Weekend Boxing Results, May 6

‘Canelo’ Decisions Jacobs to Take Three of Four Middleweight Titles

All credit to the judges this time. Anybody that expected to see Saul "Canelo" Alvarez being given rounds he didn’t deserve against Daniel Jacobs was proven incorrect, as Canelo’s unanimous 115-113, 115-113, 116-112 decision was the correct score for that fight. For reference, Sherdog scored it 116-112 for “Canelo.”

For good portions of the fight, Jacobs tried to fight as a southpaw and while it worked well for him initially, he stuck with it too long after “Canelo” had figured it out. In fact, Jacobs’ huge shot off of the outside slip in southpaw stance that everyone went nuts about was actually just “Canelo” rolling with the shot. This tends to happen a lot in Alvarez’s fights and disguises how hard he is to hit.

While “Canelo” was probably too good for Jacobs no matter what he did in the fight, the switching between stances trend that has taken over boxing feels like the shoulder roll epidemic of the mid-2000s. Just because Terence Crawford can do it -- keeping in mind there are plenty of fights where he stays southpaw almost exclusively after the first minute -- doesn’t mean everybody should be doing it, the same way that Floyd’s shoulder rolling ability didn’t mean everybody should have been trying it back then.

What’s next for Alvarez? “GGG-Canelo 3” in September is the obvious answer. Golovkin was at the fight, is now being trained by former Wladimir Klitschko trainer Jonathan Banks, and would seem to make the most financial sense for both DAZN and Alvarez. However, Eddy Reynoso said he didn’t expect to see “GGG” as Canelo’s September opponent, while Alvarez, who now has three of the four middleweight belts, insists he wants to fight somebody with a belt.

The fourth middleweight belt holder is WBO title holder Demetrius Andrade. Andrade says he’s ready to fight Alvarez (and oddly, that he thinks Jacobs won the fight) but Andrade is fighting on June 29 so he probably wouldn’t be ready for a September fight.

Alvarez could move back up to 168 and fight some of the title holders there as well. It has been reported that Jacobs struggled to make the middleweight limit and is considering permanently moving to 168 himself. The truth for Jacobs is that he’s a very good fighter, but not a great one. He couldn’t beat the two great fighters at 160; it’s unlikely he’ll do better at 168.

If Golovkin does get the fight, the promotion should be interesting. After dumping Abel Sanchez, “GGG” was booed at the fight last night, after having previously been beloved by Mexican audiences. The former “good boy” is working his way towards becoming a full blown heel, going from pastel sweaters to a very Hollywood sunglasses and pink silk coat combination in terms of ringside fashion; some jokers on Twitter compared him to the Pink Ladies from “Grease.” After the fight the man once known for his humble “I respect boxing” statements tweeted some Rizzo-style shade, saying “I saw no emotions, nothing special today. It was a nice sparring match. Boring. They should have given more to the fans.”

Hopefully the third fight happens. The new Gennadiy Golovkin could make it even more interesting.

Artur Beterbiev Keeps 100-Percent KO Rate with Fifth-Round Stoppage

Artur Beterbiev maintained his status as the only world champion in boxing to hold a 100 percent stoppage rate, when he stopped “Hot Rod” Radivoje Kalajdzic in the fifth round to move to 14-0. Beterbiev entered the ring to an intimidating silence, opting not to have any entrance music. From there, he walked down “Hot Rod” with his clubbing power forcing him to briefly drop to a knee in the third round, before the fight was stopped in the fifth.

Kalajdzic deserves credit; he had ample opportunities to quit on his stool after the third round, and even though it was clear Beterbiev’s punches were landing with far more power, he was game throughout the bout, surely bolstered by Beterbiev’s history of getting dropped in fights he was winning.

After the fight, Beterbiev made it clear he wants a unification bout. Beterbiev holds the IBF title at 175, while Sergey Kovalev holds the WBO title, Dmitry Bivol holds the WBA title and Oleksandr Gvozdyk holds the WBC title. Gvozdyk might be the easiest fight to make since Bob Arum promotes both fighters, but if Kovalev gets by Anthony Yarde sometime this summer that fight could happen as well, as Top Rank has options on Kovalev.

