Boxing Challenge: Munguia stops Ryder in Nine!

      Jaime Munguia looked very strong as he overpowered John Ryder in nine rounds in Phoenix, Arizona in their super middleweight bout.

Munguia scored knockdowns in the second and fourth rounds and appeared to be very close to ending the fight far earlier than expected.

Ryder did manage a minor rally in the following rounds and I gave him the sixth along with the seventh rounds before losing the eighth.

Munguia stormed out in round nine, dropping Ryder twice before the Englishman's corner tossed in the towel midway through the round.

It was the most complete outing for Munguia in years as he demolished an opponent that lasted all twelve rounds in his previous outing, Canelo Alvarez with Munguia predictably calling for Canelo after the win.

While I would much prefer Munguia as the next opponent for Canelo rather than the rumored Jermall Charlo, I'd still prefer David Benavidez as the top challenger to Alvarez.

Benavidez vs Munguia might be the best action fight that could be made in the division but that's unlikely with Benavidez being promoted by PBC and Munguia with Golden Boy, two promoters that rarely work together, which is also why I'm dubious of Mungia vs Canelo Alvarez.

Plus you have to wonder if Canelo would be willing to work with his former promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, who promotes Munguia.

Munguia can only reserve the slot held by Canelo in May if I'm still determining what can be done with Munguia for his next fight, assuming it's against good competition.

A rematch of his 2023 slobber knocker with Sergey Dereyvanchenko would make some sense but Dereyvanchenko has yet to fight since then, so he may not be available.

A DAZN battle with Edgar Berlanga (Matchroom promoted) would be exciting for as long as it would last but Berlanga's team hasn't seemed especially interested in such a pairing.

Another Matchroom fighter in the division seems to be the real deal in Diego Pacheco but Pacheco would be making a large leap in competition and he might not be ready for Munguia currently.

Munguia is rated first and Pacheco second by the WBO in their ratings, so there could be a slim possibility of making that fight happen.

That's all the plausible opponents that I can see happening or that would be strong fights for Munguia soon, anyone else would be seen as a comedown.

As for Ryder, he's likely to try to get his career back on track with a fight or two in Great Britain, which he'll have to win to have any type of a future as a contender.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 12 Pts (1)

Ramon Malpica: 11 Pts (1)

Vince Samano: 4 Pts (0)  

Boxing Challenge: Canelo decisions Ryder, Hamburglar visits Russia.

    Arguably boxing's biggest star returned to the ring after a nine-month absence and did so in his home country for the first time in several years as the undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez retained his four titles with a unanimous decision victory over John Ryder in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Alvarez dominated the entire fight and knocked Ryder down with a right hand along the ropes in the fifth round but was unable to finish the rugged but outgunned Englishman.

Alvarez won on all three scorecards going away by scores of 120-108 and 118-11 x2, the latter of which was the same as my score.

Ryder's nose bled badly throughout the fight but other than after the fight's sole knockdown, Ryder was never seriously hurt by Alvarez.

However, that didn't mean that Ryder didn't take a pounding from Alvarez as he definitely took one.

Alvarez announced after the win that he intended to pursue a rematch vs WBA light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol, who defeated him via unanimous decision in 2022.

From what I've seen from Canelo since the Bivol loss in wins over Gennady Golovkin and Ryder, I'm dubious of his chances in a rematch.

Alvarez is still among the best fighters in the sport but he does appear to have lost a half-step from his peak and he might be better suited to the challenges of David Benavidez or David Morrell in his own yard rather than try again to move up to try and catch the mobile Bivol.

In two other bouts that I have not watched yet on the Alvarez-Ryder card:

Julio Cesar Martinez retained his WBC flyweight title with an eleventh-round stoppage on Ronel Batista and former WBC light heavyweight champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk stopped Ricards Bolotniks in six rounds.

Two times in recent months, undefeated fighters have left Eddie Hearn's Matchroom promotion in order to sign contracts with Boxxer promotions and their carrier Sky Sports.

And for the second time in a row, those fighters have notched victories after leaving but left observers bored with their bouts and unimpressed with their performances.

First, it was WBO cruiserweight champion Lawrence Okolie's boring decision win over David Light in March and now it's light heavyweight contender Joshua Buatsi, who won a dull unanimous decision over unbeaten and unknown Pawel Stepien of Poland in Birmingham England.

The fight could be best summed up as such; Stepien was not interested in taking any chances on offense and Buatsi was content to control the fight without any type of effort to end it.

