Alexander-Martinez & Selby-Montiel start time, where to watch

By Boxing News - 10/14/2015 - Comments

alexander556By Dan Ambrose: Former IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander (26-3, 14 KOs) is in a do-or-die fight tonight against journeyman level fighter Aaron Martinez (19-4-1, 4 KOs) in a fight on Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN from the Gila River Arena, in Glendale, Arizona. Alexander, 28, has seen his career go down the tubes lately with defeats against Shawn Porter and Amir Khan. Alexander has lost two out of his last three fights, and he’s now in the position where he cannot afford another defeat if he wants to keep his top 15 ranking in the 147lb division.

Start time for Alexander vs. Martinez & Selby vs. Montiel – 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.

Where to watch? Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN in United States.

A lot of things have changed in Alexander’s career. He’s gone from being the IBF welterweight champion in 2013, and seen as one of the best fighters in the division, to that of just a fringe contender on the verge of losing his top 15 rankings entirely. Alexander’s losses to Porter and Khan were so one-sided that it suggests that he might not ever be able to regain the status that he once held. Alexander’s lack of punching power could doom him to gate keeper type status if he chooses to stay at welterweight and not move back down to 140, where he once held titles.

Alexander was chased out of the light welterweight division in 2011, after losing to Tim Bradley by a 10th round stoppage. Alexander appeared to quit in that fight after getting head-butted. Alexander took too much time to complain about the pain from the head-butt, and this caused the referee to stop the contest. To some boxing fans, they felt that Alexander just plain quit.

Martinez, 33, never held a world title before, and he was never seen as a world level type of guy. But he’s seen his career go downhill like Alexander with his recent losses to Robert Guerrero and Josesito Lopez. Martinez was arguably robbed in his loss to Guerrero last June in losing a controversial 10 round split decision at the StubHub Center in Carson, California.

A win for Martinez would be a huge plus for his career. It would possibly get him a top 15 ranking, and get him bigger fights in the future. A win over Alexander doesn’t do quite as much because this fight is seen as a mismatch anyway. Alexander mainly keeps his career alive with a win over Martinez. For Alexander to get back to the top, he’s going to need to defeat someone in the class of Porter, Khan, Errol Spence or Keith Thurman. I don’t think he can do that though.

YouTube video

During Tuesday’s weigh-in, Alexander weighed in at 146.9 pounds. Martinez weighed 147.1.

In the co-feature bout, IBF featherweight champion Lee Selby (21-1, 8 KOs) has a chance to end the career of 36-year-old former three division world champion Fernando Montiel (54-4-2, 39 KOs). Montiel hasn’t beaten a big name in five years since his win over Rafael Conception back in July 2010. Since then, Montiel has lost to Nonito Donaire and Victor Terrazas. Montiel has won his last eight fights, but he’s done it against less than stellar opposition. Montiel has been fighting for 19 years as a pro, and he’s clearly to be finished off.

Selby is coming off of an impressive 8th round stoppage win over IBF featherweight champion Evgeny Gradovich.

At 5’4”, Montiel is going to have a lot of problems dealing with the 5’9” Selby’s five inch height advantage in this fight. Montiel has the superior punching power and experience, but it won’t help him if he can’t get near enough to Selby to land anything. This is going to be a near impossible fight for Montiel to win.



Comments are closed.