Canelo Alvarez KOs Sergey Kovalev; Ryan Garcia crushes Romero Duno – Live Results

By Boxing News - 11/03/2019 - Comments

By Mark Eisner: Saul Canelo Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KOs) captured his 4th division world title in an outstanding fashion in knocking out WBO light heavyweight champion Sergey ‘Krusher’ Kovalev (34-4-1, 29 KOs) in the 11th round on Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In a fight that looked to be even going into the 11th, Canelo caught Kovalev with a big left hook that badly hurt him. Canelo then followed up with a hard right hand that flattened him. The referee Russell Mora immediately stopped the contest. The official time of the stoppage was at 2:15 of round 11.

At the time of the stoppage, Canelo was ahead on the scorecards by the following scores: 96-94, 96-94, and 95-95. Boxing News 24 had it even at 95-95. Canelo was largely getting out-boxed by Kovalev, and eating a lot of jabs. Although Canelo started landing a handful of power shots in the second half of the fight, he was still getting hit a lot more by Kovalev’s jabs.

In round 8, Kovalev really worked Canelo over, and had him on the run. That was how Kovalev used to he was younger, but he’s not the same fighter at 36 that he once was.

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Canelo NOT interested in Golovkin trilogy match

When asked if he would like to fight Gennadiy Golovkin in a trilogy fight, Canelo said, “He doesn’t represent a challenge, but if it makes business sense then maybe.”

Canelo said staying at 175 is a possibility, but the plans were for him to move back down to 160 or 168 or his next fight. If Canelo stays at 175, he’ll have intense pressure to fight IBF/WBC light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev (15-0, 15 KOs) and that’s a MUCH tougher opponent than Kovalev. Beterbiev has a good chin, excellent inside skills, and he’s a huge puncher. Unlike Kovalev, Beterbiev wouldn’t hold back with his right hand power shots for fear of getting hit to the body. That would be a really hard for Canelo, and there’s a good chance he would get knocked out by the unbeaten Beterbiev.

Ryan Garcia destroys Romero Duno

Unbeaten lightweight Ryan Garcia (19-0, 16 KOs) made quick work of #4 WBO Romero Duno (21-2, 16 KOs) in destroying him by a 1st round knockout in the co-feature bout on the Saul Canelo Alvarez vs. Sergey Kovalev card.

Garcia, 21, caught Duno with a left hook that dropped him hard. Referee Tony Weeks then quickly stopped the fight after seeing how badly hurt Duno was. The official time of the stoppage was at 1:38 of round one. Duno was not going to be able to make it back to his feet to to continue fighting given how hurt he was.

Early on in the round, Garcia measured the shorter 5’7″ Duno by holding out his left hand and putting holding it on his head for two or three seconds. Referee Tony Weeks didn’t warn Garcia about this illegal move, as fighters aren’t supposed to be able to do that. Garcia was able to land a couple of hard right hands using this tactic.

Ryan Garcia makes a statement

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Duno started putting a lot of pressure on Garcia after that, and it looked like it was going to be an interesting fight. However, caught Duno with a perfect hook to the head that dropped him on his backside. Duno tried to get back up, but he was too hurt to continue.

WBC lightweight champion Devin Haney predicted that Garcia would easily beat Duno before the match. Haney had sparred with Duno in the lead up to this fight, and he saw him as too slow to give Garcia any problems. He pointed out that Golden Boy Promotions had done a good job of picking Duno as Garcia’s opponent.

Overall, it was a good win for Ryan Garcia tonight. He showed excellent punching power and hand speed in destroying a tough fighter that had never been knocked out before. However, Garcia will need to start stepping it up against the elite in the lightweight division at some point if he wants to face guys like Haney before they move up.

Haney is already saying he plans on moving up to 140 after 2020. He says he wants to move up in weight after two fights next year. Likewise, Tank Davis says he wants to go up to 140 to challenge IBF/WBA light welterweight champion Josh Taylor. If Davis wins that fight, he’ll likely stay in that weight class to defend the belt against all comers.