Scores all for the former Olympic bronze medalist at 100-90, 98-92, and 97-94.

My scorecard was 99-91 for Buatsi, who will be the next mandatory contender for WBA champion Dmitry Bivol eventually but will have to show far more aggressiveness in that title attempt than he has expended in his last few bouts.

The Hamburglar arrived in Russia for the theft of the week as junior middleweight contenders Magomed Kurbanov and Michel Soro squared off in a title eliminator.

Kurbanov had three solid wins in his recent fights, a close decision that many thought Smith deserved (I scored Kurbanov a 115-113 winner), and wins over unbeaten Johan Gonzalez and former WBO champion Patrick Teixeira stamped him as the favorite over Soro, who had been controversially stopped by another top contender in Israil Madrimov, when a badly hurt Soro was nailed by multiple solid blows after the bell rang and the referee allowed Madrimov to continue to punch away.

The loss stood officially but the WBA ordered a rematch and in the third round, a vicious clash of heads forced a stoppage and a resulting no contest.

The WBA ordered a third fight but Madrimov had no interest in a third fight after being on his way to winning the first two bouts and having hi-jinks ensue, so Soro accepted a Kurbanov fight in a WBA eliminator.

So of course, in the first round, the two connected their heads with Kurbanov emerging with a long jagged cut over his left eye that bled profusely throughout the fight, and later in the fight, Soro opened another cut near the left eye, this one from a punch.

Soro moved forward and backed the counterpunching Kurbanov for most of the bout and controlled the second half of the fight and while I gave Kurbanov the final round, it was the only round that I gave him after the fourth round.

The judges' cards read 115-113 Soro (close to my 116-112 Soro card), 115-113 (Kurbanov, which maybe you could get to IF you gave every competitive round to Kurbanov), and a nutty 116-112 card for Kurbanov resulting in the home fighter getting the split decision win.

I would hope for a rematch but I'm doubtful one occurs unless ordered by the WBA.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 75 Pts (7)

Ramon Malpica:70 Pts (7)

Vince Samano:56 Pts (1)

Boxing Challenge: Prograis knocks out Zepeda

    The boxing weekend saw a world championship filled and the new champion staking a claim for a chance for a rematch to prove that he is the best fighter in the division.

Regis Prograis controlled his fight from the outset against Jose Zepeda for the vacant WBC junior welterweight title for most of the ten rounds and then convincingly finished Zepeda in the eleventh, leaving a beaten Zepeda sagging along the ropes and Prograis making an argument for a rematch with Josh Taylor.

Zepeda seemed to be making a late run at the win when he had his best round of the fight in the tenth before Prograis finished the evening in the following round.

I scored Prograis leading 98-92 entering the final round.

Prograis will defend his title for the first time against former WBC and WBO champion Jose Ramirez in a fight that was rumored and planned years ago and both would enter the fight with only one career loss- each of the duo losing to Josh Taylor in close fights.

Prograis-Ramirez is yet another excellent match that one could easily select either fighter to win.

However, after watching this effort from Prograis, I'd favor him as the victor.

In the co-feature, junior middleweight Charles Conwell won a majority decision (98-92, 96-94, 95-95) over veteran Juan Carlos Abreu in a WBC eliminator and moved on to another eliminator in the future.

I haven't watched this fight as of this writing, so I have no scorecards, etc.

The other two big bouts of the weekend would hail from London but on two competing cards.

Frank Warren's Queensberry promotion's main event saw a disappointing ending as Zach Parker surrendered after the fourth round due to a broken right hand.

I thought Parker won three of the first four rounds but Ryder continued to press forward as he typically does and one could see Parker throwing fewer and fewer right hands in the third ad fourth stanzas.

With the win, Ryder becomes a minor WBO champion but more importantly is now the mandatory challenger for unified champion Canelo Alvarez and the organization has ruled that if Alvarez fights anyone other than Ryder in his next two fights, they will be forced to remove their title from the Mexican star.

Ryder's not flashy and against elite boxers can be outpointed but he never stops coming forward and will give even the best of his division a physically taxing battle.

On the other side of London, Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing heaved a sigh of relief after Dillian Whyte won a majority decision over previously undefeated Jermaine Franklin of the United States.

Whyte and Franklin divided most of the middle rounds after Franklin started quickly in winning the first two rounds.

Franklin hurt Whyte in the ninth and appeared to be on the verge of an upset but Whyte staggered Franklin in the tenth and finished the fight strongly in the final round when he again stunned the American.

