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Avila Perspective, Chap. 203: Canelo-GGG 3 and More

Avila Perspective, Chap. 203: Canelo-GGG 3 and More
Prizefighting in the middleweight division is best described as ferocious throughout boxing history from Bob Fitzsimmons to Harry Greb to Sugar Ray Robinson to James Toney.
Middleweights long have been boxing’s fiercest warriors and capable of ending a fight with a single blow, even against heavyweights.
On Saturday we see yet another example with Mexico’s redhead warrior Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs) defending the super middleweight world championship against Kazakhstan’s Gennady “GGG” Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. DAZN pay-per-view will stream the Matchroom Boxing card.
Over the past 10 years the two middleweights have bludgeoned foes in their own differing methods until they finally met each other in the prize ring back in September 2017. They did it again a year later, but it’s taken four years to resume the battle and this time at super middleweight.
They seem to disdain each other.
“He is not a nice guy,” said Alvarez when asked his opinion on Golovkin. “He fools you.”
Over the years Golovkin has taken indirect jabs at Canelo with accusations of PED use and lack of popularity among Mexicans. It’s a primary reason that it took four years to get them back in the ring.
Mexico’s Alvarez has always taken the road of accepting stout challenges that others refused. Despite being only 5’8” in height, the redhead eagerly met many of the best fighters of the last 20 years. He began fighting professionally at age 15 and in his third pro bout defeated future lightweight world champion Miguel “Titere” Vazquez by split decision.
Triple G took the amateur route and won middleweight silver in the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece the same year America’s Andre Ward won gold. Then he signed with a European promoter and was shoved to the back of the room in favor of German fighters. K-2 Promotions saw him perform, signed him, and he was brought to America.
Golovkin has always fought at middleweight even in the amateurs. As a pro he bludgeoned his way to victory under the guidance of Abel Sanchez and his Mexican style boxing.
Mexican-born Canelo Alvarez thrived under his pressure style fighting until he met Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2013. That forced the Guadalajara team to evolve to a boxer-puncher style that led him to world titles in the super welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and super middleweight divisions. No other Mexican fighter can claim to be a four-division world champion. Not even the great Julio Cesar Chavez.
That irks fans about Canelo.
Chavez is adored and revered by Mexicans, many who never actually saw him fight. Canelo is strangely seen as someone who fought easy fights despite clashing with Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, Daniel Jacobs and Sergey Kovalev.
When Golovkin mentioned Canelo’s lack of popularity among his own people it seemed to spark intense bitterness in the Mexican redhead.
Back in 2017, their first fight ended in a draw with Golovkin on attack mode and Canelo in a hit and move style. Their second fight saw Canelo stand toe-to-toe with Golovkin and emerge the winner. That was four years ago when Alvarez was 28 and Golovkin 36. Age is now a factor.
Golovkin no longer trains under Abel Sanchez’s guidance and Alvarez is coming off a loss. But still, these are the two most ferocious middleweights of their era and a world awaits the outcome once again. This time at super middleweight. That’s Canelo’s territory and he owns all the belts at the moment.
“I feel it’s the biggest fight for boxing right now. I feel strong, I feel ready,” said Golovkin. “We’re both professional athletes. In the ring we shall show who is better.”
Its one thing Alvarez agrees on.
“I’m happy to be back in the ring. I lost my last fight but we’re men and we’re back,” said Alvarez talking about his lost to Dmitry Bivol last May. “I have a strong opponent in front, an intelligent foe and nothing in life is easy. It’s going to be difficult but it’s what I want.”
Bam is Back
One meteoric star featured on a Matchroom card yet again is WBC super flyweight titlist Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (16-0) who quickly returns again and this time faces Mexico’s Israel Gonzalez (28-4-1) in a title defense on Saturday in Las Vegas. It’s Rodriguez’s third fight in seven months.
Gotta make that money.
“I want to solidify that I’m Fighter of the Year,” said Rodriguez, 22, at the Thursday press conference. “This fight is going to turn me from a star to a super star. They’re going to remember this fight forever.”
