Canelo Checkmates Jacobs in Another `Chess Match’ (Translation: Rather Boring)

Published

6 years ago

May 5, 2019

Gennady Golovkin was in the house, of course. So was Demetrius Andrade, as well as a raft of other boxing celebrities and famous non-fighters in the sellout crowd of 20,203 in Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. The biggest of big-time boxing always packs the sport’s most prestigious venues, and Saturday night’s middleweight unification matchup of Canelo Alvarez and Daniel “Miracle Man” Jacobs was hyped, with ample justification, as the biggest bout of 2019 to date. Who knows? Maybe the fight – Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs) retained his WBC and WBA middleweight titles, while annexing the IBF version held by Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs) on a unanimous decision — will still merit that designation at year’s end, particularly if heavyweight kingpins Anthony Joshua and Deontay Wilder continue to glare and preen at one another from afar, as is likely to be the case with welterweight superstars Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr.

But for the beautiful people who paid premium prices to be there live and in person, as well as the many DAZN subscribers who no doubt wanted to believe that the action in the ring would match their inflated expectations, what was actually delivered, while technically proficient and entertaining enough when framed by that perspective, was somehow emotionally uninvolving. Perhaps that even was the case for obsessed Mexican and Mexican-American fans who might pay good money to watch their idol, Alvarez, chew bubble gum.

Boxing is indeed the sweet science, but there is a reason relatively limited but relentless and risk-taking action fighters like the late Arturo Gatti and Matthew Saad Muhammad generated electricity as if they were human versions of Hoover Dam. Ask any of the paying customers filing out of the T-Mobile Arena if they’d rather have seen an updated version of Hagler vs. Hearns or another pugilistic chess match and the overwhelming sentiment would be for what Golovkin likes to refer to as a “big drama show,” the kind frequently promised but only occasionally produced.

For a fight, particularly at an elite level, to be described as a “chess match” is code for it being, well, a tad boring. The last time chess commanded truly global attention among non-partisans was in 1972, when quirky American genius Bobby Fischer ended 24 years of Soviet domination of the world championship by defeating Russia’s Boris Spassky, 12½-8½ in a marathon contest in Reykjavik, Iceland, that stretched from July 11 through Aug. 31. Even then, however, the intensity of interest was not so much rooted in the now-deceased Fischer’s brilliant and unconventional play as in the U.S. vs. USSR aspects of a confrontation steeped with Cold War connotations.

Whenever a boxing match is described in chess terms, it’s usually time to rummage through the attics of our minds for the tortoise shell glasses, pocket protectors and bow ties that are the universal symbols of Big Bang Theory geekdom. But there was blow-by-blow announcer Brian Kenny, after the 12^th round had concluded and waiting for the official decision to be announced, advising viewers that it was “a chess match early on,” and color commentator Sergio Mora adding that “when you have that much power and that much skill, it’s going to be a chess match.”

Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs), who returns to action on June 8 in a stay-busy fight against Canadian mystery man Steve Rolls (19-0, 10 KOs) at Madison Square Garden, professed to be unimpressed by what he’d seen of Canelo, against whom he is 0-1-1, and Jacobs, whom he defeated on a close unanimous decision on March 18, 2017.

“Frankly, I was expecting much more,” GGG said, dismissively. “It was just like a sparring match. It was a little boring because they’re both high-level boxers. They should give more to the audience. I didn’t see any emotion. I didn’t see anything special.”

To be fair, there were some decent exchanges that never were sustained long enough to appreciably elevate spectators’ pulse rates. But it was Alvarez who moved his pawns, knights and bishops around with greater efficiency, well enough to get the nod by a 116-112 margin on judge Glenn Feldman’s scorecard, which seemed about right. Cohorts Steve Weisfeld and Dave Moretti had it closer, maybe too much so, at 115-113, suggesting a nail-biter that wasn’t borne out by the punch statistics, which showed Canelo connecting on 188 of 466, a solid 40.3 percent, and 120 of 204 power shots, an even more impressive 45.5 percent. Jacobs – who didn’t do himself any favors by too often switching back and forth between orthodox to southpaw stances, proving only that he doesn’t do it as well as, say, Terence Crawford – had corresponding figures of 131 of 649 (20.2 percent) and 89 of 309 (24.8 percent).

