Indio, Ca.- The WBA Super Featherweight Title has a new home in Nicaragua as Rene Alvarado avenged his 2015 KO loss against Andrew Cancio by way of seventh-round stoppage. It was as if the spirit of Alexis Argüello—who made history by becoming the first Nicaraguan World Champion in the same date only in 1974— came over Alvarado to assure his victory and add another name to the list of Nicaraguan greats.
Alvarado salió como perro in the first round landing fast, vicious shots taking Cancio by surprise. Unrelenting in his approach, Alvarado delivered heavy shots which momentarily stunned “El Chango” as they exchanged punches rock-em-bop-em-robots style in the middle of the ring. Cancio suffered a cut above his left eye in the third round, yet turned the round in his favor landing a massive straight right hand staggering Alvarado.
“Gemelo” wasted no time capitalizing on Cancio’s cut, coming forward and popping the former champion’s head like a bobblehead. Cancio seemed to get his groove back in the fifth round, landing brutal power punches as blood adorned his face. Perhaps feeling he was tiring out, Alvarado slowed down his aggression and instead waited for opportunities to counter as the Mexican warrior continued to come forward in hopes of a knockout punch.
Regardless of Cancio’s heart and resiliense, the punishment he was receiving along with the severity of the cut caused a stoppage before he could make it out of his corner for the seventh round. Before the stoppage the scorecards read 69-64 and 70-63 (x2) in favor of Alvarado.
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“I kept trying, but tonight was his night, he got off very well,” Cancio said post-fight. “I got hit with too many shots. I had a great camp, there’s no excuses about it, and the better man won tonight. It’s well-deserved, he fought a tremendous fight. I’ve been here before. It is what it is. It’s part of the game.”
A monumental victory for Alvarado and Nicaragua as a whole given the significance of the date, Alvarado gave credit to his trainer, Sergio Gonzalez, who gave him the key to victory by telling him to assert dominance in the early rounds.
“My objective was to make sure that I become a world champion on this important day, the 23rd of November, when 45 years ago, Alexis Argüello became a world champion for the first time,” said Alvarado. “And now for the first time, we have two world champions who are twin brothers from Nicaragua. That was the objective.”
Former Nicaraguan pound-for-pound champion Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez rejoiced ringside and congratulated the new champion.
“I’m happy we have a new world champion!” said Gonzalez. “God gave him this gift, this is a blessing from God. This is a blessing he gave him and his whole family. Twenty-three of November, a very important date and now another title for Nicaragua. Rene is the new champion.”
Rene Alvarado just after the fight was stopped. Emotional night for the Nicaraguan. #CancioAlvarado2 pic.twitter.com/ZqezWIdMZr — MB2 (@mikebaca2) November 24, 2019
Chinese featherweight Xu Can returned to DAZN to put on yet another spectacular performance and take his WBA Featherweight Title with him back to China handing Manny Robles Jr. his first pro-career defeat by way of unanimous decision. Though the scorecards were wide, Robles made an honorable attempt at a world title against an opponent who was nothing short of relentless.
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Fans were treated to back-and-forth action early on as both featherweights exchanged heavy leather and traded multi-punch combinations targeting both the face and the body. Xu Can took the role of the aggressor early on, making Robles dig deep to look for an opening land his own punches.
The majority of the early action took place in the middle of the ring and at short distance, allowing Robles to land tremendous uppercuts on the rugged Chinese champion. As the fans roared from the stands, both fighters seemed to catch a a second wind in the mid-rounds throwing furious combinations, which Can constantly got the better of.
In the fifth round, Can pressed Robles against the ropes, but failed to accurately land the majority of his shots as Robles utilized head movement as he threw counters to make his way out of the threatening situation. Can continued his assault heavily targeting Robles’ body and overwhelming him against the ropes. With every punch landed from Can, Robles countered with less potency slightly fading away but never shying away from the action.
In the championship rounds, it was Robles who fell victim to the monstrous uppercuts from the “Monster.” Though Robles displayed heart of a warrior by fighting head-to-head and making Can put in work to retain his title. After 12 rounds of prominent action, the scorecards favored Can 120-109, 119-109, and 118-110.
When asked where he would like to fight next, Can expressed he didn’t have a preference.
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“Anywhere. I can fight anywhere. I promise I will bring the belt back home to China.”
Fighting out of Boston, MA., Rashidi Ellis earned the WBA Continental Americas Welterweight Title defeating New York contender Eddie Gomez by way of unanimous decision after 10 rounds of boxing.
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Both fighters pressed the action immediately after the opening bell launching at each other while simultaneously remaining cautious of counters. By the the mid-rounds, Ellis carefully calculated his every move throwing heavy punches with bad intentions as Gomez used his reflexes in attempts to avoid them.
In the fifth round both fighters received a warning for landing rabbit punches after a series of clinches, but no points were deducted. The later rounds brought no significant exchanges, but Ellis maintained dominance gaining a victory in all three judge’s scorecards 100-90, 99-91 (x2).
In the DAZN opening bout, undefeated featherweight Victor Morales Jr.captured his 13th victory against durable Mexican contender Diuhl Olguin by way of unanimous decision in an entertaining eight-round match.
The best action of the fight came in the last round as both Mexican fighters traded combinations in the middle and all-around the ring that had the fans chanting out from the stands. Though the tough Jalisciense never stopped coming forward and landing occasional effective counter shots and flurries cornering his opponent against the ropes, Morales dictated the pace of the fight and cruised himself to a wide unanimous decision.
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