Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s brilliant career and shrewd mastery of the risk-to-reward ratio are no coincidence. Mayweather has put himself into history’s pound-for-pound debate and at the top of a pay scale dominated by playmakers, quarterbacks and pitchers because he knows who to fight. And when.

Canelo Alvarez on September 14 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand is mostly a money move, motivated by disappointing pay-per-view numbers for his one-sided decision over Robert Guerrero on May 4. Reports from various media put the PPV buy rate at 875,000, despite a Showtime prediction that it would exceed one million.

If accurate, that means Showtime sustained a $12 million loss, according to Forbes. Mayweather got his $32.5 million, but probably not much more than that for his first Showtime fight in a contract worth a possible $250 million.

After just one fight in a 30-month deal for as many as six bouts, Showtime and Mayweather are partners, joined at the wallet. Showtime, a CBS subsidiary, wants to recoup losses, probably as fast as possible. And Mayweather, closer to retirement than his prime, wants to max out his income potential.

Canelo serves both masters, especially on a date that coincides with Mexico’s celebration of its independence. Canelo might not be Mexico’s best fighter. That honor still belongs to Juan Manuel Marquez. But the 38,000 fans Canelo drew to San Antonio’s Alamodome in April for his victory over Austin Trout make him the biggest draw among Mexican and Mexican-American fans, the demographic that sustains the boxing business. Canelo sells.

But September 14, announced by Mayweather on Twitter Wednesday night, isn’t only about money. If dollars were the sole motivation, we already would have seen Mayweather-versus-Manny Pacquiao. We haven’t, for reasons repeated into mind-numbing redundancy. No reason to repeat them here. Fifty-million dollars were said to be the potential payday for each during those futile talks. Fifty-million is said to be Mayweather’s potential for Canelo, whose share has yet to be reported.

Why Canelo and not Pacquiao? In calculating risk-to-reward, the guess is that Mayweather has detected flaws that make Canelo easier to beat now than Pacquiao was a couple of years ago.

Much has been made of Canelo’s maturing skillset in his unanimous decision over the left-handed Trout. However, the scorecards – 118-109, 116-111 and 115-112 – might have papered over Canelo’s weaknesses with too wide a margin.

Yes, he displayed newfound head movement. Yet, he often lunged awkwardly in attempting to land against the quick Trout, who is slick, yet possesses none of Mayweather’s calculated precision. Lunge against Mayweather, and Canelo is bound to feel the right hand that landed at will against Guerrero.

Then, there’s the foot speed. Canelo often appears flat-footed, which is what Mayweather said of Guerrero before a bout that is beginning to look like a tune-up. Mayweather has none of the foot speed he had a decade ago, but he still has a lot more than anything displayed by Canelo.

Also, there are signs of fatigue. Against Trout, Canelo appeared to tire late in the sixth round and throughout the seventh. The 36-year-old Mayweather is still able to conserve energy with carefully-orchestrated tactics. That could prove problematic for Canelo, especially late in a 12 round bout.

A lot has been made about a catch-weight, 152 pounds. It might only be cosmetic. But if there’s an effect, it’s only to Canelo, a junior-middleweight (154) who will have to work a little harder to make the mandatory for Mayweather, a natural welterweight.

At opening bell, there’s talk that Canelo could be 170, or 15 to 20 pounds heavier than Mayweather. Maybe, although Mayweather looked to be at least 160 in September 2009 when he easily beat Marquez, who collected an additional $600,000 when Mayweather was two pounds heavier than the contract’s catch-weight, 144. We’ll never know how heavy Mayweather was that night. He refused to step on the scale for HBO not long before entering the ring. But it’s safe to assume Mayweather will be heavy enough on the night of September 14.

The risk appears to be Canelo’s power. The heavy-handed red-head is dangerous, especially with effective combinations. A danger-sign for Mayweather was in the facial bruises suffered when he beat Miguel Cotto in May, 2012 at 154 pounds.

A key might be Canelo’s age. He’ll turn 23 on July 18. Youth, perhaps, will lead him into harm’s way with awkward lunges into Mayweather’s right hand with bursts of energy that will leave him fatigued. But the victory over Trout included evidence that Canelo is on a learning path toward his prime. How fast? Hard to say. But a maturing Canelo means a more dangerous one. Mayweather’s decision might be as simple as the calendar: Fight Canelo now before he gets better and Mayweather only gets older.

A loss to Mayweather in September would hurt, but hardly devastate the young Mexican. A loss is a good lesson and even a yardstick for true greatness in boxing, which more than any sport is about overcoming adversity attached to defeat. Would Muhammad Ali be the legend he is today if he had not come back from a loss to Joe Frazier? Defeat appears to be a chapter Mayweather plans to avoid.

Then again, there’s always the possibility of a rematch, or another opportunity for him, Canelo and Showtime to ride the revenue steam. But that’s another story for another day, perhaps waiting to be told on September 14.

According to his official Twitter account, Pound for Pound King Floyd Mayweather will take on WBC/WBA Super Welterweight champion Saul Alvarez on September 14th in Las Vegas.

The official statement read: “I chose my opponent for September 14th and it’s Canelo Alvarez. I’m giving the fans what they want. It will be at the MGM Grand”

The rumor is the bout will be contested at 152 lbs.

In round 6 of their super middleweight match, Saturday, Englishman Carl “The Cobra” Froch and Dane Mikkel “Viking Warrior” Kessler briefly got separated by the ref after a Kessler blow struck well beneath Froch’s cranberry-satin belt line. Froch shook it out, dangling his right foot off the mat till he was rearranged enough to resume, and then the two men came together and Kessler belly-piped Froch with a 2-3 combo that was Kessler’s best of their match’s first half.

Froch, practiced as any prizefighter at showing an opponent no spiritual weakness while showing sundry technical weaknesses in a uniquely shameless way, tucked his hearth-bottom chin, took the blows, and fought back without spite or regard for personal safety – the way a gentleman is expected to do. London’s aficionados applauded raucously, the scrap continued apace, and Froch had his satisfaction, prevailing in a rematch with Kessler by unanimous decision.

There is something absurd about Carl Froch’s self-belief, and the absurder element of it is its contagiousness, an infectious impulse so potent others catch it and assign Froch many times more effectiveness than his attacks merit, a reflexive thing that confirms itself while denying reason. The affliction of Froch’s self-belief does not noy cautious and naturally suspicious technicians like Andre Ward, a man likely to believe the most potent thing about any opponent for 10 minutes, but someone like Mikkel Kessler, a man with little cause for caution who nevertheless finds his attack bilked, time and again, by the force of Froch’s absurd self-belief and its awkward manifestation – so awkward an attentive spectator must sometimes ask: Where does The Cobra practice such moves?

It’s a proper question because you cannot toss yourself at the handpads the way Froch tosses himself at an opponent, and no one would shadowbox with such raveled feet or twisted torso, and you cannot make a heavybag elusive as Froch can make an opponent; it is as if, in camp, Froch begins swimming at a line of double-end bags, punching, missing, bracing, absorbing, eluding, biting, countering, pivoting, blocking, tasting, and pirouetting, before he arrives at the rusted pipe of their frame, touches it with a spin, then swims home, getting as well as he gives, and ending each lap with an avouching nod. Pity poor Mikkel Kessler, then, for showing any vulnerability to a man capable of such random violence and indefatigable self-belief.

Their second fight, though, was very much closer than one official judge and one unofficial judge had it. Rounds 3, 4 and 5 could probably have gone either way, with two of them perhaps belonging to Kessler. Rounds 9 and 10 were good, even affairs. When five rounds of 12 were that close, there is no reason for one man to win a fight 118-110, unless a judge is scoring crowd noise, and if she is doing that, how much better is she than a decibel meter?

Lost in the cacophony about Froch’s chin was a point open to be made about Kessler’s: He caught the entirety of the fight’s unpredictable punches and the final counter in every exchange, an absurdly confident Froch punctuation mark at the end of every paragraph, and yet Kessler did not buckle as he did in their first match. He got shuffled round the ring, and his head got jammed backwards more than advisable, but he was never in danger of being stopped, and if anyone wintled from a punch, it was Froch in round 11, when the Cobra sprang into a rightcross counter and staggered ropesward immediately after.

Froch-Kessler II was a gentleman’s fight in gentlemanliness’ birthplace, an agreement between two chums to make a hellacious scrap, dirty as it need be, entertain those gathered, and embrace at the close. There was a tender moment when, after hugging the man he verily believed he’d beaten, and while still buzzing from what blows the man sloshed his brain with, Froch held Kessler’s handsome pink face between his black gloves and asked several times if his friend were all right. It was a thing Europeans have to show us how to do; our best Americans take themselves too seriously, and therefore every punch too personally, to fight so hard or show such affection immediately afterwards; and Latin America’s finest, usually Mexicans, keep score of grievances too proficiently and with much too much granularity, in their fetish for vengeance, to hope for a foe’s health while their own remains compromised.

The world does not await a rematch between Andre Ward and Carl Froch, a rematch the victor seems to want more than the vanquished; Froch alluded to Ward’s spoiler style and how incapable it often proves of uplifting observers’ spirits, Ward replied no fighter ever prefers a style than solves his own, and both men were correct. After ignoring the super middleweight division and its deserving champion for years, HBO now appears to have wagered its future on Ward’s charisma, a characteristically wrongheaded bet and typical overcorrection by a network whose commentating crew regularly swings like a tardy pendulum between proofs and disproofs of its prefight narrative, and prizes consensus more than interesting people do.

Ward convincingly defeated Froch 17 1/2 months ago by accumulating a large points lead, conserving strength, and finishing hungrily – but if Ward won the second half of their fight on an unbiased scorecard, it wasn’t by much. Which is a thing that should be said about Froch’s Saturday victory over Kessler. Froch-Kessler III will be more enjoyable for all involved than Ward-Froch II.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

Carl Froch extracted revenge and retained the IBF and won the WBA Super Middleweight title with a twelve round unanimous decision over Mikkel Kessler in a terrific fight at the O2 Arena in London.

The bout was very competitive with Froch’s volume and come forward style being the difference in the outcome.

Froch was effective early with Kessler only looking for one shot. Kessler started to come forward and landed some vicious right hands that the Nottingham, Englad native Froch walked right through. The two had frequent toe to toe exchanges throughout the second half of the fight the had the capacity crowd of 19,000 people on the edge of their seats for much of the bout. The fight mirrored the first fight, which was won by Kessler on April 24, 2010 in Denmark in a thrilling battle.

Froch won by scores of 118-110, 116-112 and 115-113 and is now 31-2. Kessler of Denmark fought a tremendous fight but came up short and is now 46-3.

Follow all the action LIVE from the O2 Arena in London as Carl Froch and Mikkel Kessler meet in a unification rematch. The fight will begin at 6pm eastern / 3 pm pacfic / 11 pm in London and Midnight in Copenhagen.

12 ROUNDS–IBF/WBA SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT TITLES–CARL FROCH (30-2, 22 KO’s) vs Mikkel Kessler (46-2, 35 KO’s)

Round 1 Good left from Kessler..Kessler jabs to the body..Jab..body..Froch lands a jab..good combination..Kessler lands a good body shot and left hook…10-9 Kessler

Round 2 Kessler lands a right to the body…Froch lands a left to the body and a hard right..Kessler hold on..Froch lands a right and shot drives Kessler to the ropes..lead right...19-19

Round 3 Froch has some redness around the nose…Kessler redness over the left eye…Froch lands a jab..Kessler lands a double jab..3 rights from Froch…Kessler lands a body..Froch lands a right to the head..good body punch and combination..29-28 Froch

Round 4 Kessler lands a left hook…Jab from Froch…Good left hook from Kessler..38-38

Round 5 Good left hook from Kessler..2 jabs…Hard right stuns Froch..Froch lands a right to the body...48-47 Kessler

Round 6 Big right from Kessler..Left hook..Left hook…right from Froch…58-56 Kessler

Round 7 Combo from Kessler…big left hook…Froch lands a left..good left hook from Kessler..Froch lands a body shot and a hard right wobbles Kessler…big right and left…67-66 Kessler

Round 8 Froch lands a big left hook..Kessler lands a hard right..left hook…Froch lands a huge right…uppercut from Kessler…Hard right…they trade rights…left hook from Kessler….77-75 Kessler

Round 9Hard right from Kessler..left hook..2 shots from Froch..trading shots..Froch 2 body shots…86-85 Kessler

Round 10

Andre Ward kept himself in the pound-for-pound debate with smarts evident all over again this week when he trashed the World Boxing Council with skillful subtlety.

In saying no to a meaningless belt in a prepared statement Monday, Ward saved himself some future sanctioning fees and was rewarded with applause for a demonstration that represented no risk to him. Taking a stand against the WBC these days is little bit like saying you’re opposed to dirty water. Who isn’t?

Besides, what is a WBC Super Middleweight World Champion Emeritus Title anyway? Just a redundancy? Or a gold watch? Retired professors have titles that include emeritus. The unbeaten Ward is neither retired nor emeritus.

Ward is active, which was the real point to a move that was the rhetorical equivalent of former heavyweight champ Riddick Bowe dumping a WBC pea-soup green belt into a garbage can in 1992.

Pound-for-pound ratings are political. A debate, first-and-foremost. There’s not much chance that Floyd Mayweather Jr. will ever face Ward. With Mayweather at welterweight and Ward at super-middle, more than 20 pounds separate them. For now, fans and Showtime will just be happy if Mayweather agrees to fight Canelo Alvarez. To stay in the debate, however, you have to remind everybody you’re still in the game. Inactivity is a sure way to drift out of mind and out of contention.

Shoulder surgery in January limited Ward to only one fight – a victory over Chad Dawson more than eight months ago – since beating Carl Froch in December, 2011. If not emeritus, Ward wasn’t exactly active. Now, he plans to resume his career in September. The timing of his statement to the WBC coincides with his appearance Saturday in London as a ringside analyst for HBO’s telecast of the Froch-Mikkel Kessler rematch. He’s back in the headlines, back in the hunt and poised to re-assert himself in a race with Mayweather for pound-for-pound supremacy.

It’s still not clear who Ward will fight in September. But he has said he eventually wants Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., expected to face Brian Vera on August 3 in Mexico City. Chavez promoter Bob Arum also says he foresees a bout with Ward.

It would be a biggie for both. For Chavez, it’s a chance to resurrect his reputation after haphazard training and a one-sided loss to Sergio Martinez exasperated Mexican fans hoping for a second-coming of his legendary dad. For Ward, it’s a chance to win over Mexican fans, the demographic that can turn a good fighter into a pay-per-view star. To wit: Manny Pacquiao. Without Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez, Pacquiao would not have blown up into a worldwide phenomenon.

A Chavez fight in August eliminates a September bout against Ward, although it’s fun to wonder whether Arum might be tempted. If the promoter could talk Chavez out of Vera in August and ask him to go straight to Ward on Sept. 14, he might have a fight that would compete with any Mayweather bout not involving Canelo.

Let’s say there’s a repeat of the Top Rank-Golden Boy rivalry played out last September in Las Vegas with Martinez-Chavez at Thomas & Mack Center and Canelo’s victory over Josesito Lopez at the MGM Grand. Which one would you watch? HBO’s Chavez-Ward at Thomas & Mack or Showtime’s Mayweather-Devon Alexander at the MGM Grand?

It’s speculative. Even mythical. Then again, so is the pound-for-pound debate, which Ward brought back by getting back into the headlines.

“Yes, right,” said Argentine Lucas Matthysse in Spanish, Saturday, when asked if he next wished to fight junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia. “For that reason, I am thankful to Golden Boy and Al Haymon. They are going to get me that fight, and I know that it is going to be like that.”

Hear the difference in tone? It is not a translation trick but the firmness of a man expressing a proper understanding of power’s proper balance. Having undone Lamont Peterson in fewer than three rounds at Boardwalk Hall, Matthysse did not plead with his promoter to fulfill a contract tortured by an attorney from English to Latin and back, nor did he bend his knee in supplication to a manager or television exec. Matthysse instead gave a polite order to his American promoter, manager and network in the clear language of one genuinely empowered: Thank you in advance.

