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RINGSIDE REPORT Mayweather Defeats Canelo; Garcia Beats The Machine
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LAS VEGAS-Floyd “Money” Mayweather made his money, shut down the large Mexican crowd, and also stymied Mexican hero Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s best efforts, winning by majority decision on Saturday.
Mayweather (45-0, 26 Kos) looked a little slower and tired a little sooner, but once again he put another notch on his belt by adding Alvarez’ (42-1-1, 30 Kos) WBC junior middleweight title to his growing resume. A crowd of 16,746 showed up at the MGM Garden Arena and witnessed another Mayweather party.
It wasn’t one-sided but Alvarez’s youth had something to do with that.
Feints and movement dictated the first round as Mayweather initiated contact with some jabs through Alvarez’s guard. A right by Mayweather was countered with a left hook from the Mexican fighter. But Mayweather had landed a few more punches in round one in a test for both boxers who seemed tight.
“If my dad said I was tight, he was right,” said Mayweather, 36, who was told that his father-trainer Floyd Sr. said his son was not up to par.
Mayweather got closer in round two which allowed Alvarez to land some shots to the hip. Then came the Mayweather jabs and a quick combo. Alvarez landed a solid jab too that connected soundly.
Alvarez had a pretty good round in the third especially after Mayweather seemed to wake him up with a crisp one-two combination. Jabs from Alvarez landed and a three-punch combination from the redhead sparked the crowd.
Mayweather opened up the arsenal in the fourth and Alvarez followed his path. Both swung away but it was the Las Vegas speedster that landed the more crisp blows.
Alvarez had a good fifth round with some accurate left hooks. Mayweather attempted to unleash some combos but ran into a left hook that forced him to back off. Some rights by Mayweather landed but the left hooks were the best blows of the round.
Both fighters seemed angry in round six and it showed. Left hook was met with left hook and uppercuts flowed from both fighters. Mayweather was slightly more accurate especially with the right hands.
After Mayweather landed consecutive right hands in round seven, he seemed to sense a momentum change and began to corner Alvarez. But the Mexican waited patiently and dropped two right hands on Mayweather. Still, he lost the round but seemed to gather respect from Mayweather.
In the eighth round Mayweather cut loose with some vicious combinations. Alvarez landed his best combo, a right hand and left hook, but Mayweather repeatedly fired combinations that snapped the sweat off of Alvarez’s head.
Mayweather took round nine off and slowed his punch output. Alvarez landed a few more punches in a close round and seemed to have the punch advantage though he did eat a solid right cross from Mayweather.
Jabs and more jabs snapped from Mayweather in round 10 as Alvarez also withstood a fierce four-punch combination. Alvarez tried to rally with a six-punch combination but only one punch seemed to land as the crowd roared. Mayweather went back to the jab and moved at his own leisure.
Mayweather took the 11th round off a bit and allowed Alvarez to land some combinations though nothing penetrated enough to hurt the Las Vegas speedster. In the final round, Mayweather used jabs and movement to skirt around Alvarez who put his hands down to signal for Mayweather to fight, not run. Mayweather obliged but not enough to risk a knockout loss. Jabs shot out from Mayweather until the final bell.
“He’s a young strong champion,” said Mayweather. “Mexico has some great champions throughout the years.”
One judge, CJ Ross, scored it a draw 114-114. Judge Dave Moretti had it 116-112, Craig Metcalfe had it 117-111 for Mayweather.
Alvarez analyzed his first loss as a pro.
“He’s very intelligent. He’s very elusive. I couldn’t catch him,” said Alvarez, 23. “He has a lot of experience. He’s simply a great fighter.”
Danny Garcia Beats Matthysse
Most of the boxing world knew that junior welterweight world champion Danny Garcia (27-0, 16 Kos) could punch with the best. This time he was facing the best and most feared puncher in Argentina’s Luca Matthysse (34-3, 32 Kos). But few realized that both could withstand a big blow with the best of them as Garcia won by decision.
Matthysse was attempting his third world title bid and thought the charm might come against Philadelphia’s Garcia.
In the first half of the fight the Argentine looked to have an advantage as he pounded away with four-punch combinations. Then a clash of heads resulted in a swelling, and Garcia added to that with a left hook and soon the eye closed nearly shut in round seven.
