Canelo Álvarez has ended his rivalry with Gennady Golovkin in epic fashion…
The 32-year-old Mexican professional boxer beat Golovkin via unanimous decision in their third and final fight of their epic boxing trilogy.
Alvarez was 115-113 on two judges’ scoreboards with the third scoring the fight 116-112. He defeated Golovkin in 2018 via a controversial majority decision and their first fight in 2017 ended in a split draw.
“He’s a strong fighter,” Álvarez told the crowd in Las Vegas. “For me, I’m just glad to share the ring with him. He’s a really good fighter. I’m glad to be involved in that kind of fight.”
Golovkin returned the sentiments to Álvarez.
“Everybody knows this is high level, the best fight for boxing,” Golovkin said. “Look at his face. Look at my face. It’s high level, because we trained well, and this shows that we did a very good fight, very good quality.”
Álvarez landed only 26% of his punches, including 85 power punches, according to CompuBox. Álvarez was also cut over his right eye.
He bounced back nicely from a devastating loss to Dmitry Bivol in May.
“Thank you so much for your support,” he said. “I’ve gone through very difficult things in my life. Only thing you can do is continue to move forward. I’ve gone through difficult times with my defeat, but defeats can show how you can be great, how you can come back and show humility.”
Álvarez improved to 58-2-2 in his career. Golovkin fell to 42-2-1. Golovkin has only lost to Álvarez in his career.
The 46-year-old Brazilian mixed martial artist, a former UFC middleweight champion who made a career out of doing the impossible, defeated Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. via split decision (75-77, 77-75, 77-75) in a shockingly impressive boxing performance on Saturday night at Jalisco Stadium in Guadalajara, Mexico.
A heavy underdog, Silva hadn’t competed in boxing since 2005 and had just two pro boxing matches coming in. Chavez Jr., the son and namesake of Mexico’s most popular boxing superstar, is a former WBC middleweight champion.
“I love fighting,” Silva said in his postfight interview. “Boxing was my dream for many years. I needed to show my respect for boxing. I need to come here and do my best.”
The bout was contested at 182 pounds with eight three-minute rounds. Chavez Jr. missed weight by 2.4 pounds Friday, forfeiting $100,000 of his purse to Silva. The event was dubbed “Tribute to the Kings” with the headliner pitting Chavez Sr. against Hector Camacho Jr., the son of his biggest rival, in an exhibition boxing match.
Silva’s fight against Chavez Jr. started slow, but Silva started to gain confidence in the third round and looked like the vintage version of the MMA all-time great. He started dropping his hands and taunting Chavez Jr. in the third round, a stunning display, considering the enormous gap in boxing experience. Silva carried that confidence and started hurting Chavez Jr. in the fourth round with combinations and a long, straight left. Silva, a southpaw, showed off a solid, snapping jab as well.
Chavez Jr. had some moments with body shots and left hooks, but never really hurt Silva. In the seventh, Silva opened up a cut near Chavez Jr.’s right eye, which started bleeding worse in the eighth round.
“I think it could have been a draw,” Chavez Jr. said. “I failed to throw more punches. He didn’t do much damage. There were a few rounds that went back and forth.”
Silva outlanded Chavez Jr. 99-53 in total punches and 60-41 in power punches, per CompuBox. Afterward, Canelo Alvarez, the world’s best pound-for-pound boxer, came up to Silva and gave him a “salute,” Silva said.
“I don’t believe it,” Silva said. “Canelo come talk to me. I’m so happy.”
Silva has been talking about doing a boxing match for a decade or so, but had been under contract with the UFC. Silva always said a boxing bout with Roy Jones Jr. was a dream and goal of his. Maybe now it can happen at both of their advanced ages.
Silva (2-1) is one of the greatest champions in MMA history. The Brazil native held the UFC middleweight title for seven years, the longest reign in promotion history. “The Spider” owns the longest winning streak in UFC history (16) and the most finishes in UFC title fights (nine). Silva asked for his release from the UFC last November, and it was granted. He has just one MMA victory since 2012.
Chavez Jr. (52-6-1) has lost four of his past six fights. He is indefinitely suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) and the Arizona Boxing & MMA Commission for refusing to take a drug test before a fight with Danny Jacobs in 2019.
Chavez Jr., 35, has never quite lived up to the lofty family expectations, though he does own wins over Marco Antonio Rubio and Andy Lee. He has dropped high-profile bouts to Canelo Alvarez and Jacobs.
