Canelo Alvarez tames Alfredo Angulo, stops 'El Perro' in 10 rounds

Doug Fischer  -  craveonline.com

LAS VEGAS – Fans packed the MGM Grand Garden Arena to see an old-fashioned slugfest between Canelo Alvarez and Alfredo Angulo on Saturday.

They were treated to a little of what they wanted in the late rounds, especially Round 8, but most of what they got was a massacre.

Alvarez, who scored a somewhat disputed 10th-round stoppage, couldn’t miss Angulo. The 23-year-old Mexican star teed off on his rugged countryman with impunity, repeatedly knocking the 30-year-old veteran's head back and forth with stiff jabs, hooks, crosses, body shots and three-punch combinations.

It wasn’t “Toe To Toe,” as the Showtime PPV event was titled; it was target practice. Alvarez (43-1-1, 31 knockouts) could hit Angulo. If Angulo (22-4, 18 KOs) hit anything in the first four rounds, it was Alvarez’s gloves.

“I was doing my job,” Alvarez said after the fight. “I was so secure in my jab and my stamina was there.”

However, Alvarez, who rebounded from a one-sided decision loss to Floyd Mayweather last September, didn’t dominate the entire fight. The former junior middleweight champ was breathing heavy by the end of the fifth round, and Angulo, who is known for his ability to take punishment and keep going, tried his best to seize the opportunity when Alvarez went to the ropes for a breather in rounds six, seven and eight.

Angulo, who scored two knockdowns en route to being stopped in the 10th round by top contender Erislandy Lara in his last bout, stepped up his pressure and started landing punches. When Alvarez hit him back, he taunted the younger man and told him to bring it on.

Alvarez obliged Angulo but did so with smart, stick-and-move boxing tactics. However, Angulo's relentless pressure throughout Round 7 took a toll on Alvarez, who leaned on the ropes – content to slip punches – for the first half of Round 8.

His lack of offense spurred on Angulo (and El Perro’s fans), who finally put punches together against the popular redhead. Angulo’s success lit a fire in the belly of Alvarez, who stood his ground, waved Angulo in and finally treated the lively crowd of 14,610 to the all-Mexican war they craved.

It was electrifying action for about 90 seconds, but that was Angulo’s last moment in the fight. Alvarez wisely kept his back off the ropes in Round 9, and returned to his sharpshooting. Prior to the start of Round 10, Angulo’s trainer, Virgil Hunter, warned his fighter that he was close to stopping the fight if he continued to absorb flush two- and three-punch combinations.

However, referee Tony Weeks beat Hunter to the punch just as Alvarez had beaten Angulo to the punch all night. The veteran official jumped between the fighters after Alvarez landed a massive uppercut, stopping the bout 47 seconds into Round 10.

Angulo, who vehemently protested Weeks’ decision, was beside himself with grief.

“He should have let it go to the end,” Angulo said after the fight. “I’m fine and I was fighting. The referee was wrong this time.”

Hunter supported his fighter.

“I told the referee that if Canelo puts two and three punches on my fighter (in Round 10) that I’ll stop it myself,” Hunter said. “But it was one punch. He stopped it after one punch and everybody knows that Angulo was coming on strong.”

Much of the crowd roared its approval of Hunter’s words. Alvarez didn’t have a problem with the stoppage.

“The referee is the marshal, he’s the chief,” Alvarez said. “He stopped the fight because he knew what was going on.”

Did Weeks save a tiring Alvarez from a final-rounds rally from Angulo. Alvarez says he wasn’t gassed at all.

“Of course I got a little tired, this is boxing,” he said, "but I could have fought another 10 rounds.

“I was in his territory (fighting on the inside) and I was able to go toe to toe with him. The referee stopped the fight. It’s not my problem. I’m happy with how I fought tonight.”

Source:  ringtv.craveonline.com/news/324093-canelo-alvarez-tames-alfredo-angulo-stops-el-perro-in-10-rounds

Canelo vs. Angulo results: Alvarez dominates El Perro on way to tenth-round TKO win

By Josh Sanchez  -  fansided.com

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez was looking to bounce back from the first loss of his career on Saturday night, when he took on Alfredo Angulo at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas in a twelve-round  junior welterweight bout.

In the first round, Alvarez was cleaning Angulo’s clock with a series of vicious combinations, but Angulo was able to eat the punches and continue pushing forward. The first-round was all Canelo as he outstruck his opponent 37 to 10.

