Month: September 2013

THE ONE Post-Fight Press Conference: Aftermath, Quotes & Photos

canelo7657If this were baseball, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. just pitched a no-hitter.

Fight week in Las Vegas, NV for the biggest boxing event of the year ended on Saturday with another stellar performance by the Pound for Pound king. In front of a pro-Canelo crowd, “Money” Mayweather tamed the Mexican superstar en route to a 12 round decision. Skills certainly pay the bills for Mayweather. Speed, accuracy, precise counter punching, ring generalship…you name it. It was another showcase fight.

Earlier in April of this year, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez unified the WBA Light Middleweight title against Austin Trout and established himself as “the man to beat” at the division. Mayweather just beat the man of the division. At 36 years of age and four more fights left on his exclusive Showtime contract, Mayweather is running out of opponents as he continues to make things look easy. Regardless of who Mayweather chooses to fight next, you can bet the world will still be tuning in.

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CJ Ross: I Stand Behind My Decision …. The Fight Was a Draw!

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by TMZ Staff – The boxing judge being ripped apart for scoring the Mayweather/Canelo fight as a draw tells TMZ she doesn’t care what the critics say … insisting she called the fight correctly.

Judge C.J. Ross tells us “I stand behind my decision” and isn’t phased by all the ferocious criticism she’s received from both experts and amateurs.

In case you missed it — Floyd Mayweather scored a convincing victory over Saul “Canelo” Alvarez last night … but C.J. was the only judge to score them evenly.

After the fight, boxing expert Teddy Atlas went on ESPN and said Ross’ score was a travesty and suggested she was paid off by gamblers.

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Mayweather is Right About One Thing; Garcia vs. Matthysse Ending is a Surprise

03Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. or “The One” or TBE (the best ever) if you prefer, is right about being one of the best ever. He describes his abilities accurately when he says fighters always come against him with a plan, but as soon as the fight starts, the plan goes out the window. Money leaves the ring with another win and a wad of cash. So far, no one has been able to carry out their plan and come away with a win.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (and his fans) was certain he had a good plan, and even alternatives if the first one didn’t work. He felt he was “the one” with the necessary skills to carry it out. When the opening bell sounded, both men cautiously circled one another, wary of possible danger. Canelo tried to establish his jab, and sent a few rights to the body. Mayweather countered with his own jab, and both men started to feint.

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Floyd Mayweather vs. Saul Alvarez recap

IMG_1376The judges did the right thing and agreed on a winner. It wasn’t an easy fight to score but they did not disappoint and the decision is acceptable. It should have been a UD though. Anyway, the fight was tough to score and even tougher to watch. Both fighters underperformed and they had to lure each other out of inactivity while both wanted to box on their own terms and wouldn’t fight the other guy’s fight outside their comfort zone.

There was a hot debate on a size advantage before the fight and it turned out there really was one, only it was in Floyd’s favor. He looked bigger, more muscular with longer and stronger arms. Floyd is about an inch taller and his reach is about two inches longer than Alvarez’s, but their stances and styles made Floyd’s advantage look even greater than what “the tale of the tape” suggested.

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Danny “Swift” Garcia: Number 46…paging number 46!!

Danny “Swift” Garcia: Number 46…paging number 46!!

IMG_6455Before last night’s impressive victory over hard punching Argentine Lucas Matthysse, universally recognized Junior Welterweight Champion Danny “Swift” Garcia felt like the “Rodney Dangerfield” of the sports world.

Although Danny had garnered an undefeated résumé of 26 victories, no losses, and 16 knock-outs leading into last night’s co-main event, most “knowledgeable” boxing scribes and ringside experts discounted the 25 year old’s chances of beating the highly touted knock-out artist from South America.

Even with big victories over former champions Amir Khan, Erik Morales, Kendall Holt, and Zab Judah, it seemed the Philly native was still fighting for the long overdue respect of the boxing community.

Now that Garcia has finally acquired the appropriate accolades that an undisputed champion justly deserves, has he earned a prime spot atop the long waiting list of possible opponents for Floyd Mayweather Jr. as well?