What you feel about Lucas “The Machine” Matthysse today is a thing to take measure of, perhaps record in a diary, and use as your standard to come, because what you feel is genuine enthusiasm, the euphoria of discovery, a sensation of hopefulness one gets when he realizes the world is a more original, entertaining place than previously surmised. The optimism comes from a place of promise: If this discovery happened, there was a wondrous thing out there I knew nothing about, which means there are other wondrous things out there I know nothing about, wondrous things I necessarily know nothing about knowing nothing about, and life might put them in my way, and what better reason to answer tomorrow’s alarmclock?

Everyone appears to realize the epiphany of Matthysse except Matthysse, and why would he? He is the person he expects himself to be, courteously indifferent and trancedly unbothered by what details modern fight fans think need admiring – entrance music, posse count, apparel sponsorships, purse sizes, management choices.

Ah, management choices; one of the more enchanting things about Matthysse is how he tells Jim Gray whatever he wishes after a fight because Gray works for Richard Schaefer who works for Al Haymon who works for Lucas Matthysse. For once a Haymon-managed fighter did not begin by thanking Haymon and God, reconfigurable in many fighters’ minds, but directed a man whom he pays as an employee. It is sensed, and quivers every brink-pink strand of their free-market pom-poms, while manifesting itself most deliciously in the spectacle of Schaefer arresting Gray’s microphone to whoop like an apprentice hype-man at a freestyle battle.

There is a financial component to this, of course; Matthysse understands what fellow Argentine Sergio Martinez, too, understands: He now needs his promotional team fractionally much as they need him. But there is also a cultural component one sees in other Latino phenoms like Saul “Canelo” Alvarez: They originate in lands where their country’s best athletes amassed incredible stores of celebrity and wealth in a sport, soccer (fútbol [whatever]), unbroadcasted by American networks. Alvarez visited with Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto last month. Martinez’s last kickoff press conference was emceed by Argentine president Cristina Kirchner. To empathize with how such experiences might affect these men, an American can answer this question: After a meeting with Barack Obama, how seriously would I take a promoter promising I might, with his help, someday, if I’m incredibly lucky, make it to the prestigious airwaves of Showtime?

There will ever be a place for a handsome guy with knockout power in both hands, a place in our sport, a place in general sports lore, a place in popular culture at large, and even if Matthysse somehow does not know this, he necessarily senses it, and if he feels any compulsion whatever, and perhaps he does not, it is a compulsion to verily pain the man across from him, as he did in quick time against Lamont Peterson, Saturday.

Much could be deduced from the final instants of round 1, when Matthysse landed a leaping lefthook lead that imparted to Peterson such significance all athleticism fled Peterson’s legs in the minute that followed, a minute after this moment: At the bell Matthysse watched Peterson take his first steps towards the corner, with a predator’s facade, placid to a point of complacency, one not often seen since Juan Manuel Marquez studied Juan Diaz at the close of every round in Houston – like a disinterested curator pondering a work’s craquelure. “The Machine” confirmed about Peterson what Matthysse enters every fight suspecting of every opponent: He is fragile.

Matthysse then waited a few minutes before timing Peterson’s jab, using the twitch of Peterson’s left shoulder as a trigger, and spear-chiseling him with a right cross that drained the match of any suspense save: How badly will Lucas hurt Lamont?

Both men started left hooks in the middle of round 3, and while Matthysse’s arrived earlier by a piece of a second, the difference in the punches’ effects was anticipated by their hips, not their fists: Matthysse squared his feet and completed a 180-degree hip turn before his punch struck. Peterson threw his punch more correctly – short, balanced, fist pronated – and it made Matthysse’s eyes widen for a moment, which is now a solacing detail Peterson might find on replay, since Peterson was, by the time Matthysse reacted, dropping canvasward in the unresisting way unique to the freshly unconscious.

Welcome to boxing’s new pleasure, then, a comely man who unwreathes other men with a dispassionate glaze on his eyes that he rinses with tears at the mention of his daughter’s name on an American television channel he cares rather little about.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

ATLANTIC CITY–In a fight between two reigning beltholders, Lucas Matthysse made a bold statement by wrecking IBF Jr. Welterweight champion Lamont Peterson in round three of their twelve round fight at Boardwalk Hall

Matthysse dropped Peterson with a vicious left hook in round two. Peterson fought back and landed some shots but Matthysse’s power Made a huge impact as he dumped Peterson in span of seconds from two huge left hooks and referee Steve Smoger stopped the fight at 2:14.

Matthysse who was looking a potential September 7th bout with Danny Garcia now with this performance could vault to the head of the line to fight pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather.

Matthysse of Argentina is now 34-2 with 32 knockouts. Peterson of Washington, DC is now 31-2-1.

After the fight, Matthysse spoke through a translator, “The first round I was trying to find out what I was bringing to the fight. After the second round I started connecting with more force. I had two and a half months of preparation for this fight and that was the difference.”

Feeling confident, Matthysse boasted, “Now I know I am the best at 140 pounds because no one has ever dominated Peterson the way I did tonight.”

When asked by SHOWTIME reporter Jim Gray if he would like to fight Unified Super Lightweight World Champion Danny Garcia, who was in attendance at Boardwalk Hall, Matthysse responded, “Golden Boy and Al Haymon will get me that fight. I’m ready for that fight. I want to fight him.”

Gray also spoke with Peterson right after the fight and asked how he felt following the three knockdowns. Peterson said, “I feel good. There is nothing physically wrong with me right now. Of course I am upset that I lost, but so far I feel good.”

On his performance, “I think I got a little lazy with the jab. I started relaxing a little bit…I guess he hit me with a good shot. He did a good job. I recovered from that first knockdown and I was okay for a while and then, eventually, he hit me again and he hurt me again. I still thought I could have fought through it but the ref did the right thing. I guess tonight he was (the better fighter). He won the fight fair and square tonight. He’s a good fighter.”

In round one, Alexander looked to be dominant as he landed some hard body shots to start the round and then some scraping lefts and uppercuts to close the stanza. Alexander continued to outclass the visitor while standing in the pocket and landing some great shots. Purdy was game and landed a few left hooks on the inside. The accumulation of blows began to show in round six as blood came down from the nostrils of Purdy.

Alexander continued using Purdy for target practice in round seven to the point that fight was stopped in the corner following that frame.

Alexander, 146.7 lbs of St. Louis is now 25-1 with 14 knockouts. Purdy, 147.8 lbs of Colchester, UK is now 20-4-1.

The fight was to be contested for Alexander’s IBF Welterweight title but Purdy weighed in one pound over the limit. He could only lose one-quarter of a pound and was fined ten percent of his reported $150,000 purse

Alexander admitted that he wasn’t able to fight to the best of his ability due to an injury. “I hurt my left hand in the first round actually. I hit him on top of the head. I hurt my hand, but I had to get that out of my mind. I had to fight to win. I wanted to impress tonight. My left hand was on point in camp. When I hurt my biceps, that strengthened my left hand so it would have been popping real hard, but I hurt it. I had to set it up softly. I wanted to use my hook and my upper cut but I couldn’t.”

He continued, “There are going to be a lot of critics saying Purdy wasn’t all that anyway, but he’s a good fighter. Over in the U.K. he beat some good guys and I think he was very suitable. He came to fight and he gave me a good fight. I got the win. I got the technical knockout.”

Haroon needed just fifty-seven seconds to dispatch of Vicente Medellin in a scheduled four round Bantamweight bout.

Khan dropped Medellin twice and the fight was stopped.

Khan, 116 1/2 lbs of Bolton, Englans is 2-0 with 1 knockout, Medellin, 115 lbs of Riverside, CA is 0-6.

In a battle of undefeated Welterweights, Shawn Porter had a relatively easy time with Phil Lo Greco as pounded out a unanimous decision.

In round one, Porter tried to back up Lo Greco with some solid body work. In round two, Porter landed a hard combination that backed up Lo Greco which led to two hard uppercuts on the ropes. Porter came out and in round four and landed some hard combinations. Later in the round, Porter ripped Lo Greco with a hard one-two combination. Porter then rocked Lo Greco with hard left hook in the fifth.

Porter continued to dominate and score a dubious knockdown with what looked like a left hook. In the tenth, Porter scored a more emphatic knockdown when he dropped Porter with a left hook. After that, Lo Greco did well to hold on to last the distance.

Porter, 150 lbs of Las Vegas won by scores of 100-88 on two cards and 99-89 and is now 21-1-1. Lo Greco, 150 lbs of Toronto is now 25-1.

Thomas Williams Jr. scored an eight round unanimous decision over veteran Otis Griffin in Light Heavyweight bout.

Williams boxed well over the first few rounds. He then opened up and hurt Griffin on the ropes in the fourth. Williams landed some of his best power shots in the seventh and eighth and had Griffin reeling several times but was not able to come close to the stoppage.

Williams, 175 lbs of Washington, won by scores of 8-72, 79-73 and 79-73 and is now 14-0. Griffin, 175 lbs of Sacramento is now 24-13-2.

2012 Olympic Bronze medal winner Anthony Ogogo pounded out a six round unanimous decision over Edgar Perez in a Middleweight bout

In round two, Ogogo started landing the power punches at range. Ogogo continued to use his range and mix up his punches over the next several rounds. Ogogo was never tested and boxed his way to the decision via scores at 60-54; 60-54 and 60-53 for Ogogo.

Ogogo, 159 lbs of East Anglia, UK is 2-0. Perez, 159 lbs of Arecibo, PR is now 5-5.

Cesar Seda banged out an eight round unanimous decision over Miguel Tamayo in a Bantamweight bout.

Seda, 117 1/2 lbs of Juana Diaz, PR won by scores of 80-70, 80-72 and 79-73 and is now 25-1. Tamayao, 117 1/2 lbs of Ciudad, MX is now 13-6-2.

Former world title challenger Anthony Peterson scored a stoppage over Dominic Salcido after round two of their scheduled ten round Lightweight bout

Peterson came out landing hard power punches in round one. In round two he scored with a vicious body shot that led to a hard barrage in the corner. Peterson continued to land with pummeling shots to the head. After the round, the fight was stopped after Salcido was deemed to have a broken nose.

Peterson, 136 1/2 lbs of Washington, D.C. is now 32-1 with 21 knockouts. Salcido, 136 1/2 lbs of Rialto, CA is now 18-5.

Three-time U.S Olympian Rau’She Warren scored a fourth round stoppage over Angel Carvajal in a scheduled four round Bantamweight bout.

Warren dropped Carvajal in round’s two and four and the bout was stopped at 2:05 of the final round.

Warren, 118 lbs of Cincinnati, OH is now 4-0 with 2 knockouts. Caravjal, 116 lbs of Chicago, IL is now 2-2.

It took two rounds and alot of vicious shots but Robert Easter Jr. scored a second round stoppage over Eduardo Guillen in a scheduled four round Light bout.

Easter landed a many hard lefts and rights that would have put most men down in the first round as Guillen was bouncing and flopping all over the ring from those shots. In round two, Easter landed a cruching left hook that looked like it almost spun Gullien’s head around before he dropped to the canvas. he was able to get up but that was not a good thing for him as another booming left hook sent him to the canvas and the fight was stopped at 1:30 of round two.

Easter, 133 1/2 lbs of Toledo, OH is now 4-0 with all wins coming early. Guillen, 132 lbs of Brownsville, TX is now 0-3.

2012 U.S. Olympian Jamel Herring opened the show with a one round beatdown over Victor Galindo in a scheduled four round Light weight bout.

Herring dropped Galindo with a hard riht to the body. Galidno continued only to absorb massive shots and finally went to his knee form another body shot. Galindo’s corner then stopped the fight at 2:01 of round one.

Herring, 134 lbs of Coram, NY is now 3-0 with 2 knockouts. Galindo, 134 1/2 lbs of San Juan, PR is 1-2

Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s No.1 spot on another list of highest-paid athletes is attached to a key word: Projected.

Sports Illustrated projects Mayweather to be No. 1 in 2013 among America’s top-earning athletes on the magazine’s Fortunate 50 list at $90 million if he fights in September and adds an undisclosed percentage of pay-per-view receipts to his guarantee, which was $32.5 million for his decision over Robert Guerrero on May 4.

For now, we only have Mayweather’s promise to fight in September in what would be his second bout in a Showtime deal worth a potential $250 million for six bouts over 30 months. He hasn’t fought twice within one year since 2007.

There’s talk about Canelo Alvarez. However, a September opponent still remains undetermined. If it’s Danny Garcia or Devon Alexander instead of Canelo and his Mexican fans, pay-per-view numbers don’t figure to do much better than they did for Mayweather-Guerrero. The PPV count exceeded one million for that one, according to Showtime. That’s a good number if you don’t have to pay Mayweather’s minimum wage, $32.5 million. If you do, you start talking about Canelo as often as possible. Showtime has.

Even without any pay-per-view boost to his pay, Mayweather still would lead the SI list with two fights in 2013 worth $66 million, nearly $10 million more than the Miami Heat’s LeBron James. The NBA MVP is a distant second at $56,545,000.

Argue all you want about whether Mayweather or Andre Ward is No.1 in the pound-for-pound ratings. On the dollar-for-dollar lists, Mayweather, No 1 on Forbes’ world-wide list last June, is undisputed.

Even if he doesn’t fight in September, he would be seventh on the SI list at $32.5 million, behind injured Chicago Bulls playmaker Derrick Rose at $33,403,000 and ahead of Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning at $31 million.

It’s astonishing, especially for an athlete who spent two months in jail last summer on domestic-abuse charges. Unlike every other athlete among the top 10, Mayweather doesn’t collect a projected dime from an endorsement. Thirty-nin million dollars in endorsements account from more than 50 percent of James’ money.

The absence of any endorsement money might go a long way toward explaining Mayweather’s behavior in the build-up to the Guerrero walk-over.
Mayweather, known for outrageous trash-talk, barely uttered a single profanity. Perhaps, he was trying to tell corporate America that he could sell its wares and not offend potential customers. Money, the motivator, might be more than just Mayweather’s nickname.

On another level, it’s hard to know what Mayweather’s status as the world’s top-earning athlete says about boxing. The money is a sure sign of life in a sport so often deemed dead. But it’s not necessarily a sign of health either. Mayweather is the only boxer on an SI list that includes 25 from major-league baseball, 13 from the NBA and eight from the NFL.

One athlete isn’t sport. Nobody is going to buy the pay-per-view to watch Mayweather shadow-box. In the end, a winner-take-all equation eventually leaves nothing, nothing-at-all.

AZ NOTES
Iron Boy Promotions will stage its seventh card Friday night in Phoenix at Celebrity Theatre. Opening bell is scheduled for 6 p.m. (PST). Ten pro bouts and five amateur are on the card. Bantamweight Francisco C. De Vaca is donating his purse to the Arizona chapter of the Breast Cancer Society.

To return to aficionados’ better graces, Saturday Lamont Peterson must perform a stern act of contrition at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, one from which his career is unlikely to emerge intact: a visit to the crucible Argentine Lucas Matthysse makes of a prizefighting ring, a place of penance whence no prizefighter returns undamaged.

What Peterson confronted when he faced Kendall Holt in February is not nearly what will confront him Saturday. Matthysse has none of Holt’s regard for personal safety; Holt possess a certain frailty, like all power punchers, a certain possibility of discouragement that seems untroubling to Matthysse – who luxuriates in knowing that no matter the result, so long as he applies himself relentlessly, his admirers, both male and female, will applaud him because his opponent will be hurt. A scroll through Matthysse’s BoxRec entry since 2009 is instructive: “Castaneda down three times” / “Judah down in rd 10” / “Corley down twice in the 5th, once in the 6th and 3 times in each of the 7th and 8th rounds” / “Alexander down once in rd 4” / “Soto down once at the end of rd 5” . . . and those don’t include what five other prizefights Matthysse ended prematurely.

