Results and Recaps from Mexico City where Picasso Upended Hovhannisyan

No riot this time.

Floyd Mayweather brought his extravaganza to Mexico City and filled up the stands with two exhibitions and an abundance of Mexican-style fights on Saturday.

Big banging Mexican fighter Alan Picasso (29-0-1, 16 KOs) slugged it out with Azat “Crazy A” Hovhannisyan (21-5, 17 KOs) and though he won by unanimous decision at Arena Ciudad de Mexico in front of more than 20,000 fans, he may not be ready for the A-team just yet.

Picasso (pictured on the left) needed a few rounds to acclimate to the hard-charging Hovhannisyan who had last fought in February of last year in a breathtaking war with Luis Nery. Mexico City fans expected violence and got it.

Maybe a little too much.

From the opening round Hovhannisyan worked the body of Picasso and his high-waisted trunks. A few blows landed on the beltline and the Mexico City fighter immediately complained.

That’s good news for future Picasso foes.

Though the referee allowed the body shots to remain part of the fight, he eventually deducted a point from the Armenian fighter and that’s when things began to slide downward for Crazy A.

Picasso had the height, youth and supposedly power advantage but never came close to knocking down Hovhannisyan. He did use his youth to good advantage by out-working his foe toward the second half of the fight. And by using his reach from a distance at times.

But for 12 rounds both scrapped with few breaks in the fight.

Hovhannisyan taught Picasso some lessons with the right to the body followed by the right to the head. He scored with that combination repeatedly.

Picasso showed off energy and more energy. The power shots did not seem to faze the Armenian fighter but after 12 rounds all three judges saw Picasso the winner 120-108, 118-110 twice.

Mayweather-Gotti

In the main event Mayweather and John Gotti III, grandson of New York mobster boss of the same name, clashed again in an exhibition. Unlike a year ago, their fight was not suspended by a referee. But there were shenanigans of a different sort.

Last year, Mayweather and Gotti met in Miami and when their exhibition was stopped suddenly by referee Kenny Bayless, a riot erupted. This time, the first round lasted longer than the agreed upon two-minute frame and Gotti complained to the referee Hector Afu. The round stopped suddenly.

In the second round, Gotti complained twice about blows behind the head. They were actually blows to the back of the ear due to his keeping his head down, the referee Afu agreed they were illegal and stopped the fight. Mayweather motioned for him to leave the boxing ring and he left. Another referee, Alfredo Uruzquieta replaced him. The fight resumed.

Gotti showed decent boxing moves, strength and good speed but when you are boxing one of the best of all time its going to be like pulling a sled up a mountain. Mayweather did whatever he wanted.

The last two rounds saw Mayweather unleash pinpoint combinations on the bigger and stronger Gotti who tried his best to respond. Neither fighter was ever in danger of being hurt. Gotti landed some blows but never hurt Mayweather and vice versa.

Fans seemed puzzled by the end of the six-round fight despite knowing it was always an exhibition.

“Thank you Mexico City,” said Mayweather.

Other Bouts

A battle between Mexican super bantamweights saw Guadalajara’s Cesar Vaca (17-1-1, 11 KOs) use clever movement and pinpoint punching to defeat hometown pugilist Luis Rodriguez (15-1, 14 KOs) by majority decision after 10 rounds.

Southpaw slugger Rodriguez never could figure out Vaca who was faster and more agile. The judges scored it 95-95, 98-92, 97-93 for Vaca. There were no knockdowns.

Vaca must have learned a thing or two from sparring with Japan’s “Monster” Naoya Inoue.

Highly touted Las Vegas fighter Curmel Moton (5-0, 4 KOs) needed less than one-minute to unravel Mexico’s Victor Vazquez (5-3-1) with a three-punch knockout at 55 seconds of the first round of a lightweight fight. Moton is promoted by Mayweather Promotions.

Super middleweight prospect Aaron Silva (15-1, 12 KOs) fought last-minute replacement Alberto Artiga (6-14) and used less than four rounds to end the fight by technical knockout. Silva looked composed and patient in pressing the fight till the referee stopped the fight.

In a female light flyweight match between Mexican women, Cecilia Rodriguez (14-1-1) of Monterrey withstood the constant barrages by Mexico City’s Arlenn Sanchez (5-7-4) to win by unanimous decision after eight rounds.

An exhibition fight saw “Vicious” Victor Ortiz and Argentina’s Damian Coria spar eight rounds.

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