On The Watch “It’s All About Canelo Alvarez vs Avni Yildirim”

WBA/WBC Super Middleweight World Challenge

Last night’s DAZN/Matchroom Main Event between Pound-for-Pound “KingPin” Unified WBA Super/WBC and Ring Magazine Super Middleweight Champion Canelo Alvarez (55-1-2, 37 Kos) and Avni Yildirim (21-3, 12 Kos) at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, was a necessary mandated WBC title defense that could not be avoided.

That being said, it was clear from round one that Avni had absolutely no business inside that squared circle opposite of Canelo. For someone who had the privilege of being in camp with Canelo in the past and shared quite a few rounds with the “Champ” you would think that the fear factor would be nonexistent but that was not the case last night.

Avni, who was visibly the bigger fighter got bullied and abused straight from jump with little to no resistance which made it painful to watch. Avni stood there like a punching bag while Canelo battered him on all angles from the head to the body.

The onslaught by Canelo continued in the third round where Alvarez dropped Avni with a devastating right hand to the dome for an 8 count that saw him survive the round. However, Joel Diaz, Avni’s trainer had seen enough in his non-responsive fighter and pulled the plug before the 4th round even started.

With this successful defense of the WBA “Super”/WBC and Ring Magazine Super Middleweight Championships, Canelo now has a clear path to a unification bout against WBO slick Champion Billy Joe Saunders (30-0, 14 Kos) which has already been set for May 8, 2021 Cinco De Mayo weekend.

Billy Joe is no cakewalk when focussed inside that squared circle. I’m anticipating a calculated and exciting bout between them two come fight night.

Congratulations Canelo. The road to “Undisputed” is that much closer. Now on to the next.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Canelo Alvarez vs Callum Smith”

Super Middleweight Supremacy

Last night’s Matchroom/DAZN Main Event at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas between Canelo Alvarez (54-1-2, 36 Kos) and Callum Smith (27-1, 19 Kos) was the perfect way to end the Year 2020.

Canelo, who was clearly the shorter fighter standing at 5 foot 8 to the towering Callum at 6 foot 3, displayed some serious Boxing IQ that had Callum confused all night inside that squared circle. It was a thing of beauty to watch the smaller man walk down his opponent the way he did considering Callum had all the physical advantages coming into this bout.

I was surprised by the fact that Canelo showed absolutely no fear at all throughout the rounds. Canelo’s jab and body attack were so vicious and precise that Callum stayed on his back foot trying to avoid the heavy pounding he was receiving all night.

I expected Callum to be Canelo’s toughest challenge to date but judging on how Canelo dominated and dismantled Callum from round one to twelve, Canelo proved once again why he is the Pound-for-Pound best in the World today. Real Talk!

There are levels to this Boxing sh*t and Canelo’s masterclass performance last night showed us just how superior he can get when faced with so many drawbacks.

Callum, who was rated as the No. 1 Super Middleweight in the Division, took the worst beating I’ve ever seen him take in his career to date. The “game plan” that his corner drew up had absolutely no effect on Canelo whatsoever. Dude got heart though and he withheld the onslaught coming his way like the fighting man that he is.

That said, after 12 rounds of one-sided action, the Judges scored it 117-111, 119-109 and 119-109 in favor of Canelo. With this convincing win, Canelo is now the New WBC/WBA “Super” and Ring Magazine Champion of the World and now the No.1 168-Pounder in the Division.

With a new Division to dominate, Undisputed Super Middleweight Champion is the latest task at hand for the No. 1 Pound-for-Pound King they call Canelo Alvarez.

Congratulations Canelo on your latest accomplishment.

Blaze

On The Watch “It’s All About Anthony Dirrell vs David Benavidez”

WBC Super Middleweight Challenge

The co-main event on the Errol Spence Jr.-Shawn Porter pay-per-view card at the Staples Center in Los Angeles was blazing last night. David Benavidez (22-0, 19 Kos) regained his WBC Super Middleweight Belt in a conclusive fashion by stopping Two-Time Champion Anthony Dirrell (33-2-1, 24 Kos) by a 9th round TKO. Anthony’s corner had seen enough.

It was a beautiful display by Benavidez. Not an easy one but well worth the challenge. Dirrell stood his ground and seemed to be boxing and moving well and keeping the rounds close but Benavidez who was visibly stronger and taller than Dirrell, started breaking him down systematically and patiently round by round with some serious heavy hands.

To me the “game-changer” was the left hook that opened up a horrible cut over Dirrell’s right eye in the 6th round. It was downhill from that point on for Dirrell. The onslaught coming from Benavidez was too much and the fight was quickly looking one-sided as the rounds wore on.

Dirrell was being walked down and outgunned from every corner. It was only fitting for Dirrell’s corner to pull the plug in the 9th round and stop the bloodbath from continuing.

With this win Benavidez reclaims his WBC Super Middleweight Title and becomes one of the youngest Two-Time Champions to ever do it this good.

Congratulations Champ. Now on to the next.

Blaze