In the main event of an HBO Boxing After Dark telecast billed as ?Arch Enemies? from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri this past Saturday night, hometown fighter Devon Alexander the Great? in no doubt the finest performance of his career would garner a one sided unanimous decision verdict by scores of 100-90 twice, and 99-91 over the hard hitting Marcos ?El Chino? Maidana who falls to 31-3 (28 KO?s). Not having to cut weight to make the 140 pound limit seemed to make all the difference in the world for Alexander who in his welterweight debut looked to be sharper than ever. ?We went back to the drawing board, moved up in weight, and fixed the problem. My power is there at 147.? Alexander in upping his record to 23-1 (13 KO?s) would draw the battle lines early, as the evident strategy would be to control range and get his combination punches off before Maidana could close the distance, to subsequently either angle away, or tie up his opponent anytime ?El Chino? would get inside. And over the course of the first five rounds, Devon would do just that, while in addition outquicking, outworking, and outlanding the ever pressing Argentinian who was thwarted at almost every juncture. Stated the Santa Fe, Argentina resident who was seemingly one step behind all night long, ?he?s very fast, he?s a lefty, and I did what I could. I definitely felt the weight and I was slower. We went to 147 pounds which wasn?t my division. I want to go back down to 140 pounds where I?m champion.? In thinking that Maidana would perhaps come on in the second half of this fight to make a more competitive showing, that would not be the case as the St. Louis native would have his biggest round yet in the sixth frame. Turning the tables on the slugger to become the slugger himself, Alexander would surprisingly back Maidana off with solid shots during stretches in the latter half of the fight while building an insurmountable enough lead to at this stage already put the visiting fighter in the position of needing a knockout in this ten round non title fight. That potential knockout would seem to fade from consciousness as Alexander would keep the heat on to impressively control his opponent from round seven on, answering Maidana back anytime he would mount any semblance of an offense, while continually outslugging as well as outboxing the Argentinian during any exchanges. When questioned about a role reversal of sorts where Devon in the second half of the bout would become the aggressor as compared to Marcos Maidana who usually plays that part, Alexander would state, ? I wanted him to feel my power too, because if you don?t let the guy feel your power he?s going to keep on coming because he knows you can?t hurt him. That?s why I chose to stand there a couple times to let him feel my power.? Tremendous performance by the new and improved Devon Alexander who seemed to have it all this night in defeating one of the most feared fighters in and around the welterweight/junior welterweight division. In this his first fight under the banner of Golden Boy Promotions, CEO Richard Schaefer would pull no punches by commenting, ?I know there were people out there which scouted Devon Alexander. Some of them gave up. We knew how special Devon Alexander is and tonight he proved it to everyone. I really don?t see anybody at 147 we cannot beat. And good thing is that at 147 most of the fighters, most of the champions are actually within Golden Boy?s stables. So we have big fights, big plans for Devon Alexander. It?s one step at a time. Tonight was a huge, a gigantic step, and congratulations to Devon for an amazing performance.?
Co-Main Event In the co-main event of the evening in a battle of two undefeated fighters who would contest for the WBO junior lightweight crown, reigning champion Adrien ?The Problem Broner would in his first title defense retain his WBO belt, as well as his undefeated record in going to 23-0 (19 KO?s) after finishing off Salinas, California resident Eloy ?The Prince? Perez with a right hand at 2:24 of the fourth round. That final blow would in fact cause Perez to stumble across the ring and go to his knees, prompting referee Genaro Rodriguez to call a halt to the action then and there as he would determine that Perez was unfit to continue. In effect, Eloy would suffer the first professional defeat of his career to fall to 23-1-2 (7 KO?s). ?The Problem? was definitely a problem for Eloy Perez from the opening bell in that the Cincinnati native was bigger, faster, and virtually untouchable, fighting from a posture similar to that of Floyd Mayweather Jr. where he would roll some of his opponents blows, while picking off any remaining shots with a superbly tight defense. And when Broner began to let his hands go a bit more as the bout progressed, the speed difference was evident, which when combined with his accuracy, the beginning of the end would not be far off for ?The Prince? who would mistakenly stay on the end of the lengthier Broner? punches rather than attempt to get closer as the shorter