http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02001/mayweather_2001373c.jpg
| Sep 17, 2011 |
WBC Welterweight Title |
Floyd Mayweather |
KO 4 |
Victor Ortiz |
Floyd Mayweather Jr. took the WBC welterweight title from Victor Ortiz last night, in one of the most highly controversial and implausible outcomes in recent memory. From the opening bell, Mayweather dominated the action with his trademark right hand leads and his legendary defense. Ortiz pressured the pound for pound great, but offered up little in terms of productive offense until the fourth round when Ortiz, sensing an opening, went on the offensive and put Mayweather into the corner with a volley of punches. Mayweather, slipped, ducked, and caught the majority of the punches thrown; however, he could not escape the intentional head butt delivered by Ortiz in a moment of ardor. Mayweather immediately recoiled from the infraction, and Joe Cortez admonished Ortiz by taking a point away for the offense. Then things took a major turn towards the bizarre, as Ortiz, overly apologetic, tried to hug Mayweather, and even kissed him on the cheek as a measure of his remorse. Just as the two were about to commence the action, Ortiz offered up one last repentant hug to Floyd, who responded with a left hook instead, stunning the champion, and everyone watching. Ortiz looked to Cortez for assistance, who was still busy tending to the timekeeper, and before any measure of intervention could be taken, Mayweather landed a straight right hand that snapped Ortiz’s head back, and dropped him flat on his backside. Cortez then stepped in to administer the count, and the fight was over. The crowd immediately started booing the outcome, and Mayweather in a post fight interview, accused HBO’s Larry Merchant of “not knowing sh#t about boxing” after Merchant questioned the legality of the knockout blow. Merchant, not to be outdone, responded, “If I were 50 years younger I would kick you’re a@s.”
In all, the bout transpired according to the plan predicted by many boxing experts and the bookmakers. Mayweather was far too quick, too sharp, and too good in the early going, and despite Ortiz turning up the pressure in round four, Mayweather still appeared well in control of the pace and action in the fight. In the end, while the outcome itself was a shame, and many fans were cheated from witnessing a potentially competitive fight, you cannot blame Mayweather for his actions, because Ortiz failed to adhere to boxing’s cardinal rule, “protect yourself at all times.”
| Sep 17, 2011 |
Jr. Welterweights |
Jessie Vargas |
W 10 |
Josesito Lopez |
On the night’s first undercard, Jessie Vargas and Josesito Lopez battled for ten tough rounds, with Vargas narrowly taking the decision by the slightest of margins. The veteran Lopez pushed the action for much of the bout, with Vargas moving and countering, throwing combinations, and trying to avoid pitched battles by staying mobile. Although Vargas was the busier fighter, throwing 851 punches to Lopez’s 509, his punches lacked the steam of Lopez, and although the overall number of punches landed favored Vargas by a margin of 167 to 122, Lopez made the fight close by being the aggressor and landing comparable power shot numbers (96 to Vargas’s 103). In the end, the young Vargas narrowly managed to keep his undefeated record intact, winning a split decision victory by scores of 94-99, 96-93, and 95-95.
| Sep 17, 2011 |
WBC Jr. Welterweight Title |
Erik Morales |
RTD 10 |
Pablo Cesar Cano |
Last minute replacement Pablo Cesar Cano took full advantage of the opportunity presented to him on Saturday night, and displayed extreme fortitude, despite a losing effort to future hall of famer Erik Morales. With Lucas Matthysse pulling out of the fight just weeks ago, relatively unknown Cesar Cano stepped in and proved himself more than worthy of the assignment, holding his own in a back and forth contest through ten hard fought rounds.
Cano came out in round one and made good use of his jab and lateral movement to keep the veteran Morales on the defensive and ineffective in mounting any offensive attacks. As the rounds drew on, however, Morales began catching the youngster with habitual right hands, which began to paint and distort Cano’s face. By round six, Cano was a bloodied mess, and both eyes showed evidence, through swelling, of Morales’ success in scoring effective head shots. Even though the scoring of the fight appeared to be in doubt up to the point of the bout’s conclusion, Cano’s condition was too much for the referee to allow to continue, and Morales was awarded the victory by way of a TKO stoppage just as the tenth round ended. The total punch stats confirmed the close nature of the fight, as Morales landed 214 out of 561(38%), and Cano landed 201 out of 652 (31%).
| Sep 17, 2011 |
WBC Jr. Middleweight Title |
Saul Alvarez |
|
Alfonso Gomez |
Mexican sensation Saul Alvarez retained his WBC Junior middleweight title last night with a … round TKO victory over a game and spirited Alfonso Gomez. Over the first half of the fight, Gomez pursued the champion and controlled much of the action as Alvarez cautiously countered and looked to turn Gomez’s aggression against him. Despite going down from a short jab in the first, Gomez managed to outwork, and even outmuscle the champion over the beginning and middle rounds, making the bout atypical for the young Alvarez. In round six, however, Alvarez caught Lopez with a series of shots, and then pursued him across the ring, landing uncontested shot after uncontested shot. While it appeared to many observers that Gomez was catching many of the shots on his gloves, the fact that he was not throwing back prompted referee Wayne Hedgpeth to stop the fight at 2:36 seconds of round six. The final punch stats favored Alvarez 103-86, and in terms of percentages, Alvarez proved the more accurate of the two, by a margin of 34% to 24%.
Other Notable Titlist and Contender Results From Around the World
(courtesy of boxrec.com)
