On The Watch “It’s All About Eleider Alvarez vs Joe Smith Jr.”

WBO Light Heavyweight Title Eliminator

Last night’s Top Rank main event between Eleider Alvarez (25-2, 13 Kos) and Joe Smith Jr. (26-3, 21 Kos) at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas, was well worth the wait. Real Talk!

This bout was non-stop action straight from the jump. Joe Smith who’s well known for having heavy hands held no punches throughout the night and displayed some great boxing improvement to go along with a flawless “game plan” that highlighted his strengths round by round.

Alvarez who was the more polished boxer of the two, played right into Joe Smith’s “game plan” and fell victim to his traps. The last thing you want to do when facing Jo Smith is to sit there and go toe to toe “phone booth” style with him. That is just what Alvarez did and he paid the price for it.

Personally, I was confused by Alvarez’s approach from the jump. Alvarez being the superior boxer of the two looked to bang it out with the wrong Dude on that night when he should have been boxing in and out, disrupting Smith’s come forward aggressive style.

Alvarez, not being able to do the proper adjustments inside that squared circle, caused him to get caught up in Joe’s physical roughness tactics. It was evident that Smith’s power was just too much for Alvarez to handle.

Joe’s pressure eventually overwhelmed Alvarez in the ninth round when Eleider succumbed to a hard right-left combination that dropped him down through the ropes for the count that prompted the referee to wave off the bout.

It was a very competitive bout and an impressive performance by Smith, who clearly showed vast improvement in his skill. With this strong win Joe advances to fight the winner of another WBO Light Heavyweight Elimination bout between contenders Umar Salamov (25-1, 19 Kos) and Maksim Vlasov (45-3, 26 Kos) for the vacant WBO Light Heavyweight Title.

Until then, congratulations on your amazing win Joe- job well done.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Eleider Alvarez vs Michael Seals”

Light Heavyweight Challenge

Eleider Alvarez (25-1, 13 Kos) got himself back into the winners circle last night at the Turning Stone Resort Casino when he slept hard hitting Michael Seals (24-3, 18 Kos) in the 7th round.

For someone who hasn’t fought since February 2019, Alvarez showed absolutely no rust inside that squared circle. Alvarez asserted himself early and moved and jabbed inside out with no real resistance from Michael, which was very surprising. Considering all the trash talking Seals was doing, I expected fireworks.

That being said, Alvarez wasn’t inside that squared circle to play. When the opportunity presented itself in the 7th round, Alvarez caught Seals with a straight powerful right hand that dropped him for the count and just like that, the night was over.

With this win, Eleider picked up the Vacant WBC Continental Americas Light Heavyweight Title and the Vacant WBO Inter-Continental Light Heavyweight Title. If Alvarez can keep these wins coming, he will definitely be right back in line for a possible opportunity at a full title shot with the WBC/WBO, whichever one comes first.

Until then, congratulations Eleider, now on to the next one.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Eleider Alvarez vs Sergey Kovalev”

WBO Light Heavyweight Challenge

Last night, at the Ford Center at the Star, in Frisco, Texas, Sergey Kovalev (33-3-1, 28 Kos) successfully avenged his previous loss to Eleider Alvarez (24-1, 12 Kos) by defeating him by unanimous decision.

With new trainer Buddy McGirt in his corner, Kovalev was a completely different fighter then the one who fought 6 months ago and lost his title to Alvarez. Real Talk!

This version of Kovalev who stepped into that squared circle last night was laser focussed with controlled aggression and a very effective jab that was on point throughout the entire bout. Kovalev stuck to the “game plan” at hand and never wavered. He showed patience with no signs of stamina issues well into the second half of the bout.

I was impressed and surprised by his discipline in this bout. Sergey controlled the fight from start to finish while being mindful of Alverez’s effort of trying to land something significant all night.

Alvarez’s approach in this bout was confusing to say the least. Alvarez was hoping to catch Sergey slipping in the second half but to his surprise Kovalev actually stepped it up and finished stronger than expected. Alvarez had no real answers for Kovalev’s strategic approach. Alvarez’s low punch output was definitely the most unexpected to me. Alverez’s overconfidence this time around cost him to succumb to his first professional defeat and his WBO Light Heavyweight Title.

With this win Kovalev now becomes three-time WBO Light Heavyweight Champion of the World and is now anxiously looking for a unification bout with either Titleholder in the 175-pound Division.

I’m curious to see which of the Champions is going accept the challenge.

Until then, congratulations on regaining your Championship Belt, Kovalev.  Job well done.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Sergey Kovalev vs Eleider Alvarez”

WBO Light Heavyweight Championship

In a major upset, last night, Saturday August 4, 2018 at the Hard Rock Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the underdog Eleider “Storm” Alverez (24-0, 12 Kos) prevailed in a very convincing manner and silenced all critics by defeating WBO Light Heavyweight Champion Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (32-3-1, 28 Kos) by knockout. Real Talk!

Not too many people in the boxing community saw this one coming. The bout started out real competitive with some good back and forth from both fighters. Kovalev seemed to be coasting throughout the rounds and in control until Alverez started applying a bit more pressure and somewhat out boxing the veteran Champion in the second half of the fight to eventually taking over in the seventh round by dropping Kovalev three times in a brutal fashion to an subsequent stoppage.

With patience and determination, Alverez defied all odds and accomplished his dream of becoming a Light Heavyweight Champion. Alverez took this occasion and delivered inside that squared circle. With this credible win over “Krusher”, Alverez has now changed the landscape of the Light Heavyweight Division and now has positioned himself as a major player in the Division as the New WBO Light Heavyweight Champion of the world. Music to his ears. This was an opportunity well over due but one definitely well deserved.

Congratulations on your Win Champ and enjoy the moment, you’re officially in the “Winners circle”.

Blaze