Canelo Alvarez (52-1-2, 34 KOs) successfully defended his WBC, WBA, Lineal and Ring Magazine Middleweight World Titles and became the new IBF Middleweight World Champion by defeating Daniel “Miracle Man” Jacobs (35-3, 29 KOs) via 12-round unanimous decision. Canelo with with two scores of 115-113 and one score of 116-112. The champion-vs.-champion event took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and was streamed exclusively live on DAZN
“It was just what we thought,” said Canelo Alvarez. “We knew he was going to be a difficult fighter, but thank god we did things the right way, what we were going to do. It was just what we thought because of the style of fight that he brings but we just did our job.”
On Daniel Jacobs switching to southpaw during the fight: “It’s normal. It’s obviously just a matter of adapting when they switch rightie to leftie.”
Who does he want next? “I’m just looking for the biggest challenge. That’s all I want.”
Is there unfinished business with GGG? “No, for me, it’s over. But if the people want another fight, we’ll do it again, and I’ll beat him again.”
“That’s why I’m here. That’s what I was born for. To fight. To defend what’s mine. I’ll fight anyone.”
“I feel accomplished, l feel great,” said Daniel Jacobs. “I have to go back to look at the tapes to see exactly what the judges thought. They said to me, that I was up, so I was still pushing forward because I wanted to finish strong. He’s a tremendous champion and I tip my hat to him. I gave my all out there. You’ll see Daniel Jacobs bigger and better next time.”
“It definitely took me a couple rounds to get my wits about me, to figure out his rhythm, because he’s a pop shotter. He was a fast guy, very slippery. It was a great contest today, I look forward to the future. I feel like I gave enough tonight to get the victory so I’ll have to go back to the tapes to see exactly what happened.”
“I didn’t feel any different. I’m just a naturally big middleweight. I made the sacrifice of coming in 173 and paying a hefty fine for it but at the end of the day, I made sacrifices. I got the short end of the stick, but to my fans, to all my survivors out there who appreciate me and my story for what I represent, I thank you. The journey is not over. I continue to strive for success and be the best I can be.”
On what he said to his son right after the fight: “I asked him, ‘do you think Daddy did a good job?’ He said, ‘yes Dad, you did a great job.’ That’s all that matters to me, I’ll go home and be the best I can be.”
In the co-main event, Vergil Ortiz Jr. (13-0, 13 KOs) of Dallas, Texas overpowered Mauricio Herrera (24-9, 7 KOs) of Riverside, Calif. to win by knockout in the third round of a welterweight fight originally scheduled for 10 rounds. The fight was brutally ended by several hard shots at :29 seconds of the aforementioned round.
“You know, I’m actually pretty proud of this fight,” said Vergil Ortiz Jr. “If you know me and kept up with my fights, I’m usually not satisfied with my performance. I just want to tell you all and I hope you are too, I am very satisfied with my performance tonight.”
“Everyone thinks that I don’t have all that experience just because I’m 12-0…well I’m 13-0 now. People don’t realize I work in the gym hard every day. I spar world champions all the time. I’m not the one that goes to the world champions and says, ‘hey, can we spar?’ They come up to me. And that’s the difference between me and the other prospects.”
“He was keeping his left hand down the whole time and I knew I was fast enough to capitalize on that. Other than that, I had the fight figured out after the first round.”
“I want to go back to 140 and get that world title. There’s plenty of champions that I believe I can take on right now and I hope after this performance, everyone believes in that.”
“If they tell me, hey Vergil, fight in a world title fight in two weeks, I’ll take it right now.”
Joseph Diaz Jr. (29-1, 15 KOs) of South El Monte, Calif. defeated Freddy Fonseca (26-3-1, 17 KOs) of Managua, Nicaragua to become the WBA Gold Super Featherweight Champion in a one-sided, 12-round fight. Diaz Jr. won via technical knockout at 2:07 of the seventh round.
“I felt really good at 130,” said Joseph Diaz Jr. “This is my second fight at this weight and I felt very comfortable. Like I said, 126 was just way too hard for me. I wasn’t able to showcase the power I actually have. Now I’m able to showcase my skills, my defense, my head movement, everything. I feel like I have it all at 130. Tevin where you at?”
“I just feel a lot stronger. I’m able to make more changes and take more risks because I’m not worried in my head that I’m going to get tired or that my body’s going to get fatigued in the later rounds. At 130, I’m feeling strong, like a beast, and I’m going to become a champion, I promise you guys.”
