Saul Alvarez – Matthew Hatton & James Kirkland Return: The Results
Report and Photo by Marc Anthony (At Ringside)
California – (Super Middleweight bout) in stunning fashion James Kirkland, 26-0, 23 KO’s, stops Ashandi Gibbs,10-3, 4 KO’s, in less than 34 seconds. The talented Kirkland wasted no time to return to the ring and declared that ring rust is just in your mind with this impressive performance. This was a Great start.
Super Middleweight Bout
Golden Boy prospect Daniel Jacobs, 22-1, 19 KO’s, started the bout with jabs but exploded with powerful overhands that left Robert Kliewer, 11-13-2, 5 KO’s, lying limp on the canvas. Although this is a brutal sport and the crowd did came to see destruction. Everyone at the Honda Center was quiet and concerned for Kliewer after a few scary minutes passed Kliewer got up under his own power and the crowd rejoiced that Kliewer was okay.
Middleweight Bout
Cleven Ishe, 2-0, 1 KO, went on to win a unanimous decision in this four rounder against Jason Montgomery, 2-1-1. The native Long Beach resident Ishe comes with a solid defense and style that will be difficult for any fighter to counter. Ishe looks to be a great addition to the boxing world.
Heavyweight Bout
Seth Mitchell, 21-0-1, 15 KO’s, bullied Charles Davis, 19-22-3, 4 KO’s, all over the ring. In the second round it only got worse, dropping Davis three times. Davis at one point ran away from Mitchell and, to the audience, it seemed that Davis did not want anything to do with him. Mitchell goes on to win by TKO in the second round.
Middleweight Bout
Alfonso Blanco 3-0, 2 KO’s, from the start worked Pablo Ruiz, 0-3, with vicious body shots. The shots were loud and looked to fold Pablo with every shot. The second round continued with more of the same: Blanco hitting Ruiz like a piñata and forcing Ruiz to take a knee three times with the final one forcing the ref to halt the bout. The crowd showered Blanco with loud cheers as he walked back to his locker.
Co-Main event for the Inter-Continental Junior Lightweight title
Daniel Ponce De Leon, 41-3, 34 KO’s, stalked the very slick Adrien Broner, 20-0, 16 KO’s. This bout was the very definition of style clashes. De Leon, the pressure fighter constantly moving forward, always throwing punches to any available part of Broner’s body or head while Broner was constantly countering and avoiding any real damage. At the conclusion of this 10 round fight Adrien was announced the winner by a wide margin and the crowd displayed its discontent by getting very vocal with whistles, boo’s and foot stomping. To say that the Honda Center was shaking is an understatement.
Main Event- WBC Super Welterweight Title- 12 rounds
There was no waste of expense in this main event. Greeted by Mexican style country music known as “Banda,” the crowd ERUPTED with cheers when the extreme fan Favorite Saul Alvarez, 36-0-1, 26 KO’s, entered the ring.
The same enthusiasm was displayed against battle ready Matthew Hatton 41-5-2, 16 KO’s, but instead of cheers he was greeted by boos with the sporadic cheers of British fans.
This fight was very reminiscent of a great Broadway play. Every time the hero “Canelo” attacked the crowd cheered similar how a hero is cheered at every turn of the play as he makes his entrance. And the same can be said of Hatton, who looked to try to rough up the young super star, the crowd would boo and hiss whenever Hatton attacked Alvarez.
In the end Alvarez was too strong for Hatton and in very moments looked to almost finish the show. “Canelo” displayed great defensive prowess and timing. At one point of the fight, Hatton hit Alvarez with a low blow. The young fighter, Alvarez wasted no time to retaliate punching him in the face while the ref was attempting to break it up to which Hatton displayed his own theatrical work by reeling back and falling down and attempting to look to get a win by disqualification. The ref did not take the bait and actually told Hatton “he better get up.” Hatton got up and the fight resumed.
Saul Alvarez wins by unanimous decision. Once hearing the results, Canelo the proud Mexican, took the center stage and mic and yelled ‘Viva Mexico”. The crowd answered back in kind screaming, crying and cheering, I almost waited for a retake of the famous show Spartacus Blood and Sands to be reenacted live at the Honda Center.
Quick note: The Honda Center looked to be packed and filled with fans of all ages. Also, people arrived early to see all the bouts.