Lamont Peterson, a man whose persona was fabricated upon making people feel good about him (and in self-interest’s anfractuous way, good about themselves by projection), a man whose career was resurrected after he won cleanly perhaps two rounds, though officially even fewer unanimously, against Timothy Bradley 3 1/2 years ago, resurrected after a draw with flighty Victor Ortiz in 2010 and a surprise decision victory over fragile Amir Khan in 2011, has fought but once in 18 months.

This is because Peterson’s confirmatory B sample came back positive one year ago last week for a banned substance later obfuscated as a non-enhancing form of “bioidentical testosterone derived from soy” by a doctor in the medical-research hotbed of Las Vegas, where Peterson went to be diagnosed with hypogonadism, a condition that caused the testosterone levels of this muscular, fully bearded professional athlete to be so perilously low it “literally shocked” his esteemed physician. Peterson has been forgiven mostly by fans and certainly by the IBF, whose junior welterweight belt he will not defend Saturday, for a pretty simple reason: Fans don’t care about the use of PEDs because fans are paying to be entertained, and athletes who use PEDs are more entertaining than athletes who do not.

There is a parallel to be draughted, a parallel worthy of much greater investigation than it will receive here and now, between the painters of the Renaissance and the athletes of today. In his formative work, “Secret Knowledge,” a book whose study would replace entire art-history departments were academia a meritocracy, British artist David Hockney asserts the historic progression that painting undertook before and during the Renaissance was a technological leap first of all. Beginning most evidently with Jan Van Eyck’s 1434 depiction of a golden chandelier in “The Arnolfini Wedding,” painters employed lenses, which took nature’s camera effect – one first commented on by the ancient Greeks – and projected subjects’ likenesses on a screen, from which they could be traced, a practice that continued uninterrupted until, about 400 years later, chemistry replaced the artist’s hand with a process that became known as photography.

When a person visits, say, National Gallery of Ireland and beholds Caravaggio’s seminal 1602 work, “The Taking of Christ,” and proclaims to her peers, why, it looks just like a photograph!, she doubtfully knows how very right she is. Caravaggio, like Van Eyck before him, and Velazquez and Vermeer after him, fulfilled a demand for realism made by his patrons: the most realistic image wins, and the means of accomplishing such realism should be protected assiduously as the trade secret it is. As Hockney returned to the masterpieces of the last half-millennium and scrutinized them with the improved eye of a skeptic, so might sports fans return to the accomplishments of the last 30 years at least – the records that were set, the feats of theretofore impossible athleticism now routinely accomplished – and assume guilt, always, contrary to what generous impulses they otherwise assign themselves.

Boxing fans were for the most part angry at Peterson for getting caught, if we’re being honest: They wanted a rematch, and Peterson’s carelessness got that rematch cancelled. Sportswriters, meanwhile, were more enraged by the false piety of the spectacle – from the promoter’s self-aggrandizement to the Peterson camp’s ludicrous explanation to the way Peterson’s positive results aged the florid prose with which writers adorned the story of upstanding Lamont, brother Anthony and trainer Barry. Lance Armstrong, now famous for cycling, taught the unscrupulous world of professional athletics how to put the First Amendment on ice with well-placed lawsuits – and that was before every contributor had to “agree to indemnify and hold harmless” his publisher. Telling a reader his hero was a product of chemistry more than work ethic was ever thankless, long before writers were legally liable, as individuals, for doing so.

While it was possible for master painters to take the lessons taught them by lenses and evolve beyond them – Rembrandt and Velazquez certainly did, and Vermeer used them creatively enough to make their obvious use an artform of its own – such is not and will never be possible for athletes, men whose talents are eclipsed by years at the same ages others’ talents are enhanced by them. Lamont Peterson will not return to the form he showed in training camp a year ago, or probably the form he showed against Amir Khan, or probably the form he showed against Timothy Bradley, such as it was, when he fights Lucas Matthysse.

This is a fine turn for all but a handful of Saturday viewers, as the rest of us would like nothing better than ghoulishly to indulge what sadistic impulses delight at others’ subjections to pain – and all the better if a sense of justice can be invoked.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

Canelo Alvarez emerges as the biggest winner from Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s predictable and perhaps necessary victory over Robert Guerrero. Argue you all you want about the merits of Mayweather’s dominance. Get over it. Doesn’t matter. Besides, what did anyone really expect?

If dollars are the most reliable path in boxing or any other business, it was no surprise. Follow the purses. According to contracts filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Mayweather’s guarantee was $32.5 million. Guerrero’s was $3 million.
Mayweather’s compensation was 10.83 times more than Guerrero’s paycheck. That’s a long way from the widening gap that separates CEO from employee in today’s America. According to various sources, that number is bigger by 350 to 354 times, or more canyon than gap.

No matter how it’s calculated, here’s the bottom line: Guerrero did what he was hired to do. He was virtually Mayweather’s employee. He might as well have come into the ring on May 4 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand wearing one of those caps that say TMT, the Mayweather logo that stands for The Money Team.

Guerrero clocked in at opening bell and clocked out after 12 rounds of work. He allowed Mayweather to shake off some rust and re-establish a working relationship with his dad, Floyd Sr., who is back as his trainer. Above all, Guerrero was a vehicle for Mayweather to test his readiness for a Showtime contract worth $250 million if he fights five more times over the next 30 months. So far, so good.

But the tune-up Mayweather needed left a potential problem. Guerrero is everything that Alvarez is not. Alvarez continues to emerge as a Mayweather equal at the box office with proven drawing power absent on May 4. As of Thursday, pay-per-view numbers had yet to be released. If – as rumored – they fall short of expectations, Alvarez’ importance to Showtime’s deal with Mayweather grows.

Even if the numbers are better than speculated, Alvarez-Mayweather is the fight Showtime must have if the deal is to succeed. Alvarez, of Guadalajara, is the red-head Pied Piper for Mexican fans. He brings the Mexican audience. No demographic is more important in boxing. Mayweather seemed to forget that on May 4 when he tried to appropriate the popular Cinco de Mayo holiday for himself. On fight posters, the celebratory weekend was called May Day.

In 2007, Mayweather wore a sombrero and Mexican colors into the ring before a split-decision on May 5 over Oscar de la Hoya. That might have been a little over the top, but it worked because it acknowledged an audience that has helped him make all that Money. His tip of the sombrero was noticed then. Six years later, I can’t help but think there’s annoyance at suddenly seeing his signature on the same weekend that is Mexican history.

In a savvy move, Alvarez displayed business smarts usually associated with Mayweather when he decided not to fight on the May 4 card, because he couldn’t be guaranteed a Mayweather fight on September 14. Instead, he moved into the main event in a victory on April 20 over Austin Trout in San Antonio. A crowd of nearly 40,000 showed up at the Alamodome. Ticket prices were cheaper than they were in Vegas for Mayweather-Guerrero. But would 40,000 have shown up for Mayweather-Guerrero in San Antonio?

It’s impossible to say what the pay-per-view audience would have been on May 4 if Alvarez had been on the card. But it’s fair to assume they would have been better than whatever the official tally winds up being. Talks for Alvarez-Mayweather reportedly are already underway. At this point, the proposed financial split is anybody’s guess. But here’s a good one: Alvarez won’t fight for $3 million. Multiply Guerrero’s guarantee five times, add a substantial percentage of the Mexican television revenue to Alvarez’ purse and you might get a deal.

We say might, because it’s hard to know how Mayweather will react. He has a history of dictating terms, a factor in the abortive talks for a fight with Manny Pacquiao. If Home Box Office had signed a Showtime-like deal with Mayweather, HBO might still be counting its losses. An HBO deal with Mayweather would have needed Pacquiao then as much as Showtime needs Alvarez now.

Time could be pushing Mayweather to an Alvarez fight sooner than anyone might have expected. At 36, Mayweather is probably a step or two beyond his prime. He said after beating Guerrero that he is five fights from retirement. His best chance might be now instead of later against the 22-year-old Alvarez, who is still approaching his prime.
Meanwhile, the ambitious Alvarez might pay for some youthful impatience. He continues to lobby for Mayweather. Alvarez fights at 154 pounds. Mayweather, comfortable at welterweight, could demand a fight at 147, forcing him into a diet and regimen that could weaken him. There are warnings that Alvarez is getting ahead of himself. Friends and associates are telling him to fight Miguel Cotto first. They are asking him to wait.

But time, money, Mexican fans, Canelo’s ambitions and his emerging role as a make-or-break component in Showtime’s deal with Mayweather are creating momentum hard to stop.

Saturday heavyweight world champion Wladimir Klitschko knocked out a 240-pound Italian named Francesco Pianeta, and few in the United States without an internet connection saw it, and many fewer cared, because there is no interest in Klitschko; because he is dominant his fights are too predictable. Some hours later, in a fight many more Americans knew and cared about, Floyd Mayweather dominated challenger Robert Guerrero in predictable a match as fans have paid extra to see since Mayweather’s last.

In his first event since beating Miguel Cotto a year ago by slightly more lopsided scores than he beat Guerrero, Mayweather allowed Guerrero, and pay-per viewers, six minutes of hope the fight would be entertaining and Guerrero could be competitive, and then, his paycheck cleared, Mayweather snatched all hope away, strolling to a unanimous decision and promising, as he does every year, to fight again soon – early, this time, as September.

The worst blow the Mayweather brand could sustain would be an increase in its namesake’s activity. His admirers ask to see more of him because it is the reasonable request any admirer makes any object of his affection, a request that relies upon a humility that goes: I am not observant enough to capture all your colors and luminosity on first sight and must look and look again and more closely till I have cataloged the entirety of your charms.

But the prefight Mayweather documentaries, saturating and interchangeable, revealed this: The more time you spend round Mayweather, the duller he gets. Have you ever seen so many people nodding-off, catching naps or crashed on couches, while the subject of a documentary – a subject worthy of a documentary, rather – is awake and performing? Showtime featured four or five documentaries on Mayweather, or perhaps they were two, or 47 (it’s impossible for an average mind to keep them separate), that held a revelation and a question: First, everyone falls asleep after a couple hours in Mayweather’s presence, and second, did a 36-year-old really just write his name on the steamed window of a shower door?

A Mayweather event is more spectacle than combat, more fashion art than fine art, and absolutely worth the 70 annual dollars that has become its tariff. But who that has $140 of disposable income – as opposed to money borrowed from mom – would pay it to watch the spectacle twice? It is a question Showtime unadvisedly will answer if given its druthers, one Mayweather is probably too wise to answer. An all-time great handicapper of challengers, Mayweather is too knowledgeable about boxing to find his prizefights entertaining enough to watch twice.

Were he able regularly to end his matches with violence, like he ended Ricky Hatton or even Victor Ortiz, tip the highlight-reel maker, as it were, instead of doffing his cap at B+ opponents postfight, he could work at Manny Pacquiao’s previous rate, or at least try his (right) hand at it. Therein lies the problem: Mayweather’s best punch is the potshot right – a demonstrated susceptibility to which will land you a fight with Mayweather quickest of all – but that hand is brittle a weapon as there is in our beloved sport.

A man does not strike another easily with one punch as Mayweather began to do to Guerrero with righthands in round 3 and then stop unless his hand is fragile or he wishes to carry his opponent. While either is possible when a salesman like Mayweather makes a fight with an opponent pedestrian as Guerrero, probability favors Mayweather’s history of hand problems, though Mayweather detractors are cautioned not to become hopeful about the future: His fight with Carlos Baldomir showed “Money” is still less entertaining in a one-handed fight.

Saturday’s match followed Mayweather’s three-part design; there were the studying rounds followed by the potshotting rounds followed by the uppercutting rounds. Guerrero was a relevance during the first part; Mayweather tied him up and tasted his counters and drew the perimeter in which he might creatively roam for the next half hour. After the second round, Guerrero was a target, interchangeable with Shane Mosley or Oscar De La Hoya.

Mayweather confounded Guerrero by hitting him with righthands from everywhere, hard, accurate, stinging punches Guerrero likely fancied himself walking through in training camp without fancying how impossibly far away Mayweather would be by the time Guerrero’s neurons registered the punch, without fathoming Mayweather’s head and foot would follow directly behind his glove, on a plane so confoundingly low to Guerrero’s left-cross counter they might well have been attached.

Then Guerrero was too confused to hurt Mayweather by any one punch he landed, every punch now thrown from a tentative mien that asked over and again “Is this an opening or a trap?” – then once Guerrero realized it was an opening and tried to repeat the punch, the opening was gone. To hurt Mayweather, as Mosely did, you must put all your confidence behind a punch that exploits an actual opening; it is boxing’s rarest occurrence because you are hoping, not exploiting, in the opening rounds, and by the time you are familiar enough with Mayweather’s rhythm and patterns to see an actual opening, you no longer have confidence enough to make a dent.

Part three of the Mayweather design was to drop a then-desperate Guerrero on right uppercuts the way Andre Berto did. This final phase failed only because Mayweather lacked the commitment to throw his evidently damaged right hand with the force required to position it properly for greeting Guerrero’s downrushing chin.

Mayweather is in danger now of becoming Wladimir Klitschko. He is a fighter too dominant for his own good who may be about to learn it is disproportionately easier to filch $70/year from American consumers than $140. Mayweather’s next fight will open at odds even with those that say it will not do a million buys.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

LAS VEGAS – It wasn’t exactly easy money. More like seed money.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. planted what he hopes will blossom into five
more Showtime fights for $250 million with a decision more one-sided
than unanimous Saturday night over Robert Guerrero in a welterweight
bout at the MGM Grand.

“Five more to go,’’ Mayweather (44-0, 26 KOs) said. “Let’s do it.’’

Can he? That answer was the key to Mayweather’s first fight since
his release from jail late last summer and his first bout since
beating Miguel Cotto a year ago.

Guerrero (31-2-1, 18 KOs) was there, perhaps, because he is as
tough as he was overmatched. His lack of speed and limited athleticism
made a Mayweather victory likely. It was the same on all three cards.
Judges Julie Lederman, Jerry Roth and Duane Ford scored it 117-111,
each for Mayweather.

On the 15 Rounds card, Mayweather was a 120-109 winner with
Guerrero failing to win a round. 15 Rounds scored the first round
even. Guerrero appeared to be winning the second, but that proved to
be the beginning of the inevitable when Mayweather stole the round by
landing the first right hand in what turned into avalanche of rights.

Guerrero wound up bloodied above one eye. The ringside physician
looked at the eye after the eighth. But the doctor decided that
Guerrero could continue.

“He was hard to hit,’’ Geurrero said. “But I’ll be back. Maybe
back for a rematch.’’

Guerrero was hurt, yet upright. In hindsight, that’s why he was
picked to be Mayweather’s first opponent in the Showtime deal. Every
new vehicle needs a test drive. Mayweather got the full, 12-round
drive, shaking off some initial stiffness and establishing some
familiar fluidity later.

There were also no hitches in the reunion with his dad, Floyd
Mayweather Sr., as his trainer. Roger Mayweather, his uncle and his
lead trainer for years, wasn’t in the corner, although he was in
middleweight J’Leon Love’s corner for a controversial victory on the
undercard.

“My father provided defense,’’ Mayweather Jr. said. “The less you
get hit, the longer you last.’’

Durability is the key if Mayweather hopes to collect the $250
million that is there if he fights five more times over the next 30
months. Even in the Guerrero fight, he might have suffered a
problematic injury. He complained of pain in his right hand, which he
said he hurt midway through the bout.

“I feel bad I didn’t give the fans a knockout,’’ said Mayweather,
who was guaranteed $32 million, more than 10 times Guerrero’s $3
million, according to contracts filed with the Nevada State Athletic
Commission. “I was looking for it. I hurt my right hand.’’

It wasn’t known late Saturday whether the hand was hurt bad enough
to prevent him from fighting in September.

“I plan to fight in September, yes,’’ Mayweather said a couple
hours after defeating Guerrero.

Even if healthy, however, Mayweather’s history indicates that five
more fights over the term of the deal are unlikely. He hasn’t fought
twice within 12 months since 2007.