“I was dealing with depression and I was almost at the end of the road, I was at rock bottom last year. I was going through a lot, a lot of people don’t realize this. I was really going through some tough, tough times. I want to thank my mom, my sisters, my family, God almighty, for not doing anything stupid. Anyone suffering from depression, trust me, everything is going to be okay.”
“I’m ready for a world title my next fight. I wanted Tevin Farmer on this card. Then he started to talk all this smack on Tuesday and that he pressed something. He didn’t press anything. Let’s get it Tevin, let’s get this fight.”
Lamont Roach Jr. (19-0-1, 7 KOs) beat Jonathon Oquendo (30-6, 19 KOs) of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico via unanimous decision becoming new WBO International & NABO Super Featherweight Champion in a 10-round battle. Roach Jr. won with scores 97-92, 97-92 and 96-93.
“The fight played out good,” said Lamont Roach Jr. “I think it could have gone better of course. But I’m glad we got this experience, to go up to the championship level. The only guys that beat him became champions and I’m one of them.”
“I knew that I was bleeding because I could feel the trickling, but I’ve been getting hit in the face since I was nine years old. It wasn’t nothing I wasn’t used to.He hit me with a clean body shot. I just got myself together towards the end of that round and stuck to the game plan and continued boxing. From round 1 to round 10, I was feeling all of the head butts.”
“He’s as tough as they come. He fought former world champions, he beat a former world champ, he brought the fight to me, and if someone else brings the fight to me, I’m ready. I can go ten, I can go twelve.”
Anthony Young (21-2, 8 KOs) of Atlantic City, New Jersey scored a dominant technical knockout victory over Sadam Ali (27-5, 15 KOs) of Brooklyn, New York to win the vacant USNBC Silver Welterweight Title in a scheduled10-round bout. Young won with time of 2:38 of the third round.
“New Jersey is in the building, said Anthony Young. “I had a tremendous camp. He [Sadam Ali] had a great win against Miguel Cotto, but after that he fought Munguia. I thought he lost a lot of confidence with Munguia. I saw his fight against Herrera, and he couldn’t pull the trigger. So when they offered the fight, I jumped on it. We’ll enjoy this victory now, and figure out what’s next later.”
John Ryder (28-4, 16 KOs) of London stopped Bilal Akkawy (20-1-1, 16 KOs) of Sydney, Australia via TKO in the third round to capture vacant Interim WBA Super Middleweight World Title. Ryder won with time of 2:12 in the aforementioned round.
“I felt great all week and it showed in there,” said John Ryder. “I’m delighted with the stoppage but even more so because I didn’t panic or rush when I had him hurt/ I picked my shots and put him away. To fight in Las Vegas was amazing and to put on a performance like that, possibly the best of my career, makes it all the more sweeter.”
“That was for the interim title. I’ve won an eliminator, and I’m number one in the WBA so the message is clear, I want Callum Smith next. He’s got a fight on June 1 on the AJ card and if he wins that, I want to fight him next. I’ve paid my dues and got into position for it. Callum is a brilliant fighter, and I know it’s a tough fight but it’s one that I want and I’d love. It would be a big fight in the UK and it would be a great fight too.”
Aram Avagyan (9-0-1, 4 KOs) of Moscow, Russia beat Francisco Esparza (9-1-1, KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada to successfully defend his WBC International Silver Featherweight Title in a 10-round fight. Aragyan won via unanimous decision with scores of 96-93, 97-92 and 96-92.
“It was a good camp. We trained well for the past two months,” said Aram Avagyan. “We had a game plan, and we went in there and executed.”
Alexis Espino (2-0, 1 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nevada defeated Billy Wagner (1-1) of Great Falls, Montana via unanimous decision in a four-round super middleweight bout. Espino won with scores of 39-34, 39-35 and 39-35.
“I think I give myself a C+ for this event,” said Alexis Espino. “I could have done better. I should have pressed the action more. It was a learning experience, and I’m happy I got the four rounds in.”
Canelo vs. Jacobs was a 12-round fight for the WBC, WBA, Lineal, Ring Magazine and IBF Middleweight World Titles presented by Golden Boy in association with Matchroom Boxing. The event was sponsored by Tecate, “THE OFFICIAL BEER OF BOXING” and Hennessy “Never Stop. Never Settle.” The event took place Saturday, May 4, 2019 and was streamed live on DAZN.
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