Canelo blasts Khan in 6 for first WBC and ring title defense

Foto por Golden Boy Promotions

Headlining the HBO PPV tonight as the history making first boxing event from the brand new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas was undefeated WBC and Ring middleweight champion, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (47-1-1 w/32 KOs) defending his crown against former 2-division champion, Amir King Khan (31-4 w/19 KOs) in front of 16,540 raucous fans, almost a sell out. For the first few rounds Khan boxed extremely well landing 2 and 3-punch combinations, sliding in and out of the pocket behind great footwork. His hand speed didn’t seem affected by the move up from 147lbs to challenge for the middleweight belt as he landed a crisp straight right hand or lightning quick jab as the rounds progressed.

However, while he implemented a great strategy for the first 4 rounds he noticeably changed that movement and use of angles in the 5th round, almost opting to trade ‎with the champion. On top of that, Khan became more stationary and circled out slower than before with his hands at his waist. Canelo was now able to to catch Khan pulling out of the pocket behind a mean left hook or looping right hand. This lay grounds for what would inevitably be the end. Going into the 6th Round one judge had Khan winning and the other 2 had Alvarez up on the score cards, but it was irrelevant when Khan threw a shot and circled out with his guard low as Canelo landed a devastating power right.

Amir Khan was caught flush on the chin and went down to the canvas, planted in a similar fashion ‎as Ricky Hatton was by Manny Pacquiao up the street at the MGM Grand Garden Arena a few years ago. The referee came over and waived the match off giving the finish a time of (2:37) of Round 6. Following the match Khan was not available at the post-fight press conference but did text promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, “I’m OK everyone, that’s boxing for you. Much love to all of the fans”. As for Canelo Alvarez, he was asked by Max Kellerman about the apperance of fellow 160-pound champ and undefeated, Gennady Golovkin . Alvarez addressed the question saying, “I invited him in the ring, I don’t fear anyone and if he wants I can’t put the gloves back on right now.”.

The possibility of a mega-fight between champions, Alvarez and Golovkin was extensively addressed by Golden Boy Promotions boss Oscar De La Hoya at the post-fight press conference and the fantasy match now seems more of a reality without a doubt than just a fan’s dream bout.
LEMIEUX STOP TAPIA IN 4 ROUNDS

Another fighter still escaping the ghosts of a haunting Golovkin loss, David Lemieux (35-3 w/32 KOs) stepped up to the plate and delivered one of his signature, quality stoppages tonight against Glen Tapia (23-3 w/15 KOs). During the first few rounds the Canadian slugger set up his shots by sticking and moving as well as landing a 1-2 combination with much success. Tapia stood in the pocket and threw some heat of his own but he over extended on some of his punches leaving himself open to a counter. The move from 154lbs to middleweight may not have been as beneficial seeing as how his normally noticeable pop was missing from his shots. By Round 3 he was very flat footed and seemed tired as well as lacking the movement needed to avoid the bombs from Lemieux.

The Montreal native jabbed him up and drove him back along the ropes before unleashing a great 2-punch combination. A deadly left hook raked the side of Tapia’s face putting him on wobbly legs immediately, then a follow up right hook shoved him unto the canvas. The fallen warrior instantly turned over , gathered himself and hopped back ready to retaliate. But to his surprise, one of the corner men stepped on to the canvas pulling an official over and asked for it to stop to which referee Russell Mora had no choice but to oblige.

The official time of the TKO came at ‎56 seconds of Round 4, giving David Lemieux his 32nd stoppage out of 35 bouts. During his post-fight interview the Canadian fighter was interested to meet the winner of the main event in a surely crowd-pleasing match-up.
GOMEZ GIVES HERRERA 10 ROUND BOXING LESSON

The ‎”Pittbull” Frankie Gomez (21-0 W/13 KOs) took on his biggest test to date as he made his PPV debut against Mauricio “El Maestro” Herrera (22-6 W/7 KOs) and passed with flying colors. During the first couple of rounds Herrera had a great game plan, to march forward using his jab to get into his man’s chest then crowd the KO artist and disable him from opening up his arsenal. The plan worked for those 6 minutes but unfortunately for ” El Maestro”, Gomez managed to always land something on the inside as he roughed up Herrera and by the 3rd Round knew to circle out and away to avoid the pressure. Little by little, Gomez was the one who turned the tide coming forward on his man landing the cleaner and heavier shots. The punches rattled off flush and the left hook was on fire opening up a cut under Herrera’s right eye. Gomez showed some great stuff in there as he stepped in with his jab, had the over hand right ready and followed up with it and when needed he was the one that crowded his foe’s space giving him no room to work.

Inexplicably, Herrera chose to back up along the ropes more frequently as the second half of the fight wore on. This made the Los Angelino’s job easier as he willingly came forward landing a 2 or 3-punch combination on the inside. If Herrera wrapped him up, Pittbull ‎would then lean his head on his foe’s arm or shoulder and throw short shots to the body or head. Rinse and repeat as the rounds ran through.

In the end it was very easy to point to the winner, not just because Mauricio Herrera’s eyes had cuts underneath both and some bad swelling but ‎because Gomez looked like he had just had 10 rounds of easy sparring. The official scores read 100-90, 100-90 and 100-90 as Frankie Gomez secures the biggest win of his professional career against his most technical opponent to date, becoming the teacher and no longer the student.

STEVENS STEAMROLLS THROUGH TEIXEIRA IN 2

Allot of fans remember Curtis Stevens (28-5 w/20 KOs) name due to his relatively recent and embarrassing KO loss to current undefeated ‎champ, Gennady Golovkin, just a few short years ago; a loss that derailed Stevens momentum and established name. However, tonight as an underdog against previously unbeaten Patrick Teixeira (26-1 w/22KOs) the Brooklyn native shut all of his doubters and naysayers up with one devastating, highlight reel right hand.

The two powerful middleweights gauged each other for the majority of Round 1, not really taking too many chances or over committing to a specific punch or blow. ‎Some moments of action sparked here and there in the first 3 minutes but nothing really to write home about. Then in Round 2 something magical happened following a quick exchange, the Brazilian threw a nice left hook that landed on the chin of his man as the New Yorker chucked a looping right hook towards his foe. The punch crash landed perfectly on the side of Teixeira’s face sending him stumbling backwards unto the canvas. He beat the count but was on very, very wobbly legs and it was probably his heart that kept him up right but his mind was still recovering from the massive shot. Luckily seasoned referee, Tony Weeks, recognized how badly he was hurt and waived off the action .

The official time of the stoppage came at (1:02) of Round 2 for Stevens who puts himself back on track as a player in the middleweight division picking up the vacant WBC De Las Americas title.

His words to press following the fight said it all; “The name of the game is to knock people out and that’s what I did tonight,” said Curtis Stevens. “I feel great to get back into the game after my one and a half year break. I really want Lemieux, but I will take whatever I can get. My head is right, and I’m ready to take on whoever.”