Juan Francisco Estrada has proved that revenge is a dish best served cold.
The 30-year-old Mexican professional boxer edged past Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez by split decision in an extremely close fight at Dallas’ American Airlines Center on Saturday to win the WBA, the WBC and The Ring magazine junior bantamweight titles.
The victory comes eight years after Estrada (42-3, 28 KOs) and Gonzalez’s first action-packed bout, which was won by Gonzalez (50-3, 41 KOs).
This bout could’ve gone either way. The two combined for 2,529 punches — a junior bantamweight record — and landed 705, according to CompuBox. They combined for 2,133 punches in their first bout.
The scorecards Saturday night read 115-113 Gonzalez, 117-111 Estrada and 115-113 Estrada. The 117-111 score was shockingly wide, but the two 115-113 scores were representative of a fight with two boxers putting on a nonstop show.
Immediately afterward, sensing there was unfinished business with their rivalry split at 1-1, Estrada called for a trilogy fight to settle it all.
“I think I did enough to win. Chocolatito is a great fighter, and I think he deserves a trilogy,” Estrada said on the DAZN broadcast. “I knew it was a close fight. I didn’t know if I was up or down, but I knew I had to close out the fight in the last two rounds.”
Gonzalez was gracious and emotional in defeat, saying, “Whatever happened, happened, but I gave it a great fight.” The four-division champion said the result was what “God wanted” and that he would welcome a third bout with Estrada.
“It was a better fight than the first one,” Estrada said. “I felt strong, and I felt like I won. In the last round, I gave it all. It was a great round.”
Estrada’s win could set in motion the conclusion of a set of trilogies. Estrada noted after the fight that his mandatory challenger is Srisaket Sor Rungvisai — a man he also has split two bouts with over the past few years. Rungvisai won the first bout by majority decision in February 2018, with Estrada winning the rematch by unanimous decision in April 2019.
Rungvisai, who also has two wins over Gonzalez, stepped aside to let Estrada-Gonzalez 2 happen. Now, Rungvisai will likely want his shot at settling the trilogy fight with Estrada.
Gonzalez, who despite starting a bit slow was the aggressor for much of the fight, had the advantage over Estrada in every CompuBox category Saturday night except body punching (89-31 Estrada). The 90 power punches landed in Round 12 (51 by Gonzalez, 39 by Estrada) is a single-round junior bantamweight record, per CompuBox.
The hope is that Part 3 of this must-see thriller happens far sooner than the eight-year wait for Part 2.
The 30-year-old Mexican boxer, a former WBO featherweight titleholder and a two-time Olympian, took down Miguel Berchelt at the MGM Grand on Saturday night to claim the WBC junior lightweight title.
Valdez’s upset win came after he rocked Berchelt (38-2, 34 KOs) with a left hook in the final second of the 10th round in an immediate favorite for knockout of the year.
Many expected Saturday’s fight between Berchelt and Valdez (29-0, 23 KOs)
to be a back-and-forth bout between two Mexican fighters. But, the violence was mostly one-sided.
“There’s nothing better in life than proving people wrong,” said Valdez, who entered the fight as a plus-240 underdog, according to Caesars SportsbookbyWilliam Hill. “I have a list of people who doubted me. My idols doubted me. Boxing analysts doubted me. They said Berchelt was going to knock me out. I have a message to everybody: Don’t’ let anyone tell you what you can and can’t do.
Berchelt, whose only other professional loss came via TKO in 2014, remained on his back on the canvas for several minutes but was eventually able to sit and stand with assistance.
He was taken to a hospital afterward, and Top Rank president Todd DuBoef told ESPN that he underwent a CT scan that came back clear. Berchelt was expected to be released from the hospital Saturday night.
The stunning walk-off shot might have overshadowed the fact the much smaller Valdez dominated the fight. He scored knockdowns in the fourth and 10th rounds and was well ahead on all three judges’ scorecards at the time of the finish.
Judges had Valdez, who was born in Mexico but grew up in Arizona, ahead by scores of 89-80, 88-81 and 87-82.
“Oscar Valdez proved he is one of the great Mexican champions,” said Top Rank CEO Bob Arum. “An absolute masterpiece in the ring tonight.”
Valdez outlanded Berchelt 149-99 in total punches and 103-64 in power punches, according to CompuBox.
The victory, which is Valdez’s third consecutive appearance at 130 pounds, could set up a junior lightweight title fight between Valdez and Top Rank’s Shakur Stevenson (15-0, 8 KOs), who was in attendance inside the “bubble” on Saturday and has expressed interest in taking on Valdez. Top Rank president Todd DuBoef said he would love to set up a fight between the two undefeated junior lightweights.
