Devon Alexander: Is This the End of the Road for Former World Champion?

By Lou Eisen

As the boxing world knows by now, Amir Khan, 30-3, 19 KO’s had no problems whatsoever, in handing Devon Alexander, 26-3, 14 KO’s a crushing 12 round, one-sided unanimous decision defeat last Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. In what was supposed to have been a definite Fight of the Year candidate, only one of the two combatants showed up in heart, spirit and soul and that man was of course, Khan. It was hard to find more than two rounds that could possibly be scored in Alexander’s favor.

In fact, Khan overwhelmingly dominated the fight to such an extent, that for one of the very few times in recent memory, the three judges’ scorecards accurately reflected exactly what took place in the squared circle. Judge Glenn Feldman had it 119-109; judge John McKale had it 118-110 while judge Jerry Roth had it 120-108, all for the winner Khan, who, with this victory, easily retained his WBC silver welterweight world title and made a definitive statement to the boxing world at the same time. Khan is easily as dominant as a welterweight king if not more so than he was at the junior welterweight level. He poses a significant threat to every welter he faces from now on.

The outcome of the fight was never in doubt as Khan easily won all 12 rounds by utilizing his superior hand and foot speed, reach and ring generalship. Khan put his punches together very well in lightning quick combinations, which he smartly threw off of his accurate, piston-like jab. Khan owned this fight from the first bell to the final bell. In fact, many in the boxing media present at the fight found it difficult to find even one single round that could truthfully be scored for Alexander.

Both warriors stood one half inch over 5’8,” while Khan’s reach of 71” was only one inch longer than Alexander’s reach. Mind you, Khan seemed to tower over Alexander while his reach seemed to be much more than one inch longer than that of Alexander’s.

Khan’s sleight height and reach advantages were exaggerated somewhat by Alexander’s tendency to sometimes fight out of a crouch, in an effort to present less of a target for Khan to aim at. The question that many boxing writers are now asking, in light of how thoroughly Khan won every round, is what on earth happened to Devon Alexander in the Khan fight? And, perhaps even more appropriately, what has happened overall to Alexander career wise?

For a variety of reasons, Alexander is no longer the fighter he once was by any stretch of the imagination. His recent one-sided losses to Shawn Porter and Khan were extremely emphatic to say the least. There seems to be a worrisome level of doubt in him and in his team members that seriously questions whether or not he wishes to continue on in his chosen profession. His loyal fans are also distraught, having had to watch such a onetime truly magnificent fighter seemingly disintegrate before their very eyes.

Alexander’s spirit, hunger and will to succeed are gone. His inner fire, that previously pushed him to the status of an elite level fighter, has somehow been extinguished. Alexander, in his last few fights has seemed incapable of focusing on the fighter in front of him. Only he knows why his talents and performance levels have dissipated so dramatically in his recent fights. He no longer uses the skills he once showed off to great effect.

Gone are Alexander’s once feared two-fisted combinations, which he used to throw at supersonic speeds. Alexander was an outstanding and very compact fighter. He had a vast skill set, which was the envy of most of his ring peers. Alexander used to possess good power on his shots because his balance was so good; it allowed him to get maximum leverage on every shot he threw, which, in turn, greatly increased the damage he was able to ruthlessly inflict on his opponents.

Earlier in his career, Alexander was also superb at avoiding, eluding and slipping his foes punches while at the same time using head and shoulder feints to open up his rivals on the inside. He had, or so we thought then, mastered the art of constantly giving his ring foes many new angles to look at during a fight. All of the tactics and skills mentioned above are now gone and there seems to be no clear answer to the question of why?

The important question that needs to be answered here is, how was Khan able to make Alexander, a former elite technical boxer in his own right, look so incredibly ordinary in each round? Some boxing media noted that Khan’s chin, always a question mark in previous fights, seemed to have stood up well to the few hard shots that Alexander was able to land. Actually, Khan took Alexander’s power shots well but not because his chin was somehow miraculously stronger than in previous fights. Yes, Khan’s ability to take a good flush shot has improved. No argument there. Defensively, the major improvement Khan made was to his overall ring balance. That was the major difference in the fight against Alexander.

Khan’s better balance made him that much more confident coming into the Alexander fight. Unlike in his previous KO losses to Breidis Prescott and Danny Garcia, Khan’s balance worked to his advantage in the Alexander fight. Khan used to have a bad habit of leaning his head out over his front foot when jabbing, thus putting himself dangerously off-balance. That meant when Prescott and Garcia caught him flush on the chin, he was unable to diffuse the power of their blows through his entire body. Rather, he took the brunt of their very best shots flush on the chin and paid a heavy price for it in both fights.

In all honesty, Alexander was never really in this fight from the beginning. He looked disinterested in the first several rounds and then went downhill from there. It didn’t help either that Khan’s superior ring tactics and fight strategy were working to perfection. Khan kept Alexander, a very skilled southpaw, backing up all fight long. Khan’s jab was masterful, offensively and defensively as well. In fact, Khan could have, if he had chosen to do so, won the fight going away with just his jab. Alexander was simply unable to slip Khan’s jab at any time in the bout.

It was Alexander’s second loss in his last three fights and the third loss of his career. It was also the most one-sided loss he has suffered to date. Alexander looked anything but great. He seemed to once again lose his midway through the battle. It appeared to every one in attendance, and those watching the bout on Showtime around the world that Alexander’s career may very well be on an irreversible slide, from which he may find himself unable to recover.

When Alexander lost his IBF world welterweight title to Shawn Porter in Dec. of 2013, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Alexander allowed Porter to outwork him in every round and, as that bout progressed and fell into the inevitable pattern that most losing efforts eventually do, Alexander seemed utterly resigned to his fate and the fact that he would soon be an ex-champion. There was no sense of urgency in the manner in which he boxed. The same thing happened against Khan but in a much more complete fashion.

Alexander was frustrated in the early going with his inability to get inside on Khan and land punches of any significance. Alexander’s frustration was mounting steadily because of his utter inability to slip Khan’s powerful jab. Alexander’s personal vexation grew so intensely that by the middle of round six, it was clear that he was just going through the motions.

Occasionally, from rounds seven through 12, Alexander would make brief, half-hearted attempts to slip Khan’s laser-like jab on the inside but his attempts to do so were, for the most part, hugely unsuccessful. Alexander’s lackluster effort cannot be a good omen for his future in pro boxing, if he even has one at all. Alexander never attempted to alter his attacks or ring tactics, even if only to give Khan a new angle to look at. Alexander just kept following Khan in a straight line that led directly to defeat. More troubling was the complete lack of emotion Alexander showed after the decision was announced in Khan’s favor. When a once elite fighter of Alexander’s former caliber no longer cares about the outcome of his own fights, then perhaps it is time to call it a career.