I thought the fight was close (I scored it a draw at 114-114) and didn't have a complaint with Whyte getting the win, although the scores of 115-115 ( I hate scoring even rounds and this judge scored two of them) and 116-112 x2, seemed a bit weird.

7-5 either way or a draw is an acceptable card, 8-4 (as two judges saw it for Whyte) for either fighter would be too much of a margin.

For Franklin, it re-establishes himself as a fighter that is deserving of future fights against contenders, and for Whyte, the win likely allows him to stay in line for a 2023 rematch with former champion Anthony Joshua.

Joshua and Whyte fought an action-filled battle in 2015 when both men hurt and pounded the other before Joshua stopped Whyte in the seventh round.

Joshua has been rumored to be in negotiations for a match against Deontay Wilder that has been wanted by boxing fans for years but Whyte makes sense in the event that Joshua-Wilder cannot reach an agreement.

Boxing Challenge

TRS: 194 Pts (4) 

Ramon Malpica: 166 Pts (2)

Vince Samano: 158 Pts (4)  

Boxing Challenge: Ryder upsets Jacobs

    In the only boxing challenge bout of the weekend, Great Britain's John Ryder rallied through the late rounds to win a somewhat controversial split decision over former IBF middleweight champion Daniel Jacobs in a WBA title eliminator that will place Ryder in position for a fight against Canelo Alvarez or at worst one of the fighters for the vacant WBA title, should Alvarez decide to vacate his four 168 pound division championships.

Some have thought that Ryder's win was a hometown (the fight was held in London) decision, but the British judge scored the fight for Jacobs 115-113 (my score) with the American and neutral (Monaco) judge giving Ryder the edge at 115-113.

The first six rounds were terribly boring and reminded me a lot of Jacobs's dreadfully dull split decision win over Gabriel Rosado in his last fight but Ryder began to pick up the pace late in the sixth round and with Ryder working harder, the fight had its moments of fistic exchange over the second half of the fight.

Jacobs clearly wasn't in top shape as he was badly sucking wind in the final four rounds and Ryder dominated most of the rounds but I did score the eleventh round for Jacobs, which was enough to give him the close edge on my scorecard at seven rounds to five.

Even as the fight was winding down, I had a feeling that the fight was going to be decided by one fact- did any of the judges give any of the first half of the fight to Ryder?

If they did, Ryder was going to be in good shape.

If not, it was more likely to go the way of Daniel Jacobs.

And on my card, I gave Jacobs the first six rounds but wouldn't have argued giving Ryder the sixth when he started his late fight run.

Judge Mike Fitzgerald gave Ryder the third, fourth, and sixth but gave Jacobs rounds nine and twelve, and not the eleventh- the one round that I thought Jacobs won.

Still, Fitzgerald's final scorecard was reasonable, even if he didn't go about it in the correct fashion.

Judge Jean Robert Laine's card for Ryder was closer to mine except he gave the third, fifth, and sixth (three and six were the closest swing rounds) to Ryder to give him the win.

I didn't think the right fighter won but the fight and the decision were close enough not to howl about without an off-the-wall scorecard involved.

The bigger story to me is the second consecutive listless performance from Daniel Jacobs, who has now struggled with limited pressure fighters in Gabriel Rosado and Ryder that he once would have shined against.

Daniel Jacobs has never been a fighter that I've been impressed with and his record shows that as he has two good wins ( his first-round blitz of Peter Quillin and his split decision over Sergey Dereyvanchenko) and his best accomplishment might be lasting twelve rounds against Gennady Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez in fights that some saw far closer than I.

If Jacobs is going nip and tuck with fighters such as Rosado and Ryder then he is easily on the downside of his career and could be on the verge of becoming a name opponent.

As for Ryder, he'll be in the mix for the WBA title picture, and should Canelo Alvarez want to go to England to fight for the first time, Ryder would be a natural opponent for Canelo.

Should things drag in the always-running derby, the WBA could force Ryder to face David Morrell, who holds one of the organization's minor titles at 168 pounds.

Boxing Challenge

Vince Samano 21 Pts (2)

Ramon Malpica 18 Pts (0)

TRS 17 Pts (0)

Boxing Challenge: Golovkin crushes Szeremeta

 Hollywood, Florida was the scene, for some unknown reason, for the awaited return of Gennady Golovkin and although the opponent was weak in mandatory challenger Kamil Szeremeta, Golovkin's performance was not.