Did Alvarez, who is third on most knowledgeable observers’ pound-for-pound lists behind Vasiliy Lomachenko and Crawford, do enough to make the jump up to No. 1? Probably not off of this fight, but the red-haired Mexican national hero is only 28 and has a compendium of weapons, most notably superior counterpunching ability and excellent body work, and there are times when, when he gets an opponent in trouble, that he has shown good finishing instincts. And as the unified middleweight titlist who also holds a super middleweight belt (the secondary version from the WBA), his career options are numerous and attractive.

Will Canelo try to fully consolidate the 160-pound division by fighting the winner of the June 28 bout between WBO champ Andrade (27-0, 17 KOs) and Poland’s Maciej Sulecki (28-1, 11 KOs) in Andrade’s hometown of Providence, R.I.? Mix it up for a third time with Golovkin, which probably is the highest-interest fight out there available to him, particularly since there are more than a few GGG supporters who believe he deserved to win one or both of the two previous meetings? Or move back up to super middle, where he could begin another unification process against WBC champion Anthony Dirrell (33-1-1, 24 KOs), IBF titlist Caleb Plant (18-0, 10 KOs), WBO ruler Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez (40-0, 26 KOs) or WBA “super” super middleweight champ Callum Smith (25-0, 18 KOs)?

“I just want the biggest challenge,” Alvarez said after he’d whittled down the larger Jacobs. “That’s all I want.”

That seemingly suggested another pairing with Golovkin, which is not of paramount concern at this moment, but something that Canelo was not prepared to discount altogether. “For me, we’re done,” he said of a rivalry that has not been settled to everyone’s satisfaction. “But if the people want another fight, we’ll do it again and I’ll beat him again.

“That’s why I’m here. That what I was born for – to fight, to defend what’s mine. I’ll fight anyone.”

For Jacobs, the future is a bit murkier. Although he officially weighed in at the middleweight limit of 160 pounds, the cancer survivor from Brooklyn came in at 173.6 pounds at 8 o’clock the morning of the fight, costing him $250,000 per pound for violating a contractual clause that stipulated he could not rehydrate to more than 170 at that time. It is entirely reasonable to believe that Jacobs purposefully decided to take the nearly million-buck hit to his purse to come at the higher weight, presumably improving his chances of pulling off the upset.

“I feel like I gave enough tonight to get the victory,” Jacobs said, the standard response of nearly every fighter who loses on points and isn’t beaten to a bloody pulp. His promoter with Matchroom Sport USA, Eddie Hearn, raised the possibility that Jacobs might be better served going up to super middle. But at least Hearn didn’t go far enough to say that the decision was a miscarriage of justice.

“I thought it was a good fight, a very technical fight, cagey at times,” Hearn said. “I thought Danny started a little bit too slow. I had him winning five rounds. But to beat Canelo, you got to do more. At times (Jacobs) looked flat. Maybe he didn’t have as much spring in his step he might have at a higher weight.”

Chess matches can be like that.

Bernard Fernandez is the retired boxing writer for the Philadelphia Daily News. He is a five-term former president of the Boxing Writers Association of America, an inductee into the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Atlantic City Boxing Halls of Fame and the recipient of the Nat Fleischer Award for Excellence in Boxing Journalism and the Barney Nagler Award for Long and Meritorious Service to Boxing.

Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel

To comment on this story in The Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Bernard Fernandez

Up Next

John Ryder and Vergil Ortiz Sparkle on an Otherwise Pedestrian Card

Don't Miss

Canelo Wins Strategic Battle Over Daniel Jacobs in Las Vegas

Gabriela Fundora KOs Marilyn Badillo and Perez Upsets Conwell in Oceanside

Published

1 hour ago

April 20, 2025

David A. Avila

Gabriela-Fundora-KOs-Marilyn-Badillo-and-Perez-Upsets-Conwell-in-Oceanside

It was just a numbers game for Gabriela Fundora and despite Mexico’s Marilyn Badillo’selusive tactics it took the champion one punch to end the fight and retain her undisputed flyweight world title by knockout on Saturday.