“I want to take this belt home, and I’m happy for that. Any champion out there … I heard Shakur Stevenson wants to fight,” Valdez said. “Let’s do it. I just want to keep on fighting and give the fans what they want.”
The 20-year-old Mexican American lightweight boxer, Ryan Garcia‘s younger brother, stayed unbeaten with a hard-fought majority decision victory over Rene Marquez at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Saturday.
Garcia won the bout by scores of 38-38, 39-37 and 39-37.
Garcia (5-0, 2 KOs), had a more difficult time than anticipated against Marquez (5-5, 2 KOs). Marquez kept coming forward, landing body punches and throwing his right hand every time he had Garcia close. Garcia, 20, was able to land more punches in Round 3, but finished the fight fatigued — a product of Marquez’s body attack.
According to CompuBox data, Garcia landed 48 of 161 total punches, while Marquez, 31, was able to land only 30 of 185. Garcia also connected on 43 of his power punches, while Marquez landed only 22.
The 25-year-old Mexican professional boxer came out of the gate fast and never relented, battering Ramses Agaton for four-plus minutes on his way to a one-sided, second-round TKO victory.
Curiel (9-0, 7 KOs) focused on the body early on, and a left hook to the liver buckled Agaton, who fell to his knee in frustration.
The fight appeared to be on the brink of a stoppage at the end of Round 1 after a flurry of punches against the ropes, but Agaton (22-13-3, 12 KOs) lasted long enough to hear the bell at the end of the round.
The aggression didn’t stop with the start of Round 2, though, as a perpetual barrage of right hooks and left uppercuts from Curiel landed consistently. Agaton, whose right eye swelled shut, was unable to protect himself and his corner threw in the towel at 1:16.
According to CompuBox data, Curiel outlanded Agaton 43-10 despite throwing virtually the same number of punches (108 for Curiel, 107 for Agaton).
The 30-year-old Mexican professional boxer, the sport’s biggest superstar, put on a dominant display on Saturday night to end the 2020 major fight slate, cruising to a unanimous decision win over previously undefeated champion Callum Smith and winning the WBA, WBC and The Ring magazine super middleweight titles.
The scorecards read 119-109, 119-109 and 117-111, all for Alvarez.
In the process, Alvarez became the first unified champion from Mexico in super middleweight history.
In front of 15,000 fans (20% capacity) at the San Antonio Alamodome, Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 KOs) stalked Smith (27-1, 19 KOs), punishing him with an array of consistent jabs, uppercuts and hooks for 12 rounds.
“I’m the best in the world,” Alvarez said on the DAZN broadcast via an interpreter. “In the first round, I tried to see what he brings, the skills or whatever, but like you can see, I showed what I am.”
By the later rounds, the intrigue of the fight shifted from who would win to whether Smith would survive Alvarez’s devastating blows and go the distance.
The 6-foot-3 Smith had a 7-inch height advantage and an 8-inch reach advantage over the 5-foot-8 Alvarez. But it didn’t matter, as Alvarez was the big bully, eliminating the distance that Smith prefers and consistently pounding punches off the British boxer’s head and body.
“He was the better fighter tonight,” Smith said. “He’s smart. He’s clever. He sets you little traps and keeps you thinking. Before you know it, he’s closing the ground. He’s a good fighter, but I’m just a little disappointed with myself. His jab was really good. It surprised me a little bit. His defense was really good.”
Alvarez has now defeated two Smith brothers — knocking out older brother Liam Smith as a junior middleweight in 2016 and defeating Callum Smith on Saturday.
Alvarez — universally considered one of the top two pound-for-pound boxers in the world, boxing’s best-selling fighter, and already a four-division champion — now has won The Ring magazine title in three different weight classes.
He landed 43% of his punches and 57% of his power punches on Saturday, per CompuBox, in a complete performance in which his defense also shined. Smith landed only 18% of his punches and 24% of his power punches.
It was Alvarez’s first fight since parting ways with Golden Boy Promotions and DAZN after contractual disputes, and he returned to the ring for the first time in 13 months as his own promoter with little in-ring rust.
“I’M BACK!” he wrote as part of a Twitter post early Sunday morning.
Oscar Valdez has earned his shot at another world title…
The 28-year-old Mexican former featherweight world titlist made a successful move up to the junior lightweight division on Saturday night to earn a shot at a world title in a very tough fight.