Everything changed and Garcia soon forged ahead, especially after his father and trainer Angel Garcia slapped him during the rest period.
Garcia took advantage of a more careful Matthysse and began to open up with the fast combinations. Matthysse was wary of Garcia’s power after withstanding several left hooks and Garcia opened up with even more aggression.
“Matthysse is a great warrior. He kept coming at me,” said Garcia, 25.
When Matthysse got entangled in the ropes, Garcia took advantage and knocked down the Argentine with a one-two in round 11.
“I’m a champion of the world, I’m not afraid of nobody,” Garcia said. “If you can make it out of Philadephia, you can make it out of anywhere.”
The judges scored it for Garcia 115-11 and 114-112 twice.
Matthysse was gracious in defeat.
“He’s a great champion,” said Matthysse. “Unfortunately I had only one eye for half of the fight.”
Other bouts
Chicago boxer Carlos Molina ( 22-5-2, 6 Kos) grabbed the IBF junior middleweight title from Ishe Smith (25-6, 11 Kos) who was making his first title defense. Molina was the more aggressive fighter though both fighters rarely landed blows. Their counter-punching style was not conducive to excitement. One judge scored it 116-112 for Smith but two saw it 117-111 and 116-112 for Molina.
“I’m never happy with my performance,” said Molina, but added that he is happy winning the title. “I want the winner of tonight’s fight. It makes sense.”
Mexico’s Pablo Cano returned to the win column with a withering body attack to obtain a split decision victory over United Kingdom’s Ashley Theophane (33-6-1, 10 Kos) after 10 rounds in a welterweight bout. Cano hurt Theophane several times during the fight and took some punishment too. But there were no knockdowns after 10 rounds. Cano’s last fight was a loss to Sugar Shane Mosley.
Cuba’s Luis Arias (7-0, 3 Kos) bludgeoned James Winchester (16-9, 6 Kos) all six rounds in winning a one-side six round super middleweight contest. Arias was the faster and harder puncher but Winchester had a pretty good chin.
Las Vegas boxer Ronald Gavril (7-0, 5 Kos) used a body attack to open up firing lanes in defeating Michigan’s Shujaa El Amin (12-5, 6 Kos) by unanimous decision. All three judges scored it 79-73 for Gavril, who fights for Mayweather Promotions.
Former amateur star Chris Pearson (12-0, 9 Kos) blitzed Joshua Williams (9-6, 5 Kos) behind a stiff jab and some lightning combinations. It could have been a difficult fight, especially when you have two southpaws. But Pearson made it look easy with his pinpoint jab and left cross. Referee Russell Mora saw enough and stopped the already bloody Williams from taking more punishment at 1:14 of the first round.
Compton’s Lanell Bellows (6-0-1, 5 Kos) wasn’t rushed but when he saw an opening in Jordan Moore’s (3-1) defense he struck quickly with a right to the body and right to the head. West Virginia’s Moore did not beat the count and lost by knockout at 2:30 of the first round of the super middleweight fight.
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Cain Sandoval KOs Mark Bernaldez in the Featured Bout at Santa Ynez
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Northern California’s Cain Sandoval remained undefeated with a knockout win over Mark Bernaldez in a super lightweight battle on Friday on a 360 Promotions card.
Sandoval (15-0, 13 KOs) of Sacramento needed four rounds to figure out tough Filipino fighter Bernaldez (25-7, 14 KOs) in front of a packed crowd at Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez.
Bernaldez had gone eight rounds against Mexico’s very tough Oscar Duarte. He showed no fear for Sandoval’s reputed power and both fired bombs at each other from the second round on.
Things turned in favor of Sandoval when he targeted the body and soon had Bernaldez in retreat. It was apparent Sandoval had discovered a weakness.
In the beginning of the fourth Sandoval fired a stiff jab to the body that buckled Bernaldez but he did not go down. And when both resumed in firing position Sandoval connected with an overhand right and down went the Filipino fighter. He was counted out by referee Rudy Barragan at 34 seconds of the round.
“I’m surprised he took my jab to the body. I respect that. I have a knockout and I’m happy about that,” Sandoval said.
