By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

Caleb Plant had to get up from a fourth-round knockdown, but stormed back to overpower Trevor McCumby in route to a ninth-round stoppage win on the Canelo vs Berlanga undercard.

Plant (23-2, 13 KO) was a heavy favorite coming in, but did show some rust after an 18-month layoff, and had to sort of grow into the fight. He definitely had to do that once it was clear that underdog McCumby (28-1, 21 KO) was here to fight, as he brought some power shots to the former titleholder early, and scored that knockdown in the fourth. With a fight probably tied after four rounds and Plant maybe a point down, Plant had to use his experience and start taking control of the fight.

Whether he’ll admit it or not, Plant seemed to “wake up” from there, and the dog came out of him, as he stood in the pocket and bullied McCumby both physically and mentally starting in the fifth round, leading to the referee stopping the fight right before the end of round nine.

Now that Plant is the interim WBA super Middleweight champion which makes no sense since the present WBA champion is still active and champ.  His name is Canelo Alvarez.

Plant landed more than double the punches, and connected on nearly 55% of his punches, showing his domination.

The 41-year-old Erislandy Lara faced Danny “Swift” Garcia at Middleweights but the 36-year-old Garcia coming off a two-year layoff looked older as a fighter than Lara.  Garcia only connected on 33 punches over 9 rounds and connected on 17 percent of punches.  He looked slow, tentative, and unable to get any offense going.  In the second round he didn’t even connect on a single punch. It is not that Lara was spectacular as he connected on only 67 punches and landed only a quarter of his punches, but he was a more effective fighter.

Garcia was a champion at 140 and 147 pounds while defeating high profiles but now he is an older fighter, and it showed.  Garcia lacked energy and not the aggressive Garcia in his prime and he got consistently nailed by Lara right hand jab.   Lara landed consecutive rights before a sharp left sent Garica to his knee in the ninth.  His corner stopped the fight and maybe a great career will be over. 

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

Terence Crawford was shooting  for a fourth title at the 154-pound division against WBA champion Israil Madrimov, but it was not a coronation as Crawford won a close decision with judges scoring the fight 115-113,115-113 and 116-112.  Most every round was close as Crawford averaged 8 landed punches and 36 throws whereas Madrimov averaged 7 punches landed and 23 punches thrown. This was a fight that many rounds saw one or two quality punches decide the round. Crawford threw over 200 more punches and more active, but he only had 22 percent accuracy and Madrimov actually connected on 30 percent of his punches and landed some good rights throughout the fight plus concentrated on the body. 

The bout proved to be a tactical fight and Crawford had the superior jab and this allowed him to connect occasionally with his right hand and Madrimov landed clean right hands but there were very few combinations punches and the one punch Madrimov landed successfully was his looping right but he also missed quite a bit with that punch.

In seven rounds, Crawford landed a more punches and Madrimov landed more punches in just four rounds with one round even.  I had the fight 115-113 but you could have scored it 114-114 or 116-112 for there were rounds that were close to score. 

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and much respected contributor to www.dmboxing.com since 2008

Jamie Munguia faced his toughest fight in his 44^th fight against one of the best fighters of this generation, Canelo Alvarez and Munguia would be part of an Alvarez tradition of the Cinco de Mayo weekend where Alvarez was 9-1 with his only loss to undefeated light heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol.  This was the first time two Mexican fighters fought for an undisputed championship fight. And this was the first super Middleweight championship bout featuring two Mexican born fighters and in fact this was the first world title bout above 160 pounds featuring two Mexican fighters.  So, this weekend history was being made.

Munguia took the center as the crowd was excited.  Munguia jabs to set the range and starts aggressively. Canelo goes to the body with a glancing right while Munguia jab looks fast as he jabs to the body and ties up Alvarez as Alvarez comes forward. Alavarez lands left hooks to the body and then lands a right hand to the other side.  Munguia wants this to be a brawl.

Alvarez in the second round takes the middle of ring but Munguia is letting his punches earlier and landing jabs.  Munguia landing straight punches and forcing Canelo to lean back but Canelo work the body.  The score was 10-9 and 20-1 after two rounds.

Munguia pumping jab and following with right hand plus doubles up on left hook that cracked Canelo midsection.  Both men trade punches and Munguia throwing punches plenty of volume while cutting off the ring as he took the third round. Munguia using great head movement and throws punches in volume at the beginning of the fourth round but Canelo landed hooks to the body with upper cuts and sent Munguia down with a left hook and uppercut in the fourth round.  Alvarez won the fifth round with his body shots and cleaner punching After five rounds, I had it 49-44.