Will it be her last flyweight defense?

Though Fundora (16-0, 8 KOs) fired dozens of misses, a single punch found Badillo (19-1-1, 3 KOs) and ended her undefeated career and first attempt at a world title at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California.

Fundora, however, proves unbeatable at flyweight.

The champion entered the arena as the headliner for the Golden Boy Promotion show and stepped through the ropes with every physical advantage possible, including power.

Mexico’s Badillo was a midget compared to Fundora but proved to be as elusive as a butterfly in a menagerie for the first six rounds. As the six-inch taller Fundora connected on one punch for every dozen thrown, that single punch was a deadly reminder.

Badillo tried ducking low and slipping to the left while countering with slashing uppercuts, she found little success. She did find the body a solid target but the blows proved to be useless. And when Badillo clinched, that proved more erroneous as Fundora belted her rapidly during the tie-ups.

“She was kind of doing her ducking thing,” said Fundora describing Badillo’s defensive tactics. “I just put the pressure on. It was just like a train. We didn’t give her that break.”

The Mexican fighter tried valiantly with various maneuvers. None proved even slightly successful. Fundora remained poised and under control as she stalked the challenger.

In the seventh round Badillo seemed to take a stand and try to slug it out with Fundora. She quickly was lit up by rapid left crosses and down she went at 1:44 of the seventh round. The Mexican fighter’s corner wisely waved off the fight and referee Rudy Barragan stopped the fight and held the dazed Badillo upright.

Once again Fundora remained champion by knockout. The only question now is will she move up to super flyweight or bantamweight to challenge the bigger girls.

Perez Beats Conwell.

Mexico’s Jorge “Chino” Perez (33-4, 26 KOs) upset Charles Conwell (21-1, 15 KOs) to win by split decision after 12 rounds in their super welterweight showdown.

It was a match that paired two hard-hitting fighters whose ledgers brimmed with knockouts, but neither was able to score a knockdown against each other.

Neither fighter moved backward. It was full steam ahead with Conwell proving successful to the body and head with left hooks and Perez connecting with rights to the head and body. It was difficult to differentiate the winner.

Though Conwell seemed to be the superior defensive fighter and more accurate, two judges preferred Perez’s busier style. They gave the fight to Perez by 115-113 scores with the dissenter favoring Conwell by the same margin.

It was Conwell’s first pro loss. Maybe it will open doors for more opportunities.

Other Bouts

Tristan Kalkreuth (15-1) managed to pass a serious heat check by unanimous decision against former contender Felix Valera (24-8) after a 10-round back-and-forth heavyweight fight.

It was very close.

Kalkreuth is one of those fighters that possess all the physical tools including youth and size but never seems to be able to show it. Once again he edged past another foe but at least this time he faced an experienced fighter in Valera.

Valera had his moments especially in the middle of the 10-round fight but slowed down during the last three rounds.

One major asset for Kalkreuth was his chin. He got caught but still motored past the clever Valera. After 10 rounds two judges saw it 99-91 and one other judge 97-93 all for Kalkreuth.

Highly-rated prospect Ruslan Abdullaev (2-0) blasted past dangerous Jino Rodrigo (13- 5-2) in an eight round super lightweight fight. He nearly stopped the very tough Rodrigo in the last two rounds and won by unanimous decision.

Abdullaev is trained by Joel and Antonio Diaz in Indio.

Bakersfield prospect Joel Iriarte (7-0, 7 KOs) needed only 1:44 to knock out Puerto Rico’s Marcos Jimenez (25-12) in a welterweight bout.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

‘Krusher’ Kovalev Exits on a Winning Note: TKOs Artur Mann in his ‘Farewell Fight’

Published

21 hours ago

April 19, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Krusher-Kovalev-Exits-on-a-Winning-Note-TKOs-Artur-Mann-in-his-Farewell-Fight

At his peak, former three-time world light heavyweight champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev ranked high on everyone’s pound-for-pound list. Now 42 years old – he turned 42 earlier this month – Kovalev has been largely inactive in recent years, but last night he returned to the ring in his hometown of Chelyabinsk, Russia, and rose to the occasion in what was billed as his farewell fight, stopping Artur Mann in the seventh frame.

