Memorex superstar in the making Devon Alexander struggled to a points win over Andriy Kotelnik on Saturday in front of over 9,000 fans in St. Louis, Missouri. All three scorecards, implausibly, were 116-112 in favor of Alexander, whose stock, like dot.com IPOs of the late 1990s, appeared to crash significantly overnight.
Kotelnik, a former junior welterweight paper champ, pressed the fight, landed the harder shots, and seemed to dictate the pace. Alexander, however, was given more credit than he perhaps deserved for the category of judging known as ?quantity over quality.?
Rarely do you see such boondoggling confused with prizefighting. Alexander barked, flicked ineffectual jab after ineffectual jab, unsuccessfully tried to spin Kotelnik, barked some more, broke into the Charleston occasionally, and flailed like a man trying to put out a wildfire with his bare hands. All in an effort to distract ringside judges from the quality work Kotelnik was putting in round after round. In the end, his filibustering succeeded, and Alexander deserves credit for pulling a fast one. Impressing the judges is easier than getting wet beneath Niagara Falls, it seems, and Alexander, 21-0, did what he had to do to take the play away from his steadier opponent.
Not nearly as slick as previously assumed, Alexander showed some serious defensive liabilities against Kotelnik, and his slapping punches do not even appear to be mildly discouraging. The uppercut that flattened Juan Urango a few months ago must have been perfectly timed and executed because against Kotelnik, Alexander punched with all the authority of a Victorian governess. A few right hooks to the body carried some authority, but for the most part, Alexander merely played pitty-pat in the ring.
For his part, Kotelnik, 31-4-1, remains a steady professional, little more, and this fact makes Alexander look even worse. A 9 to 1 shortender by the time the opening bell rang, Kotelnik stymied Alexander by merely being competent. His greatest asset, an economy of motion when throwing punches, gave Alexander fits. This is was no wavemaker like Juan Urango or junkball artist like Junior Witter; this was a fighter who threw precise blows with a purpose. Straight punches down the middle, a jab shot from the shoulder with his back foot driving it, and a left hook that was, more often than not, snapped off with his elbow still tucked into his ribs until the moment of release. His biggest flaws were not working the body enough and letting Alexander put his unique flail or fail strategy into play without response. Kotelnik needed to punch with Alexander more often, but decided to cover up and let most of the blows bounce harmlessly off of his arms and gloves. What is amazing is that Kotelnik had been inactive for over a year and was coming off of a shellacking at the hands of Amir Khan last summer. In other words, Kotelnik is the boxing equivalent to the perfect victim. Obviously, Kotelnik was not at enough of a disadvantage when he entered the ring.
Alexander is suffering now from predictable backlash because of the insane amount of press he has received from the same people who just cannot let a fighter be a fighter. Instead, they prostrate themselves at the feet of neophytes who have proven almost nothing in the ring. When these fighters lose or underperform, their boosters wring their hands endlessly, put on their ?expert? caps, and condescend more often than they usually do.
Every time a so-called prospect beats 18 squeegee men (practically a fait accompli in boxing), wins a trinket against a fighter on the skids, and scores one good win, he all of a sudden becomes a man who trails exclamation marks wherever he goes. This is absurd, of course, but it is the byproduct of having a sport covered by folks more interested in feigning expertise than just reporting what happens. Right now, Devon Alexander has exactly one quality win?a TKO over tough Juan Urango?and is little more than a young fighter with potential.
Unlike other recent busts, however, Alexander did not crumple up like a cellophane wrapper when faced with adversity. He showed heart and determination in the ring, and it is likely that he will be called on to do so again in the near future.
*****
Tavoris Cloud eked by ancient Glen Johnson with a unanimous decision?116-112 across the board?that appeared slightly off the mark. The two fighters traded big shots early before settling into a drearier pattern. Cloud was badly hurt by Johnson in the third round, but rode it out and came back to stun the older man several times over the final nine. Johnson looked completely spent after about the fifth round, leaning into Cloud and throwing punches devoid of power and technique for the remainder of the fight. Like Alexander, he was churning his hands just to churn them, and with the exception of a few well-place body shots here and there, he was merely nudging his opponent most of the time. Ironically, the busier but less effective fighter won the main event but lost the semi.