Canelo using left hook to counter Munguia jab and Canelo connected 1-2 and left hook along with body shot in the sixth round and at the halfway mark, Canelo landed 65 power shots and connecting at 47 percent  versus Munguia 42 power shots and only connecting at 30 percent.

By Tom Donelson (BWAA) Member Boxing Writers Association of America and respected contributor to www.dmoxing.com since 2008

Tim Tszyu fight with Keith Thurman was canceled but Sebastian Fundora ended up  the new challenger for the 154 titles.  While Tszyu was already talking about an Errol Spence, Jr. fight, Fundora represents a significant challenge and may even been a tougher opponent than Thurman.  At 6’5”, he had the height advantage over Tsyzu which he used to his advantage in the fight.

Tsyzu, who is the son of Hall of Fame fighter Kostya Tszyu, headlined his first big PPV card on U.S. soils on Prime Video.  Fundora, who was scheduled to fight Serhii Bohachuk, moved up to replace Thruman and for the rest of the story, Brian Mendoza replaced Fundora in fighting Bohachuk.  Bohachuk did in fact do what Tsyzu did, beat Mendoza in a decision.  (Mendoza did stop Fundora in their fight but has now lost two in a row to Bohachuk and Tsyzu.)  Bohachuk dominated the fight and the scorecard reflected that as he won 117-111, 117-111 and 118-110.  He dominated the fight, out landing Mendoza 319-168 punches over the twelve rounds, double the jab and double the power shots and more accurate overall 38 percent to 33 percent. Bohachuk is now looking to fighting the winner of Fundora-Tsyzu. 

I was not aware ErisLandy Lara was still fighting. Just joking but he is the oldest champion as he defended his WBA middleweight champion with an easy two round stoppage of Michael Zerafa.  He has now recorded three straight knockouts.

Now for the main event as Tszyu tried to find the range against Fundora who established his jab.   Tszyu used his right to the body but shots a right to the head failed to connect. Finally, he connected with a right to snap Fundora head back. The second round saw a double jab from Fundora as Tszyu jab landed in the body and he managed to land a right hand to the Fundora head.  Fundora bleeding from Tszyu shot and after two rounds, Tszyu up 20-18.

Tszyu gets nailed by an accidental elbow, and blood flowing from his scalps blinded him throughout the rest of the fight. Fundora lands shots as blood stream into Tszyu’s eye. Near the end of the round, both fighters trade shots at center ring and Tszyu lands a straight right.  The bloodbath continued for both fighters as Tszyu was still wiping blood from his eyes and Fundora took advantage as after four rounds he was tied on my score card, but he is also a bloody mess.

Tszyu landed right hand to the body but got nailed by hard left from Fundora.  Tszyu partially landed left hand while Fundora lands his shot as Tszyu partial vision is making it difficult to see punches.  He does land a decent left hand and buckled Fundora.  Tszyu starts the six with right hand to the body and these body shots are hard shots, but Fundora is landing stiff jabs.  Tszyu lands body shots with right and left while Fundora used his height and Tszyu blood.  At the halfway mark, Tszyu is up by 58-56 but these are close rounds.

By Ton Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

Joshua Buatis defeated Dan Azeez in what was called a light heavyweight eliminator in a 12-round decision as judges scored it 116-100, 117-109 and 117-109.   Buatis is now 18-0 with thirteen stoppages and is in line with the winner of the Beterview vs Bivol. 

Buatis’ bodywork and quick left hand proved decisive in the fight and added two knock downs in round eleven.  This was a clear victory for Buatis as his power punching was the difference as he connected on 35 percent of them and landed 152 power shot to seventy-two for Azeez. 

Buatis’ power punching was the difference, as he out landed Azeez 152-72, hitting on 35% and throwing one hundred more. Buatis also landed fifty-two body shots whereas Azeez landed a few more jabs.   Overall, a good fight. 

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

Jaime Munguia faced John Ryder for the WBC Silver Super Middleweight championship.  Munguia started fast and Ryder attacked as much as he defended as Ryder landed a right hook while Munguia left hook landed on top.   I gave the first round to Munguia and Munguia started the second round with a vicious attack and as Ryder attempted to short uppercut, Munguia landed an aright hook and then followed up with combination that sent Ryder down.  Munguia now led 20-17 on my scorecard.

Munguia starts the third round fast looking to end the fight, but Ryder does nail him with two solids shots  Ryder went down a second time, but the referee rules a slip but in the fourth round Ryder stops Munguia in his trace with a huge left and both fighters exchange bombs.  Just as Ryder looks like he is gaining momentum and throws a big right-hand haymaker, he gets countered and down he went again and this time the referee rules it knockdown.