Other Bouts
Popular female fighter Lupe Medina (9-0) remained undefeated with a solid victory over the determined Agustina Vazquez (4-3-2) by unanimous decision after eight rounds in a minimumweight fight between Southern Californians.
Early on Vazquez gave Medina trouble disrupting her patter with solid jabs. And when Medina overloaded with combination punches, she was laced with counters from Vazquez during the first four rounds.
Things turned around in the fifth round as Medina used a jab to keep Vazquez at a preferred distance. And when she attacked it was no more than two-punch combination and maintaining a distance.
Vazquez proved determined but discovered clinching was not a good idea as Medina took advantage and overran her with blows. Still, Vazquez looked solid. All three judges saw it 79-73 for Medina.
A battle between Southern Californian’s saw Compton’s Christopher Rios (11-2) put on the pressure all eight rounds against Eastvale’s Daniel Barrera (8-1-1) and emerged the winner by majority decision in a flyweight battle.
It was Barrera’s first loss as a pro. He never could discover how to stay off the ropes and that proved his downfall. Neither fighter was knocked down but one judge saw it 76-76, and two others 79-73 for Rios.
In a welterweight fight Gor Yeritsyan (20-1,16 KOs) scorched Luis Ramos (23-7) with a 12-punch combination the sent him to the mat in the second round. After Ramos beat the count he was met with an eight punch volley and the fight was stopped at 2:11 of the second round by knockout.
Super feather prospect Abel Mejia (7-0, 5 KOs) floored Alfredo Diaz (9-12) in the fifth round but found the Mexican fighter to be very durable in their six-round fight. Mejia caught Diaz with a left hook in the fifth round for a knockdown. But the fight resumed with all three judges scoring it 60-53 for Mejia who fights out of El Modena, Calif.
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The Return of David Alaverdian
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By TSS Special Correspondent David Harazduk — After David Alaverdian (8-0-1, 6 KOs) scored a gritty victory against a tough Nicaraguan journeyman named Enrique Irias, his plans suddenly changed. The flashy flyweight from Nahariya, Israel hoped to face even tougher opposition and then challenge for a world title within a year or so. But a prolonged illness forced David to rip up the script.
The Irias fight was over 22 months ago. On Saturday, Feb. 22, Alaverdian will be making his first appearance in the ring since that win when he faces veteran road warrior Josue “Zurdo” Morales (31-16-4, 13 KOs) at the Westgate Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. It’s the fifth promotion by Las Vegas attorney Stephen Reid whose inaugural card was at this venue on Feb. 13, 2020.
“I’m excited to come back,” Alaverdian declared.
During his preparation for Irias two years ago, Alaverdian felt fatigue after a routine six-round sparring session. “It was on April 1, 2023, about ten days before my fight. It felt like an April Fool’s joke,” he said. He came down with a sore throat, a headache, and congestion. He soon developed trouble breathing. At first, he thought his seasonal asthma had flared up, but his condition soon worsened. No matter what he did, Alaverdian could no longer take deep breaths. Fatigue continued to plague him. His heart constantly raced. Instead of breathing from his diaphragm, he was breathing from his chest. He sought out numerous doctors in the United States and in Israel.
His symptoms were finally diagnosed as Dysfunctional Breathing (DB). DB is a condition that can stem from stress and is often misdiagnosed. Its symptoms include dyspnea and tachycardia, both of which David experienced.
While receiving treatment, the Vegas-based pro went back to Israel where he coached aspiring fighters. “David’s influence on Israeli boxing is amazing, because he shows we can succeed in a big business even though we come from a small country,” said another undefeated Israeli flyweight, 20-year-old Yonatan Landman (7-0, 7 KOs). “A lot more Israelis are going to dare to succeed.”
Landman was able to work with Alaverdian during David’s return to Israel. “He is a great guy and a friend,” Landman said. “He has a lot of willingness to help, share his knowledge, and help you move forward.”
Alaverdian finally started to feel like he could compete again eight months ago. He won last year’s Israeli national amateur championship and competed in Olympic qualifiers. Now, he’s preparing to fight as a professional once again. “He doesn’t mention anything about [his breathing issues] like he did before,” his coach Cedric Ferguson said about this camp. “He’s been working like there’s no issue at all.”
