As part of an attraction billed as ?Star Power,? a mega-event broadcast from two cities with three world titles on the line, it was in the main event taking place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California where Mexican phenom and box office smash Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez 38-0-1 (28 KO?s) of Juanacatl?n, Jalisco, Mexico would step up in competition to successfully defend his WBC junior middleweight title, stopping worthy challenger Alfonso Gomez 23-5-2 (12 KO?s) of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico at 2:36 of the sixth round by TKO, the result of ?Canelo? landing a number of hard right hands beginning with a stinging right uppercut. In victory Alvarez would state, ?he hit me hard but I worked at my pace and made the adjustment. I?m very happy with the fight. We worked very hard and knew it would all pay off.? This victory by Alvarez would definitely be an earned one, as in a tough technical bout where Gomez not only came to fight, refusing to play the role of stepping stone in elevating the career of Alvarez, but Gomez came to win. Alfonso would have many a moment, not only landing a good mixture of punches during solid two way action, but combined with the challenger?s low posture, defense, and head movement, these elements would throw off Alvarez? timing and keep him from landing most of his usual flowing combination punches for much of the bout. To ?Canelo?s? credit though, the young champion would remain poised throughout to also have his moments, scoring a knockdown with a left hook in the very first round, perhaps due more to bad balance by Gomez, with the champion?s biggest moment coming in round 6 as a stalking Gomez would run straight into a right uppercut from Alvarez which staggered the challenger, forcing him backwards, after which Saul would drive Alfonso across the ring and up against the ropes as a result of two more solid straight right hands. It was then with Gomez? back on the ropes where the defending champion would throw a variety of follow up shots, with perhaps only one of those blows actually finding it?s mark, which no doubt made for a premature stoppage by referee Wayne Hedgepeth who would step in between the fighters and call a halt to the bout at 2:36 of round 6. Ending yet another attempt by Alfonso Gomez to capture a world title after losing to Miguel Cotto back in April of 2008, it definitely appeared the stoppage was somewhat early as not only was the challenger covering well, but he was totally cognizant of his surroundings. Stated Gomez as to the abrupt ending, ?I believe the ref was looking for an opportunity to stop the fight. He hit me hard but I was okay. When the ref asked me I told him I was fine.? ?Canelo,? or cinnamon in Spanish, who is still a work in progress, would enter the ring to huge applause this Mexican Independence weekend, and by fight?s end would yet again answer some of his critics who felt coming in that the young red head is still somewhat unproven, a charge not without merit, even though Saul is the current WBC junior middleweight champion now with two successful title defenses. Some of the criticisms leveled against the young Alvarez are that he has been protected to an extent by his promoters, Golden Boy Promotions, as well as Canelo Promotions, who are bringing up Alvarez at a pace to perhaps keep him on top for some time to come, being the cash cow that he currently is. That criticism is hard to swallow in full, as Alvarez, still quite young and steadily improving in all phases of the fight game, is being moved up each and every time he fights, with an eventual eye towards priming him to contend with A level fighters on a regular basis, as ?Canelo? fans will no doubt settle for anything less when the time comes. This is in stark contrast to say Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who seems to be stagnant in his development as of late, and is regularly matched up with set up opponents or fighters he is expected to prevail against.