Rodriguez wowed fans when he stopped Thailand’s feared Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in the eighth round of their title clash last June. It’s only been three months and Bam is back in the ring. He’s a hungry fighter.
Bam and his brother Joshua Franco hold two of the four major super flyweight world titles. Franco has the WBA version.
Jake Paul in LA
Jake Paul officially announced in Los Angeles on Tuesday that he will fight MMA legend Anderson “Spyder” Silva on Oct. 29, in Phoenix, Arizona. The cruiserweight boxing contest will take place at Gila Arena and be shown on Showtime pay-per-view.
It could be the biggest “social influencer fight” so far.
“It’s my toughest fight,” admits Paul.
One thing Paul has in his favor is his solid chin and big punch ability.
Silva, a former MMA great, also boxed and showed off his pugilistic skills with a solid victory over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. He’s an experienced pro fighter with knockout power and experience in pacing himself in a fight. His one drawback is a weak chin. It’s a solid and interesting match up sure to entice fans to attend the eight-round match or watch in on television.
Another advantage Paul possesses is an innate ability to promote a fight with fiery talk or hype. It’s a rare quality not often found in the boxing world.
“I respect the man, but I’m still going to knock him out,” said Paul.
LA Influencer-driven card disappoints
Last week another influencer fight card took place at the Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles and no one showed up.
What did it prove?
Despite multiple participants possessing millions of social media followers, that alone does not guarantee large attendance or viewers.
Promoters think millions of followers mean lots of business. It doesn’t. Many of these influencers buy their followers and many others have worldwide followers who like their content but do not like boxing.
Another example was prize contender Ryan Garcia who has millions of followers on social media and his promoter counted on those resulting in ticket buys. They did little promoting and ignored the usual methods of newspaper and web site coverage and sadly discovered social media numbers do not translate to ticket buyers. Only 7,000 fans showed up at Crypto.com Arena this past July. They expected something near 18,000.
Fights to Watch
Fri. ESPN+ 4 p.m. Arslanbek Makhmudov (14-0) vs Carlos Takam (39-6-1)
Sat. DAZN ppv 5 p.m. Saul Alvarez (57-2-2) vs Gennady Golovkin (42-1-1); Jesse Rodriguez (16-0) vs Israel Gonzalez (28-4-1); Ali Akhmedov (18-1) vs Gabe Rosado (26-15-1); Ammo Williams (11-0) vs Kieron Conway (18-2-1).
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“Breadman” Edwards: An Unlikely Boxing Coach with a Panoramic View of the Sport

Stephen “Breadman” Edwards’ first fighter won a world title. That may be some sort of record.
It’s true. Edwards had never trained a fighter, amateur or pro, before taking on professional novice Julian “J Rock” Williams. On May 11, 2019, Williams wrested the IBF 154-pound world title from Jarrett Hurd. The bout, a lusty skirmish, was in Fairfax, Virginia, near Hurd’s hometown in Maryland, and the previously undefeated Hurd had the crowd in his corner.
In boxing, Stephen Edwards wears two hats. He has a growing reputation as a boxing coach, a hat he will wear on Saturday, May 31, at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas when the two fighters that he currently trains, super middleweight Caleb Plant and middleweight Kyrone Davis, display their wares on a show that will air on Amazon Prime Video. Plant, who needs no introduction, figures to have little trouble with his foe in a match conceived as an appetizer to a showdown with Jermall Charlo. Davis, coming off his career-best win, an upset of previously undefeated Elijah Garcia, is in tough against fast-rising Cuban prospect Yoenli Hernandez, a former world amateur champion.
Edwards’ other hat is that of a journalist. His byline appears at “Boxing Scene” in a column where he answers questions from readers.
It’s an eclectic bag of questions that Breadman addresses, ranging from his thoughts on an upcoming fight to his thoughts on one of the legendary prizefighters of olden days. Boxing fans, more so than fans of any other sport, enjoy hashing over fantasy fights between great fighters of different eras. Breadman is very good at this, which isn’t to suggest that his opinions are gospel, merely that he always has something provocative to add to the discourse. Like all good historians, he recognizes that the best history is revisionist history.
