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Canelo Wins Strategic Battle Over Daniel Jacobs in Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS-Mexico’s Saul “Canelo” Alvarez won a tactical battle by unanimous decision over Brooklyn’s Daniel Jacobs that saw several changes over 12 rounds. But now the red head adds the IBF title to his collection of middleweight belts on Saturday.
WBA and WBC titlist Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) showed the sold out crowd of 20,203 at T-Mobile Arena that the smaller guy can indeed beat the bigger guy Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs) even though he weighed four pounds more than the contracted weight. It really didn’t matter.
Despite the extra pounds it didn’t prove an advantage for Jacobs who was tentative in the beginning as was Alvarez. But in the second round both began to target the body and the fight slipped into a more aggressive round.
The speed of Alvarez began to tell as he connected with shots to the body and head. And when he felt even more comfortable in the fourth round, the Mexican middleweight began to show off his defensive skills by slipping various combinations fired by Jacobs. The crowd of predominantly Latino fans cheered the exhibition of defensive skill.
“It took me a couple of rounds to get my wits about me. Because he is a pot shotter. He’s a fast guy,” explained Jacobs.
Jacobs changed the strategy of the fight in the fifth round by changing into a southpaw. The move stalled Alvarez’s rhythm and the fight slowed to a crawl. A wicked left cross connected by Jacobs flush to Alvarez’s jaw. It was the Brooklyn fighter’s best punch of the night.
“It was a hard shot, no big deal I continued with my fight,” said Alvarez of the Jacob’s left cross.
Whenever Jacobs used a southpaw stance Alvarez found success with a ramrod left jab. It was his best response to the Jacob tactic. However the crowd did not like the tactic because of the lack of action in produced.
From the 10th round on Alvarez used his quicker hand speed to fire off combinations that kept Jacobs from returning fire. Though the Mexican middleweight was landing combinations whenever Jacobs fought from an orthodox stance, he had problems with the lefty stance by the New Yorker.
Jacobs never surrendered and managed to land shots, but never was he able to hurt Alvarez whose jaw had already been tested twice against the powerful Gennady “GGG” Golovkin in two prior fights. Canelo’s chin was intact and unbreakable against Jacobs. That proved to be a major difference.
Alvarez was able to take chances knowing he could handle Jacobs power. He also knew he could slip Jacobs if necessary. After 12 rounds all three judges agreed that Alvarez was the winner 115-113 twice and 116-112. It was a clear and decisive verdict not bemoaned by Jacobs.
“I have to go back and see exactly what the judges saw. He’s a tremendous champion and I take my hat off for him,” said Jacobs.
The crowd departed the arena satisfied but not exactly ecstatic. Most expected a knockout by either fighter, not a decision.
“It was a thinking fight. He’s a little heavier, it was the right style to fight him,” said Alvarez. “For sure it was a strategic fight. I had to think what to do but it was a matter of switching from left to right.”
Sitting in the audience was former middleweight champion Golovkin. Alvarez was asked if Golovkin would be next on his list.
“For me no, but if the people want it, we can do it again,” said Alvarez. “If the fight is right I’ll fight anyone.”
Vergil Ortiz
Young firebrand Vergil Ortiz (13-0, 13 KOs) lowered the boom on veteran world title challenger Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera (24-9, 7 KOs) to win by knockout in a fight held in the welterweight division. But only for this fight.
Herrera had fought for the super lightweight world title before and many felt he won against Puerto Rico’s Danny Garcia back in 2014. But against the lean punching machine Ortiz it was a different matter.
After a round of Herrera setting the pace with peppering shots to the body, Ortiz began opening up in the latter half of the second round. A sizzling right hand followed by several blows sent Herrera down at the end of the round. Herrera got up but looked slightly woozy.
In the third round Ortiz was in full stalking mode and Herrera seemed a little groggy. Normally Herrera, who lives in trains in Riverside, Calif. like Ortiz, has shown an uncanny ability to slip punches. But Ortiz cornered Herrera and sent a right cross missile that connected solidly. Herrera was out before a left hook follow-up blow from Ortiz grazed the unconscious fighter. Referee Russell Mora stopped the fight at 29 seconds of round three.