Valdez survived a second-round knockdown and some shaky moments, but stopped Adam Lopez in the seventh round of their 130-pound world title elimination bout in the main event of the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+ card inside The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitanof Las Vegas.
Valdez was supposed to face Adrian Gutierrez, but he showed up at Friday’s weigh-in at a shocking 141 pounds, 11 over the contract weight.
Lopez was supposed to face Luis Coriain a 10-round preliminary bout at featherweight, but with Gutierrez so heavy, Top Rank offered Lopez the opportunity to face Valdez, whom he has known for years and wanted to fight. Lopez consulted with trainer Buddy McGirt and agreed to the new assignment and a bigger paycheck.
Lopez (13-2, 6 KOs) gave a tremendous effort and had his moments, but Valdez (27-0, 21 KOs), a two-time Olympian from Mexico, drew on his vast in-ring advantage.
“My experience made me win the fight,” Valdez said. “I have a great amateur background and a lot more experience than him, and I think that’s what made me win the fight. He’s a great fighter, but I think my experience made me win.”
The victory propelled Valdez, who earned $300,000 to Lopez’s $75,000, into a mandatory shot against countryman Miguel Berchelt, who was all smiles in the ring after the fight when he and Valdez embraced.
Lopez looked like he might pull the upset against Valdez when he connected with a clean left hook to the chin that knocked him down with about 50 seconds to go in the second round. Valdez, who hit the mat awkwardly, never saw the shot coming and looked a little unsteady when he got to his feet, but he made it through the round without taking too much more damage.
“I was very surprised [by the knockdown],” Valdez said. “I take my hat off to Adam Lopez. He’s a great fighter, great warrior, just like his father [the late Hector Lopez] was. I just got hit. This is boxing. I prepared myself for two, three months for Gutierrez. Got a new opponent, but that’s no excuse. This kid is a warrior.”
According to CompuBox statistics, Valdez landed 91 of 330 punches (28%) and Lopez connected with 92 of 436 blows (21%). Although Valdez had some problems, he closed the show by outlanding Lopez 21-7 in power shots in the seventh round.
“I would love a rematch with Oscar. He’s a true fighter,” Lopez said. “I’m not a 130-pounder, but I’m a real fighter as well, so I’ll take on anybody, anywhere. Let’s get a rematch. I’m glad people know who I am now. I can fight. People love my style. This is what I do. It’s in my blood.”
Indeed boxing is in his blood. His father, the late Hector Lopez, was a 1990s lightweight and junior welterweight contender and 1984 Olympic silver medalist for Mexico. He died at age 44 in 2011.
Valdez, who was in his third fight since switching trainers to Eddy Reynoso— who also trains Canelo Alvarez— made six featherweight title defenses before vacating his 126-pound belt in early August to move up in weight. With Lopez vanquished, Valdez will next get a shot at Berchelt (37-1, 33 KOs), 28, who has made six title defenses and is generally considered the No. 1 fighter in the world at 130 pounds.
“Miguel Berchelt is a true champion inside the ring and outside the ring,” Valdez said. “The fans love him. He’s a champion. That’s the one I want to fight. He has that WBC belt, and he’s trying to take it back home.
Emanuel Navarrete is celebrating Mexico’s Independence Day with a W…
The 24-year-old Mexican professional boxer, the junior featherweight world titlist, retained his belt for the second time in a month after stopping Juan Miguel Elorde in the fourth round on Saturday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Fighting in the Top Rank Boxing on ESPN+co-feature, Navarrete took the fight on short notice for the opportunity to fight on Mexican Independence Dayweekend, and he took care of Elorde in fine fashion.
Navarrete (29-1, 25 KOs), who retained his 122-pound world title for the third time — each defense since May — had a slow first round, then unloaded repeatedly on Elorde, scoring a knockdown in the third round and eventually forcing the stoppage.
“I’m happy because I think I put on a great performance,” Navarrete said through a translator. “Fortunately, my opponent is OK, and I came out here to put on a show. I hope the fans enjoyed it on my very first Las Vegas show on Mexican Independence Day weekend. ‘Vaquero‘ Navarrete is here to stay.”
Navarrete was fighting less than a month after his last defense. On August 17, Navarrete headlined a Top Rankcard in Los Angeles and retained his title by third-round knockout of Francisco De Vaca. In the ring after the fight, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, wanting to put a fight involving a Mexican world titleholder on Fury’s undercard on the Mexican holiday weekend, asked Navarrete if he wanted to come back a month later, and Navarrete gleefully accepted.