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Post-Fight Thoughts on Mayweather-Alvarez

01 Last evening capped another outstanding performance by master-boxer Floyd “Money” Mayweather against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. The atmosphere was electric, the undercards stacked. Floyd, of course, delivered a one-sided (not wholly unexpected) drubbing of the young, game Alvarez, leaving the world wondering, as usual, whose next. However, for this writer, the most pressing questions don’t concern Floyd’s next opponent; rather, the circumstances of THIS fight and the key players involved offer ample opportunity for circumspection, the most pressing ones as follows:

• “Canelo” Alvarez is a sound young boxer and has the heart of a lion, but it was clear that his team either did not have a Plan B once their initial strategy didn’t bear fruit or simply does not have the ability to adjust.

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Bad decisions in boxing: what can be done?

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Leading up to last night’s Floyd Mayweather-Saul Alvarez fight, ESB had an article asking whether or not “The One” could end up being scored as a draw. It didn’t happen, but one individual masquerading as a judge – really a person who deserves no further publicity, even bad publicity – DID manage to score the bout a draw. This after 10, 11 or maybe even 12 master class rounds by the incomparable 36-year-old all-time great known as Money.

The draw was never really close to happening, but the fact that one judge had the fight so badly, so poorly, so disgustingly and so erroneously scored is bad enough. Surely something must be done about last night’s unfathomable 114-114 scorecard and the person who handed it in. There must at least be an investigation, and after such a thing has happened, no way will any conclusion be reached than one that says last night’s judge is woefully incompetent.

Overall, because the right man won, no real harm has been done – some people may say this anyway. But is that really the point? What if three “incompetent” officials are put together at the same time for the same fight one day?

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Danny Garcia Outpoints Lucas Matthysse

GarciaMatthysse_Hoganphotos1 Danny Garcia retained the unified super lightweight world title with an impressive performance against the favored Lucas Matthysse. Utilizing solid combinations and body shots, Garcia executed a solid game plan en route to a unanimous decision (115-111, 114-112, twice).

Matthysse (34-3, 32 KO’s) entered the fight having knocked out five of his last six opponents and a reputation as one of the most feared punchers on the planet. But the Argentinean knockout artist’s power wasn’t as apparent against the aggressive Garcia (27-0, 16 KO’s), who silenced his doubters and defended his WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Lightweight World Titles.

Seemingly down on points, Matthysse came out with a vengeance in the eleventh to kick off the championship rounds, knocking Garcia’s mouthpiece out with a powerful straight right.

But, after a brief pause to recover the mouthpiece, Garcia bounced back and floored Matthysse for the first time in his career.

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Floyd Mayweather Jr truly is “THE ONE”!

003 Mayweather vs Canelo IMG_9198LAS VEGAS, NEV. (Sept. 14, 2013) – The undisputed, pound-for-pound champion put on a clinic against Mexican sensation Canelo Alvarez, handing the 23-year-old superstar his first loss in the toughest test of his career Saturday on SHOWTIME PPV at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Canelo (42-1-1, 30 KO’s) fought with everything he had, but couldn’t solve the puzzle of Floyd Mayweather. Mayweather showcased his signature speed and elusiveness in front of a largely pro-Canelo crowd of 16,746 fans en route to a majority decision (114-114, 116-112, 117-111).

For the night’s work, Mayweather collected a guaranteed $41.5 million and Canelo’s WBC, WBA and Ring Magazine Super Welterweight Championships.

“It’s all about skills,” Mayweather said. “I came out tonight and showed my skills. But a true champion like Canelo can take a loss and bounce back.

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Danny Garcia defeats Matthysse

009 Garcia vs Matthysse IMG_8137Danny Garcia Fights For His 0, Successfully Earning Another W

Unfortunately, despite heavy effort, the sports did not fly the way they were expected in this fight until the last couple of rounds. Both fighters had their moments, but it seemed that the urgency took charge in round 9-12, where both men went to work.

Garcia lost his possible 1 point advantage for dropping Matthysse when that same 1 point was deducted from his score due to the low blow.

I would like to call it a close fight, but due to the last few rounds, where Matthysse had clearly faded squeezing the last drops of his remaining stamina, Lucas was ripe for the picking.

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