The action continued in the second with another strong round from Canelo as he began establishing a dominant straight right that continued to pepper Angulo. Alvarez once again had a big advantage in strikes with 45 to Angulo’s 9.

After just two rounds, Angulo was already showing some serious damage on his face.

While the fight was all Canelo throughout the first three rounds, it was impressive to see the determination from Angulo who was able to stay on his feet despite taking vicious shots over and over again.

Not only was Canelo able to throw a high volume of punches, but they were landing with staggering accuracy.

Canelo appeared to slow down his pace after the quick start to the fight, but he was still doing enough to keep pushing Angulo and putting the fight out of reach.

The story of the fight continued to be Canelo’s incredible accuracy and pure dominance throughout the fifth and sixth rounds, as he continued to pepper away at Angulo and put himself in position to score the easy win after the first half of the fight.

While Canelo couldn’t miss, Angulo had failed to land any significant shots at the midway point. If he wanted to come away with the win, as unlikely as it seemed after six rounds, he was going to need to find a way to completely change the momentum of the fight.

Angulo found a little bit of offense in the seventh round by backing Canelo up against the ropes, but Alvarez was able to deflect most of the shots off of his gloves and avoid serious damage.

Despite throwing the high volume of punches, Canelo showed no signs of fatigue and managed to continue the pace and dominance in the fight. It looked like he could be on his way to a clean sweep if he did not end up just finishing the fight.

The crowd was clearly backing Canelo and the roars got louder after each round as they began to smell victory.

Canelo was showing off his confidence in the eighth round by leaving his hands down and standing directly in front of Angulo begging him to take a big shot so that he would open himself up for a counter.

Angulo was able to finally put together an impressive round in the eighth by controlling the ring and landing the shots that Canelo was allowing him to throw, but he was still far from Canelo on the judges scorecards and would need a miracle to pull off the win.

Canelo landed a huge uppercut in the ninth round that hurt Angulo badly, but he was unable to put Angulo away.

The fight came to an end in the tenth round, after Canelo landed another huge uppercut that forced referee Tony Weeks to jump in and call a stop to the action. It was an odd stoppage that left the crowd unhappy, but Weeks was protecting Angulo from any further punishment.

It was a great night for Alvarez despite the questionable stoppage, and he is clearly back on the right track after his setback against Floyd Mayweather last year. For Angulo, he is left with the battle wounds on his face.
 

Source:  fansided.com/2014/03/09/canelo-vs-angulo-results/#!y4jtT

Canelo Alvarez Stops Alfredo Angulo in 10 For MGM Grand Main Event In Vegas

By: Armando Romo jr  -  boxeomundial.com

For all of those that questioned how Alvarez would look following his first defeat against unbeaten champion, Floyd Mayweather Jr, this past September can be rest assured that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-1-1) is back and better than ever. The former unified junior middleweight title holder took on tough as nails, Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo (22-3) as the headliner for the first Showtime boxing PPV of 2014. The two Mexico-born stars locked horns inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena setting a hard pace from the get go. One that Angulo is normally used to but also one disguised as action but more of a technique by Alvarez to impose his will and break his man down.

From round to round Alvarez unleashed fast and hard combinations on his foe, snapping Angulo’s head back or stopping him dead in his tracks as he came forward. Alvarez quickly earned a big lead on the score cards thus Angulo hoped to rally back from the relatively one-sided bout by upping his punch output but just when it seemed like he was finding an opening, Alvarez unloaded a wicked left hook or right cross that created swelling around his foe’s face past the halfway mark. Tony Weeks who was the referee tonight, started looking at Angulo allot closer in the late rounds even having words with Virgil Hunter, trainer of Angulo, that he might stop it if the punishment continued.

Sure enough Alfredo Angulo had no answer and in the 10th round following another clean, hard punch from Canelo Alvarez, the referee stepped in to protect Angulo from any further punishment at 47 seconds of the round waiving it off. Canelo’s victory was instantly met with a chorus of boos that rained down on the parade but the right call was made to protect the fighter. With the win, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez improves to (43-1-1) while Alfredo “El Perro” Angulo drops to (22-4 ).

At the post fight press conference Angulo was not available for comments since he was taken to the local hospital as a precaution to the TKO loss. Alvarez and Richard Schaefer on the other hand made it clear that “Canelo” plans to come back to action this July against a top opponent be it at 154 lbs or at 160 lbs and it could be again in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand or even Dallas Cowboys Stadium or possibly an arena in Ireland.

