Ricardo Gets Off To Rough Start For Alvarez Family, Loses To Thompson

In the Canelo-Angulo PPV opener, Sergio Thompson (28-3 entering) met up with Ricardo Alvarez (23-2-3), the older brother of the headliner redhead, in a lightweight scrap set for ten or less. This Alvarez got things off to a poor start for the family, as he hit the deck twice against the stone-handed Thompson.

Thompson got the W, via scores of 95-93, 95-993, 97-91, though he needed to snag a second wind to make it to the finish line at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday evening.

Thompson was on a mission from the get go and it looked like we might get a quick rubout. Alvarez kept aloft, but went down in the third; it looked like he was held up by the ropes after taking a jab on the chin. The jab bothered Ricardo, and he wasn’t moving his head enough to be more than a too stationary target. He backed up, and didn’t make Sergio pay as part of a countering strategy. His jab was a measure slow in this Mexican vs. Mexican clash at times.

In the fifth, he started to fire it with some zip, sensing he was deep down on the cards. He did some nice work coming from underneath at times, and we wondered if the direction could be changing. Stamina did look to be taking on more import by the sixth. But the Thompson left hook was brought back, to good effect. Thompson then got a bit sloppy by this point, his energy waning a bit, but he was still winging power. A right sent Alvarez down at the start of the eighth. He got up pretty sharp eyed, but looked to move to get his senses back fully. The heavier hitter was exhibiting a second wind, for sure.

The Alvarez corner told their guy to aim for a KO heading to the tenth. He couldn’t comply, though he did step it up, close distance, press. This after Thompson got hit behind the head, on a break, and took a knee. The ref told him to get up, and he did, after a long spell, and warnings from the ref that he’d end the bout. Thompson ran to close the scrap.

We went to the cards.

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