HBO and Golden Boy made their way to The Honda Center in Anaheim, CA, Saturday night. HBO was televising and the main event was the young, really young (20 yrs) Mexican sensation Saul Alvarez (35-0-1, 26 KO’s) fighting Ricky Hatton’s bro Matthew Hatton (41-4-2, (16 KO’s). The co-main event saw the veteran Daniel Ponce De Leon (41-2, 34 KO’s) face off against another youngster (21 yrs) Adrien Broner (19-0, 16 KO’s). The under card featured some bounce back fights with come backing James Kirkland and Daniel Jacobs, 2 of Golden Boy’s stars.
The first fight was Super Middleweight James Kirkland, now 26-0, 23KO’s on the comeback trail. Don’t call it a comeback, he destroyed an overmatched Ashandi Gibbs in about 30 seconds of round 1. No contest on this one. Welcome back James.
Another Super Middleweight in Daniel Jacobs was up next, almost an hour later. This “fight” was not even a sparring session. Jacobs pulverized his opponent Robert Kliewer in one round viciously decking him face first on the canvas at 1:58. Jacobs, now 22-1, 19 KO’s, probably got hit harder preparing for this fight than he did in the ring.
On to 7:30 and the co-main event. While it’s not a sellout, there are over 11,000 fans and that says a lot for the future of Alvarez. It is obviously a largely Mexican audience and they came to see “Canelo” (Cinnamon) Alvarez. Broner came out first to a loud chorus of boos from the crowd. Tough room if you’re not Latino. De Leon was greeted with cheers as he approached the ring looking to be the first to stop the unbeaten Broner. The fight was for the vacant WBO Inter-Continental Junior Lightweight title. This was a tough fight to score and De Leon had some nice body shots early on but Broner was much quicker and started to impose his will mid way through the fight. De Leon took an accidental head butt causing some bleeding in the final round and Broner triumphantly climbed the ring ropes as the fight ended to deafening boos. Not much in this one and the decision would be controversial either way. The crowd and Lederman had De Leon winning as he threw many more punches than Broner and the judges had it 96-94, 96-94 and 99-91 for the Cincinnati kid Adrien Broner. 96-94 may be plausible but what on earth was 99-91??? No way, not in this fight. De Leon was hoisted in the air in defeat to rousing cheers from the patrons. Not a popular decision in this house and that is the understatement of the night. On to the main event.
Matthew Hatton was first in the ring and the crowd waited for “Canelo”. Alvarez made his way next with a big smile on his face. He is a big deal with his fans and this could be a big step. Alvarez did come in over the weight limit on Friday and had to fork over part of his purse for it. A lot is on the line for both fighters in this contest.
Round 1 and the crowd is lathered up and ready for battle. Hatton slammed gloves with Alvarez and we are ready to go. Alvarez found a home for left hooks right away in the first. Several times he moved Hatton against the ropes with big shots . Canelo controlled round 1 top to bottom with great movement and clean punching. Hatton is not a power puncher and that is bad news against Canelo. The 2nd was more of the same for Canelo, he is bigger, stronger and quicker than Hatton and it shows. After 2, it seemed like a stretch that Hatton would make it 12. Not much of note in the 3rd. Alvarez controls distance very well in this battle and just looks better at this juncture. Hatton got punished in the 4th. Alvarez peppered him to the head and body much to the crowds delight. By the 5th Hatton was already bleeding and it didn’t get any better. Hatton stayed on the outside and allowed Alvarez to land body and head shots at will. It’s all Canelo so far. The 6th it continued to rain Canelo on Hatton and in the 7th after a clinch Hatton went to a knee in response to a low blow. Referee Lou Moret deducted a point from Alvarez and the crowd wasn’t buying it. It only served to energize Alvarez and he put it on Hatton to close the 7th. Hatton looked hurt and tired at the end of the round and the beating was showing. Hatton continued to be a punching bag in the 8th and Alvarez had the distance and skill to land hard shots to the head and body. Hatton had guts and continued to try but he paid for it over and over. Alvarez oozed confidence in the 9th, allowing Hatton to hit him on the ropes. Hatton is brave and was still throwing punches but Alvarez had all the answers. In the 10th it got strange, Hatton and Alvarez exchanged some blows and Hatton dropped to a knee again. Moret told him to get up and as he did Alvarez again beat him silly. Hatton hung in there for the 11th and 12th but the outcome was a foregone conclusion. The judges had it 119-108 across the board. Alvarez is the real deal and now he is a champion. He will be a fan favorite for boxing fans and Mexicans for years to come.
All Photos by Tom Hogan/Hoganphotos
I’m just thinking though Canelo is getting a lot of exposure, more then a 20 year old boxer should this may later make him think he’s ready for fights that he isn’t experienced enough for. To face fighters like Cotto he needs to grow more as a fighter a lot of fixable holes in his game. Having this belt doesn’t help much either, Golden Boy is more concerned with his image and ticket sales but not his growth as a fighter by the fights he’s in and the exposure he’s getting people are forgetting he is 20 and wanting him to fight the big names where at the stage he’s at now will get beaten up. People like us are like ok he’s got a good record, he’s got a world title, now fight someone big. Smart thing for Canelo to do is vacate the belt and fight as often as he can against guys a lil above Hatton’s level on smaller stages then HBO and in about 2 years earn a title the right way through somebody who is just as deserving as he is and proving he is better. Thats how he’s going to live up to his hype sadly I feel by next year they will put him in a fight that he is not ready for and he will lose. I like Canelo and think he can do big things but they are building his image up faster then his skills can keep up with.
tijuana said it all. great points. and @ jonny-b i also think de leon won that fight. he went up on weight and did his thing. he was robbed of course broner is just another media CHAMPION. but he looked horrible against a way smaller de leon
I agree 100% with TijuanaBoxing. Canelo & Hatton had no business getting a title shot. The title was given to Canelo. He didn’t earn it. Here’s an idea for his first title defense. How about he face the winner of Cotto vs Mayorga ?? Or is Golden Boy going to protect their golden child with some bullshit opponent.
Like Lampley said, “Cinnamon has belt!”, he has talent, great future and he can sell tickets alright, he is also now the youngest Mexican to ever get a tittle at age 20, all of this sounds good on paper, but there are a few things I didn’t like about the fight:
1- They pretty much gave him that belt.
2- It was a “Catch Weight Championship fight!”
3- Mathew Hatton has done nothing to deserve a title shot at a weight class he has never fought in before, and Canelo hasn’t really beat any major fighter for him to deserve that title shot, but he is a very young and good prospect that needs to move up to in class to fight better opponents.
4- Even with his natural weight advantage, skills and youth compared to Hatton, he didn’t even try to make the contracted “Catch Weight”? come on!
I’m not liking what GB is doing with this kid, they know already he can sell tickets for someone his age, who has fought no body good yet, and they will “milk him” big time.
Now other than that, I do like what I see in Canelo, he has good qualities, and hopefully a good future but he still has a lot to learn, including basic head and body movement, he needs to be in with better opposition soon.
Hope to see the real future champion Canelo Alvarez in some good fights with good opponents maybe late this year or early next year.
I knew Canelo wouldn’t finish Hatton but he did beat him up every round as I thought he would and he’s a hell of a ticket seller. I like Canelo but coming in over the weight limit was kind of on the unprofessional side even though it was a catch-weight bout. De Leon in my opinion won the fight he was busier and landed some great body shots and that Broner kid was too hesitant and was trying to hard to be like a Mayweather type fighter and he did not impress.
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