Canelo Alvarez?s annihilation of James Kirkland couldn?t have come at a better time for boxing.
A week after Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao disappointed millions of people who paid nearly $100 to finally watch them fight, Alvarez-Kirkland was every bit the unforgettable slugfest fight fans anticipated Saturday night in Houston. The hard-hitting junior middleweights delivered three rounds of sustained savagery reminiscent of the legendary Hagler-Hearns middleweight brawl in April 1985.
Alvarez and Kirkland aren?t Marvin Hagler and Thomas Hearns in the hearts and minds of most boxing enthusiasts. No one is suggesting that.
But they attacked each other in the same malicious manner as Hagler and Hearns did 30 years ago, when Hagler beat Hearns by third-round technical knockout at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Virtually every punch Mexico?s Alvarez and Austin, Texas? Kirkland threw was meant to knock out the other.
They knew full well their fight wouldn?t last six rounds, much less 12.
Their memorable melee mostly was one-sided, with the more disciplined, skilled Alvarez checking Kirkland?s questionable chin until the powerful southpaw couldn?t take it anymore. It remained riveting right until the thrilling conclusion, however, because Kirkland is a pulverizing puncher who can change a fight at any moment.
It ended in appropriately violent fashion, when Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) drilled the defensively deficient Kirkland (32-2, 28 KOs) with a right hand that knocked him silly. The force of Alvarez?s punch twisted Kirkland completely around and left the bloodied, battered contender flat on his back, out for the count.
While it lasted less than three full rounds, Alvarez-Kirkland supplied the type of continuous violence action-craving consumers sought from Mayweather-Pacquiao, however unrealistic those expectations might?ve been. Alvarez produced the early favorite for “Knockout of the Year” and proved sometimes you get more than you pay for.
A crowd of 31,588 packed Minute Maid Park for Alvarez-Kirkland, thanks in part to Alvarez?s popularity among Mexican-Americans and tickets that were as cheap as $25. The fight also aired live on HBO, not on pay-per-view, and drew the highest rating ? a peak of nearly 2.3 million viewers ? of any fight the premium cable channel has televised since Bernard Hopkins-Antonio Tarver attracted 2.46 million viewers in June 2006.
With the anticlimactic Mayweather-Pacquiao fiasco fresh on the minds of millions, Alvarez-Kirkland couldn?t have come at a better time for boxing.