It has been a whirlwind week for the 31-year-old Alaverdian. In addition to putting the finishing touches on his preparation ahead of Saturday’s comeback fight, David got married on Tuesday. His mom came over from Israel for the wedding and will stay for the fight. “It’s a good distraction,” David said of this week’s significant events. “It helps me. That way I don’t have to focus on the fight all day.”
Josue Morales, a 32 year old from Houston, hopes to play spoiler on Saturday. The crafty southpaw has never been stopped during his 52-fight career. “He’s a seasoned guy with a lot of experience,” Alaverdian said of Morales. “He knows how to move around the ring and is more of a technical boxer. He’s a tough opponent for someone who has been out of the ring for two years.”
A win Saturday night would complete a monumental week for David Alaverdian, both in and out of the ring, repairing the once-shredded script.
Doors open at the Westgate fight arena at 6:30 pm. The first bout goes at 7:00. Seven fights are scheduled including an 8-round female fight between Las Vegas light flyweight Yadira Bustillos and Argentine veteran Tamara Demarco.
NOTE: Author David Harazduk has run The Jewish Boxing Blog since 2010. You can find him at Twitter/X @JewishBoxing and Instagram.
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Two Candidates for the Greatest Fight Card in Boxing History
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Two Candidates for the Greatest Fight Card in Boxing History
Saturday’s fight card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, topped by the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol for undisputed light heavyweight supremacy, was being hyped as the greatest boxing card ever. That was before Daniel Dubois took ill and had to pull out of his IBF world heavyweight title defense against Joseph Parker, yielding his slot to last-minute replacement Martin Bakole.
The view from here is that the card remains in the running for the best fight card ever, top to bottom. The public didn’t view Dubois as the legitimate heavyweight champion. That distinction goes to Oleksandr Usyk.
Terms like “greatest” are, of course, subjective. Are we referring to the most attractive match-ups or the greatest array of talent, or the card that gives the most satisfaction by churning out a multiplicity of entertaining fights?
We won’t know how satisfying this card is until after the fact. We won’t know whether the talent on display was the greatest ever assembled on one night until many years have passed. Contestants such as Shakur Stevenson, Vergil Ortiz Jr, and Hamzah Sheeraz are still in their twenties (Stevenson is the oldest of the three at age 27) and it’s too soon to gauge if they will leave the sport with a great legacy.
As for which fight card in history had the deepest pool of attractive match-ups, this is a query that is amenable to an operational definition. Betting lines are a useful tool for informing us whether or not a fight warrants our attention if the likelihood of witnessing a closely-contested bout is our primary consideration.
Based on these factors, I would submit that the current leader in the race for the best card ever assembled goes to Don King’s May 7, 1994 promotion at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Six future Hall of Famers – Julio Cesar Chavez, Ricardo Lopez, Azumah Nelson, Terry Norris, Julian Jackson, and Christy Martin — were on that card, an 11-fight, eight-hour marathon with five WBC world title fights, four of which were rematches.
These were the five title fights:
140 pounds: Julio Cesar Chavez (89-1-1, 77 KOs) vs. Frankie Randall (49-2-1, 39 KOs)
Odds: Chavez 3/1 (minus-300)
154 pounds: Terry Norris (37-4, 23 KOs) vs. Simon Brown (41-2, 30 KOs)
Odds: even (11/10 and take your pick)
160 pounds: Gerald McClellan (30-2, 28 KOs) vs. Julian Jackson (48-2, 45 KOs)
Odds: McClellan 7/2 (minus-350)
130 pounds: Azumah Nelson (37-2-2, 26 KOs) vs. Jesse James Leija (27-0-2, 13 KOs)
Odds: Nelson 17/10 (minus-170)
105 pounds: Ricardo Lopez (36-0, 27 KOs) vs. Kermin Guardia (21-0, 14 KOs)
Odds: none
Results
Chavez-Randall — Julio Cesar Chavez avenged his loss to Frankie Randall, but not without controversy. An accidental clash of heads in the eighth round left Chavez with a bad gash on his forehead. Ring physician Flip Homansky would have allowed the bout to continue if that had been Chavez’s preference, but El Gran Campeon wasn’t so inclined. A WBC rule specified that in the event of a significant injury accruing from an accidental head butt, the less-damaged fighter is penalized a point. The fight went to the scorecards where Chavez won a split decision that would have been a draw without the point deduction. The crowd was overwhelmingly pro-Chavez, but the big bets were mostly on Randall and the odds got nicked down on the day of the fight.