It’ll be interesting to see how long Golden Boy Promotions will take before they step Ryan up against the better fighters in the lightweight division. Right now, it’s still too early to tell whether Garcia will pan out. He’s been matched selectively since he turned pro, and he’s not been stepped up like the 20-year-old Haney.

Seniesa Estrada decisions Marlen Esparza

Female boxer Seniesa Estrada (18-0, 7 KOs) defeated Marlen Esparza (7-1, 1 KOs) by a 9th round technical decision to capture the vacant Interim WBA Flyweight title.

The fight was halted at the end of the 9th round due to Esparza having been cut on the forehead from a clash of heads earlier in the fight in round 5.  The judges’ scores were 90-80, 89-82, and 88-83. It was an entertaining fight for the first four rounds, but Esparza gassed out quickly and wasn’t able to keep up with the fast pace from Estrada.

Blair Cobbs TKOs Carlos Ortiz Cervantes

Welterweight prospect Blair Cobbs (13-0-1, 9 KOs) had a harder time than expected in defeating Carlos Ortiz Cervantes (11-5, 11 KOs) by a 6th round technical knockout. Cobbs was shockingly dropped in round one, and took heavy shots from the journeyman Ortiz in rounds 2, 3 and 5. The tall 5’10 1/2″ Cobbs came back in the 6th to drop Ortiz. After the round ended, Ortiz opted not to come out for the 7th. The time of the stoppage was at 3:00 of round six.

Evan Holyfield stops Nick Winstead

Junior middleweight prospect Evan Holyfield (1-0, 1 KOs) won his pro debut in stopping Nick Winstead (0-2) in the 1st round.

Evan, the 22-year-old son of former two division world champion Evander Holyfield, blasted Winstead out quickly in just 16 seconds of round 1. Holyfield will need to face better opposition than this for him to improve. It’ll be interesting to see how the young Holyfield progresses in his career.

Evan didn’t have the amateur background that his father Evander had in turn professional, and he’s a lot thinner than him. Evander initially fought at light heavyweight, and then moved up to cruiserweight shortly thereafter.

Evander also started his pro career at 22 after winning a bronze medal in the 1984 Olympics. He likely would have captured a gold medal if not for being disqualified in the 2nd round of his match against New Zealand’s Kevin Barry. Holyfield hit Barry on the break, and the referee disqualified him in lightning fashion.

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Bakhram Murtazaliev defeats Jorge Fortea

In a superb performance, undefeated light middleweight contender Bakhram Murtazaliev (17-0, 13 KOs) defeated Jorge Fortea (20-2-1 6 KOs) by a one-sided 10 round unanimous decision. The scores were 120-108, 119-109, and 118-110. Boxing News 24 scored it for the 26-year-old Russian talent Murtazaliev by a 119-109 score. In round 2, Fortea was cut. That was a product of all the heavy shots that Murtazaliev had landed.

Tristan Kalkreuth decisions Twon Smith

Undefeated cruiserweight prospect Tristan Kalkreuth (3-0, 2 KOs) out-boxed Twon Smith (3-2, 2 KOs) in beating him by a four round unanimous decision. The scores were 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37.

Meiirim Nursultanov dominates Cristian Olivas

Undefeated middleweight prospect Meiirim Nursultanov (13-0, 8 KOs) beat Cristian Olivas (16-6, 13 KOs) by a one-sided 10 round unanimous decision. The scores were 100-90, 100-90 and 100-90.

Image: Canelo Alvarez KOs Sergey Kovalev; Ryan Garcia crushes Romero Duno - Live Results

Image: Canelo Alvarez KOs Sergey Kovalev; Ryan Garcia crushes Romero Duno - Live Results

Image: Canelo Alvarez KOs Sergey Kovalev; Ryan Garcia crushes Romero Duno - Live Results

Image: Canelo Alvarez KOs Sergey Kovalev; Ryan Garcia crushes Romero Duno - Live Results

Image: Canelo Alvarez KOs Sergey Kovalev; Ryan Garcia crushes Romero Duno - Live Results