After four rounds, it is 40-34 for Munguia and Ryder was in a big hole and CompuBox has Munguia landing twenty-nine power shots to Ryder 18 after three rounds.

Going into the fifth round, Ryder needed to make drastic changes as he was behind on points and the problem for Ryder is that he didn’t have the power of Munguia who staggered Ryder in an exchange.  Munguia was coming through Ryder’s punches, but Ryder had no choice but to keep fighting if he wanted a chance to win. After five it was 50-43.

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

David Benavidez wants a big fight with Canelo Alvarez, and he decided to fight the slick boxing Demetrius Andrade who is one of the most avoided fighters to stay busy.  Andrade reminded me of Ronald “Winky Wright “ who was equally avoided since he was a slick boxer that no one really wanted to tangle with.  He eventually fought Shane Mosley who just finished beating Oscar De La Hoya twice and looking for a big fight with Felix Trinidad.  Wright upset Mosley and Andrade was hoping to do the same to Benavidez.

For Benavidez, this fight was designed to show case his skills and force a bigger fight with Alvarez. He needed a big name on his resume.  Benavidez is coming off a victory over Caleb Plant and he won his last seven of his past ten victories  by stoppage and Andrade was his steppingstone to Alvarez.

The first round saw Andrade boxing and moving as Benavidez couldn’t find his prey to overwhelm him and in the second round Andrade even prove to be aggressor as he unleashed his own ten punch combination and after three rounds I had Andrade up three rounds to zero.  He out landed Benavidez 32 punches to 21 punches.   It looked like it might be competitive, but the fourth round changed all that.

Starting in the fourth round, Benavidez took over the fight.  Benavidez turned the table and dominated the last three rounds as he landed 96 punches to Andrade 36.  Andrade opponents in past fights landed an average 5.4 punches per round but Benavidez landed 20 punches per round in this fight with most of those punches landing in the fourth, fifth and sixth round.

Benavidez started to control the fight in the fourth round and at the end of the round, a right hand sent Andrade down before the bell rang ended the round.

Over the next two rounds, it was just Benavidez who simply dominated the fight as Andrade weakened and no longer capable of hurting Benavidez who kept pouring it on.  The fight was stopped after the sixth round as it became apparent to Andrade’s corner this fight was over.

Next fight that Benavidez wants is Alvarez and that will be a great fight, two sluggers against one another but Benavidez is the bigger and younger fighter.

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America and a top respected contributor to www.dmboxing.com since 2008

Jermell Charlo faced Canelo Alveraz in one of the more intriguing fights as Charlo, the junior Middleweight champion, faced the super Middleweight champion. 

Canelo was the bigger fighter and had been fighting bigger fighters for a longer period of time. Charlo was moving up two weights class, not just one.  Canelo had been one of the elite pound for pound fighters from the welterweight division and even campaigned as a light heavyweight.  

What Canelo has going for him is his advantage at the higher weight, and he has excellent upper body movement and great power.  Charlo has a high boxing IQ and good boxing skills.  In his second fight with Brian Castano, he switched his strategy and stopped Castano.  Charlo was capable of adjusting but to paraphrase Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a strategy until the first bell rings, and you get hit the first time.”  Certainly, when Charlo started to feel the power of Alvarez, his strategy wasn’t going to work. 

When Floyd Mayweather fought a young Canelo, he out boxed and out thought Alvarez, and Alvarez seemed hesitant throughout the bout.  He learned a lesson in fighting Mayweather, and one thing was to follow all his instincts and let loose his power.  The Canelo that fought Charlo pressured Charlo and Charlo never fought a fighter with the ferocity of Alvarez. 

I thought that Charlo may win a few early rounds, but I anticipated that Canelo’s power and pressure would take hold for a late round stoppage. 

The fight was one sided and my own score card was more one-sided than the official cards which were 119-108, 119-108, 118-109 where as I had it 120-107. The only round that could have possibly been ruled in Charlo’s favor was the first round in which both fighters landed one punch in a slow round.

From that round, Canelo out landed Charlo every round, and overall, he landed double the punches over Charlo. He out jabbed Charlo the boxer and was more accurate with those jabs, and landed more than double the power shots.  Overall, Canelo’s accuracy was double that of Charlo and from the second round to the very end, this was a one-way fight in which the bigger Canelo proved too powerful for the junior middleweight, Jermell Charlo.  Charlo moved up two weight divisions and the difference was self-evident.  Even in the first round we saw Charlo retreat to the ropes.