'Canelo' retains world title in six
SAUL ‘CANELO’ ALVAREZ 38-0-1 (28 KOs) retained his unbeaten record and his WBC light-middleweight belt by overcoming Alfonso Gomez 23-5-2 (12) with a TKO stoppage in round 6 at the Staples Centre in Los Angeles.
The world title bout part of the dual-site “Star Power” mega event pitted the two Mexicans in what was expected to be an entertaining matchup. ‘Canelo’ had put his fellow countryman to the canvas in the first round but had to wait until the sixth to finish off the contest.
It wasn’t plain sailing for the undefeated 21-year-old as he came under some pressure by a Gomez who surprised many with his aggressive tactics and boxed better than anyone had expected.
Round one panned out how predicted as Gomez started well but towards the end of the round Alvarez took control and showed his early supremacy by dropping Gomez to the canvas with a left-handed body shot. It came late in the round with the challenger getting back to his stool immediately after.
The second round saw Canelo continue to dominate but Gomez held his own unlike in the first. The 30-year-old battler got himself back into the fight during the second but not enough to affect the score of the round. Gomez showed the danger he posed in the third and fourth being the better fighter and putting Alvarez under pressure that he had rarely been put under before in his 39-fight career.
Alvarez looked sluggish and a dogged Gomez performance took the ‘Ginger Mexican’ out of his comfort zone and into corners of the ring.
The young Mexican showed his class when a series of vicious upper cuts began to wrestle back the momentum from his experienced challenger. The vital round was the sixth as Gomez tried to push Alvarez away from the centre of the ring where we know he can be so lethal from. To some success he managed to do that but it did not stop Alvarez from inflicting more punishment. Two minutes and 30 seconds into the sixth a thumping right upper-cut stung Gomez and allowed the WBC champion to unleash a series of indefensible blows in which the referee had no choice but to stop the contest.
Earlier on in the night Erik Morales 52-7 (36) defeated Pablo Cesar Cano 22-1-1 (17) by TKO between rounds 10 and 11 to win the much criticised junior welterweight world title, due to the circumstances surrounding the nature it was taken from its original holder, in a bloody Mexican slugfest.
The 35-year-old looked in trouble during the first two rounds against his young late-replacement opponent Cano, who filled in for Lucas Matthyse with a fortnights notice, Morales though started to take control after he cut the 21-year-old which looked to have shook up the young Mexican. The experienced 35-year-old exploited his fellow countryman’s eye injury which led to Cano’s coach asking the ref to stop the fight at the end of round 10 to hand the belt to Morales and a title in a fourth-weight division.
Jessie Vargas 17-0 (9) started the night off with a split decision victory over Josesito Lopez 29-4 (17) in Las Vegas. The judges scored the contest 96-93 95-94 94-95 to Vargas. The 22-year-old secured the victory in the late rounds after surviving strong middle rounds from Lopez, who momentarily found success on the inside, as well as a point deduction from a low blow.
Vargas had been touted by Floyd Mayweather as a potential opponent for Amir Khan before the Brit could aim for the ‘Money man’ himself, on this showing though Khan would be an overwhelming favourite. Vargas put in a far from convincing performance and only out-thought Lopez in the final few rounds.
Greg Grimes
@ggrimes10
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