Canelo Alvarez, the popular Mexican red-head, has called out
Mayweather repeatedly. After beating Austin Trout in San Antonio,
Alvarez again said he wanted to fight Mayweather. For Showtime, a deal
without Canelo-Mayweather would seem to be a bad one. Showtime, Golden
Boy Promotions, Mayweather and Canelo have 30 months to get it done.

If there is a Mayweather fight in September without Alvarez, there
are other possibilities. Danny Garcia, the current junior-welterweight
champion, was mentioned in Saturday night’s aftermath. Welterweight
Devon Alexander was another possibility.

Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer talked about somebody special.

A “red-headed” somebody, he said.

Schaefer didn’t have to say who.

After what happened Saturday night, talk about Mayweather-Alvarez
took on a momentum all its own.

Best of the Undercard

It was friendly fire, the toughest kind of all.

But a contract between longtime pals and sometime sparring
partners, Abner Mares and Daniel Ponce De Leon, had to be fulfilled.

It was.

In full.

Mares (26-0-1, 14 KOs) made sure of it with a brilliant display of
versatility and surprising power for two knockdowns in a ninth round
TKO of Ponce De Leon (44-5, 35 KOs) for the World Boxing Council’s
featherweight title.

“He’s my friend,’’ said Mares, whose friendship with Ponce De Leon
includes the same manager, Frank Espinoza. “I wanted him to stay down,
especially after I dropped him the second time. You just don’t want to
keep hitting a friend.’’

There was some mild controversy over whether Mares should have
been allowed to. After dropping Ponce De Leon with a right in the
ninth, Mares pursued and caught him along the ropes with succession of
blows. At 2:20 of the ninth, referee had seen enough. Jay Nady ended
it, despite Ponce De Leon’s pleas for more.

“I don’t feel the fight should have been stopped,’’ said Ponce De
Leon, who also said he wants a rematch.

Friendship’s perks might get him one, although that would still
leave him with an impossible task. In Mares’ first fight at 126
pounds, he knocked down Ponce De Leon with a left in the second and a
right in the ninth.

“I think I confused him,’’ said Mares, who dedicated the victory to
his father. His dad suffered a stroke nearly a month ago.

The Rest

· A move up in weight embellished Leo Santa Cruz’ emerging
status as perhaps the best fighter in the 118-to-126-pound range with
an overwhelming stoppage of ex-flyweight champ Alexander Munoz of
Venezuela in a junior-feather bout. Santa Cruz, of Los Angeles,
dedicated his victory to an ailing brother. “He’s fighting for his
life,’’ Santa Cruz (24-0-1, 14 KOs) said. He fought for him, knocking
down Munoz (36-5, 28 KOs) in the third, rocking him with head-snapping
punches in the fourth and finishing him off with a right-left
combination at 1:05 of the fifth. Santa Cruz landed an astonishing
219 punches before five rounds were complete, according to CompuBox.
Santa Cruz might be next for Mares, according to Golden Boy Promotions
CEO Richard Schaefer.

· Las Vegas middleweight J’Leon Love (16-0, 8 KOs) got no love
in getting a split decision, booed loudly and often, over Garbriel
Rosado (21-7, 13 KOs), who lost despite scoring a knockdown in the
sixth round with a right. “It is what it is,’’ Love, a Mayweather
Promotions prospect, said after the 10-round victory over Rosado, a
Philadelphia fighter who sat on top of the ropes in his corner and
shook his head as if to say it was lousy.

· Las Vegas super-middleweight Ronald Gavril (4-0, 1 KO) closed
the non-televised portion of the pay-per-view card with a sweeping
right hook that appeared to leave Roberto Yong (5-7-2, 4 KOs) of
Phoenix defenseless and without a chance. Referee Russell Mora
stopped, making Gavril a TKO winner at 2:12 of the third round.

· Super-middleweight Luis Arias (5-0, 3 KOs), a Cuban
super-middleweight now living in Las Vegas, relied on a solid right
to survive some rocky moments and repeated left hands from DonYil
Livingston (8-3-1, 4 KOs) of Palmdale, Calif., for a six-round victory
by majority decision.

· Las Vegas light heavyweight Badou Jack (14-0, 10 KOs) of
Mayweather Promotions landed a right-handed body punch that put
Michael Gbenga (13-8, 3 KOs) to one knee in the third. Gbenga of
Silver Springs, Md., complained that the punch was a low blow. Video
said otherwise. Jack stayed unbeaten, winning a third-round TKO.

· Las Vegas super-middleweight Lanell Bellows (4-0-1, 4 KOs)
won a fourth-round stoppage over Matthew Garretson (2-1, 1 KO) of
Charleston, WV.

LAS VEGAS – It was a weigh-in noteworthy for what didn’t happen. Ruben Guerrero behaved himself. Sort of.

Expectations for a brawl before opening bell weren’t fulfilled Friday in a pre-fight ritual that went off almost as if it had been rehearsed. Robert Guerrero was at 147 pounds, the welterweight limit, and Floyd Mayweather Jr. was one pound under at 146 for a bout on Showtime’s pay-per-view television Saturday night at the MGM Grand.

Escalating trash talk had set the stage for one of those confrontations that often send weigh-ins spinning into some unregulated violence. Ruben Guerrero, Robert’s dad and trainer, fueled much of it with insults that went viral Wednesday when he repeatedly mocked Mayweather and his jail sentence last summer for domestic abuse.

If the insults bothered Mayweather, however, there were no signs of it when he took his turn on the scale. He smiled at a noisy crowd of a few thousand fans. He blew kisses at them as he walked onto the stage. Mayweather has been CEO cool and calm, almost eerily so, throughout the buildup for his first bout since his last fight, a victory over Miguel Cotto a year ago.

There’s been a lot of amateur psychology floating around, suggesting that Mayweather (43-0, 26 KOs) is a different person. Even his dad and lead trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., has said jail changed his son. Maybe.

In the pre-fight proceedings for Guerrero (31-1-1, 18 KOs), he’s been more careful with what he says and how he says it. If anything, he relinquished his trash-talk title to Guerrero’s dad, Ruben, who was watched by vigilant Golden Boy Promotion officials throughout the weigh-in. They didn’t want an ugly incident.

The stare-down after both stepped off the scale lasted about a minute. It ended when Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez pulled Guerrero away. In bit of a surprise, Robert appeared to be more animated than anybody, even his dad. He was asked about what he was thinking while looking into Mayweather’s unblinking eyes.

“Thinking about getting down, that’s what I was thinking about,’’ Guerrero said with an edge of excitement in his tone. “Got to beat him down. Got to take full advantage of it.’’

There’s been speculation that Guerrero might get overwhelmed in his first experience on boxing’s biggest and richest stage. According to contracts filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Mayweather is guaranteed $32 million for his first fight under a Showtime deal worth a potential $250 million if he fights six times over the next 30 months. Guerrero will get $3 million.

Maybe, that helps explain his father’s antics. Dad has been diverting some of the attention and subsequent pressure onto himself and away from his son. Maybe.

Both fighters enter the ring with their own back stories. Guerrero has his wife, Casey, and his role in her fight against leukemia. He also has his faith, an element that stands in contrast to Mayweather’s flamboyant lifestyle, summed up by his nickname, Money. Yet, controversy also is part of Guerrero’s tale of the tape. He’s facing gun possession charges in New York, for allegedly trying to bring a weapon onto a flight in checked baggage.

Mayweather’s crazy family is never from his story. His dad, often estranged, is back in his son’s corner. As of late Monday, it still had not been determined whether Roger Mayweather, his uncle, would work the corner with Floyd Sr. Roger has diabetes. Floyd Jr. said at times it affects his uncle’s vision. The only certainty Friday was that Floyd Sr., would run the corner. A reunion between father and dad has been an element to the Mayweather story for Guerrero. It’s as if Floyd Jr. is using the bout as way to repair a dysfunctional relationship.

At opening bell, however, there will be only Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Robert Guerrero.

“He’s flat-footed,’’ said Mayweather, who also has called Guerrero a hypocrite for talking about his faith. “He fights like a grappler.’’

In Mayweather, however, Guerrero sees a 36-year-old fighter who appeared to have lost his foot speed in a bruising victory over Cotto. Mayweather likes to say that there’s no blueprint on how to beat him. Nobody has. But Guerrero, a left-hander, doesn’t believe it. He has spent a career humbling his skeptics and his faith tells him he can do it again.

“Not just to humble Floyd, but to humble the boxing world,’’ Guerrero said. “You get a lot of people out there that think Floyd’s like a god, the way he acts, the way he lives, the way he spends money, the way he boasts about stuff. You get everybody thinking that he’s unstoppable, that nobody could beat him. That with Floyd, there’s no blueprint to beat him. You can’t break him down. But you know what? Being a big believer in God, there’s a blueprint for everybody.”

LAS VEGAS – Frank Espinoza isn’t from Switzerland, but the manager might wish he was in the Alpine nation known for neutrality Saturday night instead of a ringside seat at the MGM Grand.

Espinoza won’t be able cheer.

Or boo.

Espinoza will be hamstrung from one corner to the other, tied down by contractual obligations and personal loyalty to both Abner Mares and Daniel Ponce De Leon in a featherweight fight on Showtime’s pay-per-view card featuring Floyd Mayweather Jr. against Robert Guerrero.

“It’s a very awkward situation,” Espinoza said. “I’ll be in the ring prior to the fight, but I won’t walk with either of them or visit either in their dressing rooms. I’m as neutral as I can be.

“I’m close to both of the guys. I love them like my own sons. I just want them to both come out healthy. I’m not happy they’ll be punching each other.”

In other words, Ponce De Leon said, the fight could be harder on Espinoza, a longtime Los Angeles manager, than either of the fighters.

Neither Ponce De Leon nor Mares dared to guess who Espinoza was picking or even how their mutual manager thought the fight might end.

“He’s picking a trilogy,’’ Mares joked.

Espinoza will have the winner, Ponce De Leon said.

“He’s going to keep one champion in the company,’’ said Ponce De Leon, who holds the World Boxing Council’s version of the 126-pound title. “And it’s going to be me.’’

Mares and Ponce De Leon promised that the scorecards won’t be even. But their paychecks are. In a sure sign that Espinoza isn’t playing favorites, he negotiated $375,000 for each in a Golden Boy Promotions bout initially proposed for April 20 at Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.

“They’re fighters, but they’re both businessmen, and they both wanted to fight,” Espinoza said. “Fighting on this platform, Cinco de Mayo, millions of people watching two warriors, showcasing their talent. There’s no losers.

“Boxing needs the best fighting the best. I know I could’ve gone a different direction. But I got them the most money they could get from a fight now. I did my job as a manager.”

Espinoza is not the first to manage fighters in the same bout. After all, boxing has seen it all, done it all ad nauseam. A parachutist – Fan Man – dropped into the ring like the 82nd Airborne Division during the middle of an Evander Holyfield-Riddick Bowe rematch. Mike Tyson dined on a Holyfield ear.

But this time history doesn’t figure to repeat itself. Espinoza doesn’t have to be told about the Carlos Zarate-Alfonso Zamora Jr. bantamweight fight in April, 1977 at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif.

Manager-trainer Arturo Hernandez worked for both Zarate and Zamora Jr. But neutrality had more holes in it than Swiss cheese for Hernandez. He played favorites. He worked the corner for Zarate, who won a fourth-round knockout. But Zarate’s victory and Hernandez’ role in it enraged Zamora’s father, who was in his son’s corner.

It’s hard to see exactly what happened in some old video on You Tube. Let’s just say that Alfonso Zamora Sr. went Ruben Guerrero, Robert’s father and trainer who became a breakout star Wednesday with insults gone viral of Mayweather during a formal news conference.

Zamora Sr. walked across the ring and kicked below – way below – the belt line, according to a couple of ringside observers, Hall of Fame promoter Don Chargin and longtime publicist Bill Caplan, who still wince when recalling a moment more than 36 years ago. Let’s just say it was beyond a low blow. It was obscene.

And, Espinoza said, Zamora Sr. kicked “more than once.’’

Neutrality, no matter how difficult, figures to be a lot less painful.

In the opening bout of the evening, Fernando Fuentes scored a four round majority decision over Cristian Lorenzo.

The bantamweight bout featured two undefeated fighters that saw Fuentes win by scores of 40-36, 39-37 and 38-38.

Fuentes, 117 ½ lbs of Hemet, CA is now 2-0-1. Lorenzo, 117 ½ lbs of Tijuana, MX is now 2-1

DALLAS – The career of middleweight champion Sergio Martinez will not end any better than our sport ends its every practitioner’s career, and that is an unfortunate revelation made obvious Saturday, when the Argentine Martinez made a homecoming title defense against Englishman Martin Murray and won a unanimous decision narrower than what its three rainswept judges, surrounded in a soccer stadium by 40,000 Argentines, tallied. The decision was not controversial because the decision was really not the point at all.

This was an exhibition, a career retrospective of Martinez’s works, and if it was rougher than planned for the homecoming champion, a scrap more than a celebration, it will not appear that way in the official record, which reads Martinez UD-12 Murray.

There is a level of introspection to Sergio Martinez that is rare among professional athletes in general and prizefighters in particular, perhaps because Martinez did not come to acclaim until he was well in his 30s, which is to impart Sergio Martinez knew himself, what he was and what he thought of what he was, before others could tell him what he was and what they thought of what he thought of what he was. There is a composure to Martinez, an affability, a willingness to show vulnerability – yes, that is the differentiating word: vulnerability – rare among professional athletes and all but impossible among prizefighters.

I spoke to him in January, nearer his penultimate fight than Saturday’s, and he was willing to describe, in surprising detail and self-deprecation, what discomfortingly intense moments ended his September match with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. He treated rage-at-self and what drunkenness comes from sipping a homebrew of fatigue and abuse, and the revelatory fact nothing at the end went as he prepared it to go. Immediately after that I borrowed Thomas Hauser’s advice and asked Martinez what question he would ask those who ask him questions, his interviewers, if given the chance.

His answer was unique and personal: “What is the key to finding inspiration to write?” He spoke of what travails he encountered working on his first book, the hours cum days cum weeks of a blank page followed unexpectedly by a visit from the muse at three in the morning. Readers of this column will be unsurprised by how I answered: You must be willing to write garbage, Sergio, to keep your fingers flurrying on the keys, knowing your first draft is likely to be schlock anyway, and so why belabor it?

Saturday I was not in Buenos Aires, or Brooklyn, but rather at the final professional hockey game of the 2013 season in Lone Star State, this city’s Stars against the Detroit Red Wings, and I was not there to see either team or even the game of hockey, particularly, one I played through my adolescence, but rather an individual who plays the game close to perfectly as I have seen done: Pavel Datsyuk. His connection to Martinez is that Martinez is the professional athlete Datsyuk just edges on my list of favorite professional athletes. There is no one in any sport I appreciate more than Datsyuk.

I did not watch Saturday’s game, consequential as it was for the Red Wings franchise, but Pavel Datsyuk. When he was on the ice I followed him to the exclusion of the puck, and when he was not on the ice I was distracted, like other Texans, by campy fan-appreciation giveaways, shapely ice girls in lycra bottoms and a themeless potpourri of loud music. Datsyuk’s skating skills are now quietly eroded by knee surgeries; it is why he conserves energy by making large Cs more than large strides, more and more. His warmup stretching routine is novel for all the contortions it comprises, and his pregame skate was noteworthy for the number of times he lost edges, and the way he stood apart from the rest of the team, making passes to invisible marks on the boards, as his teammates swooped round him. While others collected pucks to fire at the Red Wings goalies – at them, not by them, by design – Datsyuk stood in innocuous places on the ice, passing the puck between the skates of his teammates to private spots on the boards.

Datsyuk is known in the league as “The Magician” for the innovative way he handles the puck, but that is missing the point of his greatness, which is a preparedness leavened by grit; no one makes it to the NHL without he can do things with a rubber disk and blacktaped blade of wood others appreciate in direct proportion to what hours they’ve practiced the same – which is altogether different from impressing naïfs and dilettantes, or Texans – but Datsyuk’s greatness is found in his individual battles with other men put on earth, they believe, only to play hockey. He defeats these men by being as good from either side of the puck, forehand or back, as no one before him has.