Golovkin knocked Szeremeta to the floor on four occasions (rounds one, two, four, and seven) and was seldom smacked in return before the fight was concluded with Szeremeta not being permitted to continue after the seventh round.

Golovkin did indeed look like the GGG of the past in retaining his IBF middleweight title and most of his reviews for the win were glowing, but the tough, but inept Szeremeta was in no way a top contender and he looked like a child yelling at a water hose to stop squirting him without moving to turn off the faucet against the jab and hooks fired at him by Golovkin.

For Golovkin, he showed that it's plausible that he may have been ill in his close decision victory over Sergey Dereyvanchenko and that he would have more than an average chance of defeating Canelo Alvarez, Demetrius Andrade, or any of the other rumored bouts for him in 2021.

As for Szeremeta, he is the latest in what is a growing list of uncompetitive IBF mandatory challengers in the sport.

The IBF may have the fairest manner of determining their mandatory contenders, as they qualify four fights and place the winners against each other to fight for the first and second spot in their rankings, with the winners facing off to be named the first or second contender.

The winners of those fights are supposed to fight each other for the mandatory spot, which basically gives a fighter three fights in a row where they are told who they are supposed to fight with all the promotional mess that comes with that.

Many fighters don't want to put up with that and fighters from around the world see this process as a way to move up the rankings, so they will participate.

If a fighter is supposed to fight in an elimination fight, a fighter many times advances up the rankings without fighting and that is how the IBF arrives at so many undeserving fighters in the mandatory position.

So the IBF does follow its own rules, which more often than not the WBA, WBC, and WBO do not, the problem is that the process is a flawed one.

The co-feature was an excellent fight in the super middleweight division with undefeated and untested fighters Ali Akhmedov and Carlos Gongora squared off and exchanged punches often over the twelve rounds.

Akhmedov got off to a strong start and rocked Gongora in the second and built a lead on the cards.

Gongora began to compose himself and turned the tide in the second half of the fight with several strong exchanges between the two fighters.

I had the fight even after ten, but Akhmedov put together a strong eleventh and led by one point on my scorecard entering the final round.

Akhmedov led on all three of the official cards as well and seemed to be the stronger fighter, but when the bell rang, Akhmedov immediately looked like a fighter with nothing left and Gongora went for broke against his exhausted opponent.

Two knockdowns later, Gongora had a come from behind shocker and should find himself in some if not all of the sanctioning bodies ratings.

This was the type of grinding battle that prospects need to step forward against top fifteen competition, but it's also a fight that takes a lot out of the winner and loser, so who knows what each fighter left in the ring in this one.

The other fight from Hollywood was a real snoozer as super middleweight contender John Ryder dominated, but didn't dazzle in winning all ten rounds against journeyman Michael Guy.

Ten rounds of not very much action and hopefully Ryder returns against better opponents in the future.

In a pay per view for some reason, former WBO super middleweight champion Gilberto Ramirez wore veteran Alfonso Lopez and then dropped him with one right hand in the tenth round to score the knockout.

I had Ramirez well ahead after nine rounds (88-83), but the aging Lopez landed occasionally and fought hard in defeat.

Ramirez, who might rank near the top of fighters that have done the most damage to their career alone, remains undefeated but has fought only two journeymen in the last two years in slipping down the light heavyweight ratings.

In addition, with his former promoter Top Rank promoting Artur Beterbiev with the WBC and IBF titles at 175 pounds, and the favorite to win the vacant WBO title in February in Joe Smith, Ramirez may be relegated to these types of fights because he may have no other options.

In the boxing challenge, Ramon Malpica and I each scored six points on the evening.

I lead the boxing challenge 183-173.

Boxing Challenge: Wilder crunches Ortiz, Callum Smith creaks by Ryder

For almost seven complete rounds, Luis Ortiz was trying to complete his rematch with Deontay Wilder such as a jockey that is attempting to hold the lead at a very slow pace to lessen the chances of a stronger closer coming off the pace for a victory.

