Former World Boxing Organization light welterweight champion DeMarcus ‘Chop Chop’ Corley (31-7-1, 17 KOs) goes up against talented undefeated prospect Devon Alexander (13-0, 8 KOs) on the undercard of Roy Jones Jr. vs. Felix Trinidad at Madison Square Garden, in New York City, New York. Corley, 33, is disparately in the need of a win, having lost his last three fights in a row. However, it remains unlikely that Corley will come out on top in this one, as he seems to be a disk served up for prospect Alexander, 20, to look good against.
Corley literally has his back against the wall at this stage in his career, for he’s dropped out of the top 15 with his latest series of losses. It’s hard to believe that only five years ago, in 2003, Corley was 27-1, and then the WBO champion, a title which he defended twice before losing it to Zab Judah by 12-round split decision in July 2003. Following that loss, Corley’s career seemed unravel, as he lost to Floyd Mayweather Jr., Miguel Cotto, Junior Witter, Jose Alfaro and then most recently to a fighter named Dairo Esalas. All total, Corley has lost six out of his last nine bouts, with four of the losses coming against excellent competition. It seems that Corley didn’t help himself by facing Mayweather immediately after he lost to Judah.
In hindsight, I’m sure that Corley had wished he’d have taken on an easier opponent, someone that he could have used to build up his confidence again after the Judah bout. However, I suppose the appeal of fighting Mayweather in the World Boxing Council eliminator was too good to pass up for Corley. Whatever the case, those two fights seem to be the start of the downfall for Corley, and he’s been rarely successful ever since that time. Though he’s been beaten by Cotto, Witter and Mayweather, he was competitive with each of them, hurting them with single left hooks to the head.
In each case, if Corley had been able to put together a string of well-aimed punches, he most surely would have stopped Mayweather and Cotto. Unfortunately, Corley seems to get wild when he hurts someone, throwing punches without any thought and quickly punching himself out. Even against the crafty Witter, Corley fought him tough, and was able to land his straight left hand frequnetly against the normally hard to hit Witter. At 33, Corley, a southpaw, still have awesome power, but his chin and stamina aren’t quite they used to be. Especially Corley’s chin, which let him down against both Cotto and Alfaro. Regrettably, I don’t see Corley’s chin getting better at his age, and it will most definitely get tested by the speedy, hard-hitting Alexander.
All I can say is, they must have offered Corley a lot of money to take on a prospect as good as Alexander, because this guy looks to have the talent to be a future champion. Alexander, also a southpaw, and a former 2004 United States Amateur Light Welterweight champion. He has a complete arsenal of punches – uppercuts, hooks, great left hand, and knockout power – and is a classic boxer/puncher.
In terms of overall ability, Alexander is far ahead of the class in the junior welterweight division, though he’s still starting out. He’s coming into the fight with a string of five consecutive knockouts, albeit against lower level competition. His speed, youth and power will likely give Corley big problems, and unless Corley can jump on him immediately, this will likely be over by 6th round with Alexander winning by KO.