“I’m very satisfied with my performance. I spar world champions all the time,” said Ortiz after the win. “He was keeping his left hand down all the time. I had the fight figured out.”
Despite the success at 147-pounds, Ortiz prefers to drop back to the 140 pound super lightweight limit.
“I want to go back at 140 and get that world title,” said Ortiz who is from Texas but is trained in Riverside, CA, by Robert Garcia. “If they ask me to fight for a world title in two weeks I’ll take it right now.”
Jojo Diaz
Southern California’s Jojo Diaz (29-1, 15 KOs) opened up with a steady battering of Costa Rica’s Freddie Fonseca (26-3-1, 17 KOs) to prove he belongs at the 130-pound super featherweight division.
“I’m able to take more chances and take more risks. At 126 my body would fatigue in the later rounds,” said Diaz a former 2012 USA Olympian. “I’m ready right away for a world title my next fight.”
Diaz had twice fought for world titles in the featherweight division. In his last attempt he failed to make the required weight limit of 126 pounds last August 2018 against Puerto Rico’s Jesus Rojas. Though he won the fight he was unable to win the title.
Lamont Roach Jr. (19-0-1, 7 KOs) took a beating early in the fight but slowly turned things around with distance, counter shots and a point deduction against Puerto Rico’s Jonathan Oquendo (30-6, 19 KOs) late in the fight. But after 10 grueling rounds Roach was given the unanimous decision 96-93 twice and 97-92 and keeps the NABO featherweight title.
From the first round on Roach’s nose was bloodied by an Oquendo blow and was then hurt by body shots. Somehow he shrugged it off and began turning things around with smart fighting on the outside. Oquendo was deducted a point in the eighth round by referee Russell Mora for repeated head butts.
Roach earned the win the hard way.
“He is as tough as they come,” said Roach. “I’ve been hit in the face a lot of times. He hit me with a clean body shot.”
New Jersey’s Anthony Young (21-2, 8 KOs) started fast and finished former world champion Sadam Ali (27-3, 14 KOs) to win a vacant regional welterweight title. Young pummeled former super welterweight world titlist Ali with a barrage of blows in the third round. More than 20 unanswered blows including a left hook to the temple forced referee Robert Byrd to end the fight by technical knockout at 2:38 of round three.
“I saw his fight against (Mauricio) Herrera and he couldn’t pull the trigger,” said Young of Ali’s fight against Southern California’s Herrera in New York. “So when they offered the fight I jumped on it.”
England’s John Ryder (28-4, 16 KOs) floored Australia’s Bilal Akkawy (21-1-1, 16 KOs) twice before referee Jay Nady stopped the fight giving the interim WBA super middleweight title to the British fighter. A left cross floored Akkawy in the third round and he beat the count. Then Ryder cornered the Aussie and fired a four-punch combination that sent Akkawy to the floor once again. The fight resumed and Ryder snapped Akkawy’s head back with a left uppercut forcing referee Jay Nady to halt the fight at 2:12 of round three.
“I picked my shots and put him away,” said Ryder who fights out of London. “To fight in Las Vegas was amazing. To put on a performance like that, possibly the best of my career, makes it all the sweeter.”
Russia’s Aram Avagyan (9-0-1) out-hustled Francisco Esparza (9-1-1) of Las Vegas over 10 rounds to win by unanimous decision in a featherweight fight. Both fighters engaged mostly on the inside with neither fighter hurting the other much. Avagyan won by scores 97-92, 96-93 twice to keep the title.
“I executed the game plan,” said Avagyan.
Photo credit: Al Applerose
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Mercito Gesta Victorious Over Jojo Diaz at the Long Beach Pyramid

LONG BEACH, CA.-Those in the know knew Mercito Gesta and Jojo Diaz would be a fight to watch and they delivered.
Gesta emerged the winner in a super lightweight clash between southpaws that saw the judges favor his busier style over Diaz’s body attack and bigger shots and win by split decision on Saturday.