Elorde had a good first round, landing a series of sharp punches; but Navarrete came back strong in the second round, as he got his potent left hook going and never let up.
Navarrete stopped Elorde in his tracks with a clean right hand in the third round and continued to attack him. Moments later, Navarrete rocked Elorde with a thudding left hand to the face that might have broken Elorde’s nose. Navarrete was in total control by the end of the round when he drilled Elorde into the ropes with a left and a right that counted as a knockdown because the ropes held him up.
Referee Russell Moratook a long look at Elorde in the corner after the third round, but the fight was allowed to continue. However, Navarrete hurt his opponent early in the round with a tremendous right hand that buckled him, and Mora jumped in and waved it off at 26 seconds.
“The most important thing here was that it was a good performance for me,” Navarrete said. “I think the referee did the right thing. He’s going to go home to his family and everything is going to be OK. It was a good performance on my behalf, and he gave what he could. At the end of the day, I came away with the hard-fought victory.”
According to CompuBox, Navarrete landed 88 of 220 punches (40%), and Elorde landed just 28 of 101 (28%).Elorde (28-2, 15 KOs), 32, of the Philippines — who is the grandson of Filipino legend and International Boxing Hall of Famer Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, the longtime 1960s junior lightweight world champion — also happily accepted the fight on three weeks’ notice. He
Jose Zepedahas scored the biggest win of his career…
The 34-year-old Mexican American professional boxer and junior welterweight contender earned a unanimous decision against former lightweight and junior lightweight world titlist Jose “Sniper” Pedraza, who was moving up to 140 pounds.
Zepeda, a southpaw, outworked and outfought Pedraza in an entertaining fight and won 97-93 on all three scorecards.
“It’s probably one of the best days of my life. It’s Mexican Independence Day. I was giving everything for Mexico,” Zepeda said. “I guess persistence (was the key to victory). The people here were giving me excitement to go get him, to go after this guy. We knew that he was a hell of a boxer.”
Both of Zepeda’s losses came in world title bouts, a second-round stoppage due to a shoulder injury for a vacant lightweight belt to Terry Flanagan in 2015 and a disputed majority decision to Jose Ramirezfor a junior welterweight title in February. But with a strong performance against Pedraza (26-3, 13 KOs), 30, of Puerto Rico, Zepeda has put himself back in the title hunt and called for a rematch with Ramirez.
“There were talks that maybe the winner of this fight would go after Ramirez,” Zepeda said. “For me, the rematch, I would like that. It was a very close fight. A lot of people thought I won, a lot of people thought he won. I would love a rematch. I think the people would love it, too.”
It took a couple of rounds for the fight to settle into a rhythm, with Pedraza coming forward and Zepeda (31-2, 25 KOs),, looking to counter and relying heavily on his jab.
Zepeda’s rapid-fire left hands landed often in the fifth round, but his jab also proved difficult for Pedraza to handle. In the sixth round, Pedraza began to go more to the body and landed a few shots that were audible at ringside, but Zepeda took the shots well and continued to fire jabs down the middle as Pedraza’s face began to show the wear from the shots.
Pedraza, his right eye closing and perhaps believing he was down, came out strong in the eighth round and landed a hard left hand in the opening seconds and then began to stick his jab in Zepeda’s face over and over, forcing him to back up.
According to CompuBox statistics, Zepeda landed 167 of 470 punches (36 percent) and Pedraza connected with 141 of 439 blows (32 percent).
Pedraza remained aggressive in the 10th round and cut Zepeda over his left eye in the best action round of the fight, one that closed with them in a toe-to-toe exchange.
Pedraza dropped to 1-2 in his past three fights, having lost his lightweight belt by decision to Vasiliy Lomachenko in a unification fight in December before bouncing back with a ninth-round knockout of Antonio Lozadain May, before he elected to move up to junior welterweight.
“It was a very good fight. He looked very well, and I just couldn’t do any of the things I wanted to do,” Pedraza said. “Nothing came out the way I wanted. The instruction from my corner was to throw more punches, but nothing was going my way.
“This was my debut at 140. I felt good. I will meet with my team to evaluate if we stay at 140, or if we move down in weight.”
Alvarez was 115-113 on two judges’ scoreboards with the third scoring the fight 116-112. He defeated Golovkin in 2018 via a controversial majority decision and their first fight in 2017 ended in a split draw.