fighter. Stated a humble and gracious Eloy Perez in defeat regarding the distance issue and/or making necessary adjustments, ?I should have listened to my corner. I kind of took matters into my own hands.? Reflecting on his performance against Perez, an animated Broner would state, ?I was prepared for anything. I?ve got the fasted feet in the game. I should be on Dancing with the Stars. This fight I said I was going to make a statement.? And in further commenting on what may lie ahead for Adrien Broner who would be led in the ring by fellow Cincinnati native and ring legend Aaron ?The Hawk? Pryor, ?The Problem? would boast, ?I?m the best there is at 130. I can go up to 135 and take on anyone there too. They can just call me the ?Can-Man? because anyone can come get it?Africans, Americans, Dominicans, Mexicans.? And in getting Broner to be more specific in the post fight press conference as to who he in fact would like to meet up with in the near future, the junior lightweight champion would mention the names of both Brandon Rios and Yuriorkis Gamboa, who are set to face each other this coming April 14 in what looks to be an explosive match up. Impressive performance by Adrien Broner who seems set to step up the competition in the coming months to give fight fans something to look forward to. Early Results from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri Sharif Bogere in a scheduled 10 round junior welterweight clash would open up throwing caution to the wind with an inside attack that demonstrated from the get go that he was the faster and more talented of the two fighters between himself and game Mexican opponent Sergio Rivera. Pressing the action all the way, whether Bogere would lead or counter, Rivera was at his mercy, getting wobbled on more than one occasion before the Rivera camp would call off the bout in between rounds 3 and 4 with Sergio sitting on his stool. Sharif, out of Las Vegas, Nevada, remains undefeated at 22-0 (14 KO?s) while Sergio Rivera of Huatabampo, Mexico falls to 25-9-2 (16 KO?s). Junior middleweights Eddie Gomez of the Bronx, New York and David Lopez of Caldwell, Idaho would face off in a 6 rounder that wasn?t the most spectacular of bouts, as Lopez, looking to time and counter the slightly quicker and much busier Gomez, would mostly come up empty, while Gomez, not the busiest of fighters either, would let his hands go a bit more to outland his adversary and remain undefeated by way of a unanimous decision victory. The final scores would read 59-55 twice, and 60-54 in favor of Gomez who improves 8-0 (6 KO?s) while David Lopez drops another to fall to 3-8-3. Undefeated heavyweight prospect and 2008 Olympic Bronze Medalist Deontay ?The Bronze Bomber? Wilder of Tuscaloosa, Alabama would easily improve to 21-0 (21 KO?s) to maintain his 100% knockout ratio in towering over his much shorter opponent Marlon Hayes of Newark, New Jersey who drops to 23-11 (12 KO?s). Hayes would avoid many a shot from Wilder by crouching underneath and rolling his shoulders, but with little in the way of being able to reach and/or counter his opponent, Hayes would merely survive until an array of shots delivered by Deontay at the end of the fourth frame would cause the Hayes corner to call it quits before the opening of round 5 in this scheduled 8 rounder. Hopefully Deontay will step up in competition soon as he has faced an array of what appear to be less than worthy challengers up to this point in his career. In a scheduled six rounder, welterweight Keith Thurman of Clearwater, Florida would remain undefeated going to 16-0 (15 KO?s) after dropping opponent Chris Hernandez 19-15-1 (12 KO?s) of Salt Lake City, Utah twice in the first round. The second knockdown of the bout, a shot to the liver, would sprawl the Utah native on the canvass, of which Hernandez would rise to beat the count, only for the referee to determine he was not fit to continue. The time was 2:50 of the very first round.
A middleweight contest would feature southpaw Chris Pearson of Trotwood, Ohio 3-0 (2 KO?s) who would need all of 55 seconds of the first round to dispose of Sidney, Ohio?s Jeremy Wood by TKO. An overmatched Wood would fall to a dismal 1-5 (1 KO) after hitting the canvass twice at which point the ref had seen enough to call the halt.
In a 4 round junior middleweight contest between Tyronne Chatman of St. Louis, Missouri and Marlon Smith, also of St. Louis, Smith wasn?t nearly busy enough to better Chatman who would land the majority of punches, as well as the harder shots to come away with a unanimous decision victory by scores of 39-37, and 40-36 twice. Chatman goes to 9-1-1 (6 KO?s) while Smith drops to 2-1 (1 KO). In the opening bout of the evening, a 4 round heavyweight attraction, Jose Ponce of High Ridge, Missouri would make quick work of his opponent Jonathan Brown 0-2 of Greary, Kansas after the ref would determine that Brown wasn?t much up for fighting back after the body attack administered by Ponce. The time was 2:40 of round 1.
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