Kovalev hit his peak during his first run as a world title-holder. He was 30-0-1 (26 KOs) entering first match with Andre Ward, a mark that included a 9-0 mark in world title fights. The only blemish on his record was a draw that could have been ruled a no-contest (journeyman Grover Young was unfit to continue after Kovalev knocked down in the second round what with was deemed an illegal rabbit punch). Among those nine wins were two stoppages of dangerous Haitian-Canadian campaigner Jean Pascal and a 12-round shutout over Bernard Hopkins.

Kovalev’s stature was not diminished by his loss to the undefeated Ward. All three judges had it 114-113, but the general feeling among the ringside press was that Sergey nicked it.

The rematch was also somewhat controversial. Referee Tony Weeks, who halted the match in the eighth stanza with Kovalev sitting on the lower strand of ropes, was accused of letting Ward get away with a series of low blows, including the first punch of a three-punch series of body shots that culminated in the stoppage. Sergey was wobbled by a punch to the head earlier in the round and was showing signs of fatigue, but he was still in the fight. Respected judge Steve Weisfeld had him up by three points through the completed rounds.

Sergey Kovalev was never the same after his second loss to Andre Ward, albeit he recaptured a piece of the 175-pound title twice, demolishing Vyacheslav Shabranskyy for the vacant WBO belt after Ward announced his retirement and then avenging a loss to Eleider Alvarez (TKO by 7) with a comprehensive win on points in their rematch.

Kovalev’s days as a title-holder ended on Nov. 2, 2019 when Canelo Alvarez, moving up two weight classes to pursue a title in a fourth weight division, stopped him in the 11^th round, terminating what had been a relatively even fight with a hellacious left-right combination that left Krusher so discombobulated that a count was superfluous.

That fight went head-to-head with a UFC fight in New York City. DAZN, to their everlasting discredit, opted to delay the start of Canelo-Kovalev until the main event of the UFC fight was finished. The delay lasted more than an hour and Kovalev would say that he lost his psychological edge during the wait.

Kovalev had two fights in the cruiserweight class between his setback to Canelo and last night’s presumptive swan song. He outpointed Tervel Pulev in Los Angeles and lost a 10-round decision to unheralded Robin Sirwan Safar in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Artur Mann, a former world title challenger – he was stopped in three rounds by Mairis Briedis in 2021 when Briedis was recognized as the top cruiserweight in the world – was unexceptional, but the 34-year-old German, born in Kazakhstan, wasn’t chopped liver either, and Kovalev’s stoppage of him will redound well to the Russian when he becomes eligible for the Boxing Hall of Fame.

Krusher almost ended the fight in the second round. He knocked Mann down hard with a short left hand and seemingly scored another knockdown before the round was over (but it was ruled a slip). Mann barely survived the round.

In the next round, a punch left Mann with a bad cut on his right eyelid, but the German came to fight and rounds three, four and five were competitive.

Kovalev had a good sixth round although there were indications that he was tiring. But in the seventh he got a second wind and unleashed a right-left combination that rolled back the clock to the days when he was one of the sport’s most feared punchers. Mann went down hard and as he staggered to his feet, his corner signaled that the fight should be stopped and the referee complied. The official time was 0:49 of round seven. It was the 30^th KO for Kovalev who advanced his record to 36-5-1.

Addendum: History informs us that Farewell Fights have a habit of becoming redundant, by which we mean that boxers often get the itch to fight again after calling it quits. Have we seen the last of Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev? We woudn’t bet on it.

The complete Kovalev-Mann fight card was live-streamed on the Boxing News youtube channel.

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!

