“Please Stand By” Sergio Wins but With Technical Difficulties!

"Please Stand By" Sergio Wins but With Technical Difficulties! by Paul Strauss: What a night for boxing fans. Between Showtime and HBO, there were more fights than you could shake a stick at. The big record setting one was of course at the Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV. It was a grudge match pitting Sergio Gabriel “Maravilla” Martinez against the young title usurper with the bloodlines named Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr.

Simply put, Martinez felt he was unfairly stripped of his middleweight title, and to make matters worse, it was given to this undeserving upstart who happened to be the son of a great fighter. Sergio was uncharacteristically vocal about what he thought was an injustice, and he was determined to set things right. Most of the experts and the odds makers agreed he was likely to be successful. On the other hand, JCC, Jr. was hurt and insulted by Sergio’s comments and determined to make him pay. Both promised knockouts.

Even with hall of fame trainer Freddie Roach’s help, it was thought to be unlikely that JCC, Jr. had the necessary skill and experience to pull off the upset, despite his father having done the seemingly impossible years ago against Meldrick Taylor. That was so long ago (1990), it seemed like a dream.
Critics of Sergio, including JCC, Sr. and Freddie Roach and other boxing purists don’t particularly care for Sergio’s style. When it comes to boxing technique, they feel he lacks fundamentals; although, they begrudgingly agree he is a superior athlete. Consequently, they believed he could be “gotten to” and that JCC, Jr. would be able to do so Saturday night.

Macklin holds Alcine at ‘Knife’point

Padraig Ivory – Matthew Macklin deployed a controlled explosion at the Thomas and Mack on Saturday night and when the smoke settled former champ Joachim Alcine had taken shelter under the arm of referee Jay Nady. The left temple of the Haitian native duly played the role of the detonator as an invigorated Macklin claimed his 20th stoppage in sensational style.

The 30 year old Tipperary hurling fanatic, who was controversially denied world title honours against Felix Sturm in 2011, emphatically reinstated his status as the major threat to the middleweight crown. The first class surroundings of the new MGM gym may have aptly provided Buddy McGirt’s charge with the script to premiere an action packed Blockbuster in front of an energetic Las Vegas crowd.

‘Mack the Knife’ executed an overpowering assault on the former champ who twice came face to face with the heavily advertised canvas. Macklin was unrelenting and forged iron from leather as he cleverly switched attack between body and head. Alcine offered little in the way of return fire forcing the experienced referee to call a halt to the explosive action with only 2.26 registered on the clock.

Alvarez stops Lopez; Maidana TKOs Soto-Karass; De Leon defeats Gonzalez

(Photos: Tom Casino/SHOWTIME) By Rob Smith: In a positively sick mismatch that should have never been made in the first place, WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) absolutely annihilated welterweight Josesito Lopez (30-5, 18 KO’s) by a 5th round TKO on Saturday night in one of Alvarez’s easier title defenses at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Alvarez knocked Lopez down three times, once in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th rounds from body and head shots. Lopez, who looked soft in the midsection, had problems with Alvarez’s body shots. Alvarez obviously spotted the the coat of fat that Lopez had put on around his waist in moving up from welterweight in three months.

In the 5th, Alvarez finished off the hapless Lopez and referee Joe Cortez stepped in to halt the slaughter at 2:55 of the round.

Martinez dominates Chavez Jr; Rigondeaux decisions Marroquin; Macklin crushes Alcine

By Dwight Chittenden: With the exception of the 12th round, Sergio Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KO’s) completely dominated a badly over-matched WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-1-1, 32 KO’s) tonight in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision at the Thomas & Mack Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Martinez, 37, had to climb off the deck in the 12th round to survive after getting hurt and knocked by a desperate Chavez Jr. However, Chavez Jr. was too slow and inaccurate to finish off Martinez when he had him where he wanted him. The final judges’ scores were 118-109, 118-109 and 117-110, all for Martinez.

Chavez Jr. couldn’t get into the fight in the first 11 rounds, as he was too slow and unable to get his shots off. With Martinez constantly moving, Chavez Jr. looked completely clueless with what to do. His past opponents had always been stationary for him to use his body attack on them while they stood against the ropes for him. But Martinez was going to play Chavez Jr’s game and stayed on the move the entire fight.

Atlas: Chavez Jr. is too slow, too predictable and will get taken apart by Sergio Martinez

(Photo credit: Sumio Yamada) By Michael Collins: ESPN analyst Teddy Atlas doesn’t think that WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. has the skills or the hand speed to beat a talented fighter like Sergio Martinez tonight in their fight in Las Vegas. Atlas is one of the many people who feel that Chavez Jr’s weight advantage will be meaningless for him because of Martinez mobility.

Atlas said “Chavez Jr. is a little too slow, too predictable, right down the middle. He’s not hard to hit; He likes to go to the body. He’s not going to get his way with Martinez. Martinez is going to knock him out late in the fight. He’s going to take him apart like a surgeon taking someone apart and just operates on them. I think he [Martinez] has quicker hands, better experience, confidence, everything, the whole package and his feet. Martinez uses his legs real well to get angles and to do his job.”

I think Atlas pretty much summed up my thoughts on the fight in an excellent manner. Chavez Jr. is a big guy and is young, but his whole style of fighting is suited more for the stationary opposition that his promoter Bob Arum has been matching against him up until now. Chavez Jr. is a big slow guy that needs his opponents to stand right there for him to land his shots, preferably with their backs against the ropes. With a big 15 pound weight advantage at times, the 180 pound Chavez Jr. is able to have his way with smaller middleweights and that makes things easy for him.

Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Sergio Martinez: Head to Head

(Photo credit: Naoki Fakuda) By Joseph Herron: After over a year of verbal sparring from both camps, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. vs. Sergio “Maravilla” Martinez is finally upon us!

The main event will be broadcast on HBO PPV and can be purchased for $49.95 through your local cable company, satellite provider, or online via www.toprank.com. The four bout televised event will have a start time of 9PM EST/6PM PST.

The two combatants in tonight’s main event own a great amount of disdain for each other and have made public declarations of their mutual hatred. The well documented feud goes back to March of 2011, when HBO rejected Sergio Martinez’s mandatory challenger Sebastian Zbik as a suitable opponent for the former WBC Middleweight Champion.

Chavez Jr. vs. Martinez: Is the boxing world counting out Junior too soon?

By Joseph Herron: In what most fight scribes are calling the most impactful 160 pound contest since “Trinidad vs. Hopkins, 2001”, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (46-0-1, 32 KOs) will be facing Sergio Martinez (49-2-2, 28 KOs) for the universally recognized Middleweight Championship on Saturday, September 15th, at the sold out Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

While most boxing experts and fight scribes were dubbing this superb match-up as a pick-em fight just two short months ago, the estimated probability has dramatically shifted to favor the lineal Middleweight king, “Maravilla” Martinez.

For weeks, rumors have swirled in and around Vegas concerning Junior’s lackadaisical work ethic and relaxed training regimen in preparation for the most important fight of his young career. It was also rumored that elite level trainer Freddie Roach had to be convinced by Hall of Fame promoter Bob Arum to stay in Junior’s camp for the aforementioned reasons.

Ricky Hatton wants Mayweather, Pacquiao, Khan and Brook

By Michael Collins: Ricky Hatton (45-2, 32 KO’s) is like a big kid in a candy store now that he’s decided to make a comeback on November 24th against who knows what kind of opponent. Hatton, 33, will be fighting in Manchester, England on the 24th of November and his opponent will probably be a soft touch brought in for him to shake off the ring rust from three years of inactivity huge weight gain. Hatton says he’s interested in facing Amir Khan, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao and Kell Brook. That’s a pretty impressive list I must say, but I don’t know that Hatton’s chances are good at beating any of them.

Even a fragile chinned Khan or the stamina plagued Brook could be enough to trip Hatton up before he’s had the chance to make the really cash in fights against Mayweather and/or Pacquiao. If Hatton is serious about wanting Mayweather or Pacquiao, he’s going to need to skip the Khan and Brook fights and go straight to Mayweather or Pacquiao. Those guys are getting older and it’s doubtful they’ll be hanging around too much longer.

Hatton told the Manchester Evening News “I’d love to get a crack at them [Khan and Brook]. I dream about another go at Mayweather and Pacquiao, without a doubt. The ultimate goal is to redeem myself.”

Josesito Lopez might be too heavy to beat Saul Alvarez tonight

(Photo credit: Tom Casino/Showtime) By Marcus Richardson: Josesito Lopez (30-4, 18 KO’s) might very well have kissed goodbye his only chance of winning tonight agaisnt WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (40-0-1, 29 KO’s) by coming in a flabby looking 153 lbs during Friday’s weigh-in for tonight’s bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Before this fight, the heaviest that the 28-year-old Lopez had ever come in was 144 3/4 lbs for his fight against Victor Ortiz last June. Lopez appears to have power feeding in the past couple of months and has put on a lot of weight.

That weight, a lot of it ending up on his abdomen, will likely see him in the 160s tonight against Alvarez and that’s probably too much for Lopez to be carrying around. What Lopez should have done is stay as light as possible because his speed was his main asset against Alvarez. Lopez was never going to able to bulk up in three short months and compete with the stronger, younger and better skilled Alvarez in a toe-to-toe battle.

That’s just not going to happen. Lopez was never a big puncher, and just because he bulked up with a little muscle as well as fat it doesn’t mean that he’s going to be able to beat Alvarez at his own game. This weight that Lopez has put on is going to hurt him in a big way by preventing him from being able to box properly. He’s going to have problems when it comes to being able to move like he’s done in the past, and without his movement he’ll be a sitting duck against Alvarez.

Khan dumps Roach, Virgil Hunter a leading candidate to replace him

By Michael Collins: Well, Amir Khan has finally pulled the trigger and dumped his trainer Freddie Roach after suffering back to back losses in his last two fight. You had to figure someone was going to end up a casualty after Khan’s latest failing and unfortunately for Roach it’s him that’s being dismissed. According to Dan Rafael, Virgil Hunter, the trainer for WBA/WBC super middleweight champion Andre Ward, is a leading candidate to get the job.

Khan said on his twitter yesterday: “Officially I’ve left Freddie Roach. Just spoke to him and had a good professional chat and maybe in the future we (will) work together. Freddie understood why I’m looking at other trainers and wished me all the best for the future.”

It’s somewhat surprising that Roach is being released from his position because he helped Khan capture two world titles at light welterweight. It’s hard to blame Roach for Khan’s loss to Lamont Peterson, a fight in which Khan could have won had he not shoved Peterson so often. Khan had warnings from the referee to stop shoving but he continued to do it and ultimately it cost him two points in deductions.