In front of a crowd of over 11,000 fans at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, Saul "canelo" Alvarez won his first world title, defeating Matthew Hatton to take home the WBC Jr. Middleweight belt. Alvarez's physical strength and size proved to be the difference in the match as Hatton was unable to find a way to do any legitimate damage. Throughout the bout, Alvarez stayed busy, landing enough heavy shots to remain in control of the fight from beginning to end. The 20-year-old Alvarez, who improved to 36-0-1 (26 KO's), will now take time off in Mexico before returning to training for the next opponent that Golden Boy Promotions has in store for him. Hatton, who said he would return to the welterweight division, is now 41-5-2 (16 KO's). With the win, Alvarez surpassed Fernando Vargas as the youngest Jr. Middleweight champion in the history of the sport, that is if you buy the legitamacy of the fight being sanctioned as a title fight after all the controversy regarding the weight. Nonetheless, Alvarez looked sharp and he appears to be improving with each bout.
BRONER GETS THE NOD OVER PONCE DE LEON
Adrien Broner and Daniel Ponce De Leon engaged in what appeared to be a close battle, despite the scorecard of one of the judges. De Leon worked the body often and his southpaw stance seemed to be a "problem" for Broner early on. Adrien picked up the pace in the second half of the fight, however, and the crowd and media in attendance awaited what was expected to be a close decision. On two of the scorecards, it was exactly that with scores of 96-94. A third judge's card, however, would leave you to wonder what fight he was watching, scoring it 99-91 all for Broner, who now goes to 20-0 (16 KO's). After the fight, Ponce De Leon, who falls to 41-3 (34 KO's) said he would be moving back down to featherweigt.
ALFONSO BLANCO REMAINS UNBEATEN
Gems continue to fall into the lap of trainer Robert Garcia, who appears to be running away with Trainer of the Year honors so far in 2011. His latest prospect, middleweight Alfonso Blanco, needed just 2 minutes and 55 seconds to knock the wind out of Pablo Ruiz. Solid body punches were Ruiz's undoing against the seasoned looking 6'2" Blanco, who is now 3-0 (2 KO's).
SETH MITCHELL CONTINUES CLIMB WITH TKO OVER UNWILLING DAVIS
Heavyweight prospect and former Michigan State linebacker Seth Mitchell improved to 21-0-1 (15 KO's) with a TKO victory at 1:02 seconds of round 2 over Charles Davis. Mitchell finished a slow paced first round by scoring a knockdown in the final seconds. He then went in for the kill at the start of round 2. Davis seemed to not want any of the pressure and was hurt from a body shot and a short uppercut that sent him down. Mitchell appeared surprised that his foe was unwilling to absorb punches and that the bout was stopped. Davis falls to 19-22-3 (4 KO's).
JACOBS MOVES FORWARD WITH DEVASTATING STOPPAGE
Daniel Jacobs continued to roll in his comeback, scoring his second victory since his crushing KO loss last year by overwhelming and stopping outgunned Robert Kliewer. Jacobs, now 22-1 (19 KO's), appears to have forgotten the lone blemish on his record and he still may turn out to be the Golden Child after all. Kliewer falls to 11-13-2 (5 KO's)
KIRKLAND WASTES NO TIME IN RING RETURN
Over the course of what James Kirkland has been through in the past two years, he has had glimpses of what could've been of his career. In the first bout of the evening, he proved that the inevitable may have just been delayed for a period as he destroyed Ashandi Gibbs just 34 seconds into the fight. As has become his custom, James wasted no time in storming right at Gibbs from the opening bell. A solid right hook from the southpaw Kirkland, followed by a left uppercut that did the most damage in the assault, put Gibbs on the canvas and left him wanting to call it a night as the referee reached the ten count. Kirkland is now 26-0 (23 KO's) and is set to return on April 9th. Gibbs falls to 10-3 (4 KO's) as he suffers his third straight loss.
LBC PROSPECT ISHE SQUEEKS OUT UNANIMOUS NOD
Long Beach, California middleweight Cleven Ishe improved to 2-0 with a unanamous 4-round decision over previously unbeaten Jason Montgomery. Montgomery, who is now 2-1-1, was dropped in the final round, which made the difference between unanimous draw and a unanimous decision on the scorecard as all three judges scored the bout 38-37 for Ishe.