Santa Cruz Still Unbeaten With Points Verdict Over Mijares In WBC Title Defence

Undefeated title holder Leo “Terremoto” Santa Cruz (26-0-1 w/15 KOs) successfully defended his WBC Super Bantamweight crown by way of unanimous decision over seasoned veteran, Cristian Mijares (48-7-2 w/22 KOs ). Many thought going into the bout that Mijares’ technical craft along with his experience would pose a problem to the still developing raw talent of Leo. Well, that could not have been further from the truth for those 36 minutes as the unbeaten champion Santa Cruz cruised through each round by out working and out hustling his opponent using angles and sleek combinations.

In the 4th round a clash of heads started a cut over Leo’s right eye which might have concerned his corner had it been anything serious but luckily a slight trickle of blood was all that came following the cut. Leo shook it off and continued his masterful display of punching in varied combinations, connecting on the inside and keeping his foe at the end of his punches. Whenever Mijares thought turning up the pace and pushing forward might have thrown his man off of his game, Leo doubled that work ethic putting together arrays of uppercuts at close range and 1-2 combinations that were spot on.

Once the judge’s cards were read it was academic, a unanimous decision of 119-109, 120-108, 120-108 for Leo Santa Cruz in a successful defence of his WBC world title upping his record to (27-0). The loss dropped Cristian Mijares to (48-8-2) as he came up short on capturing WBC gold.

Linares Easily Out Points Arakawa

Former champion, Jorge Linares (35-3 w/23 KOs), continued his quest to reach the upper echelon of the lightweight division as he collided with boxing action star, Nihito Arakawa (24-3-1 w/16 KOs) in a 10-round WBC Final Lightweight Eliminator. One of Japan’s favourite sons, Arakawa usually brings countless thrills as the blood and guts warrior that he is but tonight it would not be the case. Linares brilliantly disarmed him by circling, moving and popping his jab amidst sharp combinations. If the action ever got too heated, Linares instinctively wrapped his man up in a fast clinch or slipped any Arakawa offence by rolling with the punches away from danger.

The masterful footwork of Linares enabled him to land without problem, whether it was a quick combination or straight right hand and left hook he was visibly in great shape firing on all cylinders. Both men threw caution to the wind in the final two rounds and traded heavy leather to the fans delight but it was clear that Linares took this bout on points with ease.

The judges saw it a unanimous decision of 98-92, 100-90 and 100-90 for Jorge Linares who improves to (36-3) while Nihito Arakawa drops to (24-4-1) . The victory sets Linares up as a mandatory challenger to the WBC lightweight title.

Thompson Levels Alvarez Twice To Grab Unanimous Verdict And WBC Belt

The first bout of the night to kick off the Showtime “Toe To Toe” PPV main card featured
KO artist, Sergio “Yeyo” Thompson (28-3 w/26 KOs), taking on Canelo Alvarez sibling, Ricardo “Dinamita” Alvarez (23-2-3 w/13 KOs) in a match for the vacant WBC International Lightweight Title. The bout immediately turned into an action packed slug fest as both men traded monstrous shots for the first two rounds in the form of looping shots and over hand punches. True to his reputation of being a heavy handed fighter, Thompson sent his man to the canvas by landing a hard combination that staggered Alvarez making him stumble backwards into the ropes in the 3rd round. The standing count followed but “Dinamita Alvarez” managed to beat it and survive the round without absorbing any further damage. Alvarez was game landing some solid punches on the inside as well as a couple looping shots but Thompson gave as good as he got and never looked seriously hurt from the assault.

Early in the 8th round a perfect right-hand counter from Thompson sent Alvarez to the canvas one more time. Again he beat the count, this time springing right back up to his feet and trudging on but the connectivity of his foe had caught up to him as his left eye swell up. Heading into the final rounds the fresher and stronger of the two was clearly Thompson, who held his ground to end the fight on a high note following a great match-up to bring the fans to their feet as they applauded the fighter’s efforts.
Once we went to the score cards the judges saw it a unanimous decision for Sergio Thompson with scores of 95-93, 95-93 and 97-91 as he improves to (29-3) capturing the vacant WBC International Lightweight Title. The loss drops Ricardo Alvarez to (23-3-3) as he comes up short on his title bid.

Source:  www.boxeomundial.com/author/armando_romo_junior/