Weekend Boxing Results, Dec. 17

James KinneenDec 17, 2018


Join DAZN free for 30 days and live-stream fight night anywhere!

“Canelo” Alvarez Destroys Rocky Fielding’s Body to Take WBA Super Middleweight Title

When the fight was first announced in October, boxing analyst Lee Wylie looked at Rocky Fielding's immense height advantage over Saul "Canelo" Alvarez and noted that with his long torso and Alvarez’s body punching abilities, for this fight Fielding would “need to wear body armour.” It ends up, he was dead on.

Alvarez dropped Fielding four times on Saturday night, including three knockdowns that came as a result of body shots. It was the final left hook to Fielding’s liver that led the referee to stop the fight in the third round. This was Alvarez’s first fight on his record-breaking DAZN deal, and while it was not the most exciting bout in the world, and Fielding looked atrocious throughout, boxing fans have paid more money for far worse.

After the fight, Oscar de la Hoya said that the win opened up the possibility of Alvarez fighting at either 160 or 168, but was quick to note that he was “still a little wary of matching him with the top, top guys at 168 pounds.” That means an all-Mexican unification bout with Gilberto Ramirez would be out of the question in the immediate future, even if “Zurdo” planned to remain in the weight class. Still, with an opponent handpicked to play to his specialties, Alvarez -- who used to fight at welterweight -- won a title at 168 pounds. And no matter what opponent it came against, that means something.

Gilberto Ramirez Beats Jesse Hart Again, Abandons Weight Class after Victory

In their first fight, Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez beat Jesse Hart by decision in an exciting back-and-forth battle. In their rematch, Ramirez once again beat Hart by decision in an exciting back-and-forth bout. However, this time “Zurdo” had to deal with some serious adversity in the form of an elbow injury. In the final stages of the bout, Ramirez -- who is a southpaw and whose nickname is Spanish for “lefty” -- injured his left elbow and could barely throw a punch. Still, he fought through the pain long enough to take a split 114-114, 115-113, 115-113 decision.

After the fight, Ramirez said that although he still holds the WBO super middleweight title, he acknowledges that because of network politics and his own star power he can’t get any of the biggest names in the division in the ring. Because of this, he will abandon the weight class, move up to 175 and try to get fights against guys like Sergey Kovalev, Dmitry Bivol and Eleider "Storm" Alvarez. While this fight was exciting, the idea of the undefeated 27-year-old joining such a stacked division is more so.

Ryan Garcia Impresses in First Fight under Eddy Reynoso

After failing to live up the hype boxing media and Golden Boy Promotions had bestowed upon him, Ryan Garcia switched to training with Eddy Reynoso, the trainer of “Canelo” Alvarez, hoping to right the ship and get fans excited about him again. In his first fight under Reynoso’s tutelage, Garcia was impressive, scoring a fifth-round knockout over Braulio Rodriguez after knocking him down in the first round.

While Rodriguez was a limited opponent coming off of two straight losses, Garcia’s willingness to try something new and improve despite being undefeated and so highly touted speaks well to his future. What also speaks well to his future was his post-fight self-marketing which saw him shout "Man, I can't thank [Eddy and Chepo Reynoso] enough. They took me in like family. They took care of me good. I don't speak Spanish but they took care of me. I don't speak Spanish, but I got the Mexican blood in me. Viva Mexico!" Very smart. Another smart move is Garcia’s claim that he will now move to 135 because he’s draining himself too hard to make 130.

Tevin Farmer Dominates, But Can’t Stop Fransisco Fonseca as Promised

Tevin Farmer promised that he was going to stop Fransisco Fonseca in four rounds or less, to best what Gervonta Davis did to Fonseca in their fight. Although Farmer dominated and would go on to retain the IBF super-featherweight title with a unanimous 117-111, 117-111, 117-111 decision victory, Davis was quick to find Farmer’s tweets promising the quick knockout and mock him with emojis, before answering the question “what do you think of Farmer’s performance against an ex-opponent of yours” with the simple yet pointed reply: “Ass.”

That’s a fight that needs to happen, but Farmer implied that if it were, it would happen on DAZN, as he will not go to Showtime to chase Davis. Still, there’s only so much social media har-“ass”-ment Farmer could take before fighting Davis wherever, and Davis shows no signs of stopping.

Roberto Duran Jr. Moves to 2-0 at 30 Years of Age

And finally, on the undercard of the Gilberto Ramirez fight, Roberto Duran’s son Roberto Duran Jr. moved to 2-0 with 2 knockouts by stopping the winless Leonardo Pena. While Duran’s son has acknowledged it is highly unlikely he can match his father’s career success, he was also quoted as saying “My dad had power. I also have power. To be honest, I think I can hit harder than him.” It was a nice win, but the elder Duran was voted as the 27th hardest puncher of all time by Ring Magazine. So, there’s that.