|
|
|
SUPERSTARDOM ON HOLD FOR DEVON ALEXANDER By Greg R. Penilla, M.D. PhilBoxing.com Mon, 09 Aug 2010 St. Louis, MO -- Devon Alexander came out with all cylinders firing from the opening bell as promised by his trainer, Kevin Cunningham. He was almost Pacquiao-like throwing punches after punches, totaling 1,113 in front of an appreciative hometown crowd of almost 10,000. Unfortunately, out of the more than 1000 punches thrown, a mere 202 found its target for a pathetic 18% connect rate. His jabs were even worse at 10 %, finding its mark 64 times out of 647. He was like a machine gun but missing miserably Kotelnik on the other hand was like a single shot pistol but much more accurate and he was landing much more effective and clearer blows to Alexander?s face and body. Although Kotelnik only threw 723 punches, he actually landed 23 more than Alexander. His Saturday night performance was very pedestrian and mediocre at best. He was supposed to dominate Kotelnik, instead he was lucky to have three generous judges. Was it a case of hometown distraction and over eagerness to please the crowd or is he not really as good as advertized? Does he really deserve all the flattering acclaim by the media, this writer included? Before the first punches were thrown, HBO?s Max Kellerman even declared him to be the future pound for pound king. In fairness to Alexander, he tried his best, kept his composure and stayed busy. Just the fact that he kept on firing saved the night for him. He deserved the win but barely. This kind of performance will not make him a boxing superstar. To join the hallowed and exclusive fraternity of boxing elite, he has to learn a lot more. He has to dominate in his future fights. It?s back to the drawing board. He was brilliant in disposing Urango. He can do it again. He has a good trainer. Kevin Cunningham will make sure he learned from a difficult fight. On the other hand, Timothy Bradley, Maidana and Amir Khan must be excited and will be eager to fight him now knowing that a slow Kotelnik had a field day landing finding his mark. But he can bounce back. There is one thing going for him. He is still very young. Last Saturday?s performance did not prove to be his Gateway to Greatness. Top photo: Devon Alexander during the post-fight press conference in St Louis. Floyd Mayweather, Jr acknowledges the crowd before the Alexander-Kotelnik bout. Tid bits. It was interesting to hear some boos and chants of Pacquiao?Pacquiao?when Floyd Mayweather, Jr. was introduced. Same thing happened when Floyd Jr was flashed on the giant screen mid fight. Don King and Mayweather, Jr. remained mum regarding Pacquiao. I hope I will never see Cory Spinks fight again. Even after the fight, his brain was still foggy. He was upset that the fight was stopped saying, ?he (Bundrage) did not even hit me?. We all know, he was hit plenty. Glen Johnson must have found the fountain of youth. He was amazing although he lost. It was a fan friendly and entertaining Saturday night fights in St. Louis. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Greg R. Penilla, M.D.. |
|
PhilBoxing.com has been created to support every aspiring Filipino boxer and the Philippine boxing scene in general. Please send comments to feedback@philboxing.com |
PRIVATE POLICY | LEGAL DISCLAIMER
developed and maintained by dong secuya © 2024 philboxing.com. |