Tonight saw two new world champions crowned as firstly Zab Judah finished Kaizer Mabuza in seven for the IBF light welterweight title, and later Mexican boy wonder Saul Alvarez took an easy twelve round decision over Matthew Hatton for the WBC light middleweight title.
Never one to leave his fans far from the edge of their seats, Judah was knocked down in the fourth and appeared to be losing a close fight before stopping Mabuza in the seventh.
The stoppage came after Judah, having been hurt in the previous round, sent Mabuza through the ropes with a hard left, before unloading on the clearly dazed former lightweight seconds later, forcing the referee to intervene.
The victory marked the second time Judah has won the IBF light welterweight title, coincidentally enough both times against South African opposition. Back in 2000, a then streaking Judah blew away Jan Bergman in four, and after many ups and downs since, now finds himself back in the same position.
With the win and more importantly the title, Judah can now look to put together a big money bout with one of the big four at light welterweight, namely Tim Bradley, Amir Khan, Devon Alexander and Marcos Maidana.
In the news: Bob Arum and Micheal Koncz at odds over Pacquiao vs. Mayweather talks
Elsewhere, in beating European welterweight champion Matthew Hatton, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez became the youngest light middleweight champion of all time, although the debate over whether he deserves the plaudit will likely last longer than the memory of the fight itself.
From the offset it was apparent that Alvarez was simply too big and strong for Hatton, and although he boxed well and countered Hatton’s shots, how Canelo would have dealt with a genuinely world class light middleweight will have to remain to be seen for the time being.
The light punching Hatton, who’s 41-5 record includes just 16KO’s, was able to land on Alvarez far too often for the liking of those unconvinced of his future star status, and the fact that Hatton was able to go the distance will also be something Alvarez’s critics will pick up on.
To an extent, this was down to Hatton’s toughness and guile, and the difference in experience if not talent was apparent at times. Hatton took some thunderous shots throughout and ducked or clinched his way out of many more.
The fact remains though that essentially Hatton was a welterweight fighting a light middleweight, and a welterweight who has been stopped in the past as well, albeit early in his career.
If Alvarez’s much vaunted power couldn’t finish off an easy to hit welterweight, then just how far he will go against the other top light middleweights, the likes of Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito or Paul Williams, is far from certain.
All in all a better showing for Alvarez than some of his recent performances, but against an undersized and outgunned opponent not an appearance that really answers any of the remaining questions surrounding his future as an elite fighter.
On the plus side, he certainly has time to improve at the age of just 20, although with Golden Boy eager to mold him into a major draw as quickly as possible, his main issue might be being given enough time to fully mature now that he has a world title.
Igor Bodak, Pitt: “I don’t get the appeal of Canelo, he’s slow footed, his defense is terrible and he doesn’t even hit that hard. Is it just me or would anyone else in the top ten at light middle destroy him?”