“Fighters are constantly mislabled,” he says. “Everyone talks about Joe Louis’s right hand. But if you study him you see that his left hook is every bit as good as his right hand and it’s more sneaky in terms of shock value when it lands.”
Stephen “Breadman” Edwards was born and raised in Philadelphia. His father died when he was three. His maternal grandfather, a Korean War veteran, filled the void. The man was a big boxing fan and the two would watch the fights together on the family television.
Edwards’ nickname dates to his early teen years when he was one of the best basketball players in his neighborhood. The derivation is the 1975 movie “Cornbread, Earl and Me,” starring Laurence Fishburne in his big screen debut. Future NBA All-Star Jamaal Wilkes, fresh out of UCLA, plays Cornbread, a standout high school basketball player who is mistakenly murdered by the police.
Coming out of high school, Breadman had to choose between an academic scholarship at Temple or an athletic scholarship at nearby Lincoln University. He chose the former, intending to major in criminal justice, but didn’t stay in college long. What followed were a succession of jobs including a stint as a city bus driver. To stay fit, he took to working out at the James Shuler Memorial Gym where he sparred with some of the regulars, but he never boxed competitively.
Over the years, Philadelphia has harbored some great boxing coaches. Among those of recent vintage, the names George Benton, Bouie Fisher, Nazeem Richardson, and Bozy Ennis come quickly to mind. Breadman names Richardson and West Coast trainer Virgil Hunter as the men that have influenced him the most.
We are all a product of our times, so it’s no surprise that the best decade of boxing, in Breadman’s estimation, was the 1980s. This was the era of the “Four Kings” with Sugar Ray Leonard arguably standing tallest.
Breadman was a big fan of Leonard and of Leonard’s three-time rival Roberto Duran. “I once purchased a DVD that had all of Roberto Duran’s title defenses on it,” says Edwards. “This was a back before the days of YouTube.”
But Edwards’ interest in the sport goes back much deeper than the 1980s. He recently weighed in on the “Pittsburgh Windmill” Harry Greb whose legend has grown in recent years to the point that some have come to place him above Sugar Ray Robinson on the list of the greatest of all time.
“Greb was a great fighter with a terrific resume, of that there is no doubt,” says Breadman, “but there is no video of him and no one alive ever saw him fight, so where does this train of thought come from?”
Edwards notes that in Harry Greb’s heyday, he wasn’t talked about in the papers as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. The boxing writers were partial to Benny Leonard who drew comparisons to the venerated Joe Gans.
Among active fighters, Breadman reserves his highest praise for Terence Crawford. “Body punching is a lost art,” he once wrote. “[Crawford] is a great body puncher who starts his knockouts with body punches, but those punches are so subtle they are not fully appreciated.”
If the opening line holds up, Crawford will enter the ring as the underdog when he opposes Canelo Alvarez in September. Crawford, who will enter the ring a few weeks shy of his 38th birthday, is actually the older fighter, older than Canelo by almost three full years (it doesn’t seem that way since the Mexican redhead has been in the public eye so much longer), and will theoretically be rusty as 13 months will have elapsed since his most recent fight.
Breadman discounts those variables. “Terence is older,” he says, “but has less wear and tear and never looks rusty after a long layoff.” That Crawford will win he has no doubt, an opinion he tweaked after Canelo’s performance against William Scull: “Canelo’s legs are not the same. Bud may even stop him now.”
Edwards has been with Caleb Plant for Plant’s last three fights. Their first collaboration produced a Knockout of the Year candidate. With one ferocious left hook, Plant sent Anthony Dirrell to dreamland. What followed were a 12-round setback to David Benavidez and a ninth-round stoppage of Trevor McCumby.
Breadman keeps a hectic schedule. From Monday through Friday, he’s at the DLX Gym in Las Vegas coaching Caleb Plant and Kyrone Davis. On weekends, he’s back in Philadelphia, checking in on his investment properties and, of greater importance, watching his kids play sports. His 14-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son are standout all-around athletes.
