Saul "Canelo" Alvarez was victorious Saturday night as he scored an impressive ninth round knockout over Liverpool England's Liam "Beefy" Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Canelo scored knockdowns in round seven, eight, and later finished it in round nine with a crunching left hook to the body.
Canelo improves to 48-1-1, 34 KO's. Smith sufferes his first loss and goes to 23-1-1, 13 KO's.
Middleweight Willie “El Mongoose” Monroe, Jr. (20-2, 6 KOs) of Rochester, New York won a unanimous decision over “King” Gabriel Rosado (23-9, 13 KOs, 1 NC) of Philadelphia in a fight for the vacant WBO Intercontinental title in the co-main event at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas. Monroe was slick to start off as Rosado chased in the opening round. Continuing to show elusiveness and flash in round three Monroe had Rosado coming at him as he countered. Monroe stuck the jab in round four as Rosado continued to press.
In round five Rosado picked up the pace as he started to cut off the ring on the elusive Monroe. At the halfway point in round six Monroe countered as Rosado continued to be the aggressor. Rosado cornered Monroe to start off the eighth and kept him on the ropes majority of the round. Rosado was bleeding from the back of his head. Referee Laurence Cole momentarily stopped it to get the ringside physician to look at the cut.
Rosado continued to put the pressure on Monroe as he went down at the bell as the referee immediately ruled it a slip. The tenth round Rosado was the aggressor as Monroe displayed his hand speed unloading combinations. In the championship rounds the Philadelphia fighter left eye was swollen from a clash of heads but there was no quitting in Rosado as he fought on. In the twelve and final round, Rosado pressed as Monroe stuck to his plan displaying his hand speed. In the end, the judges scored the bout 118-110, 117-111, and 116-112.
2012 U.S Olympian NABF featherweight champion Joseph “Jojo” Diaz, Jr. (22-0, 13 KOs) of South El Monte, California, scored a ninth round TKO over Andrew “El Chango” Cancio (17-4-2, 13 KOs) of Blythe, California. Diaz worked patiently and went to the body as Cancio pressed in the opening round. In round two Diaz and Cancio exchanged on the inside. Cancio was busted in the nose in round three as he continued to press the slick Diaz.
The fourth was all Diaz as the tough Cancio was bloodied up but continuing to press. Jo Jo continued to dominate and control Cancio in round five. A very relaxed Diaz picked his shots boxing the bloodied Cancio who kept coming. Despite the blood, Cancio kept coming at Diaz the second half of the fight. In round nine, Cancio’s corner had seen enough and the referee waved it off at 2:29.
Super bantamweight Diego De La Hoya (16-0, 9KOs), cousin of Oscar, retained his WBC Youth title with a convincing unanimous decision against Luis Orlando Del Valle (22-3, 16KOs). De La Hoya landed big combos in the fifth round and sent Del Valle across the ring in the six with a right hand. De La Hoya stays undefeated winning 100-90, 99-91 twice.
Lightweight Hector Tanajara Jr. of San Antonio Roy Garcia in a scheduled four round bout. Tanajara boxed patiently working from a distance as he teed off of Garcia for four rounds in route to a unanimous decision win.
All three judges scored the bout 40-36 as Hector Tanajara improves to 7-0, 4 KO's. Roy Garcia goes to 3-20-1, 2 KO's.
Welterweight Sadam Ali (23-1, 13KOs) scored a 4th round knockdown in a wild exchange via right hook but could not stop the tough Saul Corral (21-8, 12KOs) as it went the full 10 rounds on Saturday night at AT&T Stadium in Dallas, Texas. Ali came out early and landed his jab consistently, shots to the body and overhand rights. However after Ali dropped Corral that seem to energize Corral and became the aggressor from the 6th round on. Ali came out with a big unanimous decision 99-91, 99-90 twice although the fight was a lot closer than the scores indicate. This was a big win for Ali coming off his first loss in a world title fight against Jessie Vargas.
Young prospects out of Dallas, super lightweight Vergil Ortiz (2-0, 2KO), showed to President Eric Gomez sitting ringside why he looks to have a bright future. Ortiz came out from the opening bell and threw two quick jabs against Ernesto Hernandez (1-4, 1KO) that missed and then threw a straight right hand that cracked the jaw of Hernandez and put him out without a count. The time of the KO was 40 seconds of the 1st round.
San Antonio's Joshua Franco scored a spectacular third round knockout over Brian Bazan in a scheduled six round bantamweight bout. Bazan stunned Franco in the opening round however the Texas fighter kept his composure as he landed combinations in return. Fighting at fast pace Franco dropped Bazan with a left uppercut in round three as the Tijuana fighter got up but the left uppercut found its mark again sending Bazan to the canvas for a second time. Franco finished it in round four as he knocked Bazan out cold with the left uppercut.
The referee waived it at 19 seconds of the fourth as Joshua Franco stays undefeated improving to 7-0, 4 KO's. Brian Bazan goes to 9-3, 6 KO's.
Super lightweight prospect Zachary Ochoa (16-0, 7KOs) won a tough unanimous decision against the gritty Daniel Montoya (11-5, 8KOs). It took a while for Ochoa to get going but by the 5th and 6th rounds he took control of the fight landing hard shots to the head and body of Montoya. Montoya with a cut on the bridge of his nose, kept coming forward and had his moments as well. Ochoa landed the heavier blows throughout and was able to earn the highly competitive decision. The scores read 79-73 twice and 80-72 for Ochoa.
Super welterweight Alexis Salazar (8-3, 3Kos) worked the body and the head against Larry “SloMo” Smith (10-29-1, 6KOs) over the first couple of rounds but was unable to land the big blow to put the savvy veteran from Dallas away. As the fight wore on, Smith stayed in the pocket with Salazar and made it a competitive fight, although he never hurt Salazar. The younger Salazar in the end brought a little too much to the table for Smith and won a unanimous decision. The scores read 60-54 twice and 58-56 for Salazar.
In the opening bout at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, Britain's Anthony Yarde dropped a short left handed hook on the awkward Rafer Johnson as he was against the ropes. The shot clearly hurt him as the ropes were holding him up. After a quick look, the referee waived it off at 2:10 of the 1st round. Yarde remains undefeated at 8-0, 7 KO's.
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