppercut that did the damage. As Alvarado got to his feet Rios continued his attack.In the corner between rounds, Alvarado was again complaining of vision problems. The ringside physician held up two fingers and asked Alvarado how many fingers he had up to which he replied “four”.  The ringside physician told Jay Nady, “I showed him two fingers, he answered four, fights over”.

CompuBox numbers showed that Rios landed 120 punches out of 290 to Alvarado’s 20 out of 87. Said Rios after the fight to HBO’s Jim Lampley, “I had to come prepared because this could have been the end of my career, I have a lot of gas in my tank still and I didn’t want that”. Rios did look good and better than he has for a while. Some have questioned if it was due to a lethargic opponent, I’d say somewhere in between, not Rios at his best and definitely not the version we saw against Manny Pacquiao.

As for Alvarado, when you get arrested three weeks before your fight at 4 AM in the morning, your dedication can be questioned on many levels especially after the effort that was put forth. Said Alvarado,  “It was all in the preparation, I wasn’t training like I should have been, this is what I get.”  You think?

Mike is a winner, he just needs to convince himself, deal with those demons outside of the ring and show the world.

So, the trilogy that was prematurely placed on the same level as Gatti Ward, fizzled as only one combatant showed up. That fighter, now the winner of two of the three and both by stoppage,  is The Lord Of The Ring.

Life Lessons

Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (31-0 24 KOs) defeated Maxim Vlasov (30-2 15 KOs) by unanimous decision with scores of, 96-94 X2, 97-93. It was a workman like performance for the young kid. Ramirez destroyed Vlasov’s body but was unable to land a significant punch to put Vlasov in any serious trouble. As stated in Standing-8 after Ramirez’s last fight,  “If there was an area for critique, it would be in Ramirez’s tendency to fight “small” at times which has left him open for counter overhand rights which his opponents have been able to land from time to time. Although he has displayed a solid beard he would benefit by tightening up his defense a bit more.”  Again, Ramirez couldn’t protect from the right had as Vlasov landed them repeatedly.  This kid has the goods but he better guard against those right hands because as the competition gets stronger he may not be able to absorb the punches as easily.

There were a lot of close rounds in this fight but Vlasov slowed his activity in the middle of the fight, a product of the body shots no doubt, which allowed Ramirez to capture them. Vlasov did have a few strong rounds towards the end of the fight but it was a little too late. Ramirez is one of the rising stars in boxing but showed a bit of a porous defense not adjusting to being hit with repeated rights. His jab, usually a big weapon, was underutilized. The fight was there for Vlasov but he failed to sustain his attack. A tough test for the young undefeated Ramirez. He was pushed in this fight and while his string of four straight stoppages ended, what he learned here will be more valuable than a stoppage as he moves on in his career.

We Love The Commercials

It’s not a matter of if Pacquiao and Mayweather will fight it’s a matter of when. Pacquiao says he signed the contract,  Mayweather says there’s still more work to do because of the money. Maybe they’re going to announce it during a Super Bowl commercial, wouldn’t that be something? I can see it now, something out of Wayne’s World, “Game On”. In any event this site has had their hotel room booked since last August in anticipation of the May 2 date.

Junk Yard Dogs 

Picture a junk yard with two starving dogs, one named Cinnamon, one Mandingo. Now picture a steak being thrown in the middle of them, add a Wolfe and things may just get interesting. Coming May 2nd, or later if “The Fight” is made which will put the junkyard battle on hold for a moment.

Officer, I’d Like To Report A Robbery……Weighing In On The Lara/Alvarez Debacle

 

robbery

 

Better late than never….I was finally able to see the replay of the Canelo Alvarez v. Erislandy Lara bout last night. I had planned on watching it live last Saturday; however, in route home from vacation, my flight was delayed and I exited the airport for home as the fight started. I was fortunate enough to not be tasked with the driving responsibilities and was able to follow the fight on social media, Twitter more specifically. I follow many tweeters who are directly involved in the sport and continually refreshed my phone to keep the updates coming. This would be interesting, watching the fight through the eyes of the social media world before watching it myself. See what others are seeing as detailed in their tweets and what feelings they are having about the fight in the exact moments it is occurring; some at the fight, some watching on PPV, some past/current fighters, some boxing experts, and some the casual fan. I wanted to see if the majority opinion would match the judges at ringside.

As I watched each update it was evident early on by the accounts of others that Lara was winning this fight. Other than tweets about Canelo’s body work, all indications in the early and mid rounds were that Lara was clearly out boxing Alvarez. This was the overall and dominant consensus of the round by round updates. The tweets then took a slight turn and favored Canelo’s more aggressive attack for a round or two but again returned in favor of Lara. After reading tweets that said the fight had ended and that it would go to the scorecards, it seemed clear that Lara was the winner, according to overall opinion of those I was tracking.

As it turns out, that is not what happened and again a scoring controversy reared its ugly head in a big fight, complete with another “what fight were you watching?” scorecard submitted by Levi Martinez, 117-111 Alvarez.

It was evident that this was a close fight. All of the tweets would suggest as much but I now had my chance to watch the replay and see if the “world” had lied to me or if the judges had gotten it right.
As I watched the reply, as each round started, I played my own “game within the game”, give Canelo 10 points and make it Lara’s job to change my mind. Lara did a pretty good job of convincing me as I had him winning 8 of the 12 rounds, 116-112 Lara. Actually it was pretty simple to score. Lara’s lateral movement and ring generalship were the difference in my review. I don’t ever remember seeing Canelo swing at air so many times. Lara’s movement made Canelo reset over and over. Canelo stalked Lara but did a poor job cutting off the ring. Canelo’s best work was done to Lara’s body, he threw damaging punches when he was able to corner Lara but his inability to land punches to the head was due to Lara’s excellent movement. Lara scored beautifully with sneaky straight rights and lefts, solid jabs, and timely power shots.

It’s called the sweet science for a reason, hit and don’t get hit. Lara did just that. For those proponents who felt that Lara “ran” would probably find it interesting to know that Lara landed more punches. Pretty hard to outland your opponent if you run. Another favorite of the proponents is that Lara would not engage toe-to-toe with Canelo, so in their logic Lara should play to his opponent’s strengths putting him at a disadvantage. Good thing they don’t manage fighters for a living.

The bottom line is Lara won this fight and it’s a shame that the scores didn’t reflect that. It’s ok if the rightful winner is awarded the victory, that’s the way it’s supposed to work.