Despite losing the main event because the star was overweight, Gesta (34-3-3, 17 KOs) used an outside method of tactic to edge past former world champion Diaz (32-4-1, 15 KOs) in front of more than 5,000 fans at the Pyramid.
The speedy Gesta opened up the fight with combination punching up and down against the peek-a-boo style of Diaz. For the first two rounds the San Diego fighter overwhelmed Diaz though none of the blows were impactful.
In the third round Diaz finally began unloading his own combinations and displaying the fast hands that helped him win world titles in two divisions. Gesta seemed stunned by the blows, but his chin held up. The counter right hook was Diaz’s best weapon and snapped Gesta’s head back several times.
Gesta regained control in the fifth round after absorbing big blows from Diaz. He seemed to get angry that he was hurt and opened up with even more blows to send Diaz backpedaling.
Diaz targeted his attack to Gesta’s body and that seemed to slow down Gesta. But only for a round.
From the seventh until the 10th each fighter tried to impose their style with Gesta opening up with fast flurries and Diaz using right hooks to connect with solid shots. They continued their method of attack until the final bell. All that mattered was what the judges preferred.
After 10 rounds one judge saw Diaz the winner 97-93 but two others saw Gesta the winner 99-91, 98-92. It was a close and interesting fight.
“I was expecting nothing. I was the victor in this fight and we gave a good fight,” said Gesta. “It’s not an easy fight and Jojo gave his best.”
Diaz was surprised by the outcome but accepted the verdict.
Everything was going good. I thought I was landing good body shots,” said Diaz. “I was pretty comfortable.”
Other Bouts
Mexico’s Oscar Duarte (25-1-1, 20 KOs) knocked out Chicago’s Alex Martin (18-5, 6 KOs) with a counter right hand after dropping him earlier in the fourth round. The super lightweight fight was stopped at 1:14 of the round.
A battle between undefeated super welterweights saw Florida’s Eric Tudor (8-0, 6 KOs) emerge the winner by unanimous decision after eight rounds versus Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain.
The taller Tudor showed polished skill and was not bothered by a large cut on his forehead caused by an accidental clash of heads. He used his jab and lead rights to defuse the attacks of the quick-fisted southpaw Cato-Cain. The judges scored the fight 80-72 and 78-74 twice for Tudor.
San Diego’s Jorge Chavez (5-0, 4 KOs) needed less than one round to figure out Nicaragua’s Bryan Perez (12-17-1, 11 KOs) and send him into dreamland with a three-punch combination. No need to count as referee Ray Corona waved the fight over. Perez shot a vicious right followed by another right and then a see-you-later left hook at 3.00 of the first round of the super featherweight match.
Photo credit: Al Applerose
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Jojo Diaz’s Slump Continues; Mercito Gesta Prevails on a Split Decision

At age 30, Jojo Diaz’s career is on the skids. The 2012 U.S. Olympian, a former world title holder at 126 and 130 pounds and an interim title holder at 135, Diaz suffered his third straight loss tonight, upset by Mercito Gesta who won a split decision at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA.. The scoring was strange with Gesta winning nine of the 10 rounds on one of the cards and only three rounds on another. The tie-breaker, as it were, was a 98-92 tally for Gesta and even that didn’t capture the flavor of what was a closely-contested fight.
Originally listed as a 12-rounder, the match was reduced to 10 and that, it turned out, did Diaz no favors. However, it’s hard to feel sorry for the former Olympian as he came in overweight once again, having lost his 130-pound title on the scales in February of 2021.
Diaz also has issues outside the ropes. Best elucidated by prominent boxing writer Jake Donovan, they include a cluster of legal problems stemming from an arrest for drunk driving on Feb. 27 in the LA suburb of Claremont.
With the defeat, Diaz’s ledger declined to 32-4-1. His prior losses came at the hands of Gary Russell Jr, Devin Haney, and William Zepeda, boxers who are collectively 83-2. Mercito Gesta, a 35-year-old San Diego-based Filipino, improved to 34-3-3.