Martinez, for an enchanted stretch, bore a similarity to this. He stood before larger men and discouraged them, dis-couraged them, by causing their professionally aimed shots to miss by fractions of acceptable spaces in ways they could not predict. Martinez no longer has this capacity – as Martin Murray proved often, Saturday, but most especially in round 6, when Martinez invited Murray to discourage himself by missing Martinez repeatedly, and Murray repeatedly did not miss. Martinez hasn’t the technical perfection to perform adequately against larger men now that his reflexes have been taken by those larger men and what repairs to his body they’ve made necessary.

Saturday’s postfight happenings brought word Martinez will not return till April 2014. Better to call it a career, now, having filled a venue with his countrymen in a way no American prizefighter has done in decades.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

NEW YORK–Danny Garcia retained the WBA/WBC?Ring Magazine Super Lightweight championship with a twelve round unanimous decision over former two division world champion Zab Judah at the Barclays Center.

The first few rounds were close but Garcia tried to land the hard right while Judah moved and looked for a win with the jab. Garcia had a strong round four that was highlighted by hard left hook that bounced off the jaw of Judah. Garcia had a big round five as he rocked and buckled Judah with hard right. Garcia was all over Judah and landed many power shots. Round six Garcia come out and jump all over Judah in the corner. he landed some thudding power shots that had the challenger in trouble for mist of the round.

In round eight, Judah landed his best left hand of the night but got countered with a hard right hand that sent Judah to the canvas. Upon getting to his feet a cut formed under his left eye. Judah made it a fight when rocked Garcia continuously in round eleven. A headbutt opened up a huge gash in the middle of Garcia’s frehead in the beginning of round twelve. Judah failed to capitalize on any of the momentum he garnered for himself in the previous six minutes. The two swung and connected down the stretch but Judah’s failure to unleash his left hand earlier probably cost him the contest.

Garcia won by scores 115-112, 114-112 and 116-111.

Garcia, 139.8 lbs of Philadelphia is now 26-0. Judah, 140 lbs of Brooklyn is 42-8.

After the fight Garcia (26-0, 16 KO’s) praised Judah, saying, “It was a hell of a fight. I had to beat the Brooklyn guy in his hometown. I knew he had a lot of pride behind him and he was never going to give up. He is a crafty veteran with power. He hit me with a good shot. He hit me in the eleventh with a left hand that spun me around. It shook me up a little bit.”

He continued “I am a true champion and I had to fight through a storm tonight to prove that. Judah is the craftiest and strongest guy that I have fought so far. I knew he had a lot of power with the left, but I was able to stand my ground and counter it. My game plan was to try to use the jab, but he was stepping around. He was crafty and he took my jab away so I had to do what I had to do.”

Referring to the bad blood between the two fighters, Garcia said, “It’s gone. It’s respect. As you can see, it’s a lot of bad blood. I’ve got cuts. He has cuts. We came here and gave the people of Brooklyn a nice show.”

Speaking on his performance, Judah (42-8, 29 KO’s) said, “It’s boxing and things happen. You win some, you lose some. Danny is a young, tough fighter. I was on my A-game tonight. I worked hard. I had a great training camp and we gave it our best shot.”

When asked if this would be his last fight Judah emphatically responded, “You’re going to see me fight again. Why would I quit?”

Peter Quillin made the defense of the WBO Middleweight championship with a seventh round stoppage over Fernando Guerrero.

After a lackluster first round, Quillin landed a vicious right that sent Guerrero to the canvas in round two. Guerrero was hurt badly and Quillin jumped on him and landed uppercut followed by a right that dropped the challenger for a second time in the round. Quillin was not down as he buckled Guerrero badly with a ghard roght just before the round came to an end. Guerrero was having a solid round four until a big right to the temple buckled him yet again. Round five was an incredible display of courage as both guys took turns landing hard power shots at close range.

Quillin came out in round seven and dropped Guerrero in the opening seconds from a right hand that sent Guerrero rubbery legged into the bottom rope. Guerrero was hurt and ate a huge right hand that sent him flat on his back and referee Harvey Dock stopped the bout at 1:30 of round seven.

Quillin, 160 lbs from Brooklyn is now 29-0 with 21 KO’s. Guerrero, 160 lbs of Salisbury, MD is now 25-2.

After the win,Quillin reflected on his preparation and the fight itself saying, “It’s the journey that is the most important. I have to thank Fernando for coming up, but he couldn’t do it. I had to do it for New York City.

“There is no concern when you are trying to stick to the gameplan. I believed in what my corner was telling me. I value their opinion and fernando came. This wasn’t a fight that was made because we thought that I could beat Fernando Guerrero. He came and had the opportunity. I’m very thankful.

“I’m inpsired by my team. It’s always working to try to do your best. I was working hard to do my best. I put myself through a hard training camp to try to come to this fight and try to look like superman. The sky is the limit.”

Former world title challenger Daniel Jacobs scored a fourth round beatdown of Keenan Collins in a scheduled eight round Middleweight bout.

Jacobs dropped Collins twice in round four from blistering left hooks. Collins continued on until he was battered all over the ring and the fight was stopped at 2:06 of round four.

Jacobs, 161 lbs of Brooklyn, NY is now 25-1 with 22 knockouts. Collins, 161 lbs of Brooklyn is now 15-8-3.

Former world Welterweight champion Luis Collazo scored a fifth round stoppage over Miguel Callist in a scheduled eight round bout.

Collazo was dominant throughout as he dropped Callist in round three and round five and the fight was waved off at 1:33 of round five.

Collazo, 146.4 lbs of Brooklyn, NY is now 33-5 with 17 knockouts. Collins, 147.4 lbs of Brooklyn is 27-9-1.

Eddie Gomez beat up Luis Hernandez over eight rounds to pound a unanimous decision in a Jr. middleweight bout.

In round one Gomez landed some heavy blows and scored a knockdown at the end of the round with a thunderous right hand. Gomez hurt Hernandez with some vicious shots in round two. Hernandez fought back monetarily. In round three, Gomez dropped Hernandez with a short left hook. Gomez continued to pound Hernandez with hard shots. Hernandez face was bloodied from that power shots. Gomez was in cruise control until he started to pummel a battered Hernandez at the end of round seven. Gomez was never challenged in the eighth round.

Gomez, 151 lbs of Bronx, NY won by scores of 80-70, 80-70 and 79-71 and is now 14-0. Hernandez, 148.6 lbs of Ibarra, ECU is now 21-5.

Boyd Melson scored a six round unanimous decision over Edgar Perez in Jr. Middleweight bout.

Melson dropped Perez in round five from a hard straight left. Melson was all over Perez but could not finish him.

Scores were 60-53 on two cards and 59-54 for Melson, 160.6 lbs if Brooklyn and is now 10-1-1. Perez, 161.4 lbs of Arecibo, PR is now 5-4.

2012 U.S. Olympian Marcus Browne scored a second round stoppage over Tanel Goyco in a scheduled four round Light Heavyweight bout.

Browne dropped Goyco in round one from a hard left hand and again in round two from a left / right combination. Browne jumped all over Goyco and Goycos corner stopped the bout at fifty-four seconds of round two.

Browne, 175 lbs of Staten Island, NY is noiw 4-0 with all wins coming early. Goyco, 173.8 lbs of Philadelphia is now 4-6-1.

Zachary Ochoa scored a four round unanimous decision over Calvin Smith in a Jr. Welterweight bout.

Scores were 40-36 on all cards for Ochoa, 140 lbs of Brooklyn and is now 4-0. Smith, 135 lbs of Prichard, AL is now 2-3.

Good looking Bantamweight prospect Miguel Cartagena scored a four round unanimous decision over Angel Carvaljal.

Both guys gave a good effort but Cartagena landed the harder blows and had Carvajal on the defensive after taking those shots.

Scores were 40-36 on all cards for Cartagena, 114.8 lbs of Philadelphia and is now 6-0. Carvajal, 117 lbs of Chicago is now 2-1

D’Mitrius Ballard scored a second round knockout over Marcus Clay in a scheduled four round Super Middleweight bout.

Ballard dropped Clay in round one from a body shot and again from a flurry of punches in round two and referee Earl Brow stopped the bout at 2:21 of round two.

Ballard, 166.6 lbs of Temple Hills, MD is 2-0 with two knockouts. Clay, 167.4 lbs of Baton Rouge, LA is 2-6.

In city where almost every other street seems to be named Peron or Evita, promoter Lou DiBella saw a middleweight’s name on cabs, buses and billboards. On DiBella’s trip from the airport to his hotel in Buenos Aires, there it was, again and again.

Sergio Martinez.

Welcome home.

“He’s really like a rock star here,’’ DiBella said.

It’s been eleven years since Martinez last fought in Argentina, a beautiful country with a star-crossed history and boxing tradition undergoing a revival because of those who left to fight elsewhere.

Martinez (50-2-2, 28 KOs) returns Saturday night on HBO (8:30 pm ET/PT) against Martin Murray (25-0-1, 11 KOs) after more than a decade abroad. He lived and trained in Madrid. He fought in the UK. He made a pound-for-pound name in the United States. It was a journey of discovery, a personal quest. Martinez found what he believed was always there on his horizon.

He grew up in Quilmes, south of downtown Buenos Aires in a town known for a brewery, soccer and poverty. He tried soccer. It would have been hard not to. Google Quilmes. Then, look up the list of notable people from the town of about 240,000. Almost all of them are soccer players.

He also dreamed of racing on the international bicycling circuit. But that ended when a prized bike was stolen when he was 15. That theft was part of an upbringing – mean streets, Argentina style – that prepared Martinez for what he would later forge into an instinct within a fighter ranked among the world’s top four, including Floyd Mayweather Jr., Andre Ward and Juan Manuel Marquez. Martinez, the son of a laborer, grew up around neighborhood bullies. He learned how to confront them. Fight them. Identify them.

Over the last four years, you could watch Martinez and detect an unshakable sense of self and confidence in what he can do. He engaged Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in a wild punching duel in the 12th round last September. It looked like a foolish gamble then. He had an insurmountable lead on the scorecards. But he did it anyway, perhaps because he knew he could survive as he always has. It was an amazing three minutes that seemed to sum up the gutsy nature of a fighter with an unorthodox style.

Don’t look for the insecurities that lead to trash talk. You won’t find them. Don’t look for the complacency that leads to unexpected losses. It’s not there. If it had, it would have appeared and ended Martinez’ ambitions long before anybody in the U.S. of even Argentina knew who he was. He paid his dues, so often that there is widespread respect for him in his homeland. In the wake of his triumph over Chavez Jr., Martinez met Argentina’s president, Cristina Kirchner. When was the last time a U.S. fighter was invited to the White House?

“Sergio is hands down the greatest fighter I have ever promoted,” DiBella said during a conference call not long after he arrived Wednesday in Buenos Aires. “Not only because he is a terrific talent. Not only because he is at the top of the pound-for-pound list, right up there with Floyd Mayweather, but also because of the type of man he is. He is a good human being. He has a great sense of social consciousness. He’s back in his homeland where he’s waited for this opportunity, to fight again in Argentina for many, many years.

“You’re getting a chance to see a Hall of Fame fighter, who, in my mind, is one of the best middleweights who ever lived, and one of the two great middleweights in the history of Argentina.

“You can mention Sergio Martinez in the same sentence as Carlos Monzon at this point and you’re not doing any injustice to Monzon.’’

Over time, Martinez will get the appreciation he deserves. But time also poses a potential problem. He’s 38. According to longtime advisor Sampson Lewkowicz, he promised is dad that he would not fight past 40. He’s also coming off knee surgery for an injury suffered against Chavez Jr. Murray, a tough inside fighter managed by Ricky Hatton, is bound to test that right knee with pressure that will force Martinez to employ lateral movement.

There are also potential distractions. Martinez has fought in Buenos Aires, but never as a hometown hero who has captivated a nation. There were signs of it in September when a small crowd of fans waving the powder blue-and-white Argentine flag celebrated his victory over Chavez by dancing on the floor at Las Vegas Thomas & Mack Center. But that crowd figures to be just a tiny fraction of the 40,000 expected Saturday night at an outdoor soccer stadium.

Martinez is grateful for the attention.

But he promises not to be deluded by it.

“This is not going to be an easy fight, because Murray has lots to gain and little to lose,” he said. “Today, I see Murray in the same situation that I was in four years ago, and it takes a lot of hunger for glory to get here. I have nothing but respect for him.”

Respect for a craft and a country where the lessons began.

SAN ANTONIO – Mexican Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is a better fighter than he appears on television, which is an ironical development given how desperately two television broadcasters, one in the U.S., one in Mexico, now crave his success. He is also better with fans and interviewers, more comfortable, more himself, if no better looking, than many stoic Mexican champions are. These are fine, important things, since Saturday at Alamodome ensured he is our sport’s future, being, as he is, the best young representative from boxing’s most reliable fanbase.

One didn’t need to be a Canelo partisan to see him win a close, clear victory over New Mexico’s Austin Trout in their junior middleweight title-unification match, Saturday, a victory judges unanimously saw Alvarez’s way: 115-112, 116-111 and 118-109. My scorecard concurred, 115-114, marking rounds 5, 6, 8, 10 and 12 for Trout, rounds 1 and 4 even, and rounds 2, 3, 7, 9 and 11 for Alvarez – with round 7 going 10-8 in his favor. Additionally, I marked with an asterisk rounds 2, 3, 5, 11 and 12, as those close enough to engender goodfaith debate.

All calculus aside, my sense of the fight at ringside was that Alvarez was its winner, the man who most successfully manifested what the verb “to fight” both connotes and denotes. What is not adequately transmitted about Alvarez by television – why, once more, attending fights bests watching them through self-interested and -deluding filters – is the ferocity of his attack. He has none of the workaday commitment his countrymen typically apply to their punches, blows that hurt for being efficiently leveraged by professional fighters whose bodyweights are properly balanced over feet that are flat.

Alvarez punches to hurt his opponent in a personal way; he wants every blow to tell with a wince or whimper or welt from or on its recipient – and Alvarez flies his body at another’s in a flash of violence quickly as he returns it to a more observant mien. He sells-out with his right hand; from the opening of Saturday’s fight, long before he had Trout’s measure or any expectation he’d not be countered and then imperiled by Trout’s counter, Alvarez threw righthands recklessly, whether as straight crosses or looping hybrid hooks, while Trout threw a fleeing jab, one meant as a tasting, sampling thing, something from which he could hurriedly extract himself when it did not land – and it did not land, not fractionally often as anyone, especially Trout, thought it would.

If Alvarez’s ferocity was the evening’s best surprise, his elusiveness was runner-up. It was striking how few of Trout’s strikes got closer than near him. In the kaleidoscope of lights and colors and angles and commentary that is a televised prizefight, much of what appears a clean punch verily is not. From my ringside notes, about a round scored for Trout: “Round 5: Trout is being outclassed by Canelo. In that round Canelo didn’t land enough to win, but Trout didn’t land hardly anything either. Trout cannot seem to find Canelo.”

Thursday night Austin Trout visited San Fernando Gymnasium, downtown, for a light workout. He was very good at what he did but not great. He did mitts work at a pedestrian rate, not hitting particularly hard, not committing particularly full, not catching the center of the mitt with more than two-thirds his punches. Were he a baseball pitcher, Trout would barely miss corners, get behind in counts, and then serve a juicy fastball over the plate.

He was gracious, of course, gracious as the reputation that preceded him: After 40 minutes of shadowboxing, mitts and skipping rope, his handlers had the San Fernando faithful – mostly local boxers and their families (the workout was not public or announced) – line up at the base of the steps, make their ways to the ring, and have their pictures taken with the champ. Trout had a smile or hug or softly said pleasantry for each, even if not one bore a resemblance to him, even if every one planned to cheer Alvarez’s passionate pursuit of his unconsciousness in 48 hours.

