By Paul Strauss: Devon “The Great” Alexander impressed his hometown fans at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. He looked very comfortable at the new weight of 147lbs, whereas Maidana did not.
After a few ugly rounds early on in the fight, Devon started to get his rhythm and timing. He no longer needed to tie up Maidana, and began catching him with well timed right hooks and straight lefts.
Maidana was struggling, trying to find Devon. Occasionally he did get through with a lead right, or left to Devon’s kidney, but his punches lacked real steam. He seemed to be pushing them. Alexander got cut from a punch in the third round, and Maidana tried to target it with everything from his left hook, to his shoulder, even the hair on the top on his head.
Alexander got rough too, and came back with rabbit punches, spin moves, pushing Maidana’s head down, etc. Both fighters landed blows south of the border on occasion, and each threw a few after Referee Steve Smoger ordered “break”.
However, as the fight rolled on, Devon found his groove and began to really work over Maidana. He was hitting him with lead shots, beating him to the punch, as well as countering beautifully. He was mixing things up as well, first to the body, then to head or vice versa.
In the sixth round, he landed a particularly hard straight left, followed by a push, which put Maidana on the canvas. Smoger waived off any idea of a knockdown, and although the left was a hard shot, it might have actually been the push that put Maidana down. Regardless, the fight was a shut out up to and after that point.
Two judges gave every round to Devon, and third generously gave Maidana one round. Alexander says he’s ready for anyone in the new weight class, and the way he fought tonight backs up those words. Maidana said he will be moving back to junior welter, adding that Devon’s southpaw stance and speed were the difference.
In the semi-main event, Adrien Broner had an easy time with Eloy Perez. It wasn’t much of an accomplishment, because Perez wasn’t’ much of a threat. Broner thinks he is already an elite fighter, and so do the likes of Max Kellerman and Roy Jones, Jr., both of whom were gushing over the skill of Broner.
It will take a very good fighter and hard puncher to beat Broner. But, he hasn’t fought anyone yet who could provide that threat. So, he continues to bloat his ego and carry on with his schtick, none of which is worth talking about. He mimics Floyd Mayweather, Jr’s style with the low left, shoulder roll, check hook, lead right, etc., and he’s very good at it. He has the footwork, speed and quick reflexes to make it work.
It was a lead right hand in the fourth that halted Perez. After the fight, Broner reminded fans that he is “The Problem” and the others out there “Can” fight him……..the ameiCANs, the mexiCANs, the puerto riCANS, etc. You get the idea. But, there are some fans who think he can take his pre and post-fight act to the GARBAGE CAN.
In other action on the card:
Adrien Broner TKO 4 Eloy Perez
Deontay Wilder TKO 4 Marlon Hayes
Christopher Pearson TKO 1 Jeremy Wood
Tyrone Chatman UD 4 Marlon Smith
Jose Ponce TKO 1 Jonathan Brown
Sharif Bogere TKO 3 Sergio Rivera
Eddie Gomez UD 6 David Lopez
Keith Thurman TKO 1 Chris Fernandez