Last night in St. Louis, Missouri, former junior welterweight champion Devon Alexander carved out one the most impressive performances of his career with a ten-round whitewashing of rugged Argentinean Marcos Maidana on HBO?s airwaves.
The win for Alexander was much needed, as he had looked far from scintillating in his last three performances, an August 2010 unanimous decision over tricky Ukrainian Andriy Kotelnik, followed up by a technical-decision loss to Timothy Bradley a little over a year ago, and most recently his life-and-death struggle with Lucas Matthysse this past June that saw him get dropped in the fourth round while holding on for a split-decision nod.
Having turned 25 years old a few weeks ago, Alexander sees his record rise to 23-1 with 13 knockouts in his move up to the welterweight division. That talented southpaw claims he was struggling to make the 140-pound limit in his previous three contests and true enough, he appeared to be much more comfortable on Saturday night and fought with a vigor that hadn?t been seen since his March 2010 TKO over Juan Urango. Advertisement
And while Alexander has breathed new life into his career, not everyone is sold.
Veteran HBO analyst Larry Merchant wasn?t at the Scottrade Center calling the action last night, as it was a Boxing After Dark telecast, but when asked for his impression of Alexander?s victory, he hardly seemed smitten.
?It?s hard to say because Maidana was also moving to 147,? Merchant noted during our conversation moments after the bout?s conclusion. ?And it may simply be a matter of a good style and fighting a disciplined, tough fight.?
Noticing a bit of skepticism coming from Merchant, I asked if he would elaborate.
