By Tyson Bruce
The million-dollar question on everyone’s mind was whether Alvarez would be the same fighter after his mentally scarring loss to Floyd Mayweather last year. Many experts came out this week predicting an Angulo victory. Was Alvarez just a media creation or is Floyd Mayweather just that good? The early answer is that Canelo is back and perhaps better than ever. He dished out an absolutely one sided beat down against the much slower Angulo.
Photo: Getty
The million-dollar question on everyone’s mind was whether Alvarez would be the same fighter after his mentally scarring loss to Floyd Mayweather last year. Many experts came out this week predicting an Angulo victory. Was Alvarez just a media creation or is Floyd Mayweather just that good? The early answer is that Canelo is back and perhaps better than ever. He dished out an absolutely one sided beat down against the much slower Angulo.
Angulo, 31, was considered a dangerous opponent largely because of his near victory against the talented Erislandy Lara, who many consider the class of the division. Angulo, however, was never in this fight. Canelo showed impressive hand speed and clever tactics that included smothering Angulo on the inside, nullifying the left hook and off setting Angulo’s pressure by forcing him onto the back foot.
Alvarez, usually a slow starter, began the fight with a bang as he waded into Angulo with heavy power shots and beautiful multi-punch combinations. In the second round Alvarez landed a left hook to the body that appeared to stun Angulo. Perhaps Canelo learned from the Lara fight that Angulo needs forward momentum to create offense, so Alvarez either turned Angulo or pushed him back. As a result, Angulo was never able to gain momentum and was continually on the receiving end of Alvarez’s varied offensive attack.
The beat down continued into the middle rounds, as Canelo alternated between outslugging Angulo in the middle of the ring or out-boxing him from range. The speed difference was quite simply astonishing. Canelo wowed the crowed in round five when he landed a rousing four-punch combination. Any time that Angulo would gain some forward momentum Alvarez would blunt his attack with a short powerful jab.
After looking slightly tired in rounds six and seven Alvarez appeared rejuvenated in the eighth round when he bated Angulo in against the ropes, using deft head movement to render Angulo’s aggression useless. Whenever Angulo managed to score it was generally with the right hand and not the left hook—traditionally his most powerful punch. After having some fun and being slightly reckless in the eighth, Canelo went back to dishing out a more methodical beating in round nine, which was punctuated with a series of massive left hooks.
Virgil Hunter warned Angulo that he had one more round to show him something or he would stop the fight. It was clearly getting to the point where the possibility of victory was so remote that letting it go any further would be verging on sadistic. At the very start of the tenth round Alvarez fainted with the right hand and came up with a head snapping left uppercut that caused referee Tony Weeks to jump in and stop the fight. It wasn’t that Angulo couldn’t defend himself but simply that he’d just taken enough punishment to call it a day.
Not surprisingly the crowed booed the decision but realistically the end was near and Angulo didn’t have a hope in hell of winning the fight. Ridiculously, Angulo’s trainer Virgil Hunter, despite just threatening to stop the fight, vocally protested the stoppage. So, the built in excuse will be that Canelo was tiring and Angulo was mounting a rally—both of which are completely delusional. Angulo didn’t win a round and was being battered at a 64% clip of power punches by the younger Alvarez. Additionally, both of Angulo’s eyes were badly swollen and Canelo was virtually unmarked. Alvarez improved his record to 43-1-1-(31), while Angulo slumped to 22-4-0-(18).
Undercard:
WBC Junior Featherweight champion Leo Santa Cruz, 27-0-1-(15), cruised to a dominant unanimous decision over longtime contender and former world champion Cristian Mijares, 49-8-2-(24). Cruz used his typical high volume punch output and vicious body attack to comprehensively beat down of the aging Mijares. Despite being cut from an accidental head butt in round four Cruz was simply too big and powerful of a force for Mijares to compete with. The cut and Mijare’s considerable ring savvy was probably the only reason he heard the final bell. Scores were 119-109, 120-108, 120-108.
In a one-sided but highly entertaining bout, Jorge Linares, 36-3-0-(23), won a ten round unanimous decision over the iron-jawed Nihito Arakawa, 24-4-1-(16). If it weren’t for his paper-thin skin and weak chin it’s highly possible that Jorge Linares would be a pound for pound star because his skills are that good. Linares used his dazzling hand speed and ring generalship to generally outbox the unholy tough and determined Arakawa. Typically, an easy fight was made difficult when Linares suffered a massive gash over his right eye and was forced into a more physical fight in the last two rounds. Scores were 98-92, 100-90, and 100-90. Could Figueroa be next?
In a mild upset Sergio Thompson, 29-3-0-(26) came in on short notice to out slug Ricardo Alvarez, 23-3-3-(13), the older brother of Canelo. Thompson used his greater experience and superior punching power to bully Alvarez, almost knocking him out in the first and eighth rounds. Scores were 95-93, 95-93 and 97-91 in what was a thoroughly entertaining and high contact affair.