Trout is not special as Alvarez, and that would be so even if Trout had somehow finagled a decision Saturday. When I glanced at the tally of my scorecard, I was glad to see Alvarez was the victor, because that is how the fight felt from ringside. Alvarez made the consequential choices in the fight, whether the choices that preceded his hurled righthands, or the choice to retreat to the ropes and audition for a Mayweather fight unlikely to materialize.

Or perhaps it was not an audition at all but evidence of his fatigue; it is a sapping strategy Alvarez applied Saturday, harder than pressure fighting, for its backward steps, harder than defensive boxing, for the contractions that happen an instant before throwing righthands and the exertion of stopping them when they miss. Alvarez relaxes much as possible for his style of combat, one wishing to inflict pain with every blow, he throws three punches – jab, cross and right uppercut – more efficiently than his peers, but still he gets visibly fatigued at regular intervals of a 36-minute fight, giving an opponent at least six of them through inactivity.

I have now borne eyewitness to Canelo Mania, yes, but I still do not understand it; Alvarez feels more like a 20,000-seat prizefighter than the nearly 40,000 he filled at Alamodome. He is a more suspenseful fighter in person than he appears on television, though, and more than a novel complexion, much more, which assuages a fear serious people had about him. If he is our sport’s future, he is not a bad future to have.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

SAN ANTONIO – Saul “Canelo” Alvarez was supposed to be a heavy-footed stalker who would either grind Austin “No Doubt” Trout in the canvas with a left hook, or never close space enough to make a challenge. That was what aficionados said before the fight. That was what Trout prepared for in training camp.

How wrong they were – all of us.

Saturday at Alamodome, before a partisan-Mexican crowd of nearly 40,000, Mexico’s Alvarez (42-0-1, 30 KOs) decisioned New Mexico’s Trout (26-1, 14 KOs) by unanimous scores of 115-112, 116-111 and 118-109 to become the unified junior middleweight champion of the world. The 15rounds.com ringside scorecard concurred with the official decision, though by a narrower margin: 115-114.

“Austin was a very difficult fighter, but I was smart,” Alvarez said afterward. “And as the fight went on, I figured out how to fight him.”

There was a ferocity to Alvarez’s punches, particularly the commitment with which he threw his right hand, that was too much for Trout’s counters. From the opening round onwards, Trout was unable to catch Alvarez with nearly as many or as much as he needed to.

“I connected with my right and my jab,” Alvarez said. “My jab was perfect.”

Alvarez, the heavy-handed Mexican, was actually more elusive than Trout, the slippery American.

“He shocked us tonight,” Trout conceded. “I was prepared for a totally different fighter.”

The quiet-spoken Trout, who made the fight close as it was with his persistence more than any other trait, appeared to have taken Alvarez more lightly than he should have. Trout’s prefight preparation assumed that so long as he did not needlessly engage Alvarez inside, he’d be able to catch the heavyfooted Mexican on the way in. That was not the case at all, as Alvarez often outjabbed Trout, and the jabs Alvarez landed were very much more than the flicking, swatting, sampling efforts Trout employed for most of the match.

“He boxed a lot better than I thought,” Trout said. “He moved a lot better than I thought.”

The fight’s opening five rounds featured nothing decisive and lots of close scoring. Alvarez’s punches, consistently, were the harder blows, but he was not nearly active as Trout, who often threw at triple Alvarez’s rate.

The sixth round marked what may have been Alvarez’s only tactical error, as he made the first of a number of choices to be elusive rather than aggressive, allowing Trout finally to measure him and land more successfully than he had to that point. Round 6, subsequently, was the first round Trout won cleanly.

“I learned a lot from this fight,” Alvarez said. “It was a great experience for me.”

The seventh round changed everything and ultimately supplied the Alvarez point that decided the match for the Mexican on the 15rounds.com scorecard. Showing a willingness to sell-out with the right hand in his 1-2 combination, Alvarez stepped forward and blasted Trout with a straight right that dropped him in the opening minute of round 7. That 10-8 round made the scoring difference.

Alvarez then rested as much as he fought in the rounds that followed, showing himself a fighter capable of 30 minutes of constant pressure in a 36-minute fight. He protected his lead properly, though, winning on all three cards.

“I take my loss like a man,” Trout said. “The better man won tonight.”

Asked afterwards if he wished to fight Floyd Mayweather, Alvarez was unequivocal.

“Obviously,” he said. “Of course I want Mayweather next.”

He will need to prepare himself for 36 fully concentrated minutes, if that fight ever comes to fruition.

OMAR FIGUEROA VS. ABNER COTTO
The co-main event was not the ticket-seller, and it’s a good thing too.

Local Texas favorite Omar Figueroa (21-0-1, 17 KOs), a lightweight titlist from Weslaco, a bordertown just east of McAllen, made startlingly quick work of outmatched Puerto Rican Abner Cotto (16-1, 7 KOs) in Saturday’s co-main event, stopping Cotto at 2:57 of round 1, with a lefthand to the body that dropped Cotto for the second time in as many minutes and caused him to remain on his knees.

“I could tell my body shots hurt him,” said Figueroa immediately afterward. “I was just waiting for my next opportunity.”

At Friday’s weighin, co-main event co-promoter Miguel Cotto arrived in a casual black getup and remained seated at the back of the stage, acknowledging almost no one. If he had an inkling how to sell his nascent promotional company to the public of South Texas, he didn’t show it. Saturday his namesake displayed the same capacity for prizefighting.

JERMALL CHARLO VS. ORLANDO LORA
Prognostications for Saturday’s penultimate match went: Houston super welterweight Jermall Charlo, who has class but not much pop, will outclass fully Mexican Orlando Lora, who is tough and applies pressure. Prognostications were ultimately wrong – Charlo stopped Lora fairly early – though whether because of Charlo’s improved power or Lora’s increased fragility remains unknown.

Charlo outboxed Lora for every minute of their match, but Lora seemed willing and able to absorb the abuse, at least, which brought sighs of displeasure and surprise from the filled-in Alamodome crowd, when Lora quit on his stool after round 4, awarding Charlo a victory that will go in the books: KO-5.

Charlo continues to build momentum in his career, boxing under Houston trainer Ronnie Shields and improving his physique in each match by applying an innovative and scientific approach to conditioning.

TERRELL GAUSHA VS. WILLIAM WATERS
U.S. Olympians are not supposed to suffer first-round knockdowns to novices with losing records, but that’s exactly what Cleveland super middleweight Terrell Gausha did in the first round of Saturday’s sixth match, catching an overhand right flush on the chin and dropping like he was shot.

Gausha (4-0, 2 KOs) was fortunate, the back of his head caught the ropes on the way down, and he did not suffer the doubly concussive effect of having his brain bounced on the canvas. Still, he was dazed. Gausha rose, collected himself and boxed to a narrow four-round unanimous-decision victory – 38-37, three times – over Alabaman William “The Outlaw” Waters (2-4, 2 KOs), a decision the half-capacity Texas crowd booed loudly.

As many different styles as Gausha had to see en route to representing his country in the Olympics, it was remarkable how often Waters caught him with clean power punches.

RAUL MARTINEZ VS. OMAR GONZALEZ
If it was a surprise to see San Antonio’s two-time world title challenger Raul “Cobrita” Martinez in a four-rounder against an unknown opponent near the bottom of Saturday’s undercard, it was quite a bit more than a surprise to see Martinez bloodied, dropped and beaten by Omar “Bad Boy” Gonzales.

In a four-round match judges scored 39-36, 38-37 and 37-38 for Gonzales (6-8, 1 KO), both San Antonians fought well and hard, but Gonzales was just a little better in a number of exchanges with Martinez (29-3, 17 KOs), who appeared to struggle with balance issues from the opening minute. An accidental collision of heads in round 3 opened a significant cut near Martinez’s left eye, likely buzzing him.

That must be the reason, or at least it will be the explanation, for Martinez’s being dropped on the blue mat in round 4 by a well-placed left-cross counter from the southpaw “Bad Boy,” who then had Martinez nearly down again in the match’s closing seconds.

When the fair split decision in Gonzales’s favor was read, Gonzales celebrated euphorically, and Martinez looked dazedly about, still apparently unsure of his bearings.

UNDERCARD
Saturday’s third match saw Mexican super bantamweight Andres Gutierrez (26-0-1, 22 KOs) brutalize fellow Mexican, and now-worn novelty, Salvador Sanchez III (30-6-3, 18 KOs), stopping him at 1:25 of round 5. Sanchez should no longer be asked to compete against elite fighters, no matter how catchy his deceased uncle’s name.

In other action, Houston featherweight Miguel Flores (11-0, 6 KOs) decisioned Texan Guadalupe De Leon. Tijuana super flyweight Ivan Morales (21-0, 13 KOs) decisioned Chihuahua’s Raul Hidalgo (17-8, 13 KOs). And Philadelphia middleweight Julian Williams (12-0-1, 7 KOs) stopped overmatched Californian Dashon Johnson (14-11-3, 5 KOs) at 1:43 of round 3.

Opening bell rang on a sparsely populated Alamodome at 4:37 PM local time.

Follow all the action as Canelo Alvarez meets Austin Trout in a WBA/WBC Super Welterweight unification bou from the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas

12 ROUNDS-WBA/WBC SUPER WELTERWEIGHT TITLE–Canelo Alvarez (41-0-1, 30 KO’s) vs Austin Trout (26-0, 14 KO’s)

Round 1 Trout pawing with the jab…Canelo gets in a counter right..Lead left hook..10-9 Canelo

Round 2 Trout lands 3 jabs..Good uppercut from Canelo…2 jabs..Right to body…right to head…Right 20-18 Canelo

Round 3 Trout lands a couple good..good 1-2..Canelo lands a 1-2..Straight right..Trout lands 2 jabs and a body shot..29-28 Canelo

Round 4 Trout pops Canelo’s head back with a jab…Canelo lands 2 jabs..Trout landing..Canelo lands a jab..Trout lands a jab..straight left…Canelo lands a uppercut.Trout getting in shots…Hard jab from Canelo..Jab from Trout…38-38

Round 5 Trout lands a good combination..Canelo lands a right to the body..right to the cheek..Trout lands a counter..left..Canelo lands a right..Trout lands a straight left to the body..48-47 Trout

Round 6 Canelo lands a overhand right..Jab..Trout lands a right to the body and a right hook..Lead left from Canelo..trading uppercuts..2 hard shots from Trout on the ropes..Good counter right from Canelo..good uppercut..58-56 Trout

Round 7 HUGE RIGHT AND DOWN GOES TROUT….Trout lands a left..Hard right from Canelo..Good left from Trout..Right to the body from canelo…Jab from Trout..Short left uppercut..Straight right from Canelo..Counter right from Trout…66-66

Round 8 Straight left from Trout..Jab..left..Canelo lands 2 straight right..76-75 Trout

Round 9 Canelo lands a right..2 good uppercuts..Straight left from Trout..Canelo lands a right to the body..Right…Uppercut from Trout..Straight right from Canelo..left from Trout..85-85

Round 10 Trout lands a left..Canelo lands an overhand right..body..Hard uppercut..straight right..Counter left from Trout…straight left…95-94 Canelo

Round 11Left to body from Trout..Canelo 1-2…right..Trout lands a jab..Straight right from Canelo..Right uppercut..left uppercut to the body..left uppercut to the body..Straight left and counter right from Trout…good exchange…105-103 Canelo

Round 12 Trout lands an uppercut..left uppercuts…Canelo lands an overhand right..right..Trout 2 lefts…Canelo lands a left to the body..Right to body.. straight left from Trout..114-113 Canelo

115-112; 116-111; 118-109…CANELO ALVAREZ

Madison Square Garden in the heart of New York City hosted a thrilling heavyweight match-up put together by Main Events in association with Hennessy Sports. The undefeated Tyson Fury (20-0, 14 KO’s) faced off against the two time cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham (25-5, 12 KO’s). The action began even before the opening bell during the opening instructions. When the fighters were instructed to touch gloves, Fury boldly slammed hard onto Cunningham’s; drawing a reaction from the crowd.

The first stanza saw some exciting back and forth action. Fury, with a huge size advantage over Cunningham, worked behind straight jabs and rights, while Cunningham utilized his superior footwork. Fury, being the talker that he is, taunted Cunningham with his hands down for much of the round. The second round saw some amazing fireworks, as an overhand right floored Fury hard. He beat the count, and Fury finally kept his hands up while Cunningham chased after him, landing some good shots in the process. The round ended with Cunningham’s fans in attendance on their feet.

After a solid third round for Cunningham, he was able to lure Fury into another big right hand halfway through the fourth. Fury was able to work his way back into the round, but he paired together clinching with forcing his head into Cunningham’s, receiving warnings from referee Eddie Cotton. Then in the fifth round, after more clinching and headwork, the referee decided to penalize Fury by deducting a point. Fury responded by landing a hard right hand that hurt Cunningham. With Fury going in for the kill, Cunningham utilized good footwork and clinching to make it through the round. The sixth round saw the pace slow down a bit, and it could be said that Fury’s size and weight advantage began to take it’s toll. The seventh round saw Cunningham hope to fight his way out of the slight lull, and that worked against him. Towards the end of the round, an uppercut from Fury stunned Cunningham against the ropes. Cunningham attempted a clinch, but Fury wrestled his way out and landed a crushing right hand that sent Cunningham down. He attempted to make it to his feet, but it was too much, and the referee made his way to the count of ten.

Tyson Fury won by way of knockout at 2:55 of the seventh round. This victory pits Fury in a showdown with Kubrat Pulev in an eliminator to face Wladimir Klitschko for the IBF heavyweight title.

The re-emerging Curtis Stevens (23-3, 17 KO’s) and Derrick Findley (20-9, 13 KO’s) opened up the televised portion of the afternoon. Both fighters opened up the bout throwing hard punches, but it was Stevens who drew first blood, so to speak, when a left hook upstairs followed by a left hook to the body staggered Findley into the ropes. Findley was able to recover from the damage and work Stevens into the ropes for a time towards the end of the round. Findley continued the pressure to start the second round, working Stevens into the ropes again. Stevens stuck behind a shell defensive stance for most of the round.

The fourth round saw Stevens finally begin to open up, throwing multiple combinations that all finished with crisp left hooks. Findley had little answer, but continued to stay in Stevens’chest trying to find an opening. That did little to Stevens as he continued with hard right hands and flush left hooks. The fifth round saw some exciting back and forth action, but it was Stevens whose punches were more crisp and under control.

The seventh round saw some interesting action. Stevens landed some hard blows, but it was a left hand from Findley that seemed to knocks Stevens off balance and down. The referee ruled it a knockdown, but Stevens did not seem phased by the blow. Instead, he followed up the knockdown with some hard punches of his own. The eighth and final round saw Stevens give some time away to Findley, keeping a distance as if he had the fight won. Towards the end, Stevens gave the fans some showcase combinations. In the end, scores of 78-74, 78-74, and 79-73 were announced in favor of Stevens, giving him a unanimous decision victory.

Polish heavyweight Adam Kownacki (4-0, 4 KO’s) entered the arena with much fanfare when he took to the ring against Calbert Lewis (0-2). Neither fighter would win a bodybuilding contest, as they both carried excess weight around the mid-section, but they made up for it with a strong will to fight. Kownacki showcased some skillful offensive output, and was able to take chances due to the fact that Lewis’punches were telegraphed and looping. At the end of the first round, a strong right hand wobbled Lewis badly, but the bell rang, giving Lewis time to survive. The second round saw Kownacki pummel Lewis from pillar to post. Lewis had nothing in return. Finally, after dozens of unanswered punches, the referee called the fight off at the 1:43 point of the second round giving Kownacki the TKO victory.

In a heavyweight bout, brother of Tyson Fury, Hughie Lewis Fury (1-0, 1 KO) squared off against Alex Rozman (1-0, 1 KO). Rozman, with his exceptional build, looked the part before the bell, but as soon as the bout started, he was no match for Fury. A right hand early in the round sent him down on his back. Fury continued the pressure, landing uppercuts and right hands behind the jab, and Rozman went down twice more, but the referee called them slips. Another combination from Fury sent Rozman down face-first. After beating the count, it was a final right hand that sent Rozman down, and the referee waved the fight off. Fury won with a TKO at 2:26 of the first round.

