Photo by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
On Saturday, May 6, 2017, Canelo Alvarez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. square in a highly-anticipated battle for Mexican pride.
Canelo vs. Chavez Jr. is a scheduled 12-round fight presented by Golden Boy Promotions and also features a good undercard with three fights.
In the co-main event, David Lemieux makes a quick return to the ring after his knockout of the year candidate performance against Curtis Stevens to take on Marco Reyes.
Lucas Matthysse will be making his long-awaited return to the ring to take on Emmanuel Taylor in a 10-round fight.
And opening up the pay-per-view card, undefeated Golden Boy Promotions contenders, Joseph Diaz Jr. takes on Manuel Avila.
In non-televised action, Marlen Esparza and Raul Curiel will be featured in separate bouts.
All the action takes place on May 6 at T-Mobile Arena and will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View beginning at 9:00 pm, EST/6:00 pm, PST.
Stay with Round By Round Boxing‘s Peter Nieves for live up-to-the-minute results for the full Canelo Alvarez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. fight card.
Make sure to follow RBRBoxing on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for highlights, photos and debate throughout the night.
Round By Round Boxing Results: Canelo vs. Chavez Jr.
Canelo Alvarez vs. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., 12 rounds, Super Middleweights
Canelo Alvarez displayed one of his most dominant performances to date. Alvarez dominated every round for virtually every minute of them for all 12. It’s a bit difficult to put into words, how a son of a living legend with only two losses to his name prior to this encounter, could be dominated so convincingly. The saying that the smaller skilled fighter, usually loses to the stronger-bigger guy, could not be further from the truth in regards to Canelo-Chavez. A stiff jab set the tone early for Alvarez, who snapped Chavez’s head back countless times throughout the night. The few times that Chavez decided to engage with Canelo, Canelo would welcome the 2-3 punch combos and respond with stronger and faster blows of his own.“Tonight I showed I could move, I could box, I showed as a fighter I can do all things,” said Canelo. As for Chavez, the energy from the crowd alone could tell you the story of his performance. Roaring boo’s echoed around T-Mobile arena once Chavez began to speak in his performance. “Canelo beat me, he beat me at the distance. He is a very active fighter—he’s very good and he beat me,” said Chavez, Jr. “I wanted to box but he went to the ropes and I just needed to throw more punches. I would’ve attacked more I would’ve been countered by his punches.” The boxing audience did get a juicy treat to cap the night though, soon after was asked who’s next and the lights dimmed and a Kazakhstan flag flew across the monitors above the ring, and Gennady Golovkin made his way into the ring. The world will finally see #GGGCanelo this September.
David Lemieux vs. Marcos Reyes, 10 rounds, Middleweights
David Lemieux (38-3, 33 KOs) took on veteran fighter Marcos Reyes (35-4, 26 KOs) in what many thought would be a fight ending in a knockout. Unfortunately, this was not the case. Lemieux started off strong and connected with some tough shots to the body and head of Reyes. By about the 3rd round, most people in press row felt the KO would be inevitable, but Reyes proved us all wrong by lasting all 10 rounds with the heavy handed Canadian. From about the midway point and going forward, Lemieux became less aggressive and let off the gas. Regardless, Lemieux had one enough to win a clear UD victory.
Lucas Matthysse vs. Emmanuel Taylor, 10 rounds, Welterweights
May 6th marked the long awaited return of fan favorite Lucas “La Maquina” Matthysse (38-4, 33 KOs). The Argentine would be pitted against Emmanuel Taylor (20-5, 14 KOs) in a 10 round bout. Matthysse came out swinging and never looked back. Taylor would go down once in the 3rd and once in the 5th, the latter would come from a combination of punches that finished Taylor off.“This victory motivates me, this is exactly what I needed to come back where I left off,” said Matthysse. “I felt great inside the ring and I felt like I dominated the fight at the pace I wanted. I feel great and I’m ready for what’s next.” The official stoppage would come at 2:29 of the 5th round.
Joseph Diaz vs. Manuel “Tino” Avila, 10 rounds, Featherweights
In what many thought could be a fight to steal the night, Joseph “JoJo” Diaz (24-0, 13 KOs) outclassed his GoldenBoy stablemate Manuel “Tino” Avila (22-0, 8 KOs). Diaz stalked Avila for a better portion of the fight and many times, seemed too quick for Avila to catch cleanly. Avila displayed some grit in the middle rounds and never put himself completely out of the fight. “My timing wasn’t there; I felt like this was a learning experience,” said Avila. “I need to learn how to pick up the pace in between rounds. Our styles were off and I felt like it could have been a better fight.” Diaz relied on a stiff straight left hand early on in the fight before changing his game plan to a more body focused attack, “My plan going in was to feel him out and be smart,” said Diaz, Jr. “Once I had him figured him out, I knew I could keep digging at him with my jab and do work. In the last few rounds, I kept throwing body shots to hurt him which worked.” With a win over Avila, JoJo is likely to put himself in position for a long awaited title shot he’s been waiting for.
Ryan Garcia vs. Tyrone Luckey, 6 rounds, Lightweights
Ryan Garcia adds another KO and improves his record to 9-0 with 8 KOs to boast. His opponent, Tyrone Luckey, stood no chance from the opening bell and found himself on the canvas in the first. After 2, the referee had seen enough and ended the punishment.
Marlen Esparza vs. Samantha Salazar, 4 rounds, Female Flyweights
Marlen Esparza (2-0) makes easy work of Dallas native Samantha Salazar (2-4-1) and cruises to a UD victory. The fight marks the first time two women have fought 3 minute rounds instead of the two mandated by amateur and professional boxing.“It’s great to make history being the first woman in Nevada to do three-minute rounds,” said Marlen Esparza. “I know it’s been done elsewhere—but tonight it feels really special doing it in this fight.” Esparza has no intentions of returning to the 2 minute rounds anytime soon, “I plan on staying at three minutes and not going back to two minutes, so I know we will need to be strategic about how I train and fight.”
Raul Curiel vs. Jesus Sanchez, 4 rounds, Junior Middleweights
In his professional debut, Raul Curieal gets his first win as a pro over Jesus Sanchez (1-2, 2 KOs). The scorecards read 38-38 and 40-36 X2 respectively. “I thought I won all four rounds, but I got the win that I needed,” said Raul Curiel. “I thank God for me and my opponent being able to get out of the ring healthy and safe – he was a strong fighter.”
Ronny Rios vs. Daniel Noriega, 10 rounds, Junior Featherweights
Ronny Rios (28-1, 12 KOs) gets a TKO win over Daniel Noriega (28-11-1, 15 KOs). Rios asserted himself from the opening ding and pressed the action for the entirety of the fight. Rios landed virtually every combination in the book, and in rd 4, the referee had seen enough.“I’m obviously proud of the knock out win but I think as a fighter we are always critical of our performances,” Ronny Rios. “I need to clean up a lot of my mistakes including leaning forward too much and loading up my punches,” Though critical of himself, the young prospect will find time to enjoy his victory. “I’m ready for a title shot and some micheladas for the Cinco de Mayo weekend.” The official stoppage time came at the 2:26 minute mark.
Joseph Aguirre vs. Angel Aispuro, 6 rounds, Lightweights
Joseph Aguirre improved his record to 17-0 with a solid and scrappy opening bout against Angel Aispuro (8-5-2, 5 KOs). Both fighters went at it for all 6 rounds, with Aguirre landing the more thudding and cleaner blows.