Cloud was not especially impressive, but he did enough to earn the duke. When Cloud, 21-0, opens up he can be a devastating offensive force, particularly with his left, but his defense is a serious liability and his inconsistency in the ring means opponents have a chance to run off combinations at their leisure. Worst of all, every time Cloud fights, dopey weather-related puns pop up all over the place to leave third-rate hacks all over the internet giggling over their mistaken notions of creativity.
Johnson, now 50-14-2, should probably give up the ghost since his legs were pieces of driftwood for the last half of the fight and he had no steam at all on most of his punches. He has been a real pro for over a decade now, and he can be proud of the fact that he is one of the few who can call themselves prizefighters these days.
*****
Breidis Prescott showed why some folks are still skeptical about Amir Kahn when he was taken the full route by woebegone Harrison Cuello in the sorry main event of ?Friday Night Fights? in Chicago. Bronx-based Cuello, now 1-5-1 over his last seven, earned his lunch money by surviving some bombs early and going on to herky jerky his way to the final bell. Prescott, who raised his record to 23-2, remains non-descript.
On the ESPN2 undercard, Prenice Brewer lost his undefeated record to Patrick Lopez via 3rd-round TKO when he cringed and reeled under a barrage of blows from Lopez and forced referee John O? Brien, who repeatedly exhorted Brewer to fight back, to stop the fight. Brewer struggled at times in his last bout against late-sub and limited mauler Christopher Fernandez and appeared ready to assume crash landing position every time Lopez, now 20-2, raised his fists. Brewer falls to 15-1. He might be better served going back to fight opponents who have over 25 losses on their records. After all, Brewer has faced four such foes and has done well against them in the past.
*****
Hyperkinetic Chris Avalos met his master in poised Christopher Martin in a brisk 10 on Shobox. Both fighters are from California, so of course they swapped punches in Minnesota, where empty seats at ringside were clearly visible. Martin, now 19-0-2, worked in the eye of the storm all night long and Avalos could barely muss his hair from bell to bell. Counter hooks, stiff jabs, and a jarring right uppercut met him nearly every time he charged ahead recklessly. Avalos, 16-1, was also hurt by several body shots in the last round and looked lucky to make it out of the 10th. Avalos is fun to watch, but his limbs appear to be in mutiny half the time, so discombobulated is he in the ring. Here is how The Cruelest Sport described Avalos after his win over Jose Nieves last January:
Exciting Chris Avalos nailed Jose Nieves into the canvas in four rounds on Showtime and never once looked like a fighter who could threaten top bantamweights or featherweights in the future. One of those alleged switch hitters who seems to be middling from both southpaw and orthodox stances, Avalos likes to mix it up and appears immune to the concept of defense. With his jaw floating in the air like a party balloon, a stance better suited for quickdraw at high noon, and with punches wide enough to make XXL snow angels, Avalos will be fun for as long as his chin holds out.
Martin, 19-0-2, is slick and shows some smarts, but his lack of a work rate will hurt him against top opposition.
Cruiserweight Lateef Kayode, another fighter with disproportionate buzz surrounding him (possibly because his last name is a homonym of ?coyote?? hey, it doesn?t take much to excite the boxing media), stopped Alfredo Escalera Jr. via TKO in the eighth of a scheduled ten. Koyode, who scored a knockdown in the final round, is earnest, energetic, and well-conditioned, but lacks most other attributes. Escalera Jr., 18-3-1, is distinguished by the fact that he is undistinguished in every way possible in the ring. No doubt this win will put Koyode on the drooling ?prospect? watch.
*****
Antonio Escalante crushed human pi?ata Edel Ruiz in three rounds in the pathetic Solo Boxeo headliner on Friday night/Saturday morning. This fight only proves that Golden Boy Promotions has the worst matchmaker?whose only qualification is being a boyhood friend of Oscar De La Hoya?among all the top promoters in boxing. Luckily for GBP, there are lots of gullible folks who call themselves ?hardcore? fans and who have no idea that squash matches should be regulated to fights in South Dakota VFW halls and should not be aired on national television.
*****