Exciting up and comer, Karl Dargan (12-0, 6 KO’s) took on Edward Valdez (12-9-2, 6 KO’s) in a lightweight bout. Valdez came out swinging, reaching on overhand rights, while Dargan remained poised. Valdez is known as a very tough fighter, and did not seem to be very bothered by Dargan’s sharp blows.

After the second round, Valdez did not sit on his stool and began complaining about his hand. Eventually, the corner was forced to call the match, giving Dargan a TKO victory at 3:00 of the 2nd round.

The opening bout of the evening saw Sevdall Sherifi (9-1-2, 8 KO’s) of Albania take on Josh Harris (8-6-1, 6 KO’s) in a cruiserweight affair scheduled for six rounds. Sherifi comes with a bit of fanfare as his manager is fellow Albanian and Dancing With the Stars champion Tony Devolani.

The bout began with Sherifi throwing a wide array of punches and landing regularly. His selection was tremendous, and he moved to stay away from Harris’power. Despite his record, Harris is a highly regarded puncher as a cruiserweight.

The first three rounds saw Sherifi make great use of his movement, but he was lacking in his jab. On occasion, Harris was able to land hard left hooks from the outside. Sherifi managed to stay just out of range, but Harris was timing his counters. The only problem with Harris is that outside of his single shots, he rarely threw any other punches.

The fourth round saw some exciting action. Harris was finally able to land one of his hooks flush, and Sherifi legs buckled badly. Harris had time on his side and began chasing down Sherifi. Harris landed multiple huge blows to Sherifi’s chin, and the referee was watching closely to stop the fight. Finally, a big hook sent Sherifi down into the ropes, but he was able to beat the count and was saved by the bell. In the corner between rounds, the referee took a close look at Sherifi, and continued to keep an eye out when the bell for the fifth round sounded. A right hand landed hard for Harris, and the referee immediately stopped it. Sherifi protested, but ultimately it was a good call. Harris was victorious with a TKO victory at :19 of the 5th round.

LAS VEGAS –Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Robert Guerrero played a lot of roles on back-to-back days facing small mobs armed with cameras, cell phones, and familiar questions. Media days, they’re called. Pack poise and patience. Mayweather and Guerrero brought plenty of both to a task as much a part of the pre-fight ritual as a weigh-in.

There weren’t many hints at what might happen between the welterweights on May 4 at the MGM Grand. A better clue might have been found in a fortune cookie at one of the restaurants that surround the Mayweather Boxing Club in a strip mall that looks like a Vegas re-creation of Beijing’s Forbidden City.

But one role played by each was bigger than all of the rest. Mayweather Jr. and Guerrero were the grown-ups in the room. Somebody has to be, right? It’s an old line heard in every family. It was there, first on Tuesday with Guerrero and again on Wednesday with Mayweather.

Guerrero’s dad and trainer, Ruben, mocked the way his Mayweather counterparts, dad Floyd Sr. and uncle Roger, hold the mitts.

“Patty-cake, patty cake,’’ Ruben said in a dance played to the beat of insults. “They’re a bunch of clowns, a bunch of clowns.’’

Ruben’s circus routine was the flip side to what his son had just done.

Robert talked about dedicating the Mayweather fight to the battle against the blood cancer that threatened wife Casey’s life. He has attached his name to an organization, Be The Match, which connects patients with a donor for life-saving bone marrow. Guerrero even addressed a question about the gun controversy, which has followed him since he was arrested in New York after declaring he had a hand weapon in a lock-box in checked baggage. There are no distractions, said Guerrero, who faces a court date on May 14.

The incident, he said, was behind him “as soon as I got on the plane. …But it’s this: I like to hunt. I’m an outdoors man. I like to hunt and fish.’’

In commitment to a cause and in terms of accountability, Guerrero did the grown-up thing.

The next day, it was Floyd Jr.’s turn. The Mayweathers have become a reality-TV remake of the 1970’s sit-com, All in the Family. The Mayweathers without some dysfunction would be the Bunkers without Archie. In part, it’s why we watch.

A sign of it was there Wednesday when Floyd Sr. showed up. With Roger sitting a few feet away, Floyd Sr., once estranged from his son, talked about his relationship with his brother since Floyd Jr. decided that the two would work his corner.

“So-so,’’ said Floyd Sr., who also asked a handful of reporters to tell Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer to set up a parking-lot fight with Ruben Guerrero. “The only thing I’m saying is this: Sometimes, he comes to the gym and we don’t even speak. I’ll sit right there and he walks right past me. We’re family, man. Speak. That’s what I do. When I come in, I got manners and very good manners. When somebody come by you and you don’t speak? I mean come on, man. It ain’t cool, whether it’s family or just another person.’’

As Floyd Sr., talked, his son interrupted some workout drills, leaned over the ropes and lectured his dad. Floyd Jr. sounded like a stern father.

“We talked about that,’’ Floyd Jr. said to his dad in a pointed warning about off-the-cuff sessions with reporters, even on a day when everything was supposed to be on the record. “It’s about the fighters.’’

There’s talk that Floyd Jr. has displayed some new found maturity since his release from jail after nearly a three-month stretch for domestic abuse last summer. Even Floyd Sr. has noticed.

“He’s more disciplined,’’ Floyd Sr. said. “I’m sure jail had a lot to do with it. When he was in jail, he had lot of time to think about a lot of things.’’

Despite their well-chronicled blow-ups, Floyd Jr. has always thought about his father. At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Floyd Jr. agonized about his dad, who was in federal prison for drug-trafficking. He said he wrote then-President Bill Clinton, asking that his dad be pardoned. He begged the media to help him. He was a 19-year-old kid desperate to be with his father. Seventeen years later, the 36-year-old man, a father himself, has finally re-united with him, although the roles are reversed. The son has become the family’s patriarch

“My dad is a wizard,’’ he said Wednesday in the final interview after an evening full of them.

Part of that wizardry might be in learning how to work and live with his brother, whose struggle with diabetes led to the reunion with his son. There’s a sense that Floyd Jr. will demand that the two get along. It as if the son from a broken family is determined to make everything whole.

“We’ve got trainer No. 1, which is my dad,’’ he said. “We’ve got trainer No. 2, which is my uncle.’’

It’s easy to pick a winner on May 4. A grown-up is a sure thing.

FORT WORTH, Texas – The hardest part about this thing we do is not, as novelist Philip Roth once put it, that everything must be written about, but that everything can be. Such a thought visited, Saturday, while sitting near a stage on which Natalie Merchant performed. I forwent a trip to New York City and a boxing-writers dinner and a prizefight, Guillermo Rigondeaux versus Nonito Donaire, that interested me, to see Merchant, tickets to whose concert I purchased months before Donaire fought Jorge Arce in Houston.

Nothing about the previous week’s trip to Ireland haunted me much as this concert did, because I pledged before boarding an Aer Lingus flight nothing about Ireland would find its way in this column. With the year’s largest consequential fight thus far, Mexican Saul “Canelo” Alvarez versus New Mexican Austin “No Doubt” Trout, happening Saturday at Alamodome in San Antonio, though, connections had to be made because that is how columns work, and the connection between Merchant and Alvarez was, and is, grace.

Grace is not a word one freely associates with Mexican prizefighters, or prizefighters of any ethnicity, but in the swirl of impressions that happened Saturday in the Bass Performance Hall of this underestimated city’s Symphony Orchestra, “grace” was the very word that came to mind because of what happened at the press conference announcing Canelo vs. Trout one month ago at Alamodome, San Antonio’s signature edifice that will hold more than 30,000 people Saturday because Alvarez is that popular and Texas, frankly, is the one American state so interested in our sport.

After the usual things were said in the usual way by the usual people – one of the wonders of streaming video: today, no editor expects deadline coverage of such banality – there were side interviews ready to commence for television and television and television, and a local reporter or two, adjusting in no way the hands of what clock tells us what media matters. Before those loopy questions might be asked loopingly, to be televised in loops, though, Alvarez, dressed in a shiny battleship-gray suit and matching tie on synthetic black background, was brought to the stagefront’s extended tongue, to greet admirers for a moment or two of that spirited miming known as Connection with the Fans. But Alvarez began to sign anything handed him with any implement handed him, and while promoter Oscar De La Hoya shyly flapped a wing fans-ward, from a studiously selected perch 15 feet back of the scavengers, Alvarez signed and signed.

Thrice that I counted, Alvarez was asked to stop signing things and attend to the promotionally essential matter of television cameras. And thrice that I counted, he dismissed the request with hardly an acknowledgement – “You want me to be a ticket-seller in los estados unidos, ¿no?” – inconveniencing himself with not two syllables of explanation. Before he finished signing gloves and shirts and posters and programs and hats, numerous items for numerous folks, to tell television cameras he feels strong and is excited to be in, let’s see, San Antonio?, yes, San Antonio, he smilingly saluted the hoi polloi, hundreds strong, smaller and browner and towing a child or two, kept from him by a flat aluminum barricade, promising to sign their items, too, before he left.

What special effects Alvarez brings are natural, meaning authentic, and he appears to realize it: To date, his red hair and freckled complexion have distinguished him most from the large ranks of his countrymen’s prizefighters; Juan Manuel Marquez, for example, still could not sell 30,000 tickets in San Antonio three weeks before opening bell – and no, meritocracy has nothing to do with this, and yes, every ticket is sold: The Alamodome box office had nary an offering Friday morning. And meritocracy returns us to Saturday’s concert.

Natalie Merchant was the lead vocalist for 10,000 Maniacs before her 18th birthday, and possessed two platinum and four gold records before she turned 30, and has grown increasingly obscure since. She will turn 50 this year; her hair is timberwolf grey, not silver, her flat, once-almost-pretty features are overripe, and despite her confessed efforts she has acquired a pound of girth for every year since the 1992 MTV Unplugged performance that likely marked the last time anyone reading this saw or thought of her, if then. She was more effortful, Saturday, than her writing and singing imply; there were more clenched fists, more appeals for audience patience, and more autobiographical exposition than even her best song, “Tell Yourself” – one at whose singing she failed thrice, turning her back to the audience and sobbing, finally – anticipates.

Thirty minutes before, she found a very young boy in the audience, there with his mother and dressed in a dark suit not unlike Canelo’s, and gave him a signed copy of her book of collected children’s poetry, asking if this were his first concert, and when he said it was, Merchant offered:

“You will be proud to be able to say this was your first concert. In 25 years, a whole lot of people are going to be pretending Justin Bieber was not their first concert, and you won’t have to.”

It said much about how Merchant views her place in the canon of popular music, and it has some application to Canelo Alvarez for this obvious reason: He is the nearest thing prizefighting now has to Justin Bieber. His popularity dwarfs his achievement. His popularity dwarfs his potential for achievement, too; if we’re being honest, there is exactly no chance Alvarez will retire more accomplished than Juan Manuel Marquez, but he may outgross him many times over.

Today Saturday’s fight is not about Austin Trout at all, which is why this column has not been either. It says here, though, by the reading of the judges’ last scorecard this weekend, most accounts will treat Trout in the bitter way boxing’s habitués increasingly do everything: “Another robbery!” “Texas-sized Larceny!” “Someone Been Fishin’ in Trout’s Pond!”

I’ll take Alvarez, then, SD-12, in a fight honest hands score for Trout, 8-3-1.

Bart Barry can be reached at bart.barrys.email (at) gmail.com

NEW YORK–Guillermo Rigondeaux boxed his way to a twelve round unanimous decision over 2012 Fighter of the Year Nonito
Donaire to win the WBO and retain the WBA Super Bantamweight championship at Radio City Music Hall.

In round one it looked like the fight could turn into a barn burner as the two tried to exchange with hard shots. It was Rigondeaux straight lefts and a hard right which was the difference in the opening frame. Rigondeuax would beat Donaire to the punch and be able to slide away before Donaire could respond with anything of consequence. Donaire seemed to follow Rigondeaux around the ring rather then cut him off.

The quick shots of Rigondeaux was able to cause some swelling around Donaire’s eyes as early as round seven. Donaire would be coming forward and it seemed like he was on the verge of winning some rounds but Rigondeaux would land a couple shots and be able to build a lead. Rigondeaux was able to overcome a shake beginning to round ten as he was thrown down early in the round which was ruled a slip but seconds later Donaire landed a hard left off a break that sent the Cuban down to the canvas. That woke Rogoindeaux up as he finished the round pretty good and the knockdown was more of an aberration than anything else. Rigindeaux was solid with the straight left and hurt Donaire in the final round with that punch and even closed the right eye of Donaire. It was a solid performance from Rogondeaux in terms of beating a top pound for pound fighter but his defensive style did not thrill most of the pro-Donaire crowd in attendance.

Rigondeaux, 121.5 lbs of Miami won by scores of 116-111, 115-112 and 114-113 and is now a unified champion ar=t 12-0. Donaire, 121.6 lbs of General Santos City, Philippines lost for the first time in twelve years and falls to 31-2.

Hot prospect Felix Verdajo scored an explosive 1st round stoppage over Steven Gutierrez in a scheduled four round Jr. Lightweight contest.

Verdajo dropped Gutierrez with a hard right and then for a second and final time with a blistering uppercut and the bout was waved off at 1:50 of round one.

Verdajo, 131.5 lbs of San Juan, PR is now 5-0 with four knockouts. Gutierrez, 130 lbs of Fort Worth, TX is now 4-4-1.

Popular New York Light Heavyweight Seanie Monaghan scored a first round stoppage over Rex Stanley in a scheduled eight round bout.

Monaghan scored a knockdown from a overhand right and it appeared that Stanley hurt his foot when he tried to get up and the fight was waved off at 1:51 of round one.

Monaghan, 176 lbs of Long Beach, NY is now 18-0 with 11 knockouts. Stanley, 177 lbs of Kansas City, MO is 11-5-0-1.

Good looking Super Middleweight prospect Jesse Hart scored a vicious third round stoppage over Marlon Farr in a scheduled four round bout.

Hart landed a hard combination that resulted with Farr being dropped to the ropes and the bout was stopped at 1:33 of round three.

Hart, 169 lbs of Philadelphia, PA is 7-0 with 5 knockouts. Farr, 170 lbs of Zephyrhills, FL is 2-3.

Hard punching Welterweight prospect Mikael Zewski took out Daniel Sostre in round two of a scheduled eight round bout.

Zewski scored a knockdown in round two and finished the fight with a barrage of punches and the bout was stopped at forty-nine seconds of round two.

Zewski, 148.5 lbs if Trois-Rivieres, Quebec is now 19-0 with 15 knockouts. Sostre, 147 lbs of New York, NY is now 11-9-1.

Glen Tapia remained undefeated by scoring a eight round unanimous decision over Joseph de los Santos in a Jr. Middleweight bout.

Scores were 80-72 on all cards for Tapia, 154.5 lbs of Passaic, NJ and is now 18-0. de los Santos, 153 lbs of Bayamon, PR is now 13-12-3.

Tyler Canning scored a four round split decision over Dario Soccia in a Super Welterweight bout.

Scores were 39-37 on two cards for Canning and 39-37 for Soccia.

Canning, 150 lbs of Lander, WY is 2-1. Soccia, 153 lbs of New York, NY is 2-1.

Erick De Leon opened up the show by scoring a knockdown in round one and cruising to a four round unanimous decision over Diamond Baier in a Lightweight bout.

Scores were 40-36 on two cards and 40-34 for De Lepon, 131.5 lbs of Detroit, MI and is 3-0. Baier, 131.5 lbs of Phoenix, AZ is now 2-5-1.

Release this weekend of the film 42, Jackie Robinson’s story, is just another reason to wonder why Jack Johnson hasn’t been pardoned.

The movie is about a different time, a segregated America, when Robinson crossed baseball’s color line with the Dodgers in 1947. Reviews are mixed. But there’s no argument about the film’s value as history.

If 42 is a historical lesson, however, Johnson is history unresolved.