On those long flights, he has plenty of time to turn on his laptop and stream old fights or perhaps work on his next article. That’s assuming he can stay awake.
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Arne’s Almanac: The Good, the Bad, and the (Mostly) Ugly; a Weekend Boxing Recap and More

Arne’s Almanac: The Good, the Bad, and the (Mostly) Ugly; a Weekend Boxing Recap and More
It’s old news now, but on back-to-back nights on the first weekend of May, there were three fights that finished in the top six snoozefests ever as measured by punch activity. That’s according to CompuBox which has been around for 40 years.
In Times Square, the boxing match between Devin Haney and Jose Carlos Ramirez had the fifth-fewest number of punches thrown, but the main event, Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero, was even more of a snoozefest, landing in third place on this ignoble list.
Those standings would be revised the next night – knocked down a peg when Canelo Alvarez and William Scull combined to throw a historically low 445 punches in their match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 152 by the victorious Canelo who at least pressed the action, unlike Scull (pictured) whose effort reminded this reporter of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” – no, not the movie starring Paul Newman, just the title.
CompuBox numbers, it says here, are best understood as approximations, but no amount of rejiggering can alter the fact that these three fights were stinkers. Making matters worse, these were pay-per-views. If one had bundled the two events, rather than buying each separately, one would have been out $90 bucks.
****
Thankfully, the Sunday card on ESPN from Las Vegas was redemptive. It was just what the sport needed at this moment – entertaining fights to expunge some of the bad odor. In the main go, Naoya Inoue showed why he trails only Shohei Ohtani as the most revered athlete in Japan.
Throughout history, the baby-faced assassin has been a boxing promoter’s dream. It’s no coincidence that down through the ages the most common nickname for a fighter – and by an overwhelming margin — is “Kid.”
And that partly explains Naoya Inoue’s charisma. The guy is 32 years old, but here in America he could pass for 17.
Joey Archer
Joey Archer, who passed away last week at age 87 in Rensselaer, New York, was one of the last links to an era of boxing identified with the nationally televised Friday Night Fights at Madison Square Garden.

Joey Archer
Archer made his debut as an MSG headliner on Feb. 4, 1961, and had 12 more fights at the iconic mid-Manhattan sock palace over the next six years. The final two were world title fights with defending middleweight champion Emile Griffith.
Archer etched his name in the history books in November of 1965 in Pittsburgh where he won a comfortable 10-round decision over Sugar Ray Robinson, sending the greatest fighter of all time into retirement. (At age 45, Robinson was then far past his peak.)
Born and raised in the Bronx, Joey Archer was a cutie; a clever counter-puncher recognized for his defense and ultimately for his granite chin. His style was embedded in his DNA and reinforced by his mentors.
Early in his career, Archer was domiciled in Houston where he was handled by veteran trainer Bill Gore who was then working with world lightweight champion Joe Brown. Gore would ride into the Hall of Fame on the coattails of his most famous fighter, “Will-o’-the Wisp” Willie Pep. If Joey Archer had any thoughts of becoming a banger, Bill Gore would have disabused him of that notion.
In all honesty, Archer’s style would have been box office poison if he had been black. It helped immensely that he was a native New Yorker of Irish stock, albeit the Irish angle didn’t have as much pull as it had several decades earlier. But that observation may not be fair to Archer who was bypassed twice for world title fights after upsetting Hurricane Carter and Dick Tiger.
When he finally caught up with Emile Griffith, the former hat maker wasn’t quite the fighter he had been a few years earlier but Griffith, a two-time Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the BWAA and a future first ballot Hall of Famer, was still a hard nut to crack.
Archer went 30 rounds with Griffith, losing two relatively tight decisions and then, although not quite 30 years old, called it quits. He finished 45-4 with 8 KOs and was reportedly never knocked down, yet alone stopped, while answering the bell for 365 rounds. In retirement, he ran two popular taverns with his older brother Jimmy Archer, a former boxer who was Joey’s trainer and manager late in Joey’s career.
