WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder got off to a slow start in his rematch against Luis Ortiz in Las Vegas last night. Ortiz seemingly was out boxing Wilder and was landing sharp left hand counters regularly throughout the first six rounds of the fight. All that seemed to change in round seven when Wilder landed the perfect one two combination that dropped Ortiz hard and he was unable to beat the count. Wilder who was behind at the time of the stoppage on all three judge’s scorecards tied the great Muhammad Ali by successfully defending his title for the tenth consecutive time. Eric and Beeb recap this fight as well as the rest of the past week's boxing action.
After a slow uneventful week of boxing we look ahead to next week’s big heavyweight rematch between WBC Heavyweight Champion Deontay Wilder and Luis Ortiz. Ortiz gets another shot at the prize after coming so close in the seventh round last year where he hurt Wilder badly with a devastating right hook that had the champ on wobbly legs. Nevertheless Wilder was able to recover and rally back and ended up stopping Ortiz in the tenth round. Eric and Beeb will preview this fight and recap the rest of the past week's boxing action.
Who would have ever thought that a pro debut of two YouTube stars would end up being the biggest fight of the weekend but the mainstream attention that this event garnered could not be denied? Logan Paul and KSI both fought a spirited fight at the Staples center last night that ended in a bit of controversy. Paul, who in the first fight got off to a fast start in their bout last year, fought a bit more conservative this time choosing to lay back and use his jab and stay at a distance. KSI was the aggressor but was swinging wildly and came up short on many occasions. KSI landed a wide looping right hand behind Paul’s ear in the fourth round that sent him to the canvass but it was ruled a slip by referee Jack Reiss. On the replay and even in real time it looked to be a clear knockdown. Then in the fourth round Paul returned the favor as he landed a series of right uppercuts to KSI’s chin but during the second punch he wrapped his glove behind his opponent’s head and pulled it down as he hit him with the second punch. After KSI fell to the canvass Paul hit him behind the head while he was down. Referee Jack Reiss scored the knockdown for Paul but then deducted him two points for what was ruled an intentional foul. Had it not been for the two point deduction Paul would have won the contest. One could argue that it was a make up call made by Reiss because of the clear knockdown of Paul that he missed in the third round. Nevertheless KSI won by split decision with the scores of 57-54, 56-55 and one judge scoring it for Paul 56-55. Eric and Beeb recap this fight as well as the rest of the past week's boxing action.
Saul “Canelo” Alvarez made history last night in Las Vegas as he claimed a world title in his fourth weight class by stopping WBO Light Heavyweight Champion Sergey Kovalev in the eleventh round. Alvarez now becomes only the fourth Mexican to win world titles in four weight classes and only the second Mexican to claim the light heavyweight title. From the outset Kovalev seemed very cautious. He appeared to be overly concerned about getting hit by sharp counters from Canelo and admittedly didn’t throw the right hand as much as he normally does because he was concerned about getting hit to the body in return. Alvarez took full advantage of the overly cautious Kovalev and pushed him back for most of the fight until catching up with him in the eleventh round landing a right hand to the head followed by a left hook and another right hand that sealed the deal. Kovalev fell to the canvass and the fight was immediately waved off by the referee. At the time of the stoppage the judges had 96-94 twice while the third judge had it even and 95-95. Eric and Beeb recap this fight as well as the rest of the past week's boxing action.