Perhaps it’ll take a modern-day Branch Rickey to get Barack Obama’s signature on a presidential pardon urged by Congress in a resolution asking that the first African-American heavyweight champ be cleared of a 1913 conviction.

As hard as it is to hear epithets and insults hurled at Robinson in 42, it’s even harder to explain why Johnson has never been pardoned for a so-called crime. Johnson was known to date white women. He was convicted by an all-white jury for violating a law, the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport white women across state lines for “immoral purposes.” He spent a year in prison.

Obama had a chance in 2009 to sign the pardon, which has been pursued since 2004 by Arizona Senator John McCain, a former boxer at the Naval Academy whose stubborn tenacity says he never threw in the towel during his Midshipman days.

Department of Justice officials overseeing pardons said then that the process better serves the living. Tell that to Johnson’s great grand kids, many of whom still live in his hometown, Galveston, where they gathered March 31 for what would have been his 135th birthday. They sent a video to Obama, asking for the pardon. Their ancestor’s story is still very much alive, as it is for all of his descendants, who in a historical context include Robinson.

Late tennis great Arthur Ashe once called Johnson the most important African-American athlete in history. There was no bigger event, Ashe said, than Johnson’s victory in 1910 over Jim Jeffries, the original Great White Hope.

“I can just imagine that here I am – black,’’ Ashe told Charles Fountain, a journalism professor at Northeastern University, in a 1988 interview. “Maybe sitting around a pot-bellied stove somewhere in the rural South. And hearing that Jack Johnson has just won the heavyweight championship. I’ve got to feel 10-feet tall. And let’s say that I’m 70 years old. What can I think of in my life that would have made me feel 10-feet tall? There’s nothing to name. This is it.

“Here is the black man going up against the white man. And the black man not only came out ahead. He pulverized him. In public. And destroyed a myth that had been held, maybe for centuries. Maybe since slavery began.”

What Johnson did and his heavyweight successor, Joe Louis, continued in 1938 with a rematch victory over Nazi Germany’s Max Schmeling are monuments in the timeline that leads to Robinson. Robinson was the lone individual whose courage, poise and inexhaustible patience allowed him to confront an American establishment then ruled by a tradition of segregation. He changed minds. Johnson let him know that he could.

There’s also a film about Johnson, a Public Broadcasting Service documentary aired in 2004 and directed by Ken Burns, who has has lobbied for a pardon. The film’s title: Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson.

Still unforgivable.

And unfathomable.

Chinese Olympic hero Zou Shiming made a successful pro debut with a four round unanimous decision over Eleazar Valenzuela at the Venetian Hotel in Macau, China.

The two time Olympic gold medal winner had fun in the ring as he jumped in and out and landed some solid shits. He smiled for most of the bout as he won in an entertaining fashion which thrilled the more than 10,000 fans in attendance to view the historical contest. Shiming had his best flurry in round three where he landed a couple of combinations that moved the 18 year old Valenzuela back.

Shiming made a reported $300,000 for the debut fight and he won via shutout fashion by 40-36 scores on all cards.

Valenzuela is now 2-2-1.

Juan Francisco Estrada scored a twelve round split decision over Brian Viloria to wrestle the WBA and WBO Flyweight titles.

Viloria boxed great early as he mixed up his punches and countered beautifully and seemed like he was heading to another title defense. Despite taking some solid combinations, Estrada continued to stalk and pressure Viloria and that strategy took effect in the late rounds as his punches started to move and cut up Viloria. Estrada rocked Viloria in round eleven and had him in serious trouble on a couple of occasions in round twelve but despite that Viloria showed a champions heart by fighting to the final bell. Those flurries were the difference as he won by scores of 115-113 for Viloria, 116-111 Estrada and 117-111 for Estrada

Estrada, 112, lbs of Sinora, MX is now 23-2. Viloria, 111 1/4 lbs of Hawaii is now 32-4.

Roman Martinez retained the WBO Super Featherweight title with a twelve round split decision over Diego Magdaleno.

It was a good fight with some decent action. Magdaleno boxed well over the first three rounds as he moved with some slickness from his southpaw stance. In round four, Martinez landed a perfect right hand that sent Magdaleno to the canvas. That got Martinez into the fight as he started to be effective with the right hand and take control of the rounds. Magdaleno fought well and landed some good body shots but it was Martinez effective punches down the stretch that even opened a cut over the left eye of Magdaleno. The two battled hard in an exciting twelfth round but it was Martinez who had built up an advantage on two of the three judges scorecards.

Martinez, 130 lbs of Vega Baja, PR won by scores of 115-112 and 114-113 while Magdaleno took a card at 116-111.

Martinez is now 27-1-2. Magdaeleno, 130 lbs of Las Vegas is 23-1.

In a ten round war, Yasutaka Ishimoto scored a ten round majority decision upset over former WBO Super Featherweight champion Wilfredo Vasquez Jr.

The fight was a back and forth brawl with Vasquez getting cut and eventually knocked down from a straight hand in round eight. Vasquez gave as good as he received but the knockdown proved to be the difference as one card read even at 95-95 while Ishimoto took two cards by scores of 96-93 and 95-94.

Ishimoto, 121.8 lbs of Tokyo, JAP is now 22-6. Vasquez Jr. 122 lbs of Bayamon, PR is now 22-3-1.

Dodie Boy Penalosa scored a third round stoppage over Nimithra Sithsaithong in a scheduled six round Featherweight bout

Penalosa scored knockdowns in rounds one and two from sweeping left hands. Penalosa ended things in round three when after a furious exchange, Penalosa landed a perfect right to the body that sent Sithsaithong down for third and final time and the was stopped at 2:54 of round three.

Penalosa, 123.4 lbs of Cebu, Philippines is now 11-0 with 11 knockouts. Sithsaithong, 122,4 lbs of Bangkok, Thailand is now 4-5

Photos by Chris Farina / Top Rank

Bob Arum is relying on a little guy, Zou Shiming, this weekend in Macau where money beckons and China’s untapped market awaits. It’s bold. It’s smart. It’s also not new.

Arum gambled on a little guy for the first time 25 years ago in Michael Carbajal, who in a different time and different hemisphere unlocked a new market.

Then, Mike Tyson and the heavyweights were going away. The sport was in transition, meaning it was searching for a new way to do business. It did, but at an unlikely end of the scale.

There was no money to be made at 108 and 112 pounds. Not then and often not in the years since Carbajal’s Hall of Fame career. Light-flyweights – a redundancy if there ever was one – and flyweights had a better chance at a paycheck if they replaced gloves with saddles and joined the jockey division. But Carbajal proved that one wrong early in his pro career by drawing crowds that suddenly appeared almost like spontaneous combustion.

Arum, who was talked into signing Carbajal after the 1988 Olympics by Richie Sandoval, discovered a market, primarily Mexican and Mexican-American, interested in the little guys. It has been paying dividends for years at weights – bantam, feather and super-feather – once relegated to forgotten spots on undercards. Manny Pacquiao, a former light-flyweight, became a sensation and a world-wide celebrity at feather.

Arum didn’t know what he had then. Nobody did. But the guess here is that the Carbajal experience tells him Zou Shiming can leave a global footprint that outweighs and outlasts traditional expectations from a weight never known to rock the pay scale.

From what he has seen of Zou Shiming, Carbajal is skeptical. He questions whether the Chinese fighter has enough power to make an impact as a pro.

“I don’t think he’s got the power he needs to win a world title,’’ Carbajal said as he sat on the front steps of his 9th Street Gym in an old Phoenix neighborhood where he was born. “He’s got to have that power, that’s all.’’

It’s fair skepticism, repeated often before Zou Shiming’s pro debut Saturday at 112 pounds against Eleazar Valenzuela (2-1-2, 1 KO) of Mexico. The card also includes World Boxing Association/World Boxing Organization flyweight champion Brian Viloria (32-3, 19 KOs) against Juan Francisco Estrada (22-2, 17 KOs) and WBO junior-lightweight champ Ramon Martinez (26-1-2, 16 KOs) against Diego Magdaleno (23-0, 9 KOs). Former heavyweight champ George Foreman, Larry Merchant and Tim Ryan will be at ringside for HBO2 at The Venetian-Macao for a telecast scheduled to air in the U.S. on Saturday, 2 p.m. (ET/PT).

The power question is familiar. It’s asked about most Olympians. Carbajal, a 1998 silver medalist, had to answer it in the initial stage of his pro career. Success in the amateurs, and especially the Olympics, is dictated by almost everything but power.

Shiming’s Olympic achievements are historical. Shiming, who won China’s first boxing medal – bronze – in 2004, won gold in 2008 and 2012 in the same weight class that Carbajal got silver in a controversial decision during the Seoul Games where the ring ropes might as well have been yellow crime tape. That’s where some scorecard alchemy turned Roy Jones Jr.’s gold into silver in a robbery witnessed by a world-wide audience.

Top Rank hired Freddie Roach to teach a pro, power-friendly style to Shiming, who spent more than a decade perfecting an amateur tactic suited best for a computer-based scoring system employed in the wake of the Jones scandal.

“Freddie has taught me a lot – including how to launch power from my legs, how I can give my opponent body shots,’’ Shiming said through a Top Rank publicist during news conferences in Macau and at Roach’s Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, Calif.. “A lot of things. He’s made me more skilled.

“In training camp with Freddie, I have to avoid as many power punches from my sparring partner as I can. I constantly need to remind myself this is not Olympic-style games. This is real. This is professional boxing.’’

A potential complication is Shiming’s age. He’s 31, which is old for fighters in the lightest divisions. Only the fly in the weight class is said to have a shorter shelf life. Carbajal was 32 in his memorable finale, an 11th-round stoppage of Jorge Arce, then 20, in a Tijuana bullring in September, 1999.

In part, Shiming’s age is a reason he appears to be on the fast-track.

“Shiming is going to be a world champion in a short time, possibly inside one year,’’ Roach said. “And I think he can do it in fewer fights than Leon Spinks, another Olympic gold medalist.’’

Spinks upset Muhammad Ali by split decision in February, 1978, his eighth pro fight after the 1976 Montreal Games.

“I think Zou can do it in his sixth professional fight, if not sooner,’’ Roach said.

It’s no coincidence that Viloria, a late-bloomer, is on Saturday’s card. He looms as a potential big name for Shiming in Arum’s plan to create a boxing market in a country where there was none not long ago. Arum was already a longtime promoter when boxing was still illegal in China. Chairman Mao was no fan.

In Shiming, however, there’s a well-known face with medals and credibility. China’s emerging generations know him. Maybe, they’ll follow him in a sport that their parents were ordered to avoid.

“As big a night as it is for me, it’s an even bigger night for the sport of boxing and boxing in China,’’ he said.

If Zou Shiming can pull it off, he might even convince Michael Carbajal with some history that will remind him that sometimes little guys can come up very big.

NEW YORK–Former world Super Welterweight champion Yuri Foreman scored a six round unanimous decision over Gundrick King that highlighted a ten bout card at the Roseland Ballroom

Scores were 60-54 on all cards for Foreman who is now 30-2. King is 18-10

Ionut Dan Ion ( 30-2, 17 KO’s, 147lbs) continued his come backing ways; this time against the very dangerous Damian Frias (19-6-1, 10 KO’s 148lbs). Both fighters fought on the inside, utilizing very few jabs. Frias moved a bit more, but Dan Ion was continuously in his chest.

In the end it was Dan who won a close unanimous decision via scores of 76-75, 78-73 and 78-73

Popular New York City fighter, Gabriel Bracero (21-1, 4 KO’s, 144 1/2lbs) looked to continue his winning ways when he took on Pavel Miranda (19-9-1, 10 KO’s, 143lbs). The bout started off in an exciting fashion, with both fighters aggressively trying to draw first blood. Things got chippy early on; while in a clinch, with the referee trying to break both fighters, Miranda and Bracero traded punches.

As the bout progressed, Bracero maintained control of the action, but Miranda was still in it, and landing some decent blows of his own. Despite the low knockout ratio in Bracero’s record, he is a tremendous inside fighter and is at home when the fight is a brawl.

In the fourth round, after a heated back and fourth exchange, Bracero suffered a cut just outside his eye. It seemed to bother him at first, but Bracero quickly got back into his groove. He continued his pace for the final four rounds at took home an 80-72, 79-73, and 78-74 unanimous decision victory

When Heather Hardy made her professional debut eight months ago, her opponent, Mikayla Nebel, knocked her down in the first round. Hardy won the next three rounds and the decision. Thursday night Hardy (4-0, 0 KO’s, 122lbs) took on Nebel (0-4, 0 KO’s, 123lbs) once more. This time, Nebel was not able to land the way she did eight months ago. Hardy cruised her way towards a six round decision, winning all rounds with scorecards of 60-53, 60-54, and 60-54 for a unanimous decision victory.

Luis Del Valle scored fifth round stoppage over Andre Wilson in a scheduled eight round Featherweight bout.

Del Valle scored two knockdowns in round’s one and five and was cut himself under the left eye in round one.

Del Valle is now 17-1 with 12 knockdowns. Wilson of St. Joseph, MO is now 13-6-1.

Luis Olivares (1-0, 1 KO, 139 1/2lbs) took the trip over from Glendale, AZ to fight on Broadway Boxing. He squared off against Christopher Williams-Ortiz (1-0, 0 KO’s, 139lbs). The first round saw Williams-Ortiz working behind his jab, while Ortiz worked volume punching behind his big frame. In the second, Olivares landed a hard body shot that brought Williams-Ortiz’s guard down. Olivares came in with two rights that sent his opponent down hard onto the canvas. Williams-Ortiz was able to beat the count, and kept his guard up while withstanding numerous blows from Olivares to close out the round. Olivares dominated the third, landing multiple rapid-fire combinations while on the inside. His greatest strength was his body punches, which came frequently with bad intentions behind them. The fourth and final round saw more impressive pressure from Olivares as he worked his way to the final bell. The final scorecards read 40-35, 40-35, and 40-35 in favor of Olivares, giving him a unanimous decision victory.

Bryant Cruz (2-0, 2 KO’s, 130lbs) took to the ring to loud cheers from his adoring fans as he was set to square off against Antoine Knight (2-2, 1 KO, 131lbs). Both fighters took very little time throwing big punches, and it was Cruz who took control early with a powerful jab that Knight couldn’t seem to avoid. After some hard combinations, Knight went into a shell and hardly threw any significant punches. The second round saw Cruz up the pressure, bloodying his opponent in the process with his hard combinations. The third saw Cruz land a left hook that had Knight teetering. Cruz continued the pressure, landing countless blows on his opponent. After a break in the action, referee Sparkle Lee, took a close look at Knight and didn’t like what she saw. She waved the fight off at 2:15 of the third round, giving Cruz a TKO victory.

In a four round Jr. Middleweight contest, Patrick Day remained perfect in a tougher then the scores indicate unanimous decision over Yosmani Abreu. Day controlled the action throughout the bout, but in the second, a hard right hand shook him up, and Abreu followed up with hard hooks afterwards. Day did not let Abreu’s advantage last long, as he was able to turn the tables and land numerous hard blows of his own and return the favor. The final two rounds saw Day control the action with his superior movement while controlling the action.

Scores were 40-37 on all cards for Day, 154 lbs of Freeport, NY and is now 3-0. Abreu, 153 lbs of Las Vegas is now 3-7-1.

In an exciting battle that featured countless hard blows, Donte Strayhorn(Debut, 138lbs) took on Michael Carrera (0-1, 0 KO’s, 141lbs) in a bout scheduled for four rounds. After a pedestrian first round, Carrera surprisingly came out in the second landing hard left hooks and overhand rights, causing Strayhorn to experience problems with his nose. The young Strayhorn was losing the round on account of Carrera’s big punches, and he needed to make adjustments. The third and fourth rounds saw Strayhorn make the necessary changes needed to take over the fight. He was taller than Carrera, and began pumping out a stiff jab followed by a straight right. He also began varying his punches from a distance, ripping hard shots to the body. After an exciting four rounds, the scorecards read 40-36, 39-37, and 39-37 in favor of Strayhorn, giving him a unanimous decision victory.

Photo by Ed Diller