Brown-Norris — In their first meeting in December of the previous year, Simon Brown dominated Terry Norris from the opening bell before stopping him in the fourth round. It was a massive upset. Norris was in the conversation for the top pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. In the rematch, Norris opened a slight favorite, but the late money was on Brown. And, once again, the so-called “sharps” were on the wrong side. Terry Norris, the would-be avenger, won a comfortable decision.
McClellan-Jackson — A murderous puncher, Gerald McClellan bombed out Julian Jackson in 83 seconds, or four rounds quicker than in their first engagement. Jackson was also a murderous puncher and attracted money in the sports books, lowering the price on the victorious McClellan who yet remained a solid favorite.
Nelson-Leija – WBC President Jose Sulaiman mandated this rematch after the first meeting ended in a draw after an error was found in the tabulation of one of the scorecards, overturning the original verdict which had Nelson retaining his title on a split decision. Leija thought he was robbed and was the rightful winner in the do-over, outworking Nelson to win a unanimous decision. At age 35, Azumah was getting long in the tooth.
Lopez-Guardia – Before the digital age, bookmakers didn’t trifle to post lines on bouts that on paper were egregious mismatches, save perhaps a fight of great magnitude. Guardia, the Colombian challenger, overachieved by lasting the distance in a fight with no knockdowns, but “Finito” won a lopsided decision.
A Note on Odds
Betting lines serve a useful purpose for boxing historians; they quantify the magnitude of an upset. However, quoting odds is tricky because they are fluid and vary somewhat from place to place. What this means is that two journalists can quote different odds on the same event and they both can get it right – unless there is a significant disparity. The odds quoted above are the closing lines at the MGM Grand or, at the very least, a very close approximation.
Saturday in Riyadh
One reason why tomorrow’s fight card is the best ever, said the tub-thumpers, is that the card (in its original conformation) included seven world title fights. But that’s no big deal There are so many title fights nowadays that the term “world title” has been trivialized. And what wasn’t acknowledged is that three of the title fights were of the “interim” stripe.
However – and this is a big deal — a glance at the odds informs us that tomorrow’s card is chock-full of competitive match-ups (at least on paper) and from that aspect, a blend of quality and quantity, it is a doozy of a boxing card.
The greatest boxing linemaker of my generation, now deceased, once told me that any fight where the “chalk” was less than a 3/1 favorite is essentially a “pick-‘em” fight. Yes, I know that makes no sense mathematically. However, I know what he was getting at. In a baseball game, for example, it’s very rare to find a team favored by odds of more than 3/1. In boxing, where self-serving promoters are constantly feeding us King Kong vs. Mickey Mouse, odds higher than 3/1 are the norm.
As this is being written, there are six fights on Saturday’s card where one could play the favorite without laying more than 3/1. I believe this is unprecedented. Moreover, the main event and a fascinating match-up on the undercard, Vergil Ortiz Jr vs Israil Madrimov, are virtual toss-ups with the favorites, Beterbiev and Ortiz, currently available at 5/4 (minus-125). Another very intriguing fight is the heavyweight contest between late bloomers Agit Kabayel and Zhilei Zhang which finds the less-heralded Kabayel cloaked as a small favorite. And kudos to Joseph Parker for accepting Martin Bakole when he could have held out for a lesser opponent. If Bakole is in shape (a big “if”), he will be a handful.
And so, where does tomorrow’s card rank on the list of best boxing cards ever? Right up there near the top, we would argue, and, if the bouts in large part are memorably entertaining, we would push it ahead of Don King’s May 7, 1994 extravaganza.
That’s the view from here. Feel free to dissent.
Postscript: If you plan to watch the entire card ($25.99 on DAZN for U.S. buyers), it would help to stock up on some munchies. The first fight (Joshua Buatsi vs. Callum Smith) is scheduled to kick off at 8:45 a.m. for us viewers in the Pacific Time Zone / 11:45 a.m. ET. If the show adheres tight to its schedule (no guarantee), Beterbiev and Bivol are expected to enter the ring at 3:00 p.m. PT/6:00 p.m. ET.
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