May he rest in peace.
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Bombs Away in Las Vegas where Inoue and Espinoza Scored Smashing Triumphs

Japan’s Naoya “Monster” Inoue banged it out with Mexico’s Ramon Cardenas, survived an early knockdown and pounded out a stoppage win to retain the undisputed super bantamweight world championship on Sunday.
Japan and Mexico delivered for boxing fans again after American stars failed in back-to-back days.
“By watching tonight’s fight, everyone is well aware that I like to brawl,” Inoue said.
Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs), and Cardenas (26-2, 14 KOs) and his wicked left hook, showed the world and 8,474 fans at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas that prizefighting is about punching, not running.
After massive exposure for three days of fights that began in New York City, then moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and then to Nevada, it was the casino capital of the world that delivered what most boxing fans appreciate- pure unadulterated action fights.
Monster Inoue immediately went to work as soon as the opening bell rang with a consistent attack on Cardenas, who very few people knew anything about.
One thing promised by Cardenas’ trainer Joel Diaz was that his fighter “can crack.”
Cardenas proved his trainer’s words truthful when he caught Inoue after a short violent exchange with a short left hook and down went the Japanese champion on his back. The crowd was shocked to its toes.
“I was very surprised,” said Inoue about getting dropped. ““In the first round, I felt I had good distance. It got loose in the second round. From then on, I made sure to not take that punch again.”
Inoue had no trouble getting up, but he did have trouble avoiding some of Cardenas massive blows delivered with evil intentions. Though Inoue did not go down again, a look of total astonishment blanketed his face.
A real fight was happening.
Cardenas, who resembles actor Andy Garcia, was never overly aggressive but kept that left hook of his cocked and ready to launch whenever he saw the moment. There were many moments against the hyper-aggressive Inoue.
Both fighters pack power and both looked to find the right moment. But after Inoue was knocked down by the left hook counter, he discovered a way to eliminate that weapon from Cardenas. Still, the Texas-based fighter had a strong right too.
In the sixth round Inoue opened up with one of his lightning combinations responsible for 10 consecutive knockout wins. Cardenas backed against the ropes and Inoue blasted away with blow after blow. Then suddenly, Cardenas turned Inoue around and had him on the ropes as the Mexican fighter unloaded nasty combinations to the body and head. Fans roared their approval.
“I dreamed about fighting in front of thousands of people in Las Vegas,” said Cardenas. “So, I came to give everything.”
Inoue looked a little surprised and had a slight Mona Lisa grin across his face. In the seventh round, the Japanese four-division world champion seemed ready to attack again full force and launched into the round guns blazing. Cardenas tried to catch Inoue again with counter left hooks but Inoue’s combos rained like deadly hail. Four consecutive rights by Inoue blasted Cardenas almost through the ropes. The referee Tom Taylor ruled it a knockdown. Cardenas beat the count and survived the round.
In the eighth round Inoue looked eager to attack and at the bell launched across the ring and unloaded more blows on Cardenas. A barrage of 14 unanswered blows forced the referee to stop the fight at 45 seconds of round eight for a technical knockout win.
“I knew he was tough,” said Inoue. “Boxing is not that easy.”
Espinoza Wins
WBO featherweight titlist Rafael Espinosa (27-0, 23 KOs) uppercut his way to a knockout win over Edward Vazquez (17-3, 4 KOs) in the seventh round.
“I wanted to fight a game fighter to show what I am capable,” said Espinoza.
Espinosa used the leverage of his six-foot, one-inch height to slice uppercuts under the guard of Vazquez. And when the tall Mexican from Guadalajara targeted the body, it was then that the Texas fighter began to wilt. But he never surrendered.
Though he connected against Espinoza in every round, he was not able to slow down the taller fighter and that allowed the Mexican fighter to unleash a 10-punch barrage including four consecutive uppercuts. The referee stopped the fight at 1:47 of the seventh round.
It was Espinoza’s third title defense.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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