Co-Feature
Chihuahua, Mexico super lightweight Oscar Duarte has now won nine straight inside the distance after stopping 33-year-old Chicago southpaw Alex Martin in the eighth frame. Duarte, the busier fighter, had Martin on the deck twice in round eight before the fight was waived off.
Duarte improved to 25-1-1 (20). Martin, who reportedly won six national titles as an amateur and was once looked upon as a promising prospect, declined to 18-5.
Other Bouts of Note
New Golden Boy signee Eric Tudor, a 21-year-old super welterweight from Fort Lauderdale, overcame a bad laceration over his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads in round four, to stay unbeaten, advancing to 8-0 (6) with a hard-fought unanimous 8-round decision over Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain. The judges had it 80-72 and 78-74 twice. It was the first pro loss for Cato-Cain (7-1-1) who had his first five fights in Tijuana.
In the DAZN opener, lanky Hawaian lightweight Dalis Kaleiopu went the distance for the first time in his young career, improving to 4-0 (3) with a unanimous decision over 36-year-old Colombian trial horse Jonathan Perez (40-35). The scores were 60-52 across the board. There were no knockdowns, but Perez, who gave up almost six inches in height, had a point deducted for a rabbit punch and another point for deducted for holding.
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‘Big Baby’ Wins the Battle of Behemoths; TKOs ‘Big Daddy’ in 6

Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne weighed in at a career-high 277 pounds for today’s battle in Dubai with Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, but he was the lighter man by 56 pounds. It figured that one or both would gas out if the bout lasted more than a few stanzas.
It was a war of attrition with both men looking exhausted at times, and when the end came it was Miller, at age 34 the younger man by nine years, who had his hand raised.
Browne was the busier man, but Miller, whose physique invites comparison with a rhinoceros, hardly blinked as he was tattooed with an assortment of punches. He hurt ‘Bid Daddy’ in round four, but the Aussie held his own in the next frame, perhaps even forging ahead on the cards, but only postponing the inevitable.
In round six, a succession of right hands knocked Browne on the seat of his pants. He beat the count, but another barrage from Miller impelled the referee to intervene. The official time was 2:33. It was the 21st straight win for Miller (26-0-1, 22 KOs). Browne declined to 31-4 and, for his own sake, ought not fight again. All four of his losses have come inside the distance, some brutally.
The consensus of those that caught the livestream was that Floyd Mayweather Jr’s commentary was an annoying distraction that marred what was otherwise an entertaining show.
As for what’s next for “Big Baby” Miller, that’s hard to decipher as he has burned his bridges with the sport’s most powerful promoters. One possibility is Mahmoud Charr who, like Miller, has a big gap in his boxing timeline. Now 38 years old, Charr – who has a tenuous claim on a WBA world title (don’t we all?) — has reportedly taken up residence in Dubai.
Other Bouts of Note
In a 10-round cruiserweight affair, Suslan Asbarov, a 30-year-old Russian, advanced to 4-0 (1) with a hard-fought majority decision over Brandon Glanton. The judges had it 98-92, 97-93, and a more reasonable 95-95.
Asbarov was 12-9 in documented amateur fights and 1-0 in a sanctioned bare-knuckle fight, all in Moscow, entering this match. He bears watching, however, as Glanton (18-2) would be a tough out for almost anyone in his weight class. In his previous fight, at Plant City, Florida, Glanton lost a controversial decision to David Light, an undefeated Australian who challenges WBO world title-holder Lawrence Okolie at Manchester, England next week.
A 10-round super featherweight match between former world title challengers Jono Carroll and Miguel Marriaga preceded the semi-windup. Carroll, a 30-year-old Dublin southpaw, overcame a cut over his left eye suffered in the second round to win a wide unanimous decision in a fairly entertaining fight.
It was the sixth straight win for Carroll (24-2-1, 7 KOs) who elevated his game after serving as a sparring partner for Devin Haney. Marriaga, a 36-year-old Colombian, lost for the fourth time in his last five outings, declining to 30-7.
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