By Allan Fox: Devon Alexander (26-2, 14 KO’s) was pleased with his tougher than expected 10 round unanimous decision win over Jesus Soto Karass (28-10-3, 18 KO’s) at the StubHub Center, in Carson, California. Alexander, 27, broke out of his old defensive style of fighting, and was willing to exchange with the hard hitting 31-year-old Soto Karass to show boxing fans that he’s come back from his loss to Shawn Porter in his previous fight.
To his credit, Alexander stood in the pocket for much of the fight and traded bombs with Soto Karass in earning a hard fought 10 round decision. Even Soto Karass was surprised that Alexander was willing to fight his fight, because the last thing he expected was for him to take shots in order to give them last night.
Alexander came out on top by the scores 97-93, 99-91, and 99-91. The scores don’t give justice to how competitive the fight was, because it was a lot more interesting to watch than what the scores would have you believe. In the last part of the 9th, and all of the 10th, both guys went all out in fighting in a toe-to-toe war in one of the most exciting fights of the year. The main event between Robert Guerrero and Yoshihiro Kamegai was arguably a little more exciting to watch, but not by much.
“I was trying to focus on the body, that was the plan, but I hurt my hand in the fifth round,” Soto Karass said. “Alexander was very fast. He was hard to hit and he has good skills. I was surprised he decided to hang in there with me and exchange.’’
Soto Karass showed that he still has a lot left in the tank even after the many wars he’s been involved with in the ring. When matched against the right opponents who come to fight, Soto Karass can put up a good fight. He doesn’t do well against fighters that move and play hit and run like Keith Thurman did in beating him last December, but he does quite well if an opponent is there to be hit.
“Overall I’m happy with my performance,’’ Alexander said. “I’m my own worst critique, I wanted to shut him out. But he was a tough, tough competitor. I want to thank God, Al Haymon, my family and coach. We got it done St. Louis. Soto Karass keeps coming, he’s a tough competitor. I wanted to pace myself and see my punches more, instead of going out there and missing shots. I’m a good fighter with skills and I will be the best one day, I promise you.”
Soto Karass was missing shots, but he was also landing a lot too. Alexander is a good fighter, but he’s still got a long ways to go before he can match up against guys like Shawn Porter, Manny Pacquiao, Thurman and Floyd Mayweather Jr. His performance last night against Soto Karass showed that he still has a lot of work to do before he’s ready to try and avenge his loss to Porter, because if it had been him in the ring with him last night instead of Soto Karass, he would have likely struggled badly.
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