By Nick Bellafatto
In many an inactive round for an often times winded looking Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (42-0, 30 KO’s) of Juanacatlán, Jalisco, Mexico, he would allow his opponent of Las Cruces, New Mexico, the now former 154 pound WBA titlist Austin “No Doubt” Trout (26-1, 14 KO’s), to outwork him. This on Showtime Championship Boxing before a crowd of better than 38,000 at the Alamo Dome in San Antonio, Texas.
However, the Mexican icon and defending WBC champion would overall land the more effective shots in this twelve-round junior middleweight title unification, dropping Trout for the first time ever along the way in round 7 to come away with a unanimous decision verdict by scores of 118-109, 116-111, and 115-112 .
Said “Canelo,” “Austin Trout is a very difficult fighter. He’s a southpaw, but we were more intelligent in this fight today. The better the opponent, the better I will get. This is for my brother, [referring to Rigoberto Alvarez whom Trout defeated to earn the WBA title], a big motivation in this fight.”
Photo: Josh Hedges
Austin Trout post fight would so much as admit defeat. “He was better than me. I have no excuses here tonight. He caught me with a good shot [referring to the seventh round knockdown]. I promise you I’ll go back to the drawing board and come back stronger. I learn a lot more from my losses than from my wins. He boxed a lot better than I thought, he moved a lot better than I thought, and he shocked us.”
Perhaps closer than the two widest scoring margins may have indicated, nevertheless the still undefeated Alvarez besides buckling Trout more than once, would in addition to the above demonstrate excellent head and upper body movement, avoiding by far the majority of Trout’s blows to further add credence to a favorable but seemingly narrow decision.
That decision would entail that “No Doubt” surrender his hard earned WBA belt to a fighter heavily criticized for not facing an opponent worthy of title consideration. Of course that criticism would be silenced to a degree this evening as “Canelo” in stepping up of his own accord to face one of the most avoided fighters in the sport, this against the wishes of his own handlers at Golden Boy Promotions, would do what no other could in 26 fights, inflict Trout’s first defeat.
In the end, open scoring at the end of four and eight rounds, made known only to the corners, had surely played a part as regards the strategy of each fighter. “Canelo” would appear more conservative, while the usually calculated and reserved Austin Trout would come out of his shell to perhaps cause him to run into shots he may otherwise not have. Whether making for a different outcome in and of itself, open scoring had definitively changed the bout’s landscape.
In summing up, while leaving something to be desired performance wise against his most formidable opponent to date in Austin “No Doubt” Trout, the ever improving “Canelo” Alvarez fell markedly short of making the case to face off with the likes of a Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. That being said, it seems that perhaps “Canelo’s” next big fight may be in a Mexican courthouse as a warrant has been issued for his arrest in conjunction with an alleged assault. Stay tuned..
*Co-main Event*
Trained by Joel Diaz and managed by Al Haymon, Omar “Panterita” Figueroa (21-0-1, 17 KO’s) of Weslaco, Texas would remain undefeated in a big way, inflicting fellow prospect Abner Cotto’s (16-1, 7 KO’s) very first loss. The end for the Caguas, Puerto Rico native and cousin of Miguel Cotto would come at 2:57 of the opening round courtesy of a body shot, of which Abner would fail to beat the count.
From the opening bell onwards Figueroa would come forward aggressively, switching back and forth to southpaw to earlier in round 1 drop his Puerto Rican adversary with what appeared non other than a body blow. In victory Figueroa would pick up the vacant NABA and vacant WBC International Silver lightweight titles to defend another day.
Said Figueroa post fight, “we knew he was already hurt. I mean those body shots they linger for a while and you just don’t get rid of them quickly. We want to get those [major] titles. This is just a stepping stone to get there.”