Jerwin Ancajas Returns to Form to Stop Funai in Seven

After a lackluster couple of outings, IBF junior bantamweight champion Jerwin Ancajas had a chance against a lesser opponent to return to form and remind fans why they used to think he would be the next Filipino superstar. On Saturday night, he took advantage of that opportunity by bludgeoning Ryuichi Funai into submission en route to a seventh-round stoppage.

Funai deserves a ton of credit for his courage, as it was the doctor that ultimately stopped the fight after deeming him to have taken too much punishment. He was outlanded 43-5 in power punches over the course of the fourth round, but still fought on for three more.

Credit to him for his courage, and credit to the doctor for saving him from it. Supposedly, next for Ancajas will be Australia’s Andrew Moloney.

Vergil Ortiz’s Right Hand Stops Mauricio Herrera for the First Time Ever

Ryan Garcia has the looks and the social media followers, but Vergil Ortiz has the one-punch knockout power to make himself a star. Golden Boy Promotion’s other young, budding superstar moved up to 147 pounds for the first time this weekend, and hit Mauricio Herrera with a right hand that froze him like he just looked Medusa in the eyes.

That punch moved Ortiz to 13-0 with 13 knockouts, and represented the first time in over 30 professional prizefights that Herrera had been stopped. That’s a huge feather in Ortiz’s cap considering Herrera has fought guys like Danny Garcia and Mike Alvorado.

After the fight, Ortiz said he’s moving back to 140 and hoping to get a title shot at that weight class. He’s only 21, but it’s hard to see a reason why he shouldn’t fight for a title sooner rather than later.

Gabe Flores Pleases Local Crowd with Monster Left Hook Knockout

Vergil Ortiz wasn’t the only young fighter to score a ridiculous one-punch knockout this weekend. Stockton’s own Gabe Flores scored a huge third round, left hook knockout over Eduardo Pereira dos Reis in his hometown on the Beterbiev undercard.

Unlike Ortiz’s opponent, dos Reis had been stopped three times already as a professional, but there’s no doubt Flores pleased his hometown crowd and impressed anyone watching him. With the Canelo fight taking a ton of the steam out of this card despite it having two title fights, the fact that Flores was a huge part in drawing such a big crowd -- supposedly a 10,000 plus sellout -- in Stockton could bode well for the nineteen-year-old’s future.

Anthony Young Upsets What’s Left of Sadam Ali with Third-Round Stoppage

It seems like decades ago that Sadam Ali was headlining an HBO card against Jaime Munguia at 154 pounda, and being showcased on the network’s promotional material for his shocking upset of Miguel Cotto. But it wasn’t decades ago, it was less than a year ago.

This weekend, Ali was broken down, especially to the body, in three rounds and stopped by Anthony Young, who had only stopped seven of his 20 professional opponents. It was clear that the Munguia fight took a ton out of Ali, and that he’s not the same fighter he was before that bout. Young, who was a 13-1 underdog not only got the win, but he was smart enough to acknowledge the truth about Ali.

After the fight, he said, “He 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.”

Young could have pretended this Ali was the same guy who beat Cotto to make himself look better. Respect to him for not lying to himself and everyone else.

Lamont Roach Wins Decision to Stay Undefeated

Lamont Roach Jr picked up a win in a close fight, ultimately beating Jonathan Oquendo via a unanimous 97-92, 97-92, 96-93 decision in a fight that may give his backers pause. The fight was likely closer than those scores indicate, and Roach benefitted from a questionable point deduction off a headbutt. Roach won but should take a second look at this fight and figure out what he should have done differently.

Joseph Diaz Jr. Stops Freddy Fonseca in Seven

Joseph Diaz Jr. easily outclassed Freddy Fonseca, dropping him in the sixth round before Fonseca’s corner threw in the towel in the seventh. Diaz had spent the week feuding with Tevin Farmer, and after the fight called out Farmer for a title shot. Farmer had indicated that as punishment, he wouldn’t give Diaz a title shot, so we’ll see what happens.