Chinese heavyweight Zhang Zhilei (24-0-1, 19 KOs) opened the pay-per-view portion of the card by delivering a massive left hand to the face, knocking out Scott Alexander 1 minute, 54 seconds into the first round. I think David himself knew that he was gonna knock him out. Watch David Benavidez vs. Between Plant and Charlo, Benavidez believes a fight with the former is the more likely to be made. Alternatively, there have been talks of next facing unbeaten two-division titlist Jermall Charlo, the current WBC middleweight title claimant who would move up in weight for a rumored May clash. Alvarez has been rather quiet since dispatching Billy Joe Saunders in eight rounds on May 8. In addition to retaining his WBA (Super,) WBC and The Ring super middleweight titles, the victory gave Alvarez the WBO super middleweight title. The bout did not disappoint, going 11 rounds and decided by TKO, with Alvarez making history as the first fighter to unify all four recognized titles at 168lbs. The fight solidified Canelo as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport and also made Alvarez the first Mexican fighter to become an undisputed champion. But he did say that the effort to fight WBA light-heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol is off.
The fight was tense, Saul tried to be patient throughout the fight and in round 11 he finally managed to hunt down his prey to give us one of the greatest KOs of the year. If Charlo stubbornly sticks to his guns and refuses to move from his stance of wanting Canelo to fight come down in weight in 160, he won’t get the fight. ESPN boxing writer Mike Coppinger, who dropped Alvarez from No. 1 all the way to the No. 5 spot on his list, said moving Alvarez down was a tough call. Plant said of the Mexican superstar, who holds the other three belts in the division. Love met Gollaz with a knockdown punch in the first round, smacking him on top of the head as the Mexican lunged forward. Bivol left to the head. Alvarez goes to the body and Bivol smacks him with a left and a follow-up shot. Bivol lands a combination, he’s muting the fervent support in the arena.
He’s awkward, tall, and possesses tremendous power in both hands. He’s in deep here and knows it. Here are five of them. Indeed, there are questions to be answered in this fight. HERE ARE FIVE QUESTIONS GOING INTO THE FIGHT. I think he should fight Gennady Golovkin because there's a trilogy that needs to be met here. ROUND 12: Many at ringside have Bivol leading to the point that Alvarez needs a knockout to win here. No venue has been announced but reports point to Las Vegas as the likely destination. It’s a Bivol jab and right that closes the bout. It’s not exactly a Murderers' Row. With Canelo on the ropes, they slow the action. But the action veered to jeers from there, drawing complaints by a crowd craving more action before the main event. ROUND 8: A hard Alvarez right opens the action. ROUND 9: With the crowd roaring for their fighter, Alvarez aggressively surges into an attack.