Avila Perspective, Chap. 322: Super Welterweight Week in SoCal

Published

2 days ago

April 18, 2025

David A. Avila

Avila-Perspective-Chap-322-Super-Welterweight-Week-in-SoCal

Two below-the-radar super welterweight stars show off their skills this weekend from different parts of Southern California.

One in particular, Charles Conwell, co-headlines a show in Oceanside against a hard-hitting Mexican while another super welter star Sadriddin Akhmedov faces another Mexican hitter in Commerce.

Take your pick.

The super welterweight division is loaded with talent at the moment. If Terence Crawford remained in the division he would be at the top of the class, but he is moving up several weight divisions.

Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) faces Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs) a tall knockout puncher from Los Mochis at the Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, Calif. on Saturday April 19. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card that also features undisputed flyweight champion Gabriela Fundora. We’ll get to her later.

Conwell might be the best super welterweight out there aside from the big dogs like Vergil Ortiz, Serhii Bohachuk and Sebastian Fundora.

If you are not familiar with Conwell he comes from Cleveland, Ohio and is one of those fighters that other fighters know about. He is good.

He has the James “Lights Out” Toney kind of in-your-face-style where he anchors down and slowly deciphers the opponent’s tools and then takes them away piece by piece. Usually it’s systematic destruction. The kind you see when a skyscraper goes down floor by floor until it’s smoking rubble.

During the Covid days Conwell fought two highly touted undefeated super welters in Wendy Toussaint and Madiyar Ashkeyev. He stopped them both and suddenly was the boogie man of the super welterweight division.

Conwell will be facing Mexico’s taller Garcia who likes to trade blows as most Mexican fighters prefer, especially those from Sinaloa. These guys will be firing H bombs early.

Fundora

Co-headlining the Golden Boy card is Gabriela Fundora (15-0, 7 KOs) the undisputed flyweight champion of the world. She has all the belts and Mexico’s Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1, 3 KOs) wants them.

Gabriela Fundora is the sister of Sebastian Fundora who holds the men’s WBC and WBO super welterweight world titles. Both are tall southpaws with power in each hand to protect the belts they accumulated.

Six months ago, Fundora met Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz in Las Vegas to determine the undisputed flyweight champion. The much shorter Alaniz tried valiantly to scrap with Fundora and ran into a couple of rocket left hands.

Mexico’s Badillo is an undefeated flyweight from Mexico City who has battled against fellow Mexicans for years. She has fought one world champion in Asley Gonzalez the current super flyweight world titlist. They met years ago with Badillo coming out on top.

Does Badillo have the skill to deal with the taller and hard-hitting Fundora?

When a fighter has a six-inch height advantage like Fundora, it is almost impossible to out-maneuver especially in two-minute rounds. Ask Alaniz who was nearly decapitated when she tried.

This will be Badillo’s first pro fight outside of Mexico.

Commerce Casino

Kazakhstan’s Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0, 13 KOs) is another dangerous punching super welterweight headlining a 360 Promotions card against Mexico’s Elias Espadas (23-6, 16 KOs) on Saturday at the Commerce Casino.

UFC Fight Pass will stream the 360 Promotions card of about eight bouts.

Akhmedov is another Kazakh puncher similar to the great Gennady “GGG” Golovkin who terrorized the middleweight division for a decade. He doesn’t have the same polish or dexterity but doesn’t lack pure punching power.

It’s another test for the super welterweight who is looking to move up the ladder in the very crowded 154-pound weight division. 360 Promotions already has a top contender in Ukraine’s Serhii Bohachuk who nearly defeated Vergil Ortiz a year ago.

Could Bohachuk and Akhmedov fight each other if nothing else materializes?

That’s a question for another day.

Fights to Watch

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Charles Conwell (21-0, 16 KOs) vs. Jorge Garcia Perez (32-4, 26 KOs); Gabriela Fundora (15-0) vs Marilyn Badillo (19-0-1).

Sat. UFC Fight Pass 6 p.m. Sadriddin Akhmedov (15-0) vs Elias Espadas (23-6).

To comment on this story in the Fight Forum CLICK HERE

Post Views: 0

Share The Sweet Science experience!