However, when you have the fastest gun in the game on your side it only takes one shot to end a fight.
And it only takes one mistake even as Ortiz was landing well be on his way to winning another round when Wilder fired one right hand.
That right hand landed flush and when the smoke cleared, it was only Wilder standing and keeping the WBC heavyweight title via seventh-round knockout in Las Vegas.
I had Ortiz ahead 59-55 after six rounds and would have likely given him the seventh, had the round ended.
The fight wasn't filled with activity and could have been called dull as both fighters respected the power of the other and rarely engaged.
I'm not really sure what this fight answered that we didn't already know- Deontay Wilder can erase a lot of effective boxing with one shot and Deontay Wilder can look pretty ordinary against good fighters while he waits for one shot.
Wilder moves onto the rematch with Tyson Fury in what appears to be February in another intriguing
fight.
Tyson Fury is the one fighter that took Wilder's best shot and got up, and Deontay Wilder is the one fighter that proved that he can hurt Tyson Fury when he lands, so the rematch is certainly very interesting.
Now, if we can just talk PBC and Top Rank into a cross-promotional fight or two on the undercard.

The undercard looked promising and then crumbled before the fight.
My favorite fight between two of the top five bantamweights in the world was canceled when Luis Nery missed weight by a pound and Emmanuel Rodriguez refused to accept compensation to fight an overweight Nery, so the fight was sadly canceled.
I think I'm with Rodriguez here.
Rodriguez is coming off his first career loss, is fighting a very talented former champion that has a PED history and has a history of missing weight.
When you consider all of those facts, should you risk another second loss against a fighter that is stronger for not hitting the weight mark for a couple thousand dollars?
I completely understand Rodriguez not proceeding and since this fight was a WBC title eliminator, the fair thing is to declare Rodriguez the top contender and refuse to rank Nery at 118 pounds.
Considering it's the WBC, the likely decision is likely to make this the fault of Rodriguez and give Nery the mandatory position.
Sarcasm mildly intended.

And if you thought Luis Nery was unprofessional, please allow me to introduce Julio Ceja!
Ceja, a former WBC junior featherweight champion, entered his fight with minor Titleist Brandon Figueroa after a terrific try against Guillermo Rigondeaux that saw him on the wrong side of an early stoppage while leading on the scorecards.
Ceja's effort against Rigondeaux was the best ever against the Cuban ( other than his ill-advised attempt against Vasyl Lomachenko), so Ceja had some goodwill in the bank that went awry when
Ceja missed weight by a stunning FOUR and a quarter pounds!
To put that in perspective, Ceja would have been overweight for a featherweight title fight and this was scheduled for the 122-pound junior featherweight division.
Figueroa decided to accept the fight when he was both compensated financially and assured by the sanctioning body that he would not lose his minor title, should he lose.
And here is why the argument made by Emmanuel Rodriguez for not accepting the extra money against an overweight opponent made sense because Figueroa's normally a very good puncher and he just couldn't hurt the larger Ceja in an excellent fight.
Figueroa-Ceja ended in a draw and it was fun to watch, but Ceja had such an artificial edge with the weight advantage that you wondered just how much that played into the fight.
Ceja has been knocked out three times in his career, yet Figueroa, a very good puncher, couldn't move him at all.
I scored Ceja a 115-113 winner in a fight that was very close and felt bad for Figueroa in the situation.

The co-feature was another gift for Leo Santa Cruz, who seems to thrive on winning vacant titles against questionable competition and then sitting on them until he rises in weight.
Santa Cruz won his fourth world title (from three different organizations.) with a unanimous decision over Miguel Flores to add the WBA junior lightweight title to his trophy case and won few fans in doing so.
Santa Cruz fights usually follow the same pattern, landing lots of punches, with not a lot of power, and his overmatched opponents are defeated on the scorecards, but generally unhurt.
This fight followed that template as I gave Flores the first round and no others, so the scorecard isn't the issue for me.
My issue with Santa Cruz is this- he's talented and has won four "titles". but is only 1-1 against top-notch fighters, splitting a series with Carl Frampton and his two wins over Abner Mares after Mares had slipped past his best are his only other notable wins.
I'm not sure what the issues are with Santa Cruz, is it that he doesn't want to fight top opponents and is satisfied with belts and money?
Or is it that his promoters choose not to roll the dice and gamble Santa Cruz against someone that could beat him?
I wonder about the PBC sometimes in these situations with fighters that haven't fought good competition and how it happens with examples such as Santa Cruz, Gary Russell, and Gervonta Davis.
My guesses are as follows:
Gervonta Davis is a fighter that is "on the wrong side of the street" (I'm really beginning to hate that phrase) promotionally in his division and has a chance to win against the best in the game.
Davis has that kind of ability but needs a breakout win that PBC seems unwilling or unable to provide.
Russell has tons of talent but seems content to fight once a year, keep a title, cash a nice check, and not challenge himself.
Santa Cruz isn't as talented as the above two and has been protected from fighters such as Russell (both are featherweight champions with PBC and could easily fight) and either his management or promotion realizes this and is protecting him for as long as possible.

We move to DAZN with cards from Matchroom and Golden Boy and a very interesting result that has been overshadowed by the Wilder-Ortiz fight.

Matchroom's main event from Liverpool, England looked to be a stay busy fight as Callum Smith, who is looked at by most as the top super middleweight in the world, defended his WBA title against countryman John Ryder, who entered the fight on a four-fight upset streak with all four wins over undefeated or one-loss fighters.
However, the biggest name on Ryder's record was Rocky Fielding in a loss, so Smith was a prohibitive favorite to defend his title.
Watching the clips of the weigh-in, Smith looked to be a full division larger than Ryder, and with six inches in height and reach over Ryder, this seemed to be a mismatch.
AND that's why we fight the fights and why everyone makes mistakes.

In honesty, I watched this fight twice.
The first time that I watched it, I scored it 115-113 for Callum Smith with Smith holding off the late charge of Ryder, who won the final three rounds on my card.
After that, I went to bed having stayed up to watch Ohio State-Penn State, then Smith-Ryder and needing sleep before work.
When I got up, something was nagging at me about it, but I had to watch the other DAZN card, Wilder-Ortiz, etc and I put it aside.
Still, I talked to Fred Landucci and he asked me about my thoughts which made my earlier questions return.
In short, I rewatched it and my score changed to 115-113 for Ryder, who attacked throughout, took advantage of a seemingly overconfident and underprepared Smith and my rewatched card could be slightly kind to Smith.
Ryder was the stronger fighter, worked Smith over to the ropes and ripped away on the inside to the body of the bigger man.
I also thought that Ryder did much better than expected in the center of the ring where you would think Smith would not only want to be but where he would control the action.

I had the edge of rewatching to get things right which judges in live-action do not, but what seems to happen in fights where the huge favorite wins an unpopular decision is this- In those early rounds when fights are just starting to settle in, judges fall into a trap and score those early rounds for the fighter that's expected to win- because they think that's what should be happening rather than what is.
By the time that you realize that the fight isn't happening the way it "should", it's too late and there is how you get a bad call.
I would imagine a rematch is in order, but I have a feeling that John Ryder may have already fought the fight of his life once, and should a rematch be forced, Callum Smith is going to be ready.
Callum Smith is the better fighter, but John Ryder deserved the duke on this night.
A belated Hamburglar for this one.

The evening card for DAZN was a Golden Boy card with two of those wonderful minor belts from the WBA and saw an upset in the main event as Rene Alvarado tore apart Andrew Cancio like Gale Sayers through an overmatched defense.
Cancio had knocked out Alvarado in their first fight in 2015 and after two wins over highly regarded Alberto Machado, was thought to be a rising fighter with a great story.
Alvarado used his longer reach and surprising aggressiveness from the start to cur Cancio around both eyes and bloodied his nose to the point of Alvarado's white trunks appearing to be a light pink from Cancio's blood.
Cancio fought as bravely as he could, but he couldn't figure out how to avoid Alvarado's incessant offense in order to get inside to do his best work.
I had Alvarado ahead 69-64 (6-1) when the fight was mercifully ended in Cancio's corner at the end of the seventh round.
Cancio was becoming quite a story, but it is very possible that Cancio is a solid fighter that simply had the number of Alberto Machado.
We'll see if Rene Alvarado, also a solid fighter, can perform well against fighters other than Andrew Cancio.

In the other fight, China's Xu Can continues to impress in his move up the featherweight ladder with his unanimous decision win over Manny Robles.
Can reminds me a bit of Josh Warrington in that he throws a lot of punches and attempts to overwhelm his opponents with volume.
Funny that I should mention Warrington, who was the champion called out in the post-fight interview by Can and that would be a very exciting fight to see.
Neither fighter has world-class sting on their punches but in a fight between those two the ringside people counting the punches had better be ready to work overtime!
I scored Can the winner 118-110 over Robles, who took his first loss but had won his previous two fights by close split decisions and the bloom seems to be fading off a once-promising prospect.

In the boxing challenge, I outscored Ramon Malpica seven to five (the Wilder KO making the difference) to move my overall lead to 278-246.

I'm going to try to be back later with the Browns romp over Miami and looking forward to a rematch in Pittsburgh.