Floyd Mayweather Unifies 154-pound Titles With Majority Decision Over Canelo Alvarez In Vegas Mega-Fight

In the biggest fight of the last decade, unbeaten top “Pound For Pound” fighter, Floyd “Money” Mayweather (44-0) took on fellow unbeaten warrior, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0) tonight from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas to unify their titles in the junior middleweight division. On the line were not only both star’s perfect streaks but also the WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine super welterweight titles adding to the intrigue of “The One” theme in reference to who the top dog in the weight class truly was. As presumed by many insider’s the favorite, Mayweather, would be the winner but what was not at all expected was the ease in which he outclassed a boxer more than 10 years his junior and a man who would have a significant weight advantage once the two re-hydrated and met in the ring. Adding to the inrtrigue was the fact that Mayweather had just fought this May, making it the first time he fought twice in one year after over a decade of not pursuing such feat.

For the first half of “The One” PPV main event, Mayweather pressed the action as soon as the bout started, walking his man down without any fear or regard for Canelo’s punching power and size. Not only did the Mexican idol not have the hand speed to counter Mayweather’s solid offense, his upper body movement was non existent. Maybe an affect of the extra 2 pounds Canelo Alvarez had to cut since the title tilt was agreed to at a catch weight of 152 pounds or more than likely thanks to Mayweather’s lighting quick jab that snapped his foe’s head back violently round after round from bell to bell. Towards the second half of the fight, Mayweather’s jab was the strict weapon of choice that set up everything for him from upper cuts to overhand rights down to thunderous left hooks. At one point, Mayweather threw 5 back-to-back left hooks without any retaliation from his stunned opponent. For the few punches that Alvarez would partially land, a magnificent combination would be rattled off by Mayweather, quickly shutting down Alvarez and the pro-Canelo crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Once the dust settled, Floyd “Money” Mayweather sailed to a majority decision with scores of 116-112 & 117-111, and a jaw dropping draw of 114-114 by judge C.J. Ross. While that score might hint at a competitive bout, in no way whatsoever does it portray the reality of a championship match where one fighter was clearly sharper than the other. With his first defeat , Saul “Canelo” Alvarez moves to (42-1-1) having Mayweather now hand him the one loss to his record. The triumph improves Floyd “Money” Mayweather to (45-0) capturing another world title, simultaneously unifying the 154-pound weight class as he maintains his reign atop boxing’s “Pound For Pound” list.

Danny Garcia Remains Unbeaten With A Unanimous Decision Over Lucas Matthysse

For the co-main event of the night unbeaten champion, Danny Garcia (26-0), took on Lucas Matthysse (34-2) in a super lightweight title unification bout. Like its headlining counterpart, the WBA, WBC and Ring Magazine titles were on the line for this junior welterweight clash, as well as Garcia’s unblemished record. A similar cloud of doubt yet again floated over the Philly fighter’s abilities as has done so in his previous matches as he took on Argentina’s KO artist, Matthysse. Tonight the general consensus was that the Argentine assassin would knockout Garcia early into the bout. This arose from the undefeated fighter’s doubters in the past who have continued to pick against him time and time again and figure Matthysse’s 32 KOs out of 34 wins only warranted such assumption.

In an effort to not only win the bout but make fools of the oddsmakers that had Danny as an almost 3 to 1 underdog, Garcia did some necessary tweaks to his offense as well as implemented his underrated jab for this 140-pound battle, canceling out any real momentum that Matthysse could muster. Lucas did walk his man down with conviction sweeping the first 4 rounds but things changed thereafter. The Argentine was always in the fight and managed to catch Garcia with some devastating shots, but his foe’s chin held up as he retutned fire from bell to bell. The jab of Garcia was the alchemist to Matthysse’s right eye shutting somehwere around the 5th or 6th round therefore the Puerto Rican-American took over from then on, jabbing away or crushing his opponent with left and right hooks. The match really heated up in the 11th round when Garcia caught Matthysse along the ropes and leveled him with a 3-punch combination that sent his foe crashing to the canvas. Matthysse beat the count but couldn’t find that game changer punch that he needed to get back into a winning position.

Heading into the 12th round, a Garcia punch strayed low prompting referee Tony Weeks to deduct a point from Garcia who had been warned earlier in the bout to keep his shots legal. Nonetheless, the two men went to war in the last 10 seconds of the round, staying in the pocket and trading monster shots as the MGM Grand Arena fight fans cheered on in excitement. Once the judge’s score cards were read Danny Garcia grabbed all of the 140-pound belts on the line thanks to a unanimous decision via scores of 115-111 and 114-112, twice. The win improves Garcia to (27-0) while Lucas Matthysse drops to (34-3) .

Molina Lifts IBF Crown From Smith Via Split Decision

Ishe Smith (25-5) defended his IBF junior middleweight title for the first time in front of his home town crowd against tough-as-nails, Carlos Molina (21-5-2 )in a 12-round IBF junior middleweight title tilt. Similar to his teammate Ashley Theophane who looked to counter his man in the previous fight, Smith implemented a similar approach of waiting for Molina to lead then hoping to land something meaningful with a counter. The Mayweather Gym representative also rolled his shoulder as he stood with his left hand dangerously low, egging Molina to come in and trade. The game Mexican fighter obliged but at times lead with his head which tainted the bout into a wrestling match of sorts as the two super welterweight clinched repeatedly as the rounds progressed.

Heading into the second half of the fight Molina adapted to the clinching then punching style and in a performance that would make Bernard Hopkins proud, took over the fight. Smith also was in a bind looking the more tired of the two as he winged left hooks from his hip or looped an over hand right that barely missed its target. More Molina offense to an already solid game plan of using the clinch to get in on the inside was stamped with right hooks and uppercuts from Molina that appeared more significant.

Once the dust settled, two of the judges gave Carlos Molina the nod with scores of 117-111 and 116-112 while one had it for the now former champion, Ishe Smith with a score of 116-112. With the win Molina captures his first legitimate belt as he leaves Las Vegas the new IBF Junior Middleweight Champion. During the post fight press conference the newly crowned belt holder called for a fight with Mayweather. Who knows if a Mayweather vs. Molina match-up isn’t too far down the road for either men?

Cano Edges Theophane With Split Decision Verdict

Opening the main PPV card from the MGM Grand Garden Arena were welterweights Pablo Cesar Cano (26-3-1) and Ashley Theophane (33-5-1). Theophane looked to counter punch any offense that Cano had early in the fight. However, while he had the hand speed to do so, he missed his target on a few occasions and Cano’s pressure seemed to be too much early in the bout for the Vegas fighter. So much so that in the 3rd round Cano managed to hurt Theophane with an overhand shot that had him on his bike for the rest of that round. Cano eventually timed his foe thus having the option to dip in and land on his man then slide out before getting caught with anything dangerous.

During an exchange in the 5th round, a solid Cano right hand landed flush on Theophane making him back up on unsteady legs and bend his knees almost touching his glove to the canvas. He returned the favor later in the same round with a perfect left hook that stopped Cano dead in his tracks. Needless to say, that was one of the few significant shots landed by Theophane which drew a cheer from the crowd. Cano did not let up for one moment on the constant pressure landing right hands all night and also getting in close on his foe to rip away at the body.

Once the match was over, two of the judges had the fight for Pablo Cesar Cano with scores of 98-92 & 97-93 but one judge actually scored it 96-94 for Ashely Theophane giving Cano the win via split decision.