Something awesome happened Saturday night on Showtime as co-featured main events, one at welterweight and one at junior middleweight, produced truly memorable action that left fans buzzing. And one can’t help but theorize that the wars carried out at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California were all the more brutal because of where the winners may end up— at the front of the line to face the winner of September’s Floyd Mayweather-Saul Alvarez bout.
In the first of two battles, sweet-boxing Cuban, Erislandy Lara (18-1-2, 12 KOs) did his thing in the ring and, in the beginning, looked beautiful out-boxing the hard-charging Mexican battler, Alfredo Angulo (22-3, 18 KOs).
However, the tenacious “Perro” stalked his southpaw rival, landing some heavy body punches and dropping Lara in the fourth and ninth rounds. As a matter of fact, Angulo looked on the verge of scoring the upset when things went terribly wrong.
A brutal three-punch combination to Angulo’s left eye would produce some truly hideous swelling and force the Mexicali, Baja California native to turn his back on the action and concede the loss with a possible fracture of the orbital bone around the eye.
After the bout, Lara was slow to commit to a rematch with Angulo, but fans were quick to wonder if Lara had earned the right to meet the winner of Mayweather-Alvarez.
In the main event of the evening, two brawling welterweight contenders, Marcos Maidana (34-3, 31 KOs) and Josesito Lopez (30-6, 18 KOs), went to war for six full rounds before the heavy-handed Argentine, Maidana, closed the show.
Lopez, of Riverside, California, began the bout trying to box, but any effort at finesse flew out the window once the fists started flying.
With both fighters hurt at various points of the contest, the bout was up for grabs until Maidana’s sixth round right hand dropped Lopez and seemed to place victory within reach. Lopez would beat the count and attempt to fight back, but he was clearly stunned and may have been helped by referee Lou Moret, who jumped in to wave off the bout seconds after the knockdown.
After the battle, the Showtime crew talked Maidana vs. countryman, Lucas Matthysse, but, again, fans hit social media to wonder aloud how Maidana would do against the winner of Mayweather-Alvarez.
Taking absolutely nothing away from the four athletes involved in these stellar battles Saturday night, but the prize at the end of these tough and grueling bouts has to be a possible eight-figure payday in a true blockbuster pay-per-view event down the line.
It’s quite possible that all of these warriors would’ve pushed as hard and would’ve performed just as bravely even without the possibility of a Mayweather or Canelo bout down the line. There has been nothing but complete and total professionalism from all four of these fighters throughout their careers and all have a reputation of giving 100% in their fights.
But, still, it’s no secret that contenders are being gathered and possible match-ups are being reviewed for one of Mayweather’s four remaining main stage spectacles following his upcoming clash with Alvarez. And all four of Saturday’s fighters, as Golden Boy properties, have a greater chance of possibly landing one of the remaining open slots.
It’s this reason that Showtime cracked open the piggy bank to bring Mayweather to their network. Because, aside from landing the sport’s biggest draw, they also guaranteed some memorable clashes as fighters jockeyed for position to fight him.
Expect the June 22 Paulie Malignaggi-Adrien Broner fight to be a heated affair and also expect fireworks from July’s Andre Berto- Jesus Soto Karass bout. And if the rumors are true, expect a memorable and much better than anticipated contest between Devon Alexander and Amir Khan later this year.
It’s all about money. Or, maybe, more